Diversity Management - A Case Study

This case study discusses diversity management and provides a diversity program plan for new employees. It also includes an example of a situation where leadership skills were exercised to resolve a conflict between two diverse colleagues.

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DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT – A CASE STUDY
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1DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT – A CASE STUDY
Question 1
Formulate your own definition of “diversity management”.
Diversity management refers to the strategies that are responsible for the use of the
practices that have been deemed to be the best with the provision of the best results. These
strategies aid in the discovery and the creation of the diversity and the inclusiveness in the
workplace. The successful strategies are known to link the business results with the progress
in the diversity in the concerned workplace (Olsen & Martins, 2012). Diversity in the place of
work refers to the coming together of the people belonging to the different age groups, ethnic
backgrounds and religious groups to form a productive and the cohesive unit at the concerned
workplace.
A business organization must have the ability to utilize and manage the diversity
within the organization in an effective manner. Thus, diversity management might be defined
as the initiatives undertaken by the business concern in order to include the total number of
the employees of the concern in all the programs and the social networks that exist within the
organization. The organizations that aim at achieving global relevance must take into
consideration the impact of the diverse workforce of the organization on the ability of the
employees to solve problems, bring about innovations and bring about the cultivation of the
diversified markets (Wrench, 2014).
Question 2
Prepare a diversity program plan for new employees (diverse culture).
The goal of the management of the diversity in an organization is the enabling of the
all the employees of the concern so that they may reach their topmost potential while
pursuing the mission of the organization. The business concern must be committed towards
following the enlisted objectives.
 The creation of a diverse, dedicated and a talented workforce.
 The education of the workforce regarding the principles of the management of
diversity
 Improvisation of the communication throughout the concerned organization.
 Motivation of the employees to attain their correspondent highest potentials

2DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT – A CASE STUDY
 Providing the encouragement to the employees so that they may offer their
suggestions and views towards the achievement of the organizational and the
program goals without the retribution threats.
 The individual differences should be appreciated and respected by the
management of the concerned organization.
 There should be an inclusive approach should be created and the maintained
towards all the policies, systems and the practices of the concerned
organization.
 The best and the most qualified applicants should be employed for the job at
hand irrespective of the age, gender, race, nationality, religion, sexual
orientation, disability and other such non-merit factors.
The leaders of the concerned organization should be held responsible for leading the
change, fostering the desired behaviors among the employees (Prsa.org, 2017). They should
also be held responsible for the following activities.
 The policies, the practices and the systems that are followed by the concerned
organization are supportive of the vision of the concerned organization and
respond to the changes that take place within the organization.
 The workplace is inclusive in nature.
 The operations of the concerned organization are inclusive of the management
of the principles of diversity within the organization.
The employees of the organization also play a very important role in the management
of the diversities that exist within the organization. The role of the employees in the
management of diversities within a given organization are enlisted below.
 The employees must be supportive of the principles that are employed in the
management of the diversity in the concerned organization.
 The employees must respect each other irrespective of the similarities and the
differences on the basis of the views, backgrounds and styles that exist
between them.
 The employees must participate fully in the efforts made by the concerned
organization in order to promote the greater organizational efficiency and
effectiveness through the implementation of the principles that are employed
in the management of the diversity within an organization (Lauring, 2013).

3DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT – A CASE STUDY
The current environment of the United States reveal that there are lesser distinctions
that are based on the race or the gender of an employee. It is often noticed that the firms do
not share the actual diversity data of their employees. According to the surveys that were
conducted all over the country, there were twelve companies of Fortune 500 that had
appeared on the list of the 50 Best Workplace For Diversity. This survey had pointed out the
fact that the employees of these organizations felt comfortable at their workplace and as a
result rated their respective employers highly on the grounds of morale, favoritism, feeling of
inclusion and representation (Fortune.com, 2017).
Goals and Measures of the diversity plan
Goal 1 – Recruitment of the diverse employees at all the levels.
Outcome Measure – Diversity in the hiring system would prove beneficial for
the concerned company as well as be in accordance to the laws of the state.
Goal 2 – The development and the retention of the employees of the diverse
backgrounds through the promotion of the environment that respects the existing
differences.
Outcome Measures –
1. The retention rate of the concerned organization would compare
favorably with the external rates of retention.
2. The results of the employee satisfaction survey would prove to be
favorable for the total workforce of the concerned organization.
Goal 3 – The increment of the diversity in the senior and the managerial employees of
the concerned organization.
Outcome Measures – The consistency with the applicable laws are maintained
in following this goal. This would also lead to the representation of the women
and the minorities in the senior and the managerial positions of the concerned
organization.

4DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT – A CASE STUDY
Question 3
Please provide an example of a situation when you had to exercise your leadership skills
to help resolve a conflict between two diverse colleagues or subordinates. Discuss few
facts and solutions and relate the case study above.
I had faced a similar situation of the diversity conflict in my workplace. There had
been a situation between two of my subordinates regarding the issue of their genders and
their placements in the organizational hierarchy. The issue grew out of proportion when an
announcement regarding the upcoming vacancy was declared within the organization. This
was an internal promotional issue. The nomination list of the members included both the
subordinates of mine. Thus, the issues between them increased ten-fold and it became
necessary for me to intervene in the matter in order to resolve the issue. The male subordinate
of mine nurtured the view that the managerial position against which the vacancy had been
declared should be offered to him. He felt that the female colleague of his should not be
promoted to the managerial position as she could not do justice to the role due to the fact that
she was a female member of the organization and could not establish her authority over the
other male subordinate members. I had to intervene in this matter and to resolve the issue I
had arranged for a meeting with both of them regarding the issue. I had a discussion with
both the conflicting parties and involved a representative in the meeting as well.
In this case, the male member involved in the conflict was blinded by the gender
difference that existed between him and his female colleague. This kind of situations may be
avoided by implementing a mandatory hiring test that the candidates need to take before they
can qualify to be interviewed by the officials of the human resource team of the company.
The results of these tests should be completely devoid of any kind of bias that may exist
within the recruiting members of the organization. The performance of the employees should
be rated annually so as to ensure that the decisions of the managers regarding the pay and the
promotion of their subordinate employees are unbiased and fair (Dobbin & Kalev, 2016). The
best employees of the organization must be identified and rewarded on the basis of their
performance in the organization. The diversity in the organization must be promoted and
there should not be any bias among the employees of the organization on the basis of their
race, caste, creed, sex or gender.

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References
Dobbin, F., & Kalev, A. (2016). Why Diversity Programs Fail. Harvard Business Review.
Retrieved 30 November 2017, from https://hbr.org/2016/07/why-diversity-programs-
fail
Fortune.com. (2017). Only 3% Of Fortune 500 Companies Share Full Diversity
Data. Fortune. Retrieved 30 November 2017, from
http://fortune.com/2017/06/07/fortune-500-diversity/
Lauring, J. (2013). International diversity management: Global ideals and local
responses. British Journal of Management, 24(2), 211-224.
Olsen, J. E., & Martins, L. L. (2012). Understanding organizational diversity management
programs: A theoretical framework and directions for future research. Journal of
Organizational Behavior, 33(8), 1168-1187.
Prsa.org. (2017). Prsa.org. Retrieved 30 November 2017, from
http://www.prsa.org/Diversity/documents/USNUCLEARREGULATORYCOMMISS
ION.pdf
Wrench, J. (2014). Diversity management. Routledge International Handbook of Diversity
Studies, 254.