Project OB
Project OB
Project OB
INTRODUCTION
Diversity in the workforce and in the marketplace is a reality and an opportunity facing health
care organizations in the 1990s. A first step in implementing a successful diversity program is
to research other organizations that have successfully embraced diversity. Program designs
will vary for each organization according to such factors as organization size, customers
served, available financial and staff resources, community expectations, management styles
and company culture.
General objectives
Reflects the contributions and interests of diverse cultures in its mission, operations,
and instructional services;
Is committed to eradicating institutional racism and social oppression of all forms;
Includes members of diverse cultures in decisions that affect them;
Values diversity and views the differences between people as a strength;
Uses management practices and policies that emphasize participation and
empowerment of all people in the organization
Creates a working environment where all people are valued and
Follows through on broader external social responsibilities by educating employees
and students in multicultural perspectives.
Specific objectives
To identify areas of underrepresentation of people of colour and women and outline
the action steps necessary to increase their representation in those areas where they
are significantly underrepresented.
To employ women, people of colour, and people with disabilities throughout all levels
of the organization and throughout all job classifications and occupational categories.
To eliminate and prevent recurrence of systemic discriminatory practices relating to
employment, or access to promotion, within the district for women, men, people of
colour or people with disabilities.
To identify and define problem areas and barriers to achieving workforce diversity
and take affirmative actions where necessary.
To implement workforce diversity evaluation process in order to systematically gauge
the districts progress towards goals and the effectiveness of action plans.
Businesses have started to recognize diversity in the workplace as a business strategy that
maximizes productivity, creativity and loyalty of employees while meeting the needs of their
clients or customers. If a company is only as good as their employees, then it stands to reason
that a great deal of energy should be devoted to hiring the most talented individuals. By
branching out to a diverse workforce, employers have access to a greater pool of candidates
thereby improving the odds of hiring the best person. In a competitive marketplace, an
organization that puts people first - regardless of their race, religion, gender, age, sexual
preference, or physical disability has an advantage over the other players.
Limitation
Although employing a diverse workforce has many advantages, it comes with some
disadvantages as well. A company that recruits and employs a diverse workforce must create
a culture that promotes dignity and respect to avoid tension between employees. In addition,
communication may be adversely affected if employees' first language is not English.
Existing employees may leave the organization if their personal prejudices prevent them from
working with colleagues from a different background. As another disadvantage, the
investigation of employee complaints regarding negative attitudes and harassment can take
up a considerable amount of management time, whether or not they are upheld.
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Changes that have taken place in the global market in recent years have altered the way
people perceive organizations and interact within them. Globalization has presented curious
juxtapositions: for example, an Indian employee could work in the Emirates for an American
company and interact with a Kenyan colleague (Novinger, 2001). An "organization" does not
merely represent a workplace; rather, organizations can be considered "mini-societies that
have their own distinctive patterns of culture and subculture" (Morgan, 2001, p.129).
Organizations consist of employees who work, interact, and share each others life for a
specific time (Myron & Koester, 1998; Lauring, 2011).
Diversity refers to a team of diverse group and that teamwork needs facilitation and provision
of authorities which results in positive employee attitude and increased job involvement (job
involvement, 2008).Organizations have realized the need of being flexible and responsive to
market instabilities and therefore recognized the need of managing a diverse workforce in
order to cope up with this situation (Farrer, 2004). In this regard, effective diversity
management leads a company to better organizational performance and give a competitive
advantage (Allen et al., 2004). Therefore, it is an intense need to manage a diverse workforce
by organizations. Management should utilize properly the benefits of workforce diversity in
order to enhance group performance (Ely &Thomas, 2001) for this purpose employee
involvement in managing diversity is a very crucial tool.
Diversity refers to "a set of characteristics of groups of two or more people and typically
refers to demographic differences of one sort or another among group members" (McGrath,
Berdahl, &Arrow, 1995). In addition, diversity refers to workers working in an organization
belonging to different socio cultures (Kundu, 2003). "The broader definition of diversity may
include age, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, values, ethnic culture,
education, language, lifestyle, beliefs, physical appearance, and economic status" (Wentling
et al., 2000). No doubt, diversity promotes organizational performance (Torres et al, 1992)
but, it appears as a double-edged sword i.e. enhances opportunities on one side while
becomes the basis of employee dissatisfaction (Milliken &Martins, 1996). In this way, he
fails to identify himself with the group, ultimately leading to lower group performance.
Studies have provided evidence that diversity negatively influence group performance
(Ancona &Caldwell, 1992; Steiner, 1992).
Likewise, employees in diverse workplaces are often challenged to adapt their own cultural
bias (Novinger, 2001) and moral measurements to be tolerant of differences. Within a given
culture, values can maintain order and sustain a society. However, sometimes the explanatory
function of such values, which once served a purpose, might need to be drastically modified
as a result of increasing knowledge or practical requirements. This dimension often requires
going beyond understandings of national, racial, and religious boundaries (Shaules, 2007).
The attention being given by employers to issues of workplace diversity, for example,
through the creation of diversity mission statements and the development of systematic
diversity plans, is well established (Jackson et al., 1992). Employers can leverage diversity to
create culturally-specific rules that can improve relations between employees.
CHAPTER III
THEORETICAL/CONCEPTUAL/OPERATIONAL
FRAMEWORK
Workforce Diversity
Basic principles
Whatever the program design, organizations that have implemented diversity initiatives agree
that the following basic principles apply to any program: Have business reasons--not social or
political reasons--for advancing a position of diversity within your organization. Ensure that
the program has the full support of executive management. At Security Pacific, there is a
policy directive outlining senior management's commitment to workforce diversity. This
commitment requires not only support in policy but in program funding, and it holds
management accountable for meeting program objectives. Make a long term commitment.
The transition to "Workforce 2000" is truly a transformation. Programs will not necessarily
show immediate, short-term results but will tend to make the difference over time. Be patient,
but expect results. Outline behavioral expectations for managers and employees that demand
growth, and reward progress toward meeting these expectations. Put the organization--not the
human resources department--in charge of the program. Human resources should be a ready
and able provider of guidance and assistance, but line management must be given the
expectation for implementation of diversity programs.
Stages of commitment
Expect varying levels of organizational commitment to diversity:
1. Awareness of differences. This most basic level of response is one that most human beings
will have simply by virtue of interacting with other people.
2. Sensitivity to differences. Organizations can foster this level of response by creating an
environment that recognizes differences in customers and co-workers as an opportunity to
create a new and effective response to a need.
3. Acceptance of differences. Organizations can foster this level of response by creating an
environment that invites employees to be introspective and to challenge their established
attitudes, thoughts, and beliefs.
4. Maximizing differences for the good of the organization. Organizations can achieve this
level of commitment by outlining expectations, giving employees the skills and tools to meet
the expectations, measuring performance against the goals, and rewarding progress. While
levels of commitment and program designs will vary, all healthcare organizations--if they are
to remain viable, vital, and competitive--must face the fact that diversity is a business strategy
worth embracing and worth implementing.
Numerous meetings and strategizing with the "stakeholders of power" (i.e., senior
management and constituent representative councils) at UPS helped prepare and build
support for the diversity program. This kind of preplanning effort paid off substantially as the
program was rolled out.
4. Be culture-specific.
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Every organization has a unique culture that it brings to issues of diversity. The diversity
program at UPS has been effective in large part because it is based on the values, attitudes,
and specific culture of the organization.
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CHAPTER IV
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH
TYPES OF RESEARCH
Descriptive Research
ANALYTICAL RESEARCH
In analytical research the researcher has to use facts or information already available
and analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the material.
EXPLAORATORY RESEARCH
Exploratory research is conducted into a research problem or issue when there are
very few or no earlier studies to which we can refer for information about the issue or
problem. The aim of this type of study is to look for patterns, ideas or hypotheses,
rather than testing or conrming a hypothesis.
Exploratory research often relies on secondary data.
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APPLIED RESEARCH
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
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Research framework
This study is for workforce diversity in organization. Research said that a diverse workforce
should reflect the society in which the company operates in terms of race, gender, physical
and mental ability, ethnicity, age, class, spiritual practice and sexual orientation.
Printed Sources:
The secondary data I collected was through the study of the workforce diversity already existed in
the firms in form of printed files or digital files reserved in the company for further references. I
had chosen these files because of the reliability and suitability of these information which I was
also sure about the accuracy of them.
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CHAPTER V
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
Diversity in the workforce and in the marketplace is a reality and an opportunity facing
organizations . A first step in implementing a successful diversity program is to research
other organizations that have successfully embraced diversity. One example is Security
Pacific Bancorporation Northwest. Program designs will vary for each organization
according to such factors as organization size, customers served, available financial and staff
resources, community expectations, management styles and company culture. Whatever the
program design, organizations that have implemented diversity initiatives agree that the
following basic principles apply to any program: 1. Have business reasons for advancing a
program of diversity within the organization. 2. Ensure that the program has the full support
of executive management. 3.Make a long-term commitment. 4. Place the organization in
charge of the program.
Conclusions
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The six individual barriers that are most likely to inhibit the advancement of diverse
groups in the workplace are (1) poor career planning, (2) inadequate skill preparation,
(3) lack of organizational political savvy, (4) lack of proper education, (5) low selfesteem, and (6) poor self-image.
Diversity should be defined in the broadest sense in order to include all the different
characteristics that make one individual different from another. Also, another reason
for making the definition all-inclusive is that it recognizes everyone as part of the
diversity that should be valued.
The six factors most likely to influence diversity in the workplace are (1)
demographic changes, (2) global marketplace, (3) economics, (4) comfort with being
different, (5) a diverse customer base, and (6) Equal Employment Opportunity and
Affirmative Action programs.
The four major reasons that organizations manage diversity are (1) to improve
productivity and remain competitive, (2) to form better work relationships among
employees, (3) to enhance social responsibility, and (4) to address legal concerns.
The six best strategies for managing diversity are (1) training and education programs,
(2) organizational policies that mandate fairness and equity for all employees, (3)
mentoring programs, (4) performance appraisal systems that are nondiscriminatory,
(5) outreach programs, and (6) career development programs.
Other important recommendations for managing diversity are to obtain top
management support, to integrate diversity into all company functions, to use a
combination of strategies, and to create a corporate culture that supports diversity.
The major goals of diversity training are to increase organizational effectiveness and
personal effectiveness.
The ten components of an effective diversity training program are (1) commitment
and support from top management, (2) inclusion as part of the organizational strategic
plan, (3) meeting the specific needs of the organization, (4) utilizing qualified trainers,
(5) combining with other diversity initiatives, (6) mandatory attendance, (7) creating
inclusive programs, (8) providing trust and confidentiality, (9) requiring
accountability, and (10) conducting evaluation.
Recommendations
Diversity training needs to begin with increasing awareness of what the concept of diversity
is and why it is important. The skill training, then, should provide the specific information
needed to create behavior changes that are required to effectively manage and work within a
diverse workforce. Then, application strategies and support needs to be provided so that
diversity awareness and skills can be applied to improving work performance.
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The future trends related to diversity include the following: Society will become more diverse
and, therefore, the workforce and the marketplace will become more diverse; there will be
more globalization of corporations, which will lead to a more global workforce, marketplace,
and economy; diverse work teams will be a reality in organizations; diversity will become
more of a business concern than a social concern and be more closely linked to competitive
strategies; diverse populations will make more money and spend more money and this
increase in wealth will empower diversity; senior managers will become more involved in
diversity issues because they will realize that the diverse workforce needs to be better utilized
in order to remain competitive; more managers will face the challenge of dealing with
backlash; and diversity training will be integrated more with other types of training.
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