Managing Diversity at Work: Key To Organisational Survival: June 2018
Managing Diversity at Work: Key To Organisational Survival: June 2018
Managing Diversity at Work: Key To Organisational Survival: June 2018
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Abstract
The indispensible nature of diversity management as a concept is no longer contestable, because it has become a
major requirement for any organisation that wants to optimize the productivity of its workforce. Organisations
are now faced with intense competition arising from a globalized workforce that necessitates the application of
diversified management principles, culture and managerial thinking. One of the effects of a globalized workforce
is that it places a high expectation on organisational managers on the need to achieve a higher premium on
effective management of diversified workforce. Globalization in this 21st century has brought with it a higher
than normal requirement to strike a balance between mono-cultural and multicultural workforce. This is caused
by heterogeneous background in terms of our biological and physical characteristics, such as race, ethnicity,
gender, age, sexual orientation, educational, political and religious beliefs, just to mention a few. It is on the
basis of the above, that public and private organisations need to develop a culture that is compatible with
diversification of workforce in order to remain relevant in a fast changing and globalized economy. This paper
aims at evaluating the various ways in which diversity in organisations can be managed to ensure the
survivability of global organisations in fulfilling the need of both the local market and the world market at large.
Managing diversity effectively will unfold how to plan and develop a good diversity audit in an organisation
with a view to developing a robust program for your needs as well as creating an organisational culture that
encourages diversity in order maximize the productivity of your workforce, build an all embracing multicultural
work teams, design interesting meetings that work for everyone, and recruit, select, motivate, and promote a
diverse workforce. Furthermore, managing diversity in organisations involves maintaining work-life balance;
diversity sensitivity training; improved management information system on diversity; mentoring as part of staff
development; and attitude change.
Keywords: diversity; organisational survival; cultural diversity; mono-culture; multi-culture
1. Introduction
According to the UNESCO universal declaration on cultural diversity, which was unanimously consented to by
the 31st session of the General Conference of UNESCO on the 2nd of November, 2001, Article 2 states that “in
our increasingly diverse societies, it is essential to ensure harmonious interaction among people and groups with
plural, varied and dynamic cultural identities as well as their willingness to live together” (Walden, 2011, p.1).
Multiculturalism is not a new concept in the management literature. Its implication in the management of
people at work is also not new to management scholars and practitioners. A study of the historical development
of some organisations shows that some organisations have adapted the mono-cultural approach to the
management of their organisations and were able to achieve some of their goals without the influence of cultural
interference. However, this has not yielded much of their desired result and expectations.
Some scholars and professionals have studied the impact of organisational culture on employee
performance (Zheng, Baiyin, McClean, 2010), and none that I know have failed to recognize the fact that there is
a positive relationship between positive organisational culture and performance. Even in the medical field for
instance, the culture of an organisation has been found to play a significant role in ensuring and sustaining the
provision of quality health services in nursing, patient attention, staff wellbeing, job satisfaction and staff
turnover (Randsley de Moura, Dominic, Retter, Sigridur, & Kaori, 2009). Diversity arises as a result of
differences among people, which can be traced to cultural dichotomy. In other words, diversity is a product of
differences in individual characteristics, arising from the way people behave, think and perceive things within
their immediate environment. Recognizing and valuing individual differences among a group of people is not
an easy task, that is why a lot of behavioural adjustments is needed in this area. To be able to manage different
cultures, it must involve individuals seeing things from different perspectives or from a different frame of
reference.
Against this backdrop, this paper will give a comprehensive definition of diversity management and
evaluate the various ways of managing multi-cultural diversity at workplace.
2. Definition of Concepts
To be able to discuss this topic, we must first and foremost go back to the basis, which is culture. What is culture?
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Culture is the "set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social
group and that it encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems,
traditions and beliefs” (UNESCO, 2002). According to McLean and Marshall (1993) culture refers to the
collection of traditions, values, believes, policies and attitudes that constitute a pervasive context for everything
we do and think in an organisation” (as cited in Mullins, 2007, p. 721). In Schein (2010) conceptualization,
culture is a compilation of mental acceptance of a claim, guiding principles, attitudinal dispositions, and
assumptions shared by group of people.
According to Spencer- Oatey, “culture consists of the derivatives of experience, more or less organized,
learned or created by the individuals of a population, including those images or encodements and their
interpretations (meanings) transmitted from past generations, from contemporaries, or formed by individuals
themselves”(as cited in Odor, 2018, p. 32).
Schein (2004) went further to suggest a perception of organisational culture based on three distinguishing
characteristics of depth, ranging from the shallowest to the deepest:
Artifacts; values and basic assumptions. Artifacts refer to the most visible aspect of culture and it includes
physical space and layout, the technology, written and spoken language and the overt behaviour of teams. Basic
assumptions are the beliefs and behaviors so deeply embedded that they can sometimes go unnoticed (Burkus,
2014). Espoused culture relates to how individuals use their original values to deal with new task and new
problems. Culture does a lot of things, ranging from boundary defining roles, creating a sense of identity,
enhancing the stability of social order, and facilitating the generation of commitment to something bigger than
one individual self interest (Mullins, 2007).
The culture of an organisation is, therefore conceptualized as the personality of an organization. It
comprises the assumptions, values, norms and tangible signs (artifacts) of organization’s members and their
behaviours.
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5. Conclusion
Managing diversity effectively is surly a win win situation for any organization that intends to grow and compete
across borders. The differences in age, gender and race are not the only factor that account for cultural diversity
at work. Therefore the ability of an organization to effectively manage its diversified workforce directly
influences the quality of its creativity and innovation in terms of new product planning and development.
Diversity helps to bridge the gaps in cultural deficiencies because people are gifted differently.
A company who embraces diversity will attract a wider range of candidates to their vacancies, as it will be
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viewed as more progressive organisation and will appeal to individuals from all walks of life. One particular
culture might be very good in technical skill but may not be good at human skill. So it is essential to play on
each individual’s strengths and collaborate with others in the team. So, a good blend of cultural diversity will
create a good synergy for effective organizational effectiveness.
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