Introduction
It is a moral and social responsibility of organizations and business enterprises to embrace diversity within their organizational workforce. The reliance on a diverse organizational workforce normally serves to be a sign of the diversity of the community that the business organization undertakes its operations. Ignoring diversity can impose significant effects on the business performance of an organization, and can additionally impose huge costs regarding the damaged business reputation and compensation payments (Arredondo 1996). Diversity can generally be described as valuing every organizational member as an individual.
With this respect, managing diversity is core to the effective management of people within an organization, and it is usually relevant to the all the business processes and functions (Chartered Institute of Personal Development 2006). The significant challenge when managing diversity is to establish an organizational culture that meets the values of every organizational member, which is needed to foster employee productivity.
Research studies report that half of the organizations in the United Kingdom are faced with difficulties during workforce recruitment. As a result, business enterprises and organizations that do not emphasize on managing diversity are gradually risking in the increasing competition for available talent across diverse cultures. In the present competitive business environment, it is imperative that business enterprises explore all the potential sources that can be used to create a competitive advantage (Chartered Institute of Personal Development 2006). The implication of this is that employers must have an in-depth understanding of the aspect of diversity and its relationship with business performance; this offers a framework through which business enterprises can compete productively.
This paper compares and contrasts Primary Care Trust, which embraces diversity and the TMT companies in Europe, which have failed to embrace diversity. The paper also conducts an analysis of the companies’ policies, procedures and equal opportunities at different levels within the organization. The paper also compares how the organizations adhere to the governmental legislation and offer viable recommendations for the company has failed in embracing diversity.
Comparison of the policies, procedures and equal opportunities at different organizational levels within the organizations
Diversity management entails a more proactive and inclusive approach that is more than just complying with equal opportunities for legal requirements. It provides a framework through which employers can implement to add value to their organizations through recognition of all the kinds of variations among individuals. The Chartered Institute of Personal Development first proposed the aspect of diversity management during the mid-90s.
At the same time, the legislations concerning equality came into being during the 1970s, which by then emphasized race and gender only (Human 2005). There have been further advancements concerning equality, and aspects such as disabilities, religious background, sexual orientation, equal pay and age have been incorporated in the equality legislation (Klarsfeld 2010). However, what remains surprising is that fact that most of the organizations in the United Kingdom have only emphasized on the legal compliance concerning equality and they have undermined the use of diversity to establish a competitive advantage. Surveys by the CIPD report that most organizations in the UK are embarking on diversity management because of the pressure imposed by legal compliance (Chartered Institute of Personal Development 2006).
Other driving factors mostly entailed business case reasons such as corporate, social and social responsibility, the need to have the best talent and simply because it is a logical approach to doing business. An implication from these findings is that the concept of diversity management has not been given the required focus by the business enterprises in the UK, and they are most likely to miss the prospective business advantages associated with diversity management (Chartered Institute of Personal Development 2006). The following section discusses the differences between the policies, procedures and the equal opportunities between the Primary Care Trust and the TMT companies in Europe.
Primary Care Trust
Primary Care Trust has a good reputation as one of the employers in the UK that embraces equal opportunity and diversity in its workforce. At Primary Care Trust, the mission statement supports the concept of workforce diversity and equal opportunities during employment. Also, the Primary Care Trust recognizes the valuable contribution that a diverse workforce offers to the organization regarding their business operations (Klarsfeld 2010).
The principal objective of existence of the Primary Care Trust is to establish and maintain a workforce that reflects the diversity among the community that the organization operates, and ensure that the clients of the organization benefit significantly from the diverse workforce that the organization has. It is also the mission of the Primary Care Trust not to undertake any form of discrimination directed at an applicant or employee basing on their age, sexual orientation, racial background, nationality, religion and ethnic orientation. This has been integrated with the internal policies and procedures of the organization to ensure that there is an effective realization of this policy (Özbilgin 2009).
At Primary Care Trust, the principal objective of the diversity and equal opportunities policy is to eliminate cases of discrimination and largely foster workforce diversity and equality of opportunity. The aspect of equal opportunities in the context of Primary Care Trust is that present employees and potential applicants receive equal and fair treatment with respect to employment matters and recruitment. Diversity management at the organization is intended to be of potential benefit to the workforce itself, the organization and the clients and the general population who happen to interact with the staff from all organizational levels within the company (Arredondo 1996).
The implementation of the diversity and equal opportunities at the Primary Care Trust bases on several legal requirements such as the Race Relations Amendment Act of 2002, Asylum and Immigration Act of 1997, Disability Discrimination Act of 1995, Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 and 1986 (Wrench 2007). Also, the policy is implemented based on the Equal Pay Act of 1970, Equal Pay regulations of 1983 and Rehabilitation of Offenders Act of 1974 (Klarsfeld 2010).
TMT companies in Europe
The TMT companies in Europe are currently facing diversity issues among its top management levels, with a primary concern being whether the company top management comprises of the right mix. TMT companies in Europe lack diversity in their workforce and equal opportunities of employment for its potential employees (Chartered Institute of Personal Development 2006). A survey on the company executive team reveals that there is lack of women, with the average age of the members of the board being 57 and a miniature proportion of the technology-savvy business leaders are some of the key indicators that the company is failing regarding the implementation of diversity and equal opportunities for employment policies.
This serves to separate the top management team from the consumers that the companies are targeting. For instance, there is lack of Asians in the company’s executive teams of the converged companies can be a significant worry because market segments in Asia are growing fast, with many of them being the first to adopt emerging technologies compared to other market segments that the converged companies operate (Human 2005).
The findings also reveal that there is a lack of functional diversity within the TMT companies in Europe workforce. Lack of functional diversity implies that organizational efficiency will be significantly reduced (Human 2005).
Comparison of the policies, procedures and equal opportunity at different levels of the organizations
It is arguably evident that Primary Care Trust emphasizes the concept of workforce diversity and equal opportunity across all organizational levels ranging from the top management to the lower level staff. This is contrary to the case of TMT companies that lacks diversity and equal opportunity among its top management levels (Marlene 2000). This can be a significant contributing factor to the differences in the performance of the organizations, in the sense that Primary Care Trust has a higher competitive advantage and improved customer satisfaction because of its diversity at all the organizational levels.
Also, workforce diversity has increased its employee productivity because of the fact it creates a diverse pool of human resources that can meet the diverse needs of its clients. This contrary to the case of TMT companies in Europe because lack of diversity and equal opportunity at the top management spreads the negative influences to the entire organization, which in turn affects business performance and its reputation (Marlene 2000).
The implementation of diversity and equal opportunity policy at the TMT companies is primarily driven by legal compliance, while on the case of the Primary Care Trust, the implementation of this policy is significantly driven by the need to harness the potential business benefits associated with sustaining a diverse workforce and fostering equal opportunity for all the current and potential employees.
This difference concerning the principal objective of implementing the diversity management and equal opportunities can be a significant contributing factor to why Primary Care Trust benefits from diversity management while TMT companies in Europe are not gaining any business advantage from the same. Also, diversity management within the Primary Care Trust extends beyond the individual in the organization to the people that happen to interact with the company staff of any organizational level; this is an effective strategy that the company uses to reflect its diversity in the community from which the company is undertaking its business operations, which is contrary to the case of TMT companies in Europe, that emphasizes on workforce diversity within the organization without taking any external considerations (Stockdale & Faye 2004).
The implementation of diversity management at the Primary Care Trust ensures that every organizational member is involved and also ensures that all the employees within the organization are maximizing on their performance and their positive contribution towards the overall performance of the organization. Also, the workforce diversity policy at Primary Care Trust focuses on the aspects of movement within the business enterprise, organizational culture and the realization of the business goals and objectives. Equal opportunities, on the other hand, focus on the discrimination concerns regarding gender, disabilities and ethnicity.
Equal opportunities do not focus more on the realization of the business objectives and a change in the organizational culture within the Primary Care Trust (Özbilgin 2009). This is not the case at the TMT companies in Europe because the primary objective of implementation is to meet legal compliance. As a result, the company cannot harness the potential business benefits associated with the implementation of diversity in the workforce and equal opportunities.
Concerning the government regulations, all the companies have adjusted their diversity management policies and equal opportunity policies according to the government directives. The significant difference is that TMT companies implement their policies solely to meet compliance regulations. At the same time, the Primary Care Trust motive for diversity management extends beyond meeting the requirements of the legislation (Klarsfeld 2010).
In summary, the motivating factors for diversity management at Primary Care Trust focused around meeting the needs of its diverse clients to increase its market share, gain a competitive advantage during the present times of globalization, enhance its labour relations and enhance organizational and individual performance by fostering creativity and development of problem-solving skills. This implies that companies that implement diversity management have to take into consideration the potential benefits that diversity can put into the business enterprise (Marlene 2000).
Recommendations to the TMT companies regarding diversity management
The startup point for managing diversity within any organization entails valuing the individual differences and considering them as an organizational asset because the individual is usually different and distinctive in their own way, implying that each person within the organization has his/her own strengths and weakness. Basing on this, organizations can make use of the rich mix of talent, expertise and experience which can offer significant contributions that can enhance organizational and individual performance. The most effective approach to managing diversity should entail a more proactive approach (Arredondo, 1996).
The following are the recommendations for TMT Companies in the UK concerning the ways through which they can establish and sustain a diverse workforce and implement their equal opportunities policies.
The first recommendation for the company is that it should implement urgent strategic advantages. The company must tailor their diversity management approach in a manner that the strategic benefits can be evaluated and realized quickly after its implementation. This plays an integral role in the evaluation of the strategic success of diversity management strategies. This requires the formulation of better protocols that are required to quantify the potential business contribution to the organization after the implementation of diversity management (Human 2005).
The second recommendation to the company is to focus on developing the strategic capability of its diversity practitioners. This requires further work aimed at strengthening the influencing ability and the strategic ability of the company’s diversity personnel. This will play an important role in embracing diversity by the company (Human, 2005).
The third recommendation for the company is that it should focus on the growth of executive diversity leaders to address the diverse challenges facing the company. To realize this, the company can rely on the services of professional development providers and effective leadership approaches that embrace the significance of diversity within the organization. Also, it is recommended that the senior diversity practitioners within the organization should work closely together with the top management team to facilitate the establishment of a more diverse organizational culture across all the organizational levels (Marlene 2000).
An implementation of the above recommendations guarantees an improvement in the business performance of the organization, competitive advantage through customer satisfaction and employee productivity. It is therefore important that the company does not only realize the importance of diversity and equal opportunity policies beyond complying with the legal requirements.
Advantages of diversity management and equal opportunity
Business enterprises have a moral and social responsibility of ensuring that they embrace diversity and equal opportunities. There are business case and legal case advantages associated with embracing diversity and equal opportunities within the organizational workforce. Diversity management is becoming an important concept that helps in the establishment of an organization that is diverse and reflects the community from which the organization undertakes its business operations (Arredondo 1996).
One of the most significant business case advantages associated with diversity and equal opportunities is that it results in an improved corporate reputation. Diversity in the workforce reflects an ethical position by the company, which in turn enhances the positive image of the company. This develops the partnership between the organization and its customers, which may help in expanding the customer base and ultimately, the market share (Chartered Institute of Personal Development 2006).
The second business case advantage is that diversity helps in the establishment of a reliable workforce because there are diverse people with diverse skills and experience. This is also enhanced by an extra source of talent for the company (Human, 2005).
The third business case advantage is that diversity and equal opportunity helps in improving staff relations and employee productivity. This is achieved through the adoption of good practice during diversity management and the implementation of equal opportunity policies. Employee productivity transforms to customer satisfaction which implies increased profitability and an increase in the market share.
The legal case advantage associated with the implementation of diversity management and equal opportunity policies is that the company will not incur huge costs associated with bad employment practices and the damages to the company’s image (Chartered Institute of Personal Development 2006).
Disadvantages associated with diversity within the organization
The most significant challenge posed by a diverse workforce is miscommunication; this is because of the differences in the interpretations of the messages. This implies that it is difficult to manage and motivate individuals in an organizational environment that is culturally diverse.
The second disadvantage posed by diversity within the organization is that there may be instances of cultural bias from the organizational members themselves. This entails cases of discrimination from fellow organizational members (Chartered Institute of Personal Development 2006).
Also, assimilation is usually constrained by diversity in the organization. This is because of any attempt to assimilate individuals into the organizational culture that is dominant poses negative influences to the organizational members and the larger organization. Additionally, individuals who have been subjected to assimilation usually have difficulties in expressing their opinions (Chartered Institute of Personal Development 2006).
References
Arredondo, P 1996, Successful diversity management initiatives: a blueprint for planning and implementation, Sage, London.
Chartered Institute of Personal Development 2006, ‘Diversity in Business: How Much Progress Have Employers Made?’, Diversity in Business, pp. 3-15.
Human, N 2005, Diversity management: for business success, Van Schaik, London.
Klarsfeld, A 2010, International handbook on diversity management at work: country perspectives on diversity and equal treatment, Edward Elgar Publishing, Washington, DC.
Marlene, G 2000, ‘Cultural Diversity in the Workplace: The State of the Field’, Journal of Business Communication, vol 33, no. 2, pp. 488-502.
Özbilgin, M 2009, Equality, diversity and inclusion at work: a research companion, Edward Elgar Publishing, Washington, DC.
Stockdale, M & Faye, C 2004, The psychology and management of workplace diversity, Wiley-Blackwell, New York.
Wrench, J 2007, Diversity management and discrimination: immigrants and ethnic minorities in the EU, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, London.