LEADERSHIP AND WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

Leadership and Workforce Diversity

Leadership and Workforce Diversity

Introduction

Managing diversity is vital to leadership because leaders within organizations look to achieve economic performance, and this is best accomplished through maximizing contributions made by all employees. Leadership has a clear role in managing diversity at two levels; first, at the organizational level, through its effect on the social and political processes, and second, at the interpersonal level, through leader—member relationships. Much speculation surrounds the actual effect diversity has on group conflict and the role demands of leaders/managers, but it is possible that these effects are dampened when diverse group members have equal opportunity and a positive relationship with the organization, both of which can be achieved through effective leadership. Clearly, more research is needed to determine diversity actual affect on interpersonal relations and leadership's affect on managing diversity. (Emergency Capacity Building Project 2007)

 Leadership as Social Influence

Leadership is a social influence process where leaders influence the thoughts, feelings, and actions of organizational members. Organizational leadership is the influential increment above compliance with the basic directives of the organization. This suggests that leadership may serve a valuable purpose beyond management. At the organizational level, leadership influences policies and procedures that form the template for decisions made within the organizations.

 Organizational leadership contributes to the development and achievement of organizational purpose through the use of non-routine influence designed to shape social and political processes, all of which impacts diversity management initiatives. For example, consider a decision to include the professional growth and development of direct report as a measure of performance against which managers are evaluated. Such a position would imply the importance of training and mentoring activities, however the success of this initiative would depend upon its weight in the performance evaluation process for those managers. (Rowe, 2008)

 Attitudes toward diversity vary within and across organizations. Organizations exist on a continuum with three distinct stages (i.e., intolerance, tolerance, and appreciation), each representing the level of acceptance of diversity at the organization level, where appreciation is the highest level of acceptance. The goal of diversity management should be to improve the organization's position on this continuum, and leadership is essential to this process. Organizational leaders must be involved with the process and recognize the importance of communication, political intelligence, and Conflict resolution. Movement along this continuum frequently represents a shift in the balance of power, thus altering the political environment. (Mason, 2011)



Leadership and the Political Environment

A contemporary perspective that has gained considerable support over the years is that, organizations are inherently political arenas, and thus a political perspective on organizations is appropriate. (Parker, 2003)

 If we think of the organization as a structure designed to restructure the power allocation process with organizations, and hence reshape the political environment.

 To a great extent, it can be argued that politics has garnered an undesirable reputation over the course of the last twenty years. For example, politics has been defined as social influence attempts that are discretionary, intended to promote or protect the self-interests ...