Assignment 4 Organisational Processes

workforce diversity presents both opportunities and challenges in organisations

today, companies need to address these potential issues and adapt to emerging
workforce needs

Discuss in detail what strategies, at least three, you would use to gain a competitive
advantage from these factors.

to illustrate your answer use specific examples of your own Organisations diverse
workforce , and General Examples from the world of Business today
1 Introduction

According to Ibec, the workforce in Ireland has changed greatly over the past twenty years. Contributing factors
to this have been increases in the number of dual-career couples and therefore increases in the participation of
women at work, Increase in the immigration of non-Irish nationals and the workforce is ageing significantly.
Combining these factors with along with individual differences in the individual make-up of workers such as
marital or family status, disability, sexual orientation, or membership of the travelling community, makes for a very
diverse labor force and offers challenges for managing these individuals.(ibec)

Employment statistics show that the future workforce will be radically different from the workforce of today. The
goal of valuing diversity is to utilize all of the differences among workers for the benefit of the workers and the
organization.

According to Griffin, international business has quickly become important in almost every manager's life and is
likely to become even more important in the future. Managers need to recognize that employees from different
backgrounds are similar in some respects and different in others. (Griffin book chapter 2)

2. Definition
Competitive advantage is an advantage that a firm has over its competitors,. This allows the
firm to generate greater sales or margins and / or retain more customers than its competition.
There can be many types of competitive advantages including the firm's cost structure,
product offerings, distribution network and customer support. (investopedia)
Workforce diversity is a function of the similarities and differences among employees in such characteristics as
age, gender, ethnic heritage, physical or mental ability or disability, race, and sexual orientation.
Diversity can be categorized as having primary and secondary dimensions, showing in the graph below.

The primary dimensions of diversity are those that are either inborn or exert extraordinary influence on early
socialization. Secondary dimensions of diversity include factors that are important to us as individuals and to
some extent define us to others but which are less permanent, and can be adapted or changed.

3. Advantages and disadvantages of Workforce Diversity (chron)

Advantages
In a study conducted by researchers from the University of Illinois in 2009, both racial and gender
diversity were found to contribute positively to sales, customers and profits. Racial diversity can
also positively influence market share, although the impact of gender on market share was not
significant in the study. In addition, companies often can increase their creativity by encouraging
diverse opinions and perspectives. Company recruiters can also widen the talent pool if they recruit
employees based on relevant qualifications and experience, rather than limiting their search on
race, gender, age or other grounds that are not central to the role. (chron)

Brand blunder refers to the goof-ups associated with the branding of a product,
especially a new product in a new market. There could be many reasons for such
slips. For example, the lack of understanding of the language, culture, consumer
attitude etc. When Coca-Cola first entered the Chinese market, an early
translation of its brand into Chinese was not so successful it came out as bite
the wax tadpole. (coca cola) These problems might have been mitigated with
a more global, diverse workforce. Most large companies today have at least 40
percent of their revenues and most of their profits coming from international
operations. These numbers will do nothing but rapidly increase. Protective,
exclusive and homogeneous workforces simply cant be effective in this new
marketplace different values and perspectives are required (talent
management)

Finally, the culmination is a study by The New York Times that demonstrates
companies with strong diversity programs outperform their competitors. This is a
correlational study, so it cannot be inferred that one factor causes the other
just that they are related. Similar findings abound from Fortune Best Places to
Work and other surveys of leading companies.

Disadvantages

Although employing a diverse workforce has many advantages, it comes with some disadvantages
as well. A company that recruits and employs a diverse workforce must create a culture that
promotes dignity and respect to avoid tension between employees. In addition, communication
may be adversely affected if employees' first language is not English. Existing employees may
leave the organization if their personal prejudices prevent them from working with colleagues from
a different background. As another disadvantage, the investigation of employee complaints
regarding negative attitudes and harassment can take up a considerable amount of management
time, whether or not they are upheld. (chron)

4. Strategies for gaining a competitive advantage Managing Diversity

The key to employing and retaining a diverse workforce is to train and support managers within
the organization. Managers must understand the need to support individuals within the team,
balancing conflicting needs and opinions. Each team member must have the opportunity to be
heard and feel that their opinions are respected. Managers also need to understand and deal
constructively with their own biases and prejudices. By offering opportunities to all employees
based on their performance, a company can increase its productivity and creativity. Chron

Managing diversity entails enabling people to perform up to their maximum potential. It focuses on
changing the organizations culture and infrastructure such that people provide the highest
productivity possible. Effectively managing diversity can influence the organizations costs and
employee attitudes, recruitment of human resources, sales and market share, creativity and
innovation, group problem solving and productivity. In a diverse workforce, managers are compelled
to recognize and manage the similarities and differences that exist among the people in the
organization.
Some strategies for managing diversity are: training and education programs, organizational policies
that mandate fairness and equity for all employees,mentoring programs, performance appraisal
systems that are nondiscriminatory, outreach programs, and career development programs.
We will look into

1 training and education programs (ions)

Supervisors are in a position where they have to manage the diverse perspectives of workers and
customers. Managers are obligated to treat their people equally, but sometimes fall short of
communicating effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds or experiences. Training that
focuses on managing a diverse workforce will help supervisors connect with all team members and
include every worker in the activities that support the company’s bottom line.

Cultural diversity training can help employees improve their performance by creating a workplace
free of judgments and stereotypes. Although employees may have certain opinions about their co-
workers, diversity training will help employees recognize the behaviors that could possibly create a
hostile or uncomfortable work environment. Educational activities about cultural variations also
provide employees with a level of understanding about other cultures they may not have had
before.

McDonalds provide quality coaching, thought leadership, mentoring, and relevant

education workshops for our employees and leaders. They have several internal
initivaes // such as Intercultural Learning Practice (diversity education), the
Employee Business Networks, and an online mentoring program. (McDonalds)

Cascade Designs /////////////

In order to conduct an effective diversity training program commitment and

support must be gained from top management. Inclusion needs to be part of the
organizational strategic plan. Qualified trainers need to be used for the purpose of
this training. Training should be to be combined with other diversity initiatives and
needs to be attended by all employees. Inclusive programs, mandatory attendance,
creation of inclusive programs, provision of trust and confidentiality, requiring
accountability, and conducting evaluation. (ooother)

2 Organisational policies & procedures

Google have 70 offices in over 40 countries. They ensure that attention to diversity is built into everything they
do, both because it makes sense from a business perspective and also because its the right thing to do. Their
policy is to hire the best and most talented people from all cultures and backgrounds, everywhere they operate.
Google have an extensive code of conduct which encompass workforce diversity as well as prublishing iversity
and inclusion annual reports . (google)

Cascade Desigsns issues each employee with an employee handbook. This outlines code of conduct
Policies procedures... Dignity in work place.

3 performance management

Cascade Designs regularly evaluates its staff by means of its performance management
process. One to One meetings are held regularly with all staff. Communications meetings are
held weekly with each team, and quarterly site meetings are held also. There is a tone of
inclusion when it comes to knowing targets, and assessing if the person, team, department or
branch have successfully met the targets laid out. Bi-annual performance appraisals are held
with each employee, where past goals are assessed, future goals are drawn up and training
and development requirements are /////////. The meetings allow

5. Conclusion
A multicultural organization is one in which employees of different backgrounds, experiences, and cultures can
contribute and achieve their fullest potential for the benefit of both themselves and the organization. Developing a
multicultural organization is a significant step in managing a diverse workforce and may be crucial to sustaining a
competitive advantage in the marketplace. A multicultural organization has six characteristics: pluralism, full
structural integration, full integration of informal networks, an absence of prejudice and discrimination, equal
identification with organizational goals among employees from both majority and minority groups, and low levels
of intergroup conflict.

Workforce diversity goes beyond a company's legal obligations to comply with equal opportunities
and non-discrimination legislation. Companies that employ diverse workforces encourage different
perspectives and promote learning from alternative perspectives. A diverse workforce should
reflect the society in which the company operates in terms of race, gender, physical and mental
ability, ethnicity, age, class, spiritual practice and sexual orientationEmploying a diverse workforce
requires a company to create a culture that respects conflicting opinions and promotes the dignity
of each member of the workforce. (chron 1 )
Ibec
http://www.ibec.ie/IBEC/ES.nsf/vPages/HR_best_practice~diversity-and-the-integrated-
workplace?OpenDocument

Organizational Behavior , Sixth Edition Gregory Moorhead, Arizona State University Ricky W. Griffin, Texas
A & M University

Investopedia http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/competitive_advantage.asp

Chron Houston chronicle http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-diverse-workforce-18780.html

// MANAGING WORKFORCE DIVERSITY Mioara Florina Pantea, Vasile Voicu

Pantea Universitatea Aurel Vlaicu Arad

// Us department of labour
http://www.dol.gov/dol/aboutdol/history/herman/reports/futurework/report/chapter1/main.
htm

McDonalds
http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/inclusion_and_diversity.html

Google

http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//diversity/pdf/Google-
Diversity-and-Inclusion-2011-Annual-Report.pdf.

Coca Cola http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/coca-cola-or-bite-the-wax-tadpole-as-its-

called-in-china-29116931.html

Talent management -
http://talentmgt.com/articles/view/the_business_case_for_workforce_diversity/4