Chapter 1 The origins and development of managing diversity Glenda Strachan, Erica French and John Burgess Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 1-1

Diversity Diversity is when members of a group or organisation differ from one another along one or more important dimensions such as age, race, sex or ethnicity. Differences that are obvious – e.g. sex, age – are called primary dimensions. Differences that are not generally obvious – e.g. communication style, family status, education – are called secondary dimensions. Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 1-2

What do organisations say? Westpac Bank: ‘It is very important to us that we create an environment that understands, values and utilises the differences within our people. We aim to offer a supportive, harmonious workplace, free of prejudice, harassment and discrimination. In fact, it's a right we are all entitled to. Creating an environment where people can excel without encountering bias or being hampered by race, gender or disability has long been our focus. Westpac strives to provide equal opportunity in all aspects of employment, including recruitment, assignments, promotions, transfers, remuneration and training. This is not only the right thing to do, it also makes sense for our business; enabling us to attract people with the best skills and attributes and to develop a workforce whose diversity reflects that of the Australian population—our customers. In doing so we can develop a greater understanding and sensitivity to our customers' needs. A company's reputation is built in part by what people say about it. We feel privileged to have received external recognition for our diverse employment practices.’ (Westpac 2009) Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 1-3

What do organisations say? Australian Public Service (APS): ‘Diversity in this context covers gender, age, language, ethnicity, cultural background, sexual orientation, religious belief and family responsibilities. Diversity also refers to the other ways in which people are different, such as educational level, life experience, work experience, socio-economic background, personality and marital status. Workplace diversity involves recognising the value of individual differences and managing them in the workplace. The diversity of the people in the APS is one of its greatest strengths. Managing diversity successfully means creating an environment that values and utilises the contributions of people with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives…. The concept of workplace diversity includes the principle of equal employment opportunity (EEO). EEO policies address continued disadvantage experienced by particular groups of people in the workplace, including women, Indigenous Australians, people with disabilities and those who suffer disadvantage on the basis of race or ethnicity. These policies remain an important foundation for workplace diversity policy.’ (APS 2005) Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 1-4

Descriptions of the term ‘managing diversity’ (MD) and its variants There is no one generally accepted definition of MD. Oxford’s Dictionary of Human Resource Management describes MD as ‘the concept of recognizing the wide variety of qualities possessed by people within an organization.’ It goes on to say that MD ‘emphasizes the individuality of people, and the importance of valuing each person for his or her unique combination of skill, competences, attributes, knowledge, personality traits, etc.’ (Heery and Noon 2001: 215). Yet the above explanation is contested! Confusion abounds. Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 1-5

Origins of MD: USA Changing workforce demographics: 1987 report predicted a more feminised and ‘disadvantaged’ workforce (less white male workforce) for the year 2000 – the US would need greater investment in education and to change organisation of work, e.g. flexible hours. Increased global competition and assertion that US equity legislation (affirmative action) had not reached its goals. An additional force for change was increased global competition. R. Roosevelt Thomas Jr coined the term ‘managing diversity’: influential 1990 article in the Harvard Business Review. The identified goal was ‘to manage diversity in such a way as to get from a diverse work force the same productivity we once got from a homogenous work force’, and diversity could ‘perhaps’ deliver a bonus in performance (Thomas 1990: 112). Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 1-6

Spread of MD ideas Good for business: ‘A more diverse workforce, they [managers] say, will increase organizational effectiveness. It will lift morale, bring greater access to new segments of the marketplace, and enhance productivity. In short, they claim, diversity will be good for business’ (Thomas and Ely 1996: 79). Spread of MD ideas was swift: By 1997, 75% of Fortune 500 companies in the USA had diversity management programs. Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 1-7

What is the MD approach? NO AGREEMENT ON THIS MD moves beyond earlier equity approaches – MD is ‘new’ and equity is ‘old’. MD and equity approaches are different. MD is a new approach to management – a managerial philosophy. Kirton and Greene (2005: 123) list 5 approaches. MD is: ‘an evolutionary step from equality’ ‘a sophistication of the equality approach’ ‘a repackaging of equality’ ‘a sanitized, politically unthreatening and market- oriented notion’ ‘a “comfort zone”, allowing employers to avoid actively fighting discrimination’. Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 1-8

The business case for MD (competitive advantage) Need to maximise resource (staff) acquisition due to labour shortages Need to respond to diverse customer/client base Problem-solving potential and creativity of diverse teams MD facilitates organisational and cultural change Note that there is disagreement in the literature about points 3 and 4. Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 1-9

Equity approaches Equity – a premise that all persons have the right to benefit fairly, irrespective of gender, race, socioeconomic background, disability and so on. Equity legislation specifies groups of citizens who historically have experienced labour market disadvantage, such as women and certain ethnic groups. Managing diversity does not overtly recognise groups but predominantly talks about individuals. Yet one of the difficulties of understanding MD is that, while it promotes individual differences, practices within organisations often target specific groups. Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 1-10

Equity and MD The implicit cultural values underlying equal opportunity and affirmative action are egalitarianism, meritocracy and a remedy for past wrongs – that is, social goals – whereas those underlying MD are inclusiveness and respect for differences. The problems equal opportunity sets out to address are caused by bigotry and the limited access some groups have to jobs, networks and skills, whereas the problem diversity addresses is that the ‘organization loses out by requiring workers to assimilate to White male system’. Promoting equal opportunity involves formalisation of and commitment to non-discrimination and targeted programs for recruitment and advancement; for diversity, ‘culture change efforts will remove systemic, institutional barriers blocking minorities’ and women’s advancement’ (Kelly and Dobbin 1998: 976). Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 1-11

Business case and social justice MD does not engage with notions of past prejudice and discrimination or even present prejudice and discrimination and ‘provides only limited motivation for organizations to establish agendas promoting equality for historically excluded groups’ (Konrad 2003: 5). We cannot rely on MD policies ‘alone to deliver fairness and inclusion at work’. MD ‘is an organisational policy with business motives…It may indirectly produce a more equitable society…but there is no guarantee of this’ [original italics] (Wrench 2005: 79). Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 1-12

Diversity and equity issues have to be understood in their historical, cultural and geographical settings – MD is a concept reflecting the Western understanding of equity and outlook on management. Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 1-13

MD in an organisation Each country has its own mix of legislation and policies that may be promoted by government, business organisations, multi-national corporations, trade unions and/or community groups. Each organisation will develop its own approach – major influences are national legislation, labour market and ethos of the organisation. Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 1-14

Westpac and APS policies The nature, rationale and operation of diversity programs are more complex than is suggested in their statements. What would you need to do to implement these objectives? What difficulties might you face? Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 1-15