Dorris is working as HR director at a software company. The company has more than 350 employees. Working at this firm Dorris faces some issues. These issues are given below:
- The first and foremost issue faced is the issue of workforce diversity.
- Secondly, the interview questions are asked by the managers and there are no clear defined selection procedures and policies.
- There are no well-defined procedures for training and performance appraisal of the employees. This may lead to the reduced levels of employee satisfaction
Work Force Diversity
The workforce in United States is transforming rapidly. It is expected that till 2020 white working workforce will decline to 63%. At the same, the portion of minorities is expected to be doubled in the workforce. The main reason of this transformation is aging a population of US. In addition, more and more immigrants are now working in US. Therefore, the workforce is now from different backgrounds. Women Participation has also increased over the recent few years. Now more women are in offices. Similarly, legislation has opened doors of organizations for disabled workers. There are differences between personalities, values and cultures of the workforce now. These all things contribute to the diversity. This workforce diversity has many useful aspects, and it affects business in many positive and negative ways.
The positive side of the diversity is that the organizations are getting more talent as the workforces are becoming diverse. On the other hand, more and diverse background employees mean more conflicts and problems.
Building Culture of Inclusiveness
It is role Dorris to build a culture of inclusiveness so that diverse workforce can collectively work accordingly to attain company goals. Following guidelines can help in creating a harmonious culture:
1. Focus on common goals: The professionals should establish common objectives and team vision. The focus on common goals will help in remaining focused towards a common goal and in surpassing the individual differences among the workers.
2. Remove “us” and “them: The managers should remove the lines between the employees of different backgrounds and ethnicities. Every employee should get a feeling of belonging to same structure and group.
3. Communicate importance of an inclusive culture to employees: The manager should communicate the valuable outcomes of maintaining an inclusive culture at the workplace. It told that it brings increased productivity and performance.
4. Highlight behavioral expectations that foster inclusiveness: Managers should be regular conversations with team members on their ability to work effectively as a different team and discuss possible areas of improvement.
5. Recruit with inclusive values and behavior in mind: In recruiting process besides the technical skills required to perform a particular job, managers should keep in mind the attitudes that new workers may carry into the organization.
6. Position new employees: While bringing new employees on board, the managers should clearly communicate with them the values of the organization. Moreover, they should encourage existing employees to welcome the new ones.
7. Participation of employees from different profiles: Organizations with a diverse workforce have a variety in experience and insights as they have employees from diverse backgrounds. The professionals should encourage the involvement of all the employees. They should give feedback and should be encouraged to make participation at the workplace.
8. Address in favorable behaviors on time: The discriminatory and in favorable behaviors at workplace should address as promptly as they happen to avoid their reoccurrence.
9. Role Model: The professionals should be a role model for the employees. They should practice all the activities they expect employees to perform. They should communicate values through their actions.
Managing Conflicts
Diversity at workplace can sometimes lead to certain conflicts. Even if everything seems to working fine, conflicts can arise. These can prove harmful for the organization in a long run. These conflicts should be taken care of as soon as possible, and it is a responsibility of the human resources manager to address such issues. Most of the times, these conflicts arise due to the differential backgrounds of the employees, languages and their values. Following are some suggestions and guidelines that can help in conflict resolution among the employees (Evans 2013).
1. Identify the cause of problem to avoid ambiguity: Sometimes misunderstandings between the employees lead them to think that there is a conflict between them. The managers should listen carefully to both the parties so that these misunderstandings can avoid and both the parties should communicate well. In this way, the cause of the problem can be identified.
2. Facilitate understanding of both parties: Most the times the conflicts between the employees arise due to different values and cultures. The manger should facilitate the understanding between the employees so that they get to know about the values and culture of others. In this respect for other employees’ values is increased, and conflicts avoided.
3. Involve an unbiased arbitrator: Most of the times, involving a neutral arbitrator between the parties of different nationalities and values having a conflict is helpful in settling the dispute easily.
4. Resolve conflicts quickly: The conflicts between the diverse workforces should be resolved as quickly as possible so that there is a minimum effect on morale of the employees. In this way, the employees also get the feeling that they are valuable.
Training and Performance Appraisal
The company should have well defined training and performance appraisal techniques so that the employees get the feeling that an organization feels for them and values them. Moreover, the hard working employees may get benefits for their work. training will lead to the satisfaction and retention of employees. The employees will be loyal with their organization.
References
- Alena, M., (2012). Cultural Diversity Management in Organizations: The Role of Psychological Variables in Diversity Initiatives. Diplomica Verlag.
- Evans, A., (2013). The New Talent Acquisition Frontier: Integrating HR and Diversity Strategy in the Private and Public Sectors and Higher Education. Stylus Publishing, LLC.
- Ting-Toomey, S., & Chung, L. C. (2012). Understanding intercultural communication. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Parrotta, P., Pozzoli, D., & Pytlikova, M. (2012). Does labor diversity affect firm productivity? (No. 6973). Discussion Paper Series, Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit
