Effective Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity Practices

Question: Discuss about the Effective diversity management and equal opportunity practices? Answer: Introduction Workforce diversity and equality have become a primary concern for organisations today. Equality of opportunity and diversity are like two sides of the same coin which must go hand in hand to maintain a balanced equilibrium within the organisation(Bolen Kleiner, 1996). Both equality and diversity play very vital roles in determining the culture of an organisation and how people treat each other at work. Equality and Diversity are the two terms currently being used for Equal Opportunities(Burgin, 2010). It is a legal obligation that safeguards working professionals against all forms of discrimination at workplace. Employees can face workplace discrimination against factors such as, gender, age, sex, religion, caste, nationality, values, beliefs, culture, sexual orientation and physical or mental disability(Patrick Kumar, 2012). Diversity and equal opportunities at workplace are affected by a number of factors such as the maximum age gap between employees, sex ratio, cultural beliefs , values and culture of the organisation. Part One: Implementing diversity management strategy for addressing the under-representation of female managers to more senior positions Workforce diversity refers to the variety of differences between individuals in an organisation (Beinrauch, 2013). Workforce diversity is defined as an organisations planned and systematic commitment to recruiting, selecting, hiring, rewarding, retaining and promoting an heterogeneous mix of people. It refers to the co-existence of individuals from different demographic and socio-cultural backgrounds such as, age, sex, gender, race, culture, nationality, sexual orientation, education, lifestyle, language, economic status, physical appearance and physical or mental disability(Simons Rowland, 2011). Diversity in the workplace involves creating a workplace environment where employees belonging to different gender, sex, race, nationality, culture and disability can work together in harmony. Apart on various benefits associated with maintaining a diverse workforce, increase in organisational effectiveness and ability to attract the best personnel are the two primary advantages(Patrick K umar, 2012). Effective management of diversity requires development of an equitable work environment where no one is treated with advantage or disadvantage. Equal opportunity is a means that encourage and support workplace diversity and ensures that individual differences are respected and accepted to enhance overall effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation (Bagilhole, 2014). Equal opportunity is defined as the policy of treating people without any discrimination, primarily on the basis of age, sex or race. It is also referred to as the principles of non-discrimination that ensures opportunities in employment, education, resource distribution, benefits and advancements should be freely available to all individuals irrespective of the differences in their age, gender, sex, sexual orientation, race, religion, nationality, culture, education, lifestyle, economic status and physical or mental disability(Bagilhole, 2014). Principles of equal opportunity lays the foundation that people within any institution will be treat equally and will not face any form of discrimination or disadvantage by bias or prejudices. Discrimination on the basis of sex, that is whether the employee is a woman or man, is one of the most common forms of discrimination that occur within any organisation (Solotoff Kramer, 2014). From time in memorial women fall in that category of individuals who face serious discrimination at workplace. Sexual or gender discrimination is defined as the situation in which different individuals are treated differently in their employment specifically because they are a woman or a man(Cox Blake, 1991). Several examples of sex discrimination at work are known such as, discrimination during hiring, firing and promotions where women candidates with almost equal or even more qualifications as compared to their male subordinates are not given equal opportunities just because the client feels more comfortable interacting with a male employee or the organisation perceives a male employee to be more competent for the role. Wage gap between the pay of a woman and man is another very common for m of sex discrimination which prevails in almost all industrie(Henry Evans, 2007)s. It is also seen that the women employees of a company are not offered the same benefits and incentives as those offered to their male subordinates. Also it is a very common practice within organisations that women are poorly represented at leadership and management roles(Mattiske, 2012). Existence of such examples despite the presence of several acts and policies against sex discrimination creates a need for implementation of diversity management strategies that aim at increasing the potential female talent pool so that they are able to progress to leadership roles and other senior positions and make significant contribution towards the success of the organisation. The framework and processes that an HR manager needs to adopt when implementing a diversity management strategy for addressing the under-representation of female workers and managers within an organisation is shown in figure below: Framework for Implementing Diversity Management Startegy Fig.1. Source: Shena, et al.(2009) Recruitment and Selection: It is the first step towards the dvelopment of a talent pool within an organistaion(Armstrong, 2006). Recruitment and selection process should encourage and support sleection and hiring of more women employees for managerials and leadership roles. Focus of the recruitment and selection process should be on evaluating the candidates on the basis of their skills and expertise and not on the basis of their sex(Shena, et al., 2009). Recruiters and selectors should be aware of the companys non-discrimination policies and should perform their tasks accordingly. Training and Development: One of the major functions of HR in implemneting diversity management strategy is to provide high quality awareness diversity training to all employees of the organisation(Crawley, et al., 2013). It is important to spread the aware of hiring and promoting women employees to leadership and management roles. Performance Appraisals: Effective performance appraisal practices must be designed in a objective manner rather than being subjective(Crawley, et al., 2013). Appriasals done should be on the basis of performance, behaviour and contribution of employee towards organisational goals and not based on whether the employee is a woman or a man. Involvement of non-traditional managers and women managers can help developing fair and objective performance appriasal practices. Wages: Equality in pay not only contributes to effective diversity management but also leads to enhanced organisational performance(Bolen Kleiner, 1996). It is important to apply the principles of equal pay while developing a performance-based pay system to ensure no discrimination of wages are made based on sex difference of employees. Work-life Balance: Every professional irrespective of their sex strives to attain a work-life balance to live a good life(Nwagbara Akanji, 2012). However as compared to their male coordinates, female employees are more focused on attaining a work-life balance which can provide them an opportunity to perform both personal and professional responsibilities. A failure to maintain a balance between personal and professional responsibilities, often restrict women employees from achieving desired career goals(Nwagbara Akanji, 2012). To attract and retain women employees it is important to provide them enough flexibility such as short working hours, work from home options, maternity leaves etc. The above mentioned diversity management approaches can help HR managers in implementing diversity management strategy focus on increasing the potential female talent pool so that they can take up leadership and managerial roles within the organisation. Part two: Business Case for Equality and Diversity Effective diversity management is driven by the business case which recognises that economic and other decisions would be made in a better manner if organisations make maximum use of talent available in the labour pool rather than restricting their selection to only those who are in a powerful position or belong to a specific demographic and socio-cultural background (Bendl, et al., 2015). The business case for equality and diversity states that effective diversity management takes advantage of the growing cultural pluralism that has resulted from the growing workforce mobility, development of world markets, internationalisation of business and an increased awareness about individual differences. Enforced through legislation, equal opportunity starts externally as compared to diversity management which starts internally with the efforts of organisational members to create a fully inclusive organisational culture and an atmosphere of equality at work(Beinrauch, 2013). Thus, as per the business case of diversity and equality, the scope of diversity management is much wider(Burgin, 2010). Firstly, it aims at overcoming the segregations of labour market by addressing the issues of inequalities on the basis of individual differences such as, age, sex, race and class etc. Secondly, it aims at taking advantage of and valuing individual differences, specifically cultural pluralism, in a way that it provides individuals an opportunity to realise their full potential, which above all legal compliance-oriented equal opportunities(Bolen Kleiner, 1996). The business case for diversity and equality supports the involvement and increase in number of women in leadership and managerial roles as most consumer decisions are made by women. Being buyers most of the times women are most competent in understanding and identifying buyer decision making behaviour as compared to their male coordinates. Researches reveal that increasing the number of women in leadership and managerial r oles leads to organisational stability and development of a disciplines culture which in turn increases overall organisational efficiency and effectiveness(Bolen Kleiner, 1996). Women compared to men are more emotionally stable and assertive thus are more effective in people management roles. The business case for diversity has its own strengths and limitations such that this approach is effective in attracting buy-ins by senior decision makers and minimised resistance to change a top management level. However it emphasizes only on the bottom-line benefits of a diverse, inclusive workforce and often ignores the difficult issues of racism and discrimination while dealing with the easy ones. Effective diversity management required development of a equality based workplace environment which can be achieved by implementing equal opportunity practices such as Equality Act 2010, Equality Scheme and Positive Action provision(Bolen Kleiner, 1996). The Equality Act 2010 prohibits all forms of discriminations such as, direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, and discrimination by association and perception. It also safeguards employees from all forms of harassments, victimisation and disability discrimination at work place. The implementation of Equality Scheme provides an overarching framework for encouraging and promoting equality and diversity at workplace. Implementation of the Positive action provision under the Equality Act 2010 is a way of providing the disadvantaged and under-represented groups an opportunity to have same chances as others(Cox Blake, 1991). As per this new recruitment and promotion provision, employers have the right to choose the candidate belo nging to disadvantaged or under-represented group when deciding between two candidates who are equally qualified. Conclusion Effective diversity management and equal opportunity practices help organisations achieve a range of objectives such as enhancing flexibility, creativity, employee retention, employee attraction, and gaining a competitive advantage over rivals. It helps a heterogeneous group of employees, achieve greater creativity and innovation, thus outperforming homogeneous group of employees. Effective management of a diverse workforce required bringing about considerable changes in the mindset of employees and culture of the organisation. Effective communication, defining organisations vision, mission and values in a way that align with diversity management strategy, spreading awareness of benefits of maintaining a diverse workforce through diversity trainings and implementing diversity and equal opportunity policies and procedures are some of the key processes for effective diversity management that can facilitate change. Apart from these processes, top leadership commitment, sligning diversit y with organisations strategic plans, linking diversity to performance, accountability, measurement, recruitment and succession planning are some other HR best practices for effective workplace diversity and equality management. References Armstrong, M., (2006) A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Bagilhole, B., (2014) Understanding equal opportunities and diversity: The social differentiations and intersections of inequality. Bristol: Policy Press. 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