Diversity Management

By Group B

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Group members :
Michel KABONGA Isaac KARIUKI Nicole NZOKA Danstan SIMIYU Irne MUTISYA 11JBT008 11JBT012 11JBT005 12J01ABT040 12J01ABT038

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INTRODUCTION
What is diversity? According to Mondy, (2010) Diversity refers to any perceive difference among people i.e. age, race, religion, functional specialty, professions, sexual orientation, geographic origin, lifestyle, tenure with the organization or position and any other perceived difference. According to Dessler (2012) Diversity is having a workforce comprised of two or more groups of employees with various racial, ethical, gender, cultural national origin, handicap, age, and religious background.

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What is diversity management? According to Mondy (2010) is ensuring that factors are in place to provide for and encourage the continued development of a diverse work force by melding actual and perceive differences among workers to achieve maximum productivity. Because every person, culture and business situation is unique there are no simple rules for managing diversity, but diversity experts say that employers need to develop patience, open mindedness, acceptance and cultural awareness. Diversity is more than equal employment and affirmative action. Diversity aims to create workforce that mirror the population and customer that organizations serve.

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DEVELOPMENT
We cannot go on without knowing the dimensions of diversity in the workplace. That is why our group decided to include these dimensions of diversity to make it simple and clear so that we could understand it better. That leads to our next subtopic:

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Dimensions of diversity
Griffin & Moorhead (2009) say that race and gender have been the primary dimensions of diversity during the past two or three decades. The earliest civil rights laws were aimed at correcting racial segregation of gender, age, and disability. However, diversity entails broader issues than these. In the largest sense, the diversity of the workforce refers to all of the ways that employees are similar and different. Moorhead (2009) give us the difference between primary dimensions and secondary dimensions of diversity in their book and they say that:

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Dimensions
The primary dimensions of diversity are those factors that are either inborn or exert extraordinary influence on early socialization. These include age, race, and ethnicity, gender, physical and mental liabilities, and sexual orientation. These factors make up the essence of who we are as human beings. They define us to others, and because of how others react to them, these factors also define us to ourselves. These characteristics are enduring aspects of our human personality, and they sometimes present extremely complex problems to managers.

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Dimensions
Secondary dimensions of diversity include factors that matter to us as individuals and that to some extent define us to others; however, they may be less permanent than the primary dimensions and can be adapted or changed. These include educational background, geographical location, income, marital status, military experience, parental status, religious beliefs, and work experience. These factors may influence any given individual as much as the primary dimensions. As secondary dimensions of diversity are invisible, we are not going to talk so much about them but here are some of the primary dimensions of diversity:

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1. Racial and ethnicity diversity Nowadays, we are witnesses of so many ethnical conflicts almost in every country especially in Africa. This creates a hatred behavior among people and unfortunately, it affects the workplace. If the manager is from this tribe, he cannot hire a person of another tribe; and if the person is already in the organization as an employee, he or she is treated differently compare to others. That is a current issue in organizational set up and it needs to be taken care of. Daft (2009) said that some of the basic assumptions made about people and human nature contained in many of these theories are that humans judge each other on primary dimensions of diversity, such as race or gender, in the absence of additional information.

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He said that when group membership is based on these characteristics or differences between people, there is a formation of in-group and outgroup distinctions, and these judgments ultimately result in outcomes that may have negative effects for minority or out-group members (e.g., lack of mentors, stalled careers, and lower performance evaluations) or group productivity. Although so many people think about negatively when it comes to race and ethnicity diversity, others do not. Cox (1993) talked about something that he called the Value in diversity and he argued that diversity creates value and benefit for team outcomes. The general assumption in the value of diversity is that an increase in racial/ethnic diversity means that a work group will experience possible positive outcomes such as: increased information, enhanced problem solving ability, constructive conflict and debate, increased creativity, higher quality decisions, and increased understanding of different ethnicities/cultures.

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2. Gender diversity In so many part of the world, especially in Africa, women have been considered inferior to men over a long period of time. Women were considered not be as capable as men, either physically or mentally or emotionally. Actually, in some cultures in Africa, that way of seeing things has never changed. Kanter (1977) said that women experience isolation and sometimes stereotyping in the workplace. Discriminating women in the workplace does not promote achievement of goals of the organization in the way that there is no communication, and we all know that communication is one of the most important things for the organizational success.

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3. Age diversity Deal Jennifer (2006) divided the workplace span in four generations. These are: Traditionalists (born before 1946); Baby Boomers (born 19461964); Generation Xers (born 1965-1981); and Millennials (Born 19822000). In many countries in Africa, the retirement age is not taken seriously. That is why we see mature adults remaining employed while young people fresh from school stay jobless. That is why we need to understand the strengths and challenges inherent in multigenerational workplaces, and find ways to leverage age diversity.

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 Deal (2006) continue saying that the popular press paints a picture of generational divide at work. Mature workers (Traditionalists and Baby Boomers) are portrayed as loyal and hardworking, but dinosaurs when it comes to innovation and technology. Younger employees (Generation Xers and Millennials) are viewed as innovative, but disrespectful, lazy, and egocentric. Taken at face value, these stereotypes can lead to conflict and turmoil in the workplace. This is really a serious matter that needs to be taken care of and that is what we shall do in the process of managing diversity in the workplace.

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4. Disability diversity According to the Collins English Dictionary (2009), disability is a lack of adequate power, strength, or physical or mental ability. Jaeger& Bowman (2005) said that disability in the workplace include medical, moral, social, and post-modernist perspectives. They continue saying that several theories do not explicitly portray disability as positive or negative, but rather propose variability in how people with disabilities deal with workplace situations and how coworkers respond. Most likely, they are considered to be useless in the organization, they are not flexible, and they can take so much time when it comes to do a task. All these result in isolation because they are not asked anything and when it comes to hiring new employees, people with disabilities are most likely not hired because people think that they are going to consume so much time compare to a person without disability.

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5. Sexual orientation diversity Everyone has a sexual orientation. The American Psychological Association (APA) defines sexual orientation as an emotional or affectional attraction to another person. This includes heterosexuality (attraction to the opposite sex), homosexuality (attraction to the same sex) and bisexuality (attraction to either sex). A person's sexual orientation emerges during adolescent development and is not the result of a conscious choice. There orientation is not the problem in this case but the problem is the fact that gays and lesbians find themselves in a totally different world, hence resulting to isolation. Ragins and Wiethoff (2005) noted that it may be the case that gay men do not find themselves to be similar to heterosexual men; likewise, lesbian women may not necessarily identify with heterosexual women. That is why sexual orientation is also considered as an issue to deal with in the organization because it creates a division between employees.
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6. Cultural and national origin diversity Collins English Dictionary (2005) defines culture as the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group. Nowadays, we see towns populated by people of various cultures, nations, races, etc. The likelihood to find only one kind of culture in a town is so low. This diversity is like a sword that got two edges. In one hand, it is good because people from different places have different experiences. These differences strengthen the group and make it more efficient if it is valued and integrated into the group dynamics. However, it can take time, intent and the willingness to be open-minded and non-judgmental about the value the differences bring.

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Process of managing diversity

Ross and Schneider (1992) advocate a strategic approach to manage diversity that is based on their conception of the difference between seeking equal opportunity and managing diversity. The process involves the following steps:

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a. Diagnosis A diagnosis of the current situation has to be done in terms of statistics, policy and culture and looking at both issues and causes. b. Setting aims It involves the business case for equal opportunities, identifying the critical role of commitment from the top of the organization, and a vision of what the organization would like if its successfully managed diversity.

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c. Spreading the ownership This is a critical stage in which awareness needs to be raised via a process of encouraging people to question their attitudes and preconceptions. To Ross and Schneider, awareness needs to be raised in all employees at all levels, especially managers and it needs to be clear that diversity is not something owned by the personnel function. d. Change in new systems Since policy development comes after awareness raising as it enables a contribution to be made from all in the organization, new systems need to be changed via involvement and not through imposition on the unwilling.

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e. Managing the transition It needs to involve a range of training initiatives. Positive action programs, specifically designed for minority groups, may be used to help them understand the culture of the organization and acquire essential skills. f. Managing the programme to sustain momentum Ross and Schneider (1992) explains that this will involve a champion not necessarily from the HR function, but someone who constitutes in his or her previous organization role in addition. Furthermore, the continued involvement of senior managers is important, together with the trade unions. Harnessing initiatives that come up through departments and organizing support networks for disadvantaged groups is a key at this stage.

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Ross and Schneider (1992) also recommend measuring achievement in terms of business benefit. That is better relationships with customers improvement in productivity and profitability. Knowing all the processes to manage diversity, let us now go through the advantages and disadvantages of diversity in an organization.

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Advantages of diversity
In his book, Rao (2009), give us some advantages of diversity in the organization. Here they are: i. Problem solving skills Problem solving skills include diagnosing the problem, developing alternatives and also selecting the best alternative to help in the organization. Increase in decision-making, solving problems and creativity every culture has different perceptions business affairs. This is due to having a different life experience. Therefore, diversity causes an increase in organizations' decisionmaking, problem resolution and innovations. A workforce of different cultures is more likely to make better decisions concerning their own cultural groups.
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ii. Diversity provides a competitive advantage Employees with diversified back ground bring diversified skills, knowledge and culture in addition to talent needed by the job. They can also bring by original ideas and approaches to the work place that helps a company target products and services to a market place that itself is becoming more and more diverse.

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iii. Diversity brings about multi ethnic unified societies Employment of human resource exclusively based on suitability to the job results in multi ethnic society at the work place. People from different places, from different religions and also different races and cultures, form the work force. These employees develop social relations among themselves and help the organization work together in harmony. A diverse staff contributes to higher production of products and services, and a variety of viewpoints and solutions. Ideas are generated on a global scale. Also, the company can be perceived as a company that supports diversity. This looks good to other businesses that might feel the same way and want to partner. It also looks good to future clients and customers and can attract good workers.
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iv. Learning and growth Another advantage of workplace diversity is the opportunity for employees' personal growth. Being exposed to new ideas, cultures and perspectives can help individuals to reach out intellectually and gain a clearer view of their surroundings and their place in the world. Spending time with culturally diverse coworkers can slowly break down the subconscious barriers of ethnocentrism and prejudice, encouraging employees to be more well-rounded members of society.

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Disadvantages of diversity
Rao (2009), he says that diversity if poorly managed may lead to some negative effects to the organization or work place such as: i. Potential source of conflict If diversity is poorly managed, it can lead to a host of problems such as higher turnover among newly employees, low morale and also instances of inter work conflicts. ii. Misunderstanding and perceptual difference Diversity in workforce mostly results to misunderstanding caused by perceptual differences between the employees.
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iii. Communication distortion Work force diversity results in communication distortions in terms of language due to wide range difference in accents or even pronunciation. Perceptual cultural and language barriers need to be overcome by diversity programs to succeed. Ineffective communication of key objectives results in confusion, lack of team work and low morale. iv. Failure to respect others Diversity in the work place can uncover a latent lack of respect in some employees. Inability to show respect towards those who are different can cause unnecessary tension and inhibit communication in the work place.it can essentially divide the workplace in groups resulting to hostility.
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iii. Competition rather than team work It can cause competition among workers. If workers are not open to accepting others for whom they are, they may become competitors rather than members of a team. This can have negative consequences as projects take longer to complete when people are not working together. iv. Failure to utilize differences An office full of competitors means an inherent inability to recognize opportunities and use differences to their advantage. A diverse team can benefit the company in terms of reaching a broader client base. An inability to recognize the potential advantages of diversity hurts not only the workers but the business in the long run.
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CONCLUSION
In our presentation we have covered different things on diversity in the workplace and also we saw how to deal with those diversities because if they are not taken care of, they can lead to lack of communication, conflicts and so many other disadvantages as we saw above. As future managers or any other kind of employee or employer, we need to understand the diversities that our current world is facing so that we may be able to deal with them and create a peaceful environment in our workplaces.

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THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME

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