Transcript strategic diversity management

Chapter 12
Strategic Diversity
Management
Objectives
• Explore the development from equal
opportunities to managing diversity
• Understand the role of the law in managing
diversity
• Explore the concept of diversity
• Evaluate barriers to diversity, including
prejudice, stereotyping and institutional racism
• Identify business benefits of diversity
• Explore the link between strategic business
development and effective diversity
management
The Law
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The Equal Pay Act 1970 addressing the inequality between genders in relation to pay and
contractual terms
The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 addressing discrimination relating to gender and marital status
The Race Relations Act 1976 addressing discrimination on the grounds of race, nationality and
ethnic origin
The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 prohibiting discrimination
against an individual on the grounds of trade union membership or non-membership
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 addressing the issue of discrimination on the grounds of
disability
The Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999 addressing the issue of
discrimination on the grounds of trans-sexuality
The Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000
conferring the right to equality of treatment to part-time workers as compared with equivalent fulltime workers engaged on the same type of contract
The Fixed-Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002
conferring the right to equality of treatment to fixed-term employees as compared with equivalent
permanent employees.
The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 protecting people against
discriminatory treatment on grounds of sexual orientation, whether gay, lesbian, bisexual or
heterosexual
The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 prohibiting discrimination on
grounds of religion or belief
The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 prohibiting discrimination on grounds of age
Strands of the Law
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Direct discrimination
Indirect discrimination
Victimisation
Harassment
Positive action
Types of Diversity
• Social category diversity – relating to
differences in demographic characteristics
such as age and race
• Informational diversity – relating to
differences in background such as
education and knowledge
• Value diversity – relating to differences in
personality and attitudes
Two Models of Diversity
• Human capital perspective
• Social justice perspective
Barriers to Diversity
• Prejudice
• Stereotyping
• Discrimination
Evidence of Discrimination
• Women workers are concentrated in lowpaid, service sector and poorly organised
industries and part-time work
• Black workers face disadvantage in the
workplace and much higher
unemployment rates than white workers
• Workplaces are organised for those
without disability and as a result preclude
many disabled people
Why Do Differences Occur?
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Stereotyped jobs
Jobs of parents
Flexibility of working
Aptitude
Roles in society
Discrimination
Group Factors
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Group loyalty
‘In group’ and ‘out group’
Social identity
Equal chance
Equal access
Equal share
Learning
• Instrumental conditioning
• Classical conditioning
• Observational conditioning
Proven Benefits of Diversity
• Easier to recruit scarce talent
• Reduction of absenteeism and turnover
costs
• Enhanced organisational flexibility
Indirect Benefits of Diversity
• Improved job satisfaction and morale
• Better relations between different groups
of workers
• Greater productivity
• Better public image
• Competitive advantage
Debatable Benefits of Diversity
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Boosted team creativity and innovation
Improved team problem solving
Better team decision-making
Improved quality
Improved customer service, especially to
minority cultures
Impacts of Conflict
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employee frustration
deteriorating interpersonal relationships
low morale
poor performance, resulting in lower productivity and / or
a poorer quality to output or service
disciplinary problems, including poor performance by
employees
resignation and the loss of good staff
increased employee absenteeism
withdrawal of employee goodwill
resistance to change
Diversity in Practice
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Customer focus
Innovation, creativity and learning
Business process improvement
The financial bottom line