Discuss About The Managing Generational Diversity Workplace?
The following report is based on the action plan to resolve the issues related to racial discrimination that often arise in the workplace. One of the most difficult aspects of racial discrimination is that it could often take place in the workplace entirely undetected. There are many instances where an organization could show some discriminatory intent. It is observed that racial discrimination in the workplace could bring its ugly head in several forms and some of them can be obvious. Thus, to deal with such issues, the present report provides an action plan consisting of issues, objective to resolve the issues and action points. The action plan is expected to resolve the issues as each method is justified with appropriate action point. Eventually, to measure the outcome, appropriate action points have been provided.
It has been identified that one of the most difficult elements of racial discrimination at work is that it could take place wholly undetected. It has been observed that racial discrimination is referred to the practice of treating individuals in a different way due to their race, cultural norms or color. It is also observed that racial discrimination also encompasses the discrimination based on the skin color. As put forward by Angeline (2011), the discrimination in terms of race could occur if an individual is treated on their association with the organizational members of another race. Such discrimination could take place directly, such as when an organization intentionally targets a particular member of a racial group. For example, when a seemingly neutral employment policy tends to exclude minorities for a reason that is not related to their job. Racial discrimination is certainly against the law to discriminate any individual in the workplace due to their actual or perceived race. It is observed that employees should be protected from the discrimination at all stages of employment including workplace terms and condition, dismissal and recruitment. The following are some of the issues related to racial discrimination.
Hiring/Firing/ Promotion- I an individual applies or a job for which she/he has experience as well as excellent qualification but the individual is not hired due to some organization’s long-term clients are not comfortable dealing with a person who is culturally or racially different from others. Hence, the organization could lay off the individual because of the cutback as well as recognition whereas another white individual with the less qualification grab the position. Hence, the individual has probably served for many years for the organization but she/he did not receive the adequate the benefits.
Pay- Some organizations have been observed to be discriminating people even in the recruitment phase. For example, the company publishes the information related to job vacancy and people come for the interview. A skilled individual performs well and deserves the position butt a white project manager with similar work experience has recently been hired and he is paid higher than first individual.
Women and girls- It is observed that the experience of women and girls elaborate the nature of discrimination. In many places, despite the existence of laws, the women are treated as the second-class citizens. In some of the workplaces, the organizations made some rules in-terms of dresses code. Some women usually prefer to wear the dresses of their own choices such as Burqa, scarf and other preferred dresses. Due to the organizational rules and ethics, those employees are treated differently- they have to wear the dresses recommend by the organization or they are victims of social discrimination. As put forward by Bobbitt-Zeher (2011) discrimination is not referred to a lack of equality, rather it actually perpetuates the damage. It is observed that when the state dismisses the violence against women as the private or domestic matter, it certainly sends a clear message that threat or violence against women is condoned. According to Angeline (2011) discrimination against women is often made worse when they belong to more than one disadvantages group of their income, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, religion, class and others.
Physical and emotional impact- Exclusion or the rejection directed to the individual by others for reasons that the individual does not have any control of the cause. It could result in anxiety, sadness, depression and the feeling of guilt. The employees who work in such organizations tends to go through a weak and emotional phase that widely affects their performance.
Social and Business impact-As put forward by Dipboye and Colella (2013) the communities and business that could fail to take strong action on the discrimination to become lower in the productivity. This happens as people tend to feel disgruntled as well as lose interest in putting more effort. Hence, one could observe a significant drop with the talents and expectation on the part of the individual or the employees. It is identified that people with talents as well as high exceptional skills and abilities are not attracted to these places, as they do not want to be discriminated against. According to Bobbitt-Zeher (2011) people who tend to face racial discrimination could regroup with some vengeance in mind against other group in the workplace or the in the community. Thereby, this could fuel conflicts as well as social disorders. There are certain strict laws on discrimination that could be applied to individuals who discriminate. It is observed that there is no excuse, even one does not know that their discriminatory. Employees and the individuals could bring legal action on the business. The individuals who did the act, and there are consequences for guilty parties. It is necessary to focus on these issues as social or workplace discrimination occurs against the laws or the social ethics. A proper action needs to be developed to find out the issues and develop appropriate solutions against such discrimination. In order to implement the action plan, following objectives have been developed and the objectives are developed on the basis of the issues found.
It is certain that racial discrimination cannot be treated without applying the policies of diversity. The organizations in the recent time pay a significant attention to the diversity. It has been observed that in order to develop a mix or a supportive culture, it is necessary for the organization to develop a work practice where a proper respect should be given to the individual who come from different cultural backgrounds. Firstly, the importance of diversity should be communicated among all who are working in the organization. If the organizational members do not have any ideas to about the importance of keeping all in a grip with equality, the issues could arise. Therefore, first thing that should be applied as an action is conveying the importance of diversity. The next action is to develop the strategies for diversity, which is supposed to be applied to the workplace. These objectives are relevant to context of action plan as without the principles of diversity, it is not possible for any organization to implement any actions for maintaining a balance among the people with different cultural backgrounds.
In addition to this, it is also mandatory for the organization to monitor the implemented action. This means the organization might face some challenges or the issues in implementing the new culture; therefore, it is necessary for the authorities to supervise whether the individual in the workplace are complying with the newly applied policies. An appropriate action should be developed to deal with the non-compliances. More specifically, to measure the outcome of the new policies, the organization could deal measure the performance of the organization after the implementation of diversity policies.
In order to implement the above-mentioned objectives, the attention should be given to the people or human resource. The organizations that are facing such issues in the workplace and wish to develop strategies against the issues, should focus on the human resource department. The human resource department could look after the issues and apply the policies when required. In addition, to this, financial resource is another requirement that organizations should focus on.
Objectives-1- To present the importance of diversity at the workplace
In order to implement this objective, the authorities or the human resource manager should call all the employees and make them understand about the importance of workforce.
One of the significant aspects to the long-term success of diversity programs is to enhance a diversity strategy with the help of same deliberate goal-setting process developed to formulate conventional business related goals. The organizational should be made aware of the goals of diversity and the extended focus of diversity. In addition to this, the strategic plans around the diversity should include the quantitative goals along with the particular timeline for meeting the benchmark as well as measuring the process. These goals certainly help to provide direction and promote action by employees. Moreover, having well-defined strategies certainly help the business to attain goals and it is expected that these goals help to create a more enhanced and inclusive workplace culture. Eventually, the organization will find it easy to recruit and retain highly qualified and talented diverse employees.
As put forward by Barak (2016), a strong diversity management could provide the organization with a competitive edges in the market. It is also observed that as global as well as regional demographics change, the continued growth of an organization could be dependent on attracting and retaining the qualified workers who provide different perspectives and are effectively capable to understand the diverse backgrounds of the customers, clients and the people they serve. In addition to attract as well as retain these highly desired employees, the organizations should work diligently to incorporate an effective diversity program into the workplace.
Action point- Developing a diversity committee- The organizational members’ buy-in is mandatory to achieve the goals and objectives action plan-diversity programs. One significant way to accomplish this buy-in is to develop a stand-alone diversity committee consisting of the members presenting all aspects of organization and it should be ensured that organization’s leadership plays a significant role. In addition, the organization needs to empower the diversity committee to enhance a diversity statement, which should be consistent with the strategic goals. The organization also needs to empower the committee to enhance programs to sustain diversity. More specially, in order to develop such committee, the propose programs should include lunch and learns with the featured speakers, diversity workshop and mentoring.
To apply the relevant laws against such discrimination in the workplace
The organization needs to implement the code of conduct and other policies related to diversity management. The code of conduct will help to maintain the ethical grounds. If the employees follow the policies, the organization might not have to face or deal with the internal barriers. However, the large organizations find it easy to maintain the code of conduct for the sake of their brand reputation. On the other side, the organizations need to make their employees aware of these diversity policies. At the time of recruitment and selection, the human resource manager or the recruiter should share the policy form with the employees.
To monitor the performance after the implementation of diversity
Developing a diversity committee is not the only activity that should be included in an action plan. The employees should be encouraged to take part in professional as well as civic organization that promotes diversity. Moreover, the engagement with these organizations not only delivers excellent networking opportunities, it also provides the collaboration that could enhance access to a larger pool of diverse individuals. This involvement will help to supervise how the policies have been applied to the workplace. According to Barak (2016), community involvement carries the added benefits of strengthening the relationship among the individuals as they could ahead to serve the group.
Action point- Use of company internet- If the organization has internet availability, the organization should develop and include a diversity page where the diversity committee could post update data and other relevant information regarding the what the organization is doing from the perspective of diversity- coming community programs events as well as other relevant programs. Workforce diversity and inclusion could help to promote employee productivity, retention , employee commitment and all of them altogether add values to the services provided to the customers (HuffPost 2017). It is expected that a successful diversity programs could provide organization with an edge if the program is managed properly.
It is expected that if the diversity programs are aligned with the strategic plan, the organization could observe effective team collaboration. This means that when all employees start working together under a diverse work culture, they become more conscious about the organizational goals and objectives. The employees could understand that unity in the internal environment of the organization should have a positive consequence. In addition to this, the organization and the employees might observe a more convenient convention communication practice. This means that the communication network will be developed and if the communication is developed, the members become more responsible about their work and duties. As the result, the team cohesion will increase. Eventually, the organization as a whole will achieve a better result under a diverse organizational culture.
It is expected that diversity committee will contribute to the development of a healthy work culture. If the diversity is maintained among the organizational members, they will become cooperative to each other. The diversity committee will supervise each employee and their actions, behavior towards others. It can be added that productivity of the teamwork will increase because while working in a diverse team, the members could develop a practice of knowledge and information sharing, helping each other in the team. This certainly boosts the production of the team. In addition, if the committee successfully implements their jobs properly, the organization will have a strong brand presence in the community. In the internal environment, each employee working in the firms will receive an equal treatment and the employees will grow a sense of reliability toward the organization.
It is anticipated that the use or implementation of this policy could help to guide the employees towards the ethical grounds. This means, the employees will not get into any unethical activities that are against the diversity. The employees will understand the importance of integrity and united workplace. From the stage of recruitment, the employees could learn value of a diverse culture and provide a suitable input to the organization, which means the organizational performance will enhance.
It is expected that this action point could help to increase the awareness among the employees regarding the necessity of a diverse work-culture. If the organization becomes successful in developing a diversity campaign through a broad internet network, the people inside and outside the organization will be aware of the importance of a diverse world. The individuals will start respecting each other in the workplace and even outside the work. Moreover, when the organization is using a digital media to promote diversity in the workplace, the organization will gain reputation from the external environment. As the result, the organization could strengthen its brand image in the market and the community. This reputation and market position gained through the promotion of diversity works as the corporate social responsibility.
|
Activities |
Timeline |
Resources Required |
|
Diversity programs need to be aligned with strategic plans |
This might take a 1 to 2 months |
The organization needs to focus on the human resources, as the human resources staff will audit the entire activities. However, to compare to performance between the existing outcome and the present outcome, the auditors may use the technology such as the statistical tools. |
|
Developing a diversity committee |
This might take 2 to 3 months for a complete establishment |
Developing a diversity committee team certainly requires experienced candidates who have much knowledge regarding the corporate ethics and responsibility. The people who have knowledge about the corporate ethics are aware of the diversity and its importance. Hence, the organizations have to hire new experienced people, who will work in the department of human resource management. |
|
Use of company internet |
This might take a month only but the design and the updates on the pages will be done throughout the year |
In order to implement this action, the organizations require technological resources. The organizations need to have proper internet access to update the information regarding diversity, ethics, values and other significant aspects required for a healthy work environment. |
|
Use of code of conduct and the policies- |
The preparation of policies and implementation might require 3 to 4 months |
The organization might not have to hire employees to implement these policies. The existing human resource manager and the operational manager could implement these policies and make their employees understand about it. |
Table 1: Timeline and Resource
While implementing this action point, the organizations might have to face certain risks because not all employees might agree with the policies. Moreover, while complying with such policies, other employees might have to compromise with other culture and norms. The employees come from different cultural background, which means their culture might not be similar to others. If the action point of aligning diversity with the strategic plan is implemented, the employees have no option left but accepting the culture that they are not accustomed to. When the employees have to reluctantly accept something, their performance might be affected.
As discussed earlier, in order to form a diversity committee, the organization assign the human resource department- senior human resource executive, manager, auditors and other senior members. However, the committee will make policies based on their own thoughts and consideration that might be different from the opinions of others. The employees in the organizations might not accept those policies. The employees might form an idea that the policies related to diversity are biased. The organization might have to deal with internal resistance from the workers. In addition to this, the members of diversity committee supervise the diverse culture considering their own opinions; this means, if any individual is found to be disobeying the policies, the committee will look into the matter and apply their own decision-making skills. Hence, employee involvement in the decision-making practice is less.
It is expected that risk that not all employees understand about the ethics and compliance policies. The compliance policies have several grounds that an employee might not intend to understand. Eventually, the committee might not receive the same expected outcome.
Evaluating the action plan- Diversity programs need to be aligned with strategic plans
Whenever the organization applies a new strategy to the operation, the management needs to focus on the workforce, which means, they need to observe how many members are supporting the strategies and how many of them are opposing. This will certainly help to determine integrity of the employees among themselves. For example, the organization develops a campaign related the products and the campaign will be used as the promotion of branding; hence, if all employees come ahead and support the campaign to make it happen. If the percentage of the employees who are supporting the campaign is high, the management could assume that the employees have the unity and they are concerned about the organizational goals and objectives. If a diverse culture is not developed among the team members, the employees might not find the integrity among themselves. Therefore, when the employees show such support towards any organizational initiative, the cultural diversity is often observed. Therefore, the organizations have to observe such scenario of employee engagement where they could measure the impact of diverse culture.
Hence, the management of the organization should collect feedbacks from the employees about the policies related to diversity. In order to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of diversity committee, the senior executives of human resource department could collect information about whether or not they are complying with the strategies developed by the diversity committee of the organization. In addition to this, the management could observe the level of employee engagement to the organizational activities and campaign. It is expected that not all employees will accept or comply with the policies and strategies. However, if the level of employee engagement is high to the organizational activities, it is expected that the employees of the organizations have positively accepted diversity policies. Conversely, if the level of engagement is lower than the expectation, the management should reconsider their strategies and policies. Moreover, to evaluate the performance, the organizations could measure the existing level of employee engagement, which means the degree of employee engagement before developing the diversity committee and the level of employee engagement after the development of employee engagement.
This method would certainly be relevant for the management and the employees themselves. If the employees have the access to internet and they go through the details of diversity policies on a regular basis, they will be more concerned about the policies and guidelines. However, here the effectiveness of the diversity policies depends on how the employees are following them and implementing them in the workplace. This is again depended on the degree of employee engagement to the organizational internal and external activities. However, in the external organizational activities, the organizations need to promote the diversity campaign, where they could involve their employees. This activity would certainly provide the opportunity for measuring the extent of employee engagement. Hence, if the organization found their employees less interested or reluctant regarding such activities related to diversity, the management needs to devise new strategies and plan to bring diversity in the workplace.
Evaluating the impact of using code of conduct and policy forms- In order to evaluate the impact of code of conduct and policy forms, the senior executives and the operational managers could collect the feedbacks about the implementation of policy forms and code of conduct. This feedback should be taken and considered on a regular basis. In addition to this, the executives and senor authorities could assign the responsibilities to the human resource department of the organization. The human resource department could effectively conduct this activity and meet the goals. Nonetheless, it is important for the human resource department to make their employees aware of such policies at the time of recruitment and selection.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be mentioned that action plan developed to deal with the issues of racial discrimination would certainly provide the positive outcome. However, it might not be possible for any organization to entirely remove the occurrence of such issues but to a large extent these issues can be resolved.
References
Angeline, T., 2011. Managing generational diversity at the workplace: expectations and perceptions of different generations of employees. African Journal of Business Management, 5(2), p.249.
Barak, M.E.M., 2016. Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage Publications.
BBC News. (2017). Third of ethnic minority staff face racism. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-41243550 [Accessed 17 Sep. 2017].
Bobbitt-Zeher, D., 2011. Gender discrimination at work: Connecting gender stereotypes, institutional policies, and gender composition of workplace. Gender & Society, 25(6), pp.764-786.
Dipboye, R.L. and Colella, A. eds., 2013. Discrimination at work: The psychological and organizational bases. Psychology Press.
HuffPost. (2017). Haters Don’t Work Here: How Strong Leaders Handle Racism At Work. [online] Available at: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/haters-dont-work-here-how-strong-leaders-handle-racism_us_59a06618e4b0a62d0987aebf [Accessed 17 Sep. 2017].
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