In the 21st century, the different countries and internal businesses have evolved greatly and this has made it quite difficult for the organizations to manage the diversity as present in the business enterprise (Aswathappa 2013). Although, diversity has a large number of benefits for the organization, the modern managers often find it difficult to embrace diversity and understand the different aspects in which the business might prosper. Moreover, the general workforce in certain organization is often skeptical in nature. The primary aim of the report is to highlight the different management and diversity issues which are faced by an organization and the manner in which the management has to deal with them in order to ensure that it finds success in the long run.
Management issues identified
There are various managing people issues with respect to the diversity in generational characteristics. An organization comprises of people working in similar tasks but belonging to different generations and thereby ensuring that there arises certain issues. Three different issues which can arise due to this have been stated as follows:
The language and communication barriers are certain issues which are largely present in various companies which comprise of a diverse workforce. According to Bailey et al. (2018), the language and lingual as used by the new generation differs from the one which is used by the older generation and hence, if there exists certain age differences between the subordinate and the leader or between the different team members, they might often face difficulties in getting their message across. Moreover, as stated by Barak (2016), the mode of communication which is preferred by the people belonging to the different generations is different the current generation prefers to make use of the text messaging whereas the older generation prefer to convey the message across the medium of emails and calls. Hence, this may often lead to a miscommunication and misunderstandings between the different generations of employees as present in the organization.
The fundamental point of success in a diverse workplace relates to the one which deals in the respect which is existent among the different employees. Bratton and Gold (2017) states that when the people belonging to a diverse culture and beliefs fail to respect one another, then there may scenarios relating to conflicts. This conflict can often turn out as an animosity in nature and may give rise to situations of violence. It is very often the case that when a younger generation of employee gets promoted to a post and is now at par with the different colleagues which belong to the older generation, the older generation may find it a hit on their ego and may refuse to respect or accept the employee as a part of their time. According to Brewster (2016), this may also lead certain cases of conflicts. Hence the management may then face a problem while managing these issues.
According to Chelladurai and Kerwin (2017), by the year 2025, the millennials would make up to approximately 75% of the workforce and moreover, they have been changing the manner in which the business is generally carried out. Hence, for this reason, there may exists a wide generation gap. These millennials have been changing the manner in which the different things function in the organization and have a profound impact on the work culture. Hence, the older generation who is working in the organization may often find it difficult to manage these aspects and as the case is of a large corporation, the diversify work groups are large in nature from teenagers to the senior citizens. Harvey and Allard (2015), mentions that when teams and other circles are formed certain employees may often be isolated. Moreover, the different generations may disagree with the processes
The given section will be explicitly discussing the different issues which exist in the organization and have been described in the previous sections. This will be followed by managerial implications and solutions for improving the same.
According to Knies and Leisink (2014), one of the major problems related to that of diversity in an organization arises from the communication and language barriers which exist in the organization. As the employees belong from a diverse culture, they tend to have different language and linguistic issues which will then lead to a miscommunication with different employees. Therefore, as stated by Marchington et al. (2016), when employing and forming a multi country team, it needs to be assured by the organization that the different employees are able to communicate well through a common medium and language so as to ensure success in the long run.
As analyzed from the given scenario, the stated issues may raise a number of issues for the manager which have been discussed. The manager may find it difficult to disseminate the information in the organization. This means that if the senior management has a set of important information, due to the different habits of the different generations who have been working in the organization, some may prefer to text the information and some may prefer to call and convey (Martin 2014). With respect to this, the information may never get conveyed to the right user and may lead to problems in decision making which requires quick communication and problem solving.
Hence, after analyzing the defined problems and the challenges that it raises for the different managers, certain solutions for dealing with the stated problem have also been provided:
The management needs to ensure that the different members who have been working in the organization have a well-defined standard language of communication (Michie et al. 2016). This shall also ensure that the medium of communication which has to be chosen for the employees and the language in which they could convey the different informational aspects which have to be conveyed in the organization and strict measures to ensure that they are being adopted have to be taken.
Diversity training needs to be adequately provided to the different employees. This means that the different employees who are present in the organization are required to be trained with respect to several factors like the language backgrounds of the different employees, the accepted medium of communication in the organization and so on (Collings, Wood and Szamosi 2018). This training can be conducted by the senior management and they need to ensure that all the employees participate equally in the training program.
Long term: Ensure that the new employees are multilingual and adapt to all ways of communication.
According to Reiche et al. (2016), when the organization will be recruiting the new employees, they need to see to it that these employees are well versed in different languages and that they are easily able to abide by all the modes of technology in order to ensure that they are successfully able to immerse into the culture and norms of the society. Moreover, for the existing employees, language courses can be developed.
Richard, Kirby and Chadwick (2013), state that very often diversity in an organization leads to isolation of the different members. This is because, the employees belonging to a similar background or race tend to form a separate group of themselves and then isolate the culturally diverse employee. According to Tyson (2014), this can be largely observed by companies which have various generational employees and the group formed by the younger ones are often unwilling to accept the ones who belong to the older generation. Hence, in this manner the team collaboration may not be existent and the organization may not achieve its objectives.
As stated in the previous section, diversity in the organizations have increased considerably and one of the measures which are required to be adopted by the different organizations in this aspect are that there exists a sense of respect amongst the different members. However, in case there is a lack of acceptance and respect for each other by the various members of the organization then, the environment may turn out to be hostile (Brewster, Chung and Sparrow 2016). Hence for the managers this may lead to complications relating to the performance of the employees and lack of success in team management. If the different members of a team are unable to gel with one another and are not able to successfully respond, they may lack coordination which would then lead to a low production for the organization.
After analyzing the different problems, certain recommendations shall be provided as follows:
Short term: Team meetings and collaboration
For this purpose, the senior management is required to engage into various meetings as well as collaboration meets whereby it ensures that the different members are well introduced to one another and that they are able to coordinate with one another. According to Harvey and Allard (2015), if the senior management is successful in fostering an environment which tends to support the different cultures, they automatically set an example for the different members to do the same.
For this aspect too, adequate training needs to be provided to the different employees. In this training the importance of diversification needs to be highlighted and a roadmap should be formed which will assist in the identification of the fact and the manner in which the organization shall improve considerably when adopting this system (Knies and Leisink 2014). Hence, the employees will be made to understand that they are the key members of the firm and that it is very important for these members to corporate with the organization and help it to achieve success in the long run.
Long term: Referral scheme to ensure acceptance exists
If the different employees who belong to the same organization are known to one, then it becomes comparatively easier. However, a solution to the problem is that each employee is asked to make referrals as to the posts in an organization (Martin 2014). These people may belong to different age groups and genders but they may not be of the same age. In this manner, acceptance from the side of the existing employees shall become comparatively easier for the employees and lead to the long term objective fulfillment.
Chelladurai and Kerwin (2017), states that around 75% of the organizational population will be covered by the millennials by 2025. it can thereby be stated that at the same organization different age group members will be present. It is often not possible for these members to gel adequately with one another and this can be contributed to the difference in thought procedures of these different generations. Brewster, Chung and Sparrow (2016), believes that these differences in though procedures tend to have an impact on the decision making and goal achievement.
When their exists generation gaps between the different members of the workforce then, the manager may then face difficulties as to making the different organizational members gel with one another. For an organization to become successful in nature, there needs to be a similar though process (Harvey and Allard 2015). Although the diverse ideas are appreciated but very often due to the different age groups and other related aspects, the company may find it difficult to ensure that the ideas which are fostered in the firm are supported by all the members. If these ideas are not supported by all the members, then the organization may find it difficult to take strong decisions doe the success for the organization.
Therefore after having analyzed the different problems which are faced by the organization, certain recommendations for the same have been provided
Short term: Conduct team excursions and lunches
For this generation gap, the short term solution to the problem may be that, the management tries to remove this generation gap which exists in an organization (Tyson 2014). This can be done by organizing team building activities and other such events which may then support diversity in the long run and help the different employees to gel with each other.
Medium term: Mentor Program
According to Knies and Leisink (2014), a mentorship program needs to be developed by the different organizational members which shall then ensure that once a new member which is comparatively younger, is placed under a more experienced employee during his initial days, then they may successfully be able to ensure that they ae more comfortable with one another.
Long term: Creation of an open communication culture
An open communication culture needs to be fostered by the different organizational members (Martin 2014). This open communication culture shall ensure that the different organizational members, are comfortable with one another and the age gap differences do not bring a barrier to their operations
Conclusion: Summaries and Key findings
Therefore, from the given analysis, three different problems which are generally faced by the large organizations with respect to generational diversity have been provided. These problems related to the problems relating to language and communication, generation gap and acceptance with respect. Each problem has been analyzed effectively with respect to relevant literature and the solutions have been recommended.
References
Aswathappa, K.E.M.A.L., 2013. Human resource management: Text and cases. Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
Bailey, C., Mankin, D., Kelliher, C. and Garavan, T., 2018. Strategic human resource management. Oxford University Press.
Barak, M.E.M., 2016. Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage Publications.
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Brewster, C., Chung, C. and Sparrow, P., 2016. Globalizing human resource management. Routledge.
Brewster, C., Houldsworth, E., Sparrow, P. and Vernon, G., 2016. International human resource management. Kogan Page Publishers.
Chelladurai, P. and Kerwin, S., 2017. Human resource management in sport and recreation. Human Kinetics.
Collings, D.G., Wood, G.T. and Szamosi, L.T., 2018. Human resource management: A critical approach. In Human Resource Management (pp. 1-23). Routledge.
Harvey, C.P. and Allard, M., 2015. Understanding and managing diversity: Readings, cases, and exercises. Pearson.
Knies, E. and Leisink, P., 2014. Linking people management and extra?role behaviour: results of a longitudinal study. Human Resource Management Journal, 24(1), pp.57-76.
Marchington, M., Wilkinson, A., Donnelly, R. and Kynighou, A., 2016. Human resource management at work. Kogan Page Publishers.
Martin, G.C., 2014. The effects of cultural diversity in the workplace. Journal of Diversity Management (Online), 9(2), p.89.
Michie, J., Sparrow, P., Cooper, C. and Hird, M., 2016. Do we need HR?: Repositioning people management for success. Springer.
Reiche, B.S., Stahl, G.K., Mendenhall, M.E. and Oddou, G.R. eds., 2016. Readings and cases in international human resource management. Taylor & Francis.
Richard, O.C., Kirby, S.L. and Chadwick, K., 2013. The impact of racial and gender diversity in management on financial performance: How participative strategy making features can unleash a diversity advantage. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(13), pp.2571-2582.
Tyson, S., 2014. Essentials of human resource management. Routledge.
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