2. Managing Diversity 4

3. Diversity and HR Challenges…
How can employees respect differences?
How can an organization attract and retain a diverse workforce?
How is diversity successfully managed?
How are affirmative action programs linked to employee diversity programs?

4. What is Diversity?
Diversity = human characteristics that make people different from one another
Characteristics have no or little control over
Characteristics can adopt, drop, or modify

5. What is Diversity? (Cont.)
Affirmative Action vs. Managing Diversity:
Affirmative Action = providing opportunities for women and minorities
Managing Diversity = set of activities involved in integrating nontraditional employees (women and minorities) into the workforce and using diversity to the organization’s competitive advantage

6. Why is Diversity Important?
Changing Demographics
Research (Rosabeth Kanter) has shown that diversity in the workforce can bring about:
Greater Creativity
Better Problem solving
Greater system flexibility
Better Information
Marketing Concerns

7. Why is Diversity Important? (Cont.)
“By 2050, the U.S. population is expected to increase by 50% and minority groups will make up nearly half of the population…. The population of older Americans is expected to more than double. One-quarter of all Americans will be of Hispanic origin…. More women and people with disabilities will be on the job.”
U.S. Department of Labor, Futurework: Trends and Challenges
for Work in the 21st Century. Washington, D.D. (Labor Day 1999).

8. Key Challenges to Managing Employee Diversity
Individual vs. Group Fairness
Universal Concept of Management vs. Cultural Relativity Concept of Management
Resistance to Change
Group Cohesiveness & Interpersonal Conflict
Segmented Communications Networks
Resentment
Backlash
Retention
Glass Ceiling: intangible barrier in an organization that prevents female and minority employees from rising to positions above a certain level
Competition for Opportunities

9. Key Challenges to Managing Employee Diversity
Groups identified to be most likely left out of corporate mainstream:
African-Americans
Asian-Americans
People with Disabilities
Foreign Born
Homosexuals
Latinos (Hispanic-Americans)
Older Workers
Religious Minorities
Women

10. Improving the Management of Diversity
Top Management Commitment to Valuing Diversity
Diversity Training Programs
programs that train and educate employees on specific cultural and sex differences and how to respond to these in the workplace
Involve as many employees from every level in the organization as you can when designing a diversity initiative. This gets people talking about the program and promotes ownership and buy-in. Creating an inclusive environment is an ongoing process.

11. Improving the Management of Diversity (Cont.)
Support Groups
groups established to provided nurturing climate for those that might feel isolated or alienated
Accommodation of Family Needs
Senior Mentoring Programs
support program in which senior managers identify promising women and minorities and play an important role in nurturing their careers
Involve as many employees from every level in the organization as you can when designing a diversity initiative. This gets people talking about the program and promotes ownership and buy-in. Creating an inclusive environment is an ongoing process.

12. Improving the Management of Diversity(Cont.)
Apprenticeships
programs in which promising prospective employees are groomed before they are actually hired
Communication Standards
Diversity Audits:
review of the effectiveness of an organization’s diversity management program (potential drawbacks)
Management Responsibility & Accountably
Involve as many employees from every level in the organization as you can when designing a diversity initiative. This gets people talking about the program and promotes ownership and buy-in. Creating an inclusive environment is an ongoing process.

13. Some Warnings Avoid Appearance of “White Male Bashing”
Avoid the Promotion of Stereotypes
Cultural determinism
idea that one can successfully infer an individual’s motivations, interests, values and behavioral traits based on that individual’s memberships
Involve as many employees from every level in the organization as you can when designing a diversity initiative. This gets people talking about the program and promotes ownership and buy-in. Creating an inclusive environment is an ongoing process.

14. If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look like this. There would be:
61 Asians
12 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south
13 Africans
50 would be female
50 would be male
74 would be nonwhite
26 would be white
67 would be non-Christian
33 would be Christian
89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be from the United States
80 would live in substandard housing
14 would be unable to read
33 would die of famine
1 would be near death;
1 would be near birth
7 would have a college education
8 would own a computer

15. In Summary…
Diversity management is about full utilization of people with different backgrounds and experiences.
Effective diversity management strategy has a positive effect on cost reduction, creativity, problem solving, and organizational flexibility.