Managing workforce diversity in the age of globalization PDF

Preview

Summary

About workforce diversity in the age of globalization...

Description

Managing workforce diversity in the age of globalization I. Introduction With increasing globalization, society and economics has been transformed, resulting in a more diverse workplace. Workforce diversity may cause both benefits and challenges to the company. It may help increase effectiveness of the organization in this globalized competitive world. However, diversity may also lead to negative impact in the work context such as prejudice, lack of communication and dissatisfaction when diversity has not been well-managed. Therefore, it is important for companies to strive to manage and utilize workforce diversity properly.

The main objectives of the essay are to analyze various diversity perspectives and to introduce effective management initiatives for workforce diversity according to proper diversity perspectives. Besides, five perspectives models proposed by Podsiadlowski, Otten, and van der Zee (2009), including reinforcing homogeneity, color-blind, fairness, access and integration and learning paradigms, will be compared and improved by combing other various diversity perspectives in the essay. In addition, a ASA model proposed by Schneider, Goldstein and Smith (1995) will be briefly introduced to explain reinforcing homogeneity.

The essay is going to firstly take an overview about workforce diversity in globalized world, including defining workforce diversity, examining benefits and threats of diversity and expand knowledge on how globalization affects workforce diversity.

Then five diversity perspective modes will be compared and analyzed in order to find out the effective perspective which can be applied to globalized and multi-cultural companies. Then five effective management initiatives for workforce diversity will be introduced. At last, conclusion will be made to summarize the main points in the essay. II. Diversity and globalization a) Define workforce diversity Diversify has been defined by many experts into various concepts. The generalized definition of diversity includes age, race, religion, disability, sex, values, national origin, education, language, lifestyle, economic status, physical appearance and beliefs (Wentling & Palma- Rivas, 2000). Kreitz (2008) concluded all these points under the definition as the differences that could distinguish one individual from another.

In regard to diversity in the workplace, Jehn, Northcraft, and Neale (1999) argued that workplace diversity arises from the co-existence of employees from different cultural and social backgrounds in the company. They divided work place diversity into three main aspects, including informational diversity, social category diversity and value diversity. Information diversity concerns about the employee’s education level, talent and position in the company. Social category diversity forms when it can be identified

by ourselves or perceived by others, such as race, gender and sex （ Jehn, Northcraft,

& Neale, 1999 ） . Besides, value diversify is more about employees’ differences in goal setting and communication style.

Among various kinds of workforce diversity, race and gender are relatively more significant in company organizations. There’s a long and controversial history in the world on argument about how people treat others of a different race (Carton & Rosette, 2011). In addition, the definitions of workforce diversity also show that it is related to not only interpersonal relations, but also team cooperation in the workplace. b) Benefits of managing workforce diversity Robbins and Coulter in 2016 pointed out that managing workforce diversity successfully can benefit companies in three main aspects, including people management benefits which enable companies to use the talent and ability of employees effectively, organizational performance benefits which contribute to reduce cost and improve flexible organization system and strategic benefits which help the company to increase competitive advantages through creativity and innovation.

Additionally, there are other perspectives on benefits of workforce diversity which can be integrated into strategic benefits and people management benefits. Apart from higher creativity and innovation, Cox and Blake (1991) proposed that managing diversity improves competitive advantages in expanding foreign market, better decision making and better distribution of economic opportunity. Diversity can also contribute in people management benefits by more comprehensive professional

knowledge and increased team learning behaviors (Roberge & van Dick, 2010). c) Challenges in managing diversity Apart from benefits of managing diversity, on the contrary, diversity in workplace may also result in negative impact on the company, causing challenges in managing workforce diversity. A research shows that greater diversity may result in higher levels of dissatisfaction and mistakes (Miliken & Martins, 1996). Besides, White in 1999 stated that diversity in the workplace may cause an increase in conflicts which generally reflect in ignorance, prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination. In sum, dissatisfaction and conflicts can be classified into personal bias which may cause negative impact on the company performence.

In addition to personal bias, glass ceiling can also be a challenge for managing diversity. Hymowitz and Schellhardt (1986) explained that glass ceiling refers to invisible obstacles which separate minorities and women from top management positions. Studies on the glass ceiling found that the phenomenon is due to lack of mentoring, sex stereotyping and doubt on women’s leadership effectiveness (Hoobler, Wayne, & Lemmon, 2009). d) Globalization influence on diversity With increasing globalization in the business world, diversity management is becoming more and more important for organizations (Henry & Evans, 2007). Edensor and Jayne in 2011 pointed out that with minorities comprising forty percent of the American workforce in 2009, not only are today’s employees more diverse, the

heads of state, such as Barack Obama, reflect a significant change in people’s perspective on leadership of diverse groups.

Globalization may affect diversity in global workplace by today’s worldwide population and migration. With a rising ratio of young and multi-cultural employees entering the workforce, the world will reshape societies, economies and markets over the next century, increasing diversity in work context (Hori, Lehman, Wah, & Wang, 2010).

In the face of significant changes in global workforce, there is a common agreement that companies should actively deal with increasing diversity in organizations in the age of globalization. Cascio in 1998 stated that diversity will help organizations to enter the global market if companies manage well in workforce diversity. In other words, a multi-cultural and global workforce symbolizes new perspectives on diversity and requires companies to take efforts in carrying forward the advantages and solving the challenges of diversify in workplace in proper ways. III. Diversity perspectives Several diversity perspectives have been identified regarding to organizations’ approaches to diversity. Some of them are not applicable to manage global diversity and some perspectives can be integrated into different modes. Podsiadlowski, Otten, and van der Zee (2009) reanalyzed the modes proposed by Thomas and Ely (1996) and integrated them into five diversity perspectives which are more comprehensive

than perspectives before, including reinforcing homogeneity, color-blind, fairness, access and integration and learning.

Reinforcing Homogeneity suggest the company to avoid a diverse workforce. Schneider, Goldstein and Smith (1995) proposed a ASA model which refers to an Attraction-Selection-Attrition cycle, indicating that organizations tend to attract and select similar types of people in order to drive out diversity in the organizations. However, this perspective seems not applicable to global diversity. Companies cannot merely resist and avoid diversity, otherwise, they may confront difficulties in entering international market and future development.

Color-blind approach suggests that employees should be treated equally regardless of their different cultural background. Similarly, fairness approach emphasizes on equal opportunity among employees, ensuring that organizations make the best use of the differences from diverse workforce rather than losing individual abilities which might facilitate efficiency and effectiveness of the organization (Henry & Evans, 2007). Both Color-Blindness and Fairness ensure the importance of equal and nondiscriminatory treatment. However, compared with color-blind approach, fairness emphasizes more on utilizing employees’ diverse talents with recognizing these potential differences.

Access approach regards diversity as a business strategy that facilitate the company to

gain diverse customers and enter into international markets. Besides, integration and learning approach indicates that both the entire organization and its employees can benefit from a diverse working context, since diversity creates a learning environment in the company. These two perspectives are considered more strategic than the other three. Fish (1999) stated that both access and integration and learning refer to advantages of workforce diversity to the company by creating a productive working environment and assisting the company toward global market as well as diverse customers.

To conclude, among these five diversity perspectives, reinforcing Homogeneity may not be applicable to manage diversity in globalized workplace, while color-blind, fairness, access and integration and learning may be adaptive in managing workforce diversity. Access and integration and learning, particularly, are considered as strategic modes for the company in the age of globalization. IV. Management initiatives for workforce diversity By applying the effective perspectives, diversity management initiatives are enable to ensure employees have opportunity to maximize their talent and their contribution to the organization. Five effective management measures have been summarized, which can be considered to be taken by companies to deal with globalized workforce diversity. a) Human resource management Human resource management in the organization should concern diversity in

recruitment, selection and placement (Cascio, 1998). Proper arrangement and selection on diverse employees will contribute to productivity of the company when employees have different talents and the same working ambition. b) Mentoring An experienced employee will be required to provide guidance to a less experienced employee (Robbins & Coulter, 2016). Being a qualified mentor, he or she is expected to value diversity flexibly because of different background, cultures and values from different groups. Besides, encouraging individuals to accept diverse views is also necessary. However, a mentor is also expected to identify the negative impact of diversity such as distrust, lack of communication and prejudice. c) Diversity training Diversity training includes a process from diversity awareness training to diversity skills training by formal or informal ways. Robbins and Coulter (2016) pointed out that awareness training let employees be aware of the importance of diversity and skills training teaches them requisite skills in working in a diverse context. In addition, employees can also form discussion groups and meet regularly to discuss ways of improving diversity and solving conflicts. d) Employee resource groups Employee resource groups are established by employees connected by some common dimension of diversity which provide support for diverse group (Robbins & Coulter, 2016). For example, which was mentioned by Robbins and Coulter (2016), there are Women of Kellogg Group and Kellogg Multinational Employee Resource Group at

Kellogg and Women of Kellogg Group fosters the female employees’ personal and professional growth at Kellogg Company. e) Objective performance standards Henry and Evans (2007) proposed that performance standards must be established clearly and objectively by using objective criteria. By using such objective standards, the company will identify desirable and undesirable behaviors based on individual or group performance. As a result, the organization will improve the positivity, satisfaction and motivation of multiple employees. V. Conclusion In conclusion, managing workforce diversity is considered significant for the company not only to enhance productivity and effectiveness of the company, but also to enter global market and expand diverse customers, especially in the age of globalization.

In order to manage diversity in workplace, five diversity perspectives have been proposed including reinforcing homogeneity, color-blind, fairness, access and integration and learning, in which reinforcing homogeneity is not applicable in the global workforce diversity, while access and integration and learning are considered as strategic perspective for the company’s internal and external development. By applying the proper diversity perspective, five effective diversity measures are suggested to be applied to the company, including human resource management, mentoring, diversity training, employee resource groups and objective performance

standards.

By using effective diversity initiatives, the company is able to transform toward a globally inclusive workplace which cultivate and utilize diverse employees properly. Besides, the company can also recognize and cope with threats of diversity through proper management measures, such as diversity training and objective performance standards. Once companies take inclusive effort to workforce diversity, they take a significant step in managing diversity in workplace successfully.

Words count: 1946

References Carton, A. M., & Rosette, A. S. (2011). Explaining bias against Black leaders: Integrating theory on information processing and goal-based stereotyping. Academy of Management Journal, 54(6), 1141–1158 Cascio, W. (1998). Managing human resources: Productivity, quality of work life, profits (5th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill. Cox, T., Blake, S. (1991), Managing cultural diversity: implications for organizational competitiveness. The Executive, 5(3), 45-56. Edensor, T. & Jayne, M. (2011). Urban Theory Beyond the West. Hoboken: Taylor & Francis. Fish, A. (1999). Cultural diversity: Challenges facing the management of cross-border business careers. Career Development International, 4, 196–205. Henry, O., & Evans, A. (2007). Critical review of literature on workforce diversity. African Journal of Business Management, 1(4). Hori, Y., Lehman, J-P., Wah, T. M. K. & Wang, V. (2010) Facing up to the

demographic dilemma. Strategy and Business, 58, 44-53. Hoobler, J. M., Wayne, S. J., & Lemmon, G. (2009). Bosses’ perceptions of familywork conflict and women’s promotability: Glass ceiling effects. Academy of Management Journal, 52, 939-957. Hymowitz, C. & Schellhardt, T. D. (1986). The Glass Ceiling. Wall Street Journal: A Special Report—The Corporate Woman, D1+.

Jehn, K., Northcraft, G., & Neale, M. (1999). Why Differences Make a Difference: A Field Study of Diversity, Conflict, and Performance in Workgroups. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(4), 741-763. Kreitz, P. A. (2008). Best practices for managing organizational diversity. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 34, 101–120. Milliken, F. & Martins, L. (1996). Searching for Common Threads: Understanding the Multiple Effects of Diversity in Organizational Groups. The Academy of Management Review, 21(2), 402-403. Podsiadlowski, A., Otten, S., & van der Zee, K. I. (2009). Diversity perspectives. In Symposium on workplace diversity in Groningen, The Netherlands. Robbins, S., & Coulter, Mary K. (2016). Management (13e. ed.). Boston: Pearson. Roberge, M. & van Dick, R. (2010). Recognizing the benefits of diversity: When and how does diversity increase group performance?. Human Resource Management Review, 20(4), 295-308. Schneider, B., Goldstein, H. W., & Smith, D. B. (1995). The ASA framework: An update. Personnel Psychology, 48, 747–773. Thomas, David A., & Ely, Robin J. (1996). Making differences matter: A new paradigm for managing diversity. (diversity in the workplace). Harvard Business Review, 74(5), 79. Wentling, R. & Palma-Rivas, N. (2000). Current status of diversity initiatives in selected multinational corporations. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 11(1), 35-60. White R. D. (1999). Managing the diverse organization: the imperative for a new multicultural paradigm. Public Administration & Management: An Interactive Journal, 4(4), 469-493....