Management Diversity

1. Managment Diversity

2. Definition:
• “The management and leadership of a workforce with the goal of
encouraging productive and mutually beneficial interactions among
the employees of an organization. Managing
diversity aims at providing employees with backgrounds, needs,
and skill sets that may vary widely with the opportunity to engage with
the company and their co-workers in a manner
that produces an optimal work environment and the best
possible business results for the company.”
(Buinessdictionary.com)

3. Diversity
• We think of Ethnicity, Race and Gender
• Differences in qualities from our own and the groups we belong to, but presents in other
individuals and groups.
• other differences, including work experience, parental status, educational background,
geographic location, and much more.
• affect performance, motivation, success, and interactions with others
• managing diversity means more than observing legal and policy requirements. It also
means actively promoting community and comfort with difference

5. Key points
• It is important that managers manage diversity in the workplace. A
manager can help guide differences to the benefit of innovation
and inclusion in the organization
• Human resource managers are often tasked with managing many
aspects of diversity in organizations, but project managers and other
managers who employees directly work with or they directly report to
can also guide inclusion practices.
• Diversity training is another way that managers and other employees
can manage diversity in the workplace. Diversity training has the
purpose of increasing participants, cultural awareness, knowledge,
and skills.

6. Managing diversity
• To address diversity issues, consider these questions: what policies,
practices, and ways of thinking and within our organizational culture
have differential impact on different groups?
• We may share similar values, such as respect or need for recognition,
but how we show those values through behavior may be different for
different groups or individuals.
• Managing diversity means acknowledging people's differences and
recognizing these differences as valuable; it enhances good
management practices by preventing discrimination and promoting
inclusiveness.

7. Role
• You have a key role in transforming the organizational culture so that
it more closely reflects the values of our diverse workforce. Some of
the skills needed are:
• an understanding and acceptance of managing diversity concepts
• recognition that diversity is threaded through every aspect of
management
• self-awareness, in terms of understanding your own culture, identity,
prejudices, and stereotypes
• willingness to challenge and change institutional practices that
present barriers to different groups

8. Strategies
• Develop a recruitment strategy that stresses the need for
diversification. Develop policies and guidelines for staff conduct and
ensure that each staff member has a copy.
• Model good behavior and enforce cultural sensitivity management
training and appropriate conflict management training for
management staff.
• Invest in cultural sensitivity training for all staff to facilitate better
communication and promote tolerance.
• Seek periodic feedback from staff and management in the form of a
questionnaire or staff survey.

9. How well do you manage diversity?
• Do you test your assumptions before acting on them?
• Do you believe there is only one right way of doing things, or that
there are a number of valid ways that accomplish the same goal? Do
you convey that to staff?
• Are you able to give negative feedback to someone who is culturally
different from you?
• Do you ensure that assignments and opportunities for advancement
are accessible to everyone?

10. Critique
• Headlines from Forbes;
• Diversity Management is Outdated and Demands a New Approach
• Diversity Management Is the Key to Growth: Make It Authentic
• “Diversity management is the key to growth in today’s fiercely
competitive global marketplace. No longer can America’s corporations
hide behind their lack of cultural intelligence.”
• “Diversity management can no longer be a departmental and/or
functional responsibility led by a few people in the human resources
department with limited budget.”

11. Benefits & Consequences
• workplace diversity can provide tremendous benefits in terms of
improved morale, outside-the-box thinking, greater teamwork, and
an atmosphere of mutual understanding and respect.
• Ignoring diversity issues costs time, money, and efficiency. Some of
the consequences can include unhealthy tensions; loss of productivity
because of increased conflict; inability to attract and retain talented
people of all kinds; complaints and legal actions; and inability to
retain valuable employees, resulting in lost investments in
recruitment and training.