MANAGEMENT ESSAY

Diversity Management: Managing Emotion in Organisation? Managing Informal Workplace Relationships



Plan

Time is an important factor when considering project work. One needs time to allow adequate problem diagnosis before decisions are made about appropriate strategies and means of implementation? however? this must remain flexible to allow for unforeseen factors.

CYCLE ONE

WEEK

TO DO

1

Construct research

Interviews

3

Timetable interviews

4

Begin observations

CYCLE 2

5

Prepare draft report

Complete Dissertation

Write 3000 word dissertation

Diversity Management: Managing Emotion in Organisation? Managing Informal Workplace Relationships

The basic concept of managing diversity accepts that the workforce consists of a diverse population of people. The diversity consists of visible and non-visible differences which will include factors such as sex? age? background? race? disability? personality and workstyle. It is founded on the premise that harnessing these differences will create a productive environment in which everybody feels valued? where their talents are being fully utilised and in which organisational goals are met (Kelemen? 2008). Benefits put forward range from being better able to meet the needs of diverse customers? improved decision-making? reductions in costs associated with turnover and lawsuits? increased productivity? quality improvements? and enhanced creativity and innovation (Kelemen? 2008).

However? neither theorists nor practitioners in the DM area have a common view on the precise objectives and characteristics of DM. Opinions are divided on the mechanisms for employing a diverse workforce. Some DM experts? for example (Kelemen? 2008). AA plans to create a workforce which is diverse at every level; whereas other writers (Rumens? 2009? 763-786) are critical of such plans. AA policies have always been controversial as they endorse the use of racial or gender preferences in the employment process and therefore could contradict another characteristic of DM - to select and recruit on the grounds of merit and therefore obtain the best employees. However? one question we might ask is whether companies which offer excellent wages? rewards or other financial and/or nonfinancial benefits can also create a high quality workforce with “the best employees”. Or? looking the other way round? how can a heterogeneous organisation relate its success or failure to the diversity of its workforce? How can a diversity oriented company prove that it is its diversity approach that attracts the best employees? Furthermore? there are contradictions between the very enthusiastic approaches towards DM and the evidence provided by other authors? such as Elsass and Graves (1997) who examined the experiences of women and people of colour in demographically diverse decision-making groups. They concluded that initial category-based patterns of exchange should be considered as a backdrop or barrier to potential change and improved performance. Another important issue in this context is the relatively young age of DM. It is unrealistic for theorists and practitioners to demand proof of the effectiveness and efficiency of diverse workforces at this stage and? therefore? benefits remain debatable (Rumens? 2009? 763-786).

Apart from problems in identifying proven benefits of DM? there remains the question of how to measure the degree of diversity in the workforce of an organisation. It is essential to monitor progress and provide quantitative and qualitative evidence ...