Workplace Flexibility in Managing Diversity Essay

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Introduction

Managing diversity though has been considered as a strong reaction against the promotion of ideas of social justice based on minority group advantage, is explicitly based on the ‘business case’ and emphasizes multiple, individual differences, potentially applicable to all employees. However, diversity management is viewed more as an organizational imperative. Though the objective of diversity management is also the utilization of all available talents it is said that there is a shift in the orientation of this policy from the concept of equal opportunities. Nevertheless, the concept of diversity management as an emerging aspect of Human Resources Management (HRM) is occupying a central place in recent periods.

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Diversity Management – An Overview

“Managing diversity effectively follows on from, and expands on equal opportunities”(NCVO) Equal opportunities is about keeping within the law, and the decisions about the payment of wages, recruitment, and promotional policies are to be framed based on the capabilities of the individuals to perform their functions effectively. This requires a systematic policy approach to all facets of personnel management and such policies are framed by pre-empting discrimination.

Diversity management works based on a valuation of the varying aptitudes and skills that different workers bring along with them to be utilized by the organizations. Under this concept, the managers arrive at a working environment where all the workers are valued based on their skills and expertise and also such skills and expertise are utilized to the fullest extent.

The idea of ‘diversity management’ is not a new one and has been found in existence even from the late 1980s. All the three concepts of Diversity Management, Human Resources Management, and Total Quality Management are having the central idea of improving the business efficiency and make it result to produce more economic gain in the form of enhanced profits. But the concept of diversity management is deviating in orientation from that of equal opportunities, as observed by Thompson (1997) the concept of ‘managing diversity has grown out of Human Resources management. He regarded diversity management as a movement away from traditional equal opportunities policies and practices. Diversity management is based on the concept that diversity should be treated as a positive attribute of an organization instead of viewing it as a problem that needs to be mitigated. However, the phenomenon of diversity management finds itself conceptually similar to that of HRM as evidenced by the work of Storey (1995). One of the key issues about the prominence of the diversity concept is that whether it contains any material improvement over the traditional concept of ‘equal opportunity. As observed by Thompson (1997) managing diversity is a move that can be identified to have policies and practices slightly away from the concept of equal opportunities.

Business Case for Diversity Management

Managing Diversity is found to have a multi-dimensional business case in terms of its implementation in the organizations by progressive self-interest. The concept offers both indirect and direct enhancements to competitiveness. The indirect enhancement is by achieving cost-saving measures. The indirect advantages are:

  • Reduction in Worker Turnover: When the organization is practicing diversity, the people working with it become happier. This makes them stay with the company for longer periods. When the workers stay for longer years the organization is saved from the cost of repeated employee recruitment and training them for various jobs. This cost is enormous and the organization can save on this cost. (Bartz, D.E. et al 1990).
  • Reduced Absenteeism: By entering into contracts with employees that take care of the specific needs of the employees the firms are enabled to derive maximum output. This particular aspect has been witnessed to ensure a reduction in absenteeism. (Biznet).
  • Less Legal Expenses: The legal costs to be incurred by any company for defending cases of discrimination are extremely high. Moreover, the negative publicity occurring to the company increases the costs to the company. (Echiejile, L. 1995).

Direct advantages include:

  • Availability of Best Talents: The firms cannot only attract the best available talents but are also able to retain them. This is very crucial in the current day business environment of war for talents.
  • Improvement in productivity and performance: Managing diversity presents a very dynamic and strategic approach to flexibility and thereby it ensures an enhancement in the performance of the organization concerned. (Hall, D. and Parker, V. 1993)
  • Best employer: Under the present conditions of war for talents the skill shortages can easily be managed by efficient diversity initiatives within the organizations. With a commitment to the policies and practices of diversity and equality the organization can become the best employer both from the profitability and from society’s point of view.

In terms of improvement in the public profile the following distinct advantages accrue to a firm practicing diversity management and equal opportunities:

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  • Ethical Behavior: By behaving ethically and respectfully towards the community the firm can distinguish itself from other firms. “Moreover investors and customers are increasingly making choices subject to corporate ethics, and the company’s image as an employer.” (Commission for Racial Equality. 1995).
  • Being a Role Model: “Equality and quality are increasingly seen as indivisible in the market place” (Adaji, A) Becoming a role model enhances the public profile of the company in the eyes of the stakeholders, investors, customers, and employees of the organization.
  • Possibility of International Associations: The practice of diversity management by any organization makes powerful concerning addressing the business improvement issues. The essence of diversity lies in the fact that the different skill levels and experiences of the people because of their orientation to various cultures make the organization work effectively and this adds to the success of the business. (Biznet).

Barriers to Diversity

Though recognized as beneficial to the organizations the introduction of diversity has some barriers which hinder the successful practice of diversity management within an organization.

Some of the barriers are:

  • Organizational culture and inertia – in the case of certain organizations with a successful accomplishment of their missions may not recognize the need for diversity.
  • Lack of Involvement from the top management – without the involvement of the Board of directors and other senior management, the introduction of diversity management may be found difficult.
  • Dependence on consultants – excessive dependence on external consultants for recruitments and a poor fit between the style of the consultant and the organizational culture would go against the practice of diversity management.
  • Involvement of staff – when the workload is heavy and demanding on the time the workers have it may be difficult to get their cooperation on diversity moves within the organization.
  • Resistance – there may be internal resistance from the individuals in the organization feel that their power or privileges are in jeopardy due to the promotion of diversity management. It is often difficult to identify the areas of resistance and mitigate the issues connected with the resistance.

Apart from the above the presence of unions, language, and cultural differences within the organization, lack of proper budgetary allocations, and organizational complexity also affect the practice of diversity management (TSNE).

Conclusion

Thus managing diversity can be regarded as working on the concept of recognizing the values of the people as each individual is a different one and this value must be recognized for reason relating to both the business reasons and for a moral and social justice reason. Diversity management takes into account the fact that people originating from different backgrounds and cultures can bring new ideas and perceptions which can contribute to the production of goods and services efficiently. Managing diversity efficiently would enable the organization to have wide scope for inculcating creativity and innovation in the organizational operations. It also enables the organization to tap the hidden talents and expertise for achieving higher growth and attain an increased competitive advantage.

References

Adaji, A. As quoted in Equal Opportunities Review, 1995. p. 30.

Bartz, D.E. et al. (1990) ‘A model for managing workforce diversity’ Management Education and Development V 21 part 5.

Biznet ‘Managing Diversity’ 2008. Web.

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Commission for Racial Equality (1995) ‘Racial Equality Means Business – A Standard for Racial Equality for employers’ Caxton House Press. London.

Echiejile, L (1995) ‘The Business Case for Equal Opportunities’ Professional Manager.

Hall, D. and Parker V (1993) ‘The role of workplace flexibility in managing diversity’ Organizational Dynamics 22.1.

NCVO ‘Managing Diversity’ 2008. Web.

Thompson, Neil (1997) ‘Anti Discriminatory Practice’ Macmillan Press.

TSNE ‘Enablers and Barriers to Diversity’ 2008. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2021) 'Workplace Flexibility in Managing Diversity'. 3 October.

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IvyPanda. 2021. "Workplace Flexibility in Managing Diversity." October 3, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/workplace-flexibility-in-managing-diversity/.

1. IvyPanda. "Workplace Flexibility in Managing Diversity." October 3, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/workplace-flexibility-in-managing-diversity/.


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IvyPanda. "Workplace Flexibility in Managing Diversity." October 3, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/workplace-flexibility-in-managing-diversity/.

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