[Diversity management]
Why is diversity management an important consideration for people managers today? Discuss the ways in which diversity management can impact an organization
Diversity management is an all-encompassing aspect that allows an organization to focus on strengthening individuality within its operation. For most of the companies to succeed, it must be able to achieve a diversified range of its work force; with the diversified workforce, the organization is better placed in making diversified products that fit in many different cultures, philosophies and even diversified ideas (MOR-BARAK, 2011, pg. 89). The importance of the diversity management to people’s managers can therefore be associated to the fact that it allows the managers to harmonize a pool of personalities that have unique abilities and qualities. This combination of diverse qualities acts as a growth potential while leaving not chance for conflict. As the result, diversity in workforce works by its commitment in nurturing and developing individual’s potential within the organization. This report articulates some of the ways that promotion of individuality through diversity of workforce can impact on an organization.
Innovation
The major reason why most of the employees seek to find a work force that is of high diversification is because of the fact that the wide difference in the cultural experience will lead to more innovation in the company. This is irrespective of the position of the employee, whether in the top management position, entry level or in the mid-level. There is a challenge that is associated with the workforce, which has the same background. This arises because there is little innovation since they have very many similarities and the skills of solving most of the companies problems are the same (Hubbard, 2014, 155). A variation on the culture of the management or even the entire work force is able to improve the leave; of innovations since there will be a wide range of ideas among the employees from the different cultures.
A company that is exhibited by a wide range in the cultural difference is very capable of attraction many talents. Most of the customers also prefer to be buying their products from the companies that have a wide range in terms of diversification. Difference in the cultural practices of the employees and even the top management of an organization attracts a wide talent; this is because there are different ideas and philosophies associated with diversification (Houkamau & Boxall, 2011, 460). It is therefore recommended that a company should hire its workforce from a diversified group. This will aid in the development of talents that will therefore result in the improvement in the overall performance of the company.
Employee growth
When the employees are exposed to colleagues from different cultures, they are capable of learning many new things through the interaction by other employees from different cultural backgrounds. The employees will be able to improve on the way they can adapt to different cultures; this will make it easy for any possible geographical transfer among the employees. They are therefore capable of working under many different cultures because of the association that they have had in the previous interaction with other people from different cultures (ARREDONDO, 2009, pg.198). The employees get exposure to different ideas and opinions that are associated with a diversified workplace; this enables them to understand other cultures clearly.
Diversified strength
People with different cultural background may tend to have varied strengths both physically and even professionally. Once these strengths are brought together under one roof, the productivity of a company may increase significantly. This is because the technical or physical of an individual may be brought together with a professional strength of a different individual, the resulting strength will be very strong and this will lead to the increase in the productivity in any organization (Gatrell & Swan, 2008, pg.87). The diversification of culture may be of help to a company since it will be able to reach and meet the requirements of different cultures. This will lead to improved productivity of the company.
Proper schedule
For an organization that has diversification in its workforce composition, there will be efficiency in scheduling of the activities through the year (Cox & Beale, 2011, pg 65). Take for example, a manufacturing company that has diverse workforce, some of the employees for instance the Muslim employee, may not be in a position to work on Friday. This is because Friday is considered their day of worship; therefore if the company has a diversified employee workface then it will not experience more trouble because the Christian employees may be able to replace their Muslim colleagues on Friday. This diversification of culture will therefore be effective during some public holidays that are celebrated by other employees from different cultures (Kramar, 2012, 240). With a diversification, there can be easy schedule in the organization of any given company.
The ways by which diversity management can impact an organization are as follows;
Diversity of ideas
Diversity management can impact an organization since there is a diversity of ideas and management skills. This therefore increases the productivity of the organization since the managers employ s diverse management skills for the specific departments, which they hold. Diversity in ideologies leads to an increased innovation and invention into the business world that therefore increases the chances of faster grow and expansion and also increases the general business market.
Job specialization
Diverse management encourages job specialization that makes the general production to be much faster and very efficient. This also comes with added advantages that increases the growth in skill of the employees and also increases departmental specialization that makes work to become very easy and faster. Therefore this makes it possible to have a great output from the organization which in turn has a positive impact on the returns that the organization is likely to receive. Job specialization also leads to an increase in the quality of the produce of the organization and a consistency in production (Gatrell & Swan, 2008, 57).
Increased networking
With diverse management, it is easier to expand the networks of the organization. Networking implies that the organization will experience a general increase of the market margin. In addition, the buyer and the consumer networks are very essential for any organization to undergo a growth in business. Diverse management therefore creates a platform to network and expand the market. It also Makes is it easier to conduct an effective market research for conquering new markets and also to remain relevant in the business. (Cross, 2010, pg 11).
Improved team spirit
Team spirit in an organization is also built through diverse management .when people employ diverse methods to achieve a common goal then it makes them get into uniting on the possible ways that can be collectively employed by the team to achieve the target or goal. It also makes it easier for the organization to carry out an evaluation of the team to improve on the weakness and to build on the strength. This therefore reduces redundancy in the organization, increases the speed and the morale of the work force (Cross, 2010, 45).
Management strategies
Different managers employ different strategies in order to meet their individual targets which in turn come out to create an impact for the whole organization. Managing the human resource, which is also among one of the challenging resources to manage in an organizational unit therefore becomes easier with this diverse management. This therefore increases the productivity of the human resource and also impacts the organization to experience a general increase in the productivity.
Time saving
Diverse management for an organization makes it easier to make decisions at the particular management level without engaging the whole organization. This enhances continuity of work and the general production of the business. The impact that the production time for the organization is always increased hence leading to a higher productivity in the business. Saving time also increases the flexibility of the organization and hence this may make the organization or the business to cope with the ever-changing trends in the competitive world (Noon, 2007, 780).
Possible to integrate new methodologies
Diverse management makes it very possible to integrate new methodologies into the business. The new methodologies come with the experience and the expertise of the different managers who work together for the common good of the organization. Due to the increasing innovations and competition for market opportunities by the different businesses, integrating the new methodologies on how to troubleshoot becomes easier (D’Netto et al, 2014, 1240).
Economies of scale
Diversity in management makes it easier and possible to have an advantage of the economies of scale. The impacts the business in terms of reduces costs of production, increase in the company`s assets, profitability and market muscle. Diversity in management also helps to curb the problem of stagnation that many similar organizations are also likely to experience without this module of diverse management (Kulik, 2014, 132).
In conclusion, diversity in management is a key tool to business and organizational growth that has seen many firms with such module wader through the highly competitive market place where one can be easily toppled down. For such reasons and the aforementioned ones, diversity in management is therefore key for the managers to implement in the respective organizations.
Bibliography
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