Managing Diversity in Employment into the Deloitte Company - Essay Example

? HRM- MANAGING DIVERSITY IN EMPLOYMENT Table of Contents Introduction 3 Organizational analysis with reference to Kirton and Greene typology 4 Deloitte as comprehensive proactive organization 5 Examples of diversity/equality policies 7 Overall summary 12 Reference 13 Bibliography 15 Introduction The project seeks to bring forth the problem of diversity in organizations with reference to the Kirton and Greene typology. The organization chosen for the purpose is Deloitte. This is because of the extreme effort it has tried to place on diversity issues and has tried to manage them too. Also adequate literature pertaining to the present context has been presented in the project. This has been done for the purpose of implementing an audit system for the organization. The different issues regarding the implementation of the system have also been presented. Finally the project concludes with the presentation of the contribution of every member of the project. Successful diversity management considers unleashing the diverse and rich potential of the organizations’ entire workforce. This is an issue which must be handled carefully by all businesses which have been looking for opportunities and diverse ways of working. The way this issue can be handled differs between organizations depending on their culture. The first step which arises in diversity management is defining the terms properly. This means each one must be aware of the meaning of diversity and its implications in the organization. Beyond gender and race it may also include considerations of ethnicity, age, religion, mental or physical capabilities, identity, language, family status, and working style. The first task includes identifying the diversity issues based on which a suitable solution would have to be designed. It is important that the organization has the right kind of resources which includes both human and fiscal resources. Dedicated individuals would be required to manage the flow of diversities in the firms and also the budget and the professionals that would help in identifying and measuring metrics of the numerous initiatives required to attract, retain and manage a diverse workforce. One the right talents are attracted it is crucial to enable them to become integral part of the organizational culture. The requirement of training is especially important in this part. The idea is to realize that diversity is not just a recruitment issue. It is a continuous process which has ambitious goals. It seeks to create an organizational culture in which all individuals are treated with dignity and respect and where people are treated as per their merits and where opportunities are available for all. Organizational analysis with reference to Kirton and Greene typology This part provides a brief analysis of Deloitte as an organization in reference with the Kirton and Greene typology. The organization is known for its tremendous efforts to manage diversity which also includes its recognition of the member firms’ diverse people, culture and organizational expertise. The company’s network comprises of member firms which has very strong regional cultures which remain interconnected and demonstrates the reflection of the world people live in (Deloitte, 2009). The company’s diversity management policies facilitates a culture which allows its people to work cross regions and borders on client engagements and also take up overseas assignments. The member firms of Deloitte are also offer their clients with cross cultural skills and expertise through training programs allowing them to provide seamless service Inclusion initiatives and diversity accounts for an integral part of the company’s business and talent management strategies. It seeks to build a culture which draws strengths from diverse backgrounds, perspectives and experiences for harnessing the provision of the best of services to their clients and also providing a stimulating environment for its employees (Deloitte, 2009). As presented by Kirton and Greene, the dynamics of managing diversity comprises of a critical approach to the issue of equality and diversity. It puts forth an integrating approach towards managing the issues that revolve around diversities and equalities at the workplace. It considers the view that the study of equality needs to be considered not only through the perspectives of discriminations but also considers the needs of individuals with respect to their diverse identities and cultures (Kirton & Greene, 2000, ‘introduction’). The management of diversity has evolved as a popular concept in America and has also spread across different parts of the world, especially Europe. There are numerous homogenous and non diverse nations like Finland, which are not yet confronted with the challenges of an ethnic base and cultural diversity among its workforce. With the spread of the phenomenon of globalization and the increase in international businesses mobility of the national workforce and demographic developments workforce diversities have been increasingly gaining importance and emphasis in the global context. As per Kirton and Greene, (2005), the management of diversity issues has been addressed through many different ways, such as through economic, legislative and ethical forces. Composition of the working population have undergone sea change across the globe in terms of their race, language, age, religion as well as cultural and ethical backgrounds. Human resource management have played a significant role in making use of this diversity to the organizations’ advantage in terms of utilizing the diverse knowledge, skills and capabilities of employees to confront with the global and changing environment (Sippola, 2007, p.9). Deloitte as comprehensive proactive organization Kirton and Greene, (2005), have identified the fact that the ways of managing diversities varies from public statements to comprehensive policies which can be incorporated in practice. Accordingly organizations may be categorized as negative, compliant, minimalist/partial or comprehensive proactive organizations. Considering the diversity management steps undertaken in Deloitte, it can be categorized as being a comprehensive proactive organization. The formal business strategies of the organizations can be considered to be in tandem with those of a comprehensive proactive organization. They take active interest in promoting value diversity and equality by implementing positive actions like the incorporation of best practices measures and monitoring the consequent outcomes. Diversity and equality can also be related to the organizational performance and individual objectives (Sippola, 2007, p.27). As international clients have been expanding their operations across various parts of the world, the client services teams have been responding to their demands accordingly. They are also seen to hail from different regions and cultures and backgrounds special training is provided to them in order to manage such diversities. Specialized training workshops are designed to assist the client leaders manage their cross cultural teams (Deloitte, 2009). Different workshops are arranged in order to meet such considerations. For example, in such workshops the partner members of Deloitte make assessments and discussions of their own cultural orientations through the use of a tool called Cultural Perspectives Questionnaire (CPQ). This helps to reveal the variety of differences that can exist in terms of their environments, activities, relationships, time and human nature. The partners then try to assess the cultural challenges that they were likely to face at the workplace arising out of such differences. This is done by the application of a framework called the Map-Bridge-Integrate (MBI) approach which harnesses the management of these challenges and bridging the differences in orientations and values in order to improve their team performances. As commented by Jim Wall, Chief Diversity Officer in DTT, these tools help the team leaders in Deloitte in tacking and resolving business problems that they are encountered with or are likely to encounter in future (Deloitte, 2009). One of the other cross cultural skills training programs include Strategic Professional Development (SPD) program. The program is used be people all across the world to attain training on different skills and expertise. Deloitte US appoints the Chinese Service Group to coordinate activities with Deloitte China, for assisting their American companies for making investments and conducting operations in China. The program is also meant to provide assistance to the Chinese companies which are seeking to expand their businesses overseas. The SDP program helps to create and highlight the cross cultural and professional skills and expertise of its Chinese and English bilingual professionals (Deloitte, 2009). They are exposed to numerous business services as well as create cross cultural training skills which they can apply in their work with their clients. These programs are considered by the Deloitte US firms and other members as investments for the future leaders to provide them with firsthand experience in handling and managing cross cultural skills. Both the cross cultural training programs as well as the SPD programs have been recognized and identified as favorable practices as presented in one of the reports of the UN (Deloitte, 2009). While the organization has been enabling such programs the primary components which have been identified for attaining success in diversity management are the Deloitte partners and their behaviors, as well as the way in which they conduct themselves as member firms. It is the commitment towards driving behavioral changes which have helped in the collaboration of the activities of diverse teams. It can also be accounted for a key factor behind Deloitte’s success in the market and have acted as a platform which has enabled member firms address the complex business requirements of clients (Deloitte, 2009). Examples of diversity/equality policies The following part of the project would present the literature on equality and diversity issues in organizations. These would be presented in the context of the conditions and situations of organizations in managing diversity. The situations would be compared against the present organization to conduct an audit of the policies for diversity management of the same. Research has been conducted on workplace diversity and its associated problems, tensions and achievements. There is no definite definition for diversity because of the fact that in the place of work, the term can be applied in a number of multiple, conflicting and overlapping domains. The reason for this is the existence of numerous numbers of stakeholders, namely managers, activists, consultants, academics and unions, who claim their ownership over the term and have their own interpretations (Konrad, Prasad & Pringle, 2006, p.2). In North America, diversity has an intangible and ambiguous connection with the country’s legal practices, rules and regulations. They are also associated with the country’s public policies and social movements. However, it is crucial to consider that diversity is not a legal term and does not have any legal force behind it. Rather diversity management has emerged completely out of corporate initiatives and id directed towards the recruitment and retaining of employees belonging to the diverse social identity groups (Konrad, Prasad & Pringle, 2006, p.2). In the last few years, diversity management programs have been introduced in numerous private and public organizations in UK and also in other parts of the world. They have been introduced in order to meet different objectives ranging from the participation of women and ethnic groups in the workforce and improvement of their prospects for career, to the incorporation of other perspectives into the decision making process and assisting the organizations to avail new opportunities and markets which were formally untapped (Lorbiecki & Jack, 2000, p.1). The application of human resource management practices with diversity management has been recognized long back. The HRM strategies have been used as a means of causing an impact on groups and individuals and the effectiveness in organizations. Kossek, (2006), has been especially successful in identifying a relation of HRM practices with that of diversities in organizations. Identity conscious human resource management practices can be effective in increasing diversities. On the other hand identity blind HRM practices can be effective in supporting diversities by taking care of both group identities and also individual merits. He has also found that the increase in diversity in the context of work groups can suggest relationships to multiple characteristics like tasks and status apart from demographic attributes like race, age and sex (Sippola, 2007, p.41). The findings that Kossek came to support the fact that changes incorporated towards heterogeneity cannot be successful only by the implementation of different practices if diversity management, like increasing the recruitment of hiring or separate sensitivity training which affects the cultural or performance audits. This is the reason why successful investing and management in diversity and equality can be argued to include changes in the organizational structure, regulations, procedures, changes in individual attitudes, behaviors and mindsets, and also the changes in power relations and cultures.  Based on this fact, the challenges of management of a diverse workforce for realizing its full potential, and  also for maintaining competitiveness,  is  that organizations must adapt  and  incorporate a new  culture  and  ways  of operating so that it can utilize its workforce effectively and also pay attention to the management of diversity  as  being a  long term  investment used for  the attainment of. Indeed, organizational culture, business strategies and human resource management practices and policies have been especially noticed as being means for facilitate the influence of diversity. As per the views of Wentling & Palma?Rivas revision and drafting of the HRM procedures and policies like recruiting, making equity of payments, maintaining flexibility of work timings, development of career, which demand equity and fairness have been found to be crucial for providing support to the diverse needs and also considered one of the best strategies for diversity management only to come after education and training. Also the system changes within the human resource management are considered to be crucial for the implementation of equality programs and also for the structural and systematic integration of diversities (Sippola, 2007, p.41). Kirton has pointed out that the policies and strategies for diversity management can be considered proactive only when this diversity is considered to be an asset underpinned by the ethical values and beliefs established on ethical responsibilities and social justice and driven by corporate reputation for attracting investors and meeting the needs and requirements of stakeholders. It is important to monitor the auditing policy of the system in order to attain any significant qualitative improvement in the employee experience. This is the reason why the implementation of diversity management practices must be implemented both at the strategic as well as the operational level (Sippola, 2007, p.43). It is important to understand that diversity management is not merely employment equity. It plays a major role in contributing to the financial well being of organizations and also the public issues. In order to develop a diverse corporate culture which can be utilized to the organizations’ benefit, it is important to manage diversity which can be done in the following way. There must be a clear and strongly formulated company vision and strategy which includes diversity as being an important component. Diversity must be considered to be a long term economic resource for the organization. For implementation of a successful diversity management strategy the company must have an extremely transparent and effective performance management system. Also the system must be developed in consultation with the internal stakeholders of the company (Keil, et al., 2007, p.24). Guidelines on diversity management must be established across the company and rankings and benchmarks must be set accordingly. It is crucial to ensure that the performance measurements are independent of race, gender, culture, origin or religion. This is not a very easy part as the most of the people in the organization do not remain aware of their own perception filters. This part requires aggressive steps to induce awareness and impart knowledge among the people in the organization about diversity issues and the steps undertaken to manage the issues and also the contributions people in this regard must be highlighted. It requires a deep and careful look at the diversity constellations in the respective departments, projects and teams which also includes considering the respective talents, competencies, personal attributes and professions. The keeping of detailed knowledge about the above factors would be required for facilitating the process of creating new ideas and innovative teams (Keil, et al., 2007, p.24). A good and effective system of audit would necessarily consider the discrimination as being inappropriate and would confront it right away. It would also include sanctions to set the record straight. This must be followed by the development of an effective recruitment and selection system. It must also try to identify the exceptionally diverse and talented people irrespective of their national or ethnic origin. The leaders must also be developed into role models for diversity and must be convinced about the fact that diversity serves the requirements and needs for the organization (Keil, et al., 2007, p.24). Through the method of diversity audit organizations are able to assess their preparedness for diversity and also facilitate the implementation of diversity management techniques. The auditing system can include compiling the responses of people regarding the management of diversity issues. The responses would be put to statistical analysis to derive a conclusion for the same. From the interviews conducted the results would have to be analyzed to come to an assessment of the effectiveness of the system (Keil, et al., 2007, p.24). Overall summary This project is an outcome of group work and has been conducted by a group of five members. Team work and group work are considered staple in graduate and post graduate courses. This project has been particularly effective in providing students with a realistic and hands on experience with helps in preparing them for their careers. Each activity in the project was assigned to students for enhancement of positive interdependence, group processing and interaction. The roles were chosen for each student to ensure that they could overcome their communication barriers and difficulties. One of the members was assigned with the responsibility of initiating the project and allocating responsibilities to the rest of the group members. One of the others was responsible for keeping track of the progress of the project. His job was to recognize how far the project has progressed and what was required to be done. One of the other group members was accountable for coordinating the activities and responsibilities of the different members if the group. The other two members were appointed for devising strategies for the progress of the project. They were required to use the present resources available for the advancement of the project. The major problem that aroused was that group members were only interested in their own advantage and contribution and tried to undermine the others contributions. There was also negative interdependence. They failed to realize that their contributions must be provided for the advantage of the group and not only for their own benefits. In order to address the problem, the roles were deliberately made interdependent so that members could depend on the others for working in the project. There was also a system of identification of individual merits and rewards according to the merits. This was incorporated so that no group members would be able to shirk their own responsibilities on others or take the advantage of that benefit from others too. This was also meant to motivate members of the group to provide their best possible efforts. The group project also allowed more interaction between members which improved their communications significantly. This made them more equipped to address and resolve issues by discussing the problems amongst themselves and finding suitable solutions for the same. More interactions also led to more cooperation and collaboration of work activities among members. The project also helped in the evolution of a learning group where students associated with the project were able to leant new things and activities. Students were given the opportunity to enhance their decision making skills, effective leadership, building of trust, managing conflicts and building trusts. Through the complexity of the projects the teachers were also encouraged higher performance by imparting cooperative skill components through the cooperative lessons. The development of such skills were particularly important to make students run the subsequently projects more smoothly and efficiently with the number of errors reduced substantially. Reference Deloitte. (2009). Press Release. [Online]. Available at: http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_GX/global/press/global-press-releases-en/press-release/5de6adb8dad52210VgnVCM200000bb42f00aRCRD.htm. [Accessed on June 25, 2011]. Keil, M. et al. (2007). Training Manual for Diversity Management. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.pedz.uni-mannheim.de/daten/edz-ath/gdem/07/traisem_en.pdf. [Accessed on June 27, 2011]. Kirton, G. & Greene, A. M. (2000). The dynamics of managing diversity: a critical approach. Elsevier. Konrad, A. M., Prasad, P. P. & Pringle, J. K. (2006). Handbook of workplace diversity. SAGE. Lorbiecki, A. & Jack, J. (2000). Critical Turns in the Evolution of Diversity Management. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.commerce.uct.ac.za/Managementstudies/Courses/BUS5037W/2007/Suki%20Goodman/Lecture%207/Lorbieckiarticle.pdf. [Accessed on June 27, 2011]. Sippola, A. (2007). Essays on Human Resource Management Perspectives on Diversity Management. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.uwasa.fi/materiaali/pdf/isbn_978-952-476-193-2.pdf. [Accessed on June 25, 2011]. Bibliography Arredondo, P. & Arredondo, P. M. (1996). Successful diversity management initiatives: a blueprint for planning and implementation. SAGE. Dickie, C. & Soldan, Z. (2011). Diversity Management. Tilde University Press. Stockdale, M. S. & Crosby, F. J. (2004). The psychology and management of workplace diversity. Wiley-Blackwell. Wrench, J. (2007). Diversity management and discrimination: immigrants and ethnic minorities in the EU. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. Read More