Importance of Diversity in Human Resource Management

This article discusses the importance of diversity in human resource management and its benefits, challenges, and implementation strategies. It highlights the need for innovation, attracting customers, and cultural intelligence. The benefits include better decision making, increased creativity, increased profits, and increased goodwill. The challenges include language and communication barriers, generation gap, and resistance to change. The article also provides recommendations for implementing diversity in HRM.

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Executive Summary
Human resource management refers to the segment of the management of the company that
helps the business in attaining competitive gains by taking care of the human resource of the
company. This department in the business is made to maximize the employee’s performance so
as to attain strategic objective in the environment. The below mentioned paper explains the
importance of diversity at workplace. Diversity refers to a group of people working together to
achieve same motive in the environment. Diversity provides various advantages in the
environment. The paper analyses the information about diversity for the company CERA to
introduce it in the business. It is important for the management of CERA to understand the
importance of implying diversity in the business so as to initiate effective recruitment and
selection practices at workplace. The paper highlight advantages, disadvantages, need and
meaning of diversity at workplace. Further, diversity at workplace can be initiated using three
human resource functions that are discussed below. The necessity and advantages explained that
why it is important for the management of CERA to initiate diversity management practices at
workplace and the challenges evaluated that the issues that the business might face while
implementing diversity management practices at workplace. The benefits of diversity evaluated
that it is more profitable for the business to implement it in then functions while contradicting to
the challenges present in the environment. Further, recommendations are also provided to the
business that will help them to initiate diversity in the business by using human resource
management functions. Recruitment, training and performance management are the three
functions of human resource management that the HR manager of CERA should use to introduce
diversity in business. Details about the report are discussed below:

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Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................1
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Diversity Management.....................................................................................................................2
Necessity of Diversity......................................................................................................................3
Benefits of Diversity........................................................................................................................4
Challenges of Diversity...................................................................................................................5
HR functions to encourage diversity in CERA................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The purpose of the paper is to enlighten the reader about diversity management in an
organization. On the basis of given case study, CERA is an organization that is currently
focusing on managing the business functions in such a way so as to attain competence in the
environment. The human resource management department of the company is focusing on
changing the human resource functions in the company so as to attain better qualified human
resource for the business. The plan described by the human resource management department of
the company evaluated details that the business is going to target on creating the bandwidth of
people to attract them and hire them in the business (Barak, 2016). While the HR manager faced
difficulty in successfully applying the diversity management concept in the business. Due to
which it was evaluated that the business need to change its human resource management
activities in order to successfully hire the best talent in the business. Further, the below
mentioned paper is going to provide various justification to Mark French so as to implement the
feature of diversity management in the business. The paper is going to highlight the necessity of
diversity in business along with its benefits and challenges in the environment. The latter part is
going to explain the adoption of diversity in business using various HRM functions in the
environment. Diversity refers to the group of people that work together in the environment; these
people belong to different age, sex, religious background etc. The concept diversity explains that
people should not discriminate each other on the basis of their social status, race, sex etc.
(Harvey, & Allard, 2015). Further, more details about this concept are discussed below:
Diversity Management
Diversity management refers to the process of managing diversity in an organization. Diversity
management includes the organizational actions that work to promote better involvement of the
employees coming from different background in the functioning of the company. The aim of
diversity management is to put all the people through same organizational structure along with
procedures and policies. Companies have started adopting the practice of diversity management
so as to respond to the growing diversity of workforce around the world. Growth in the technical
aspects now allows the companies to hire and take care of the employee that are present in the

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world wide environment with different time zones (Page, 2019). The companies have also started
designing specific programs that can especially help promote and retain employees coming from
different cultural background. The diversity management program and policies are defined to
create a welcoming environment for the groups that have lacked access to employment in the
past. Equality is the right of every person in world so it is important for the companies to initiate
such activities in the environment that can help them manage diversity in the business and take
advantage of it as well. The process of globalization in the worldwide market introduced
diversity in the business environment as it destroyed the boundaries present between the
countries and made the world flat (Riccucci, 2018). Further, it should also be noted that there are
two different types of diversity management that are intranational diversity management and
cross-national diversity management. Intranational diversity management refers to the process of
managing the workforce that involves immigrants and citizens in the single national context. The
diversity program aims on providing employment opportunities to the minority group of people
present in the community. For instance, a German company might implement such policies and
programs in the environment with an aim to improve the sensitivity and provide employment to
the lesser known group of people (Khan, Korac‐Kakabadse, Skouloudis, & Dimopoulos, 2019).
Further, the cross national or international diversity management refers to the process of
managing the staff that includes people from different parts of the world. It also involves the
prospective people who are seeking employment in the region. One example of this case can be
understood as a UK organization having different branches in US, Canada and Africa. This
program is applied to headquarter of the organization along with its different branches. One of
the challenges in international diversity is that the parent company needs to consider the laws in
the host countries in which they operate their business functions in (Roberson, 2019).
Necessity of Diversity
With the introduction of diversity in the environment it has become important for to companies
to find out ways to manage it so as to attain growth for the business. Below mentioned are the
needs of diversity in an organization like CERA:
Need of Innovation: This is one of the biggest reason for which the companies should apply the
practices of diversity management in business. Diversity brings out innovation in companies as

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diverse workforce come together to find resolution for one subject. People with diversified
background and cultural experience have their own way of thinking and resolving things due to
which the aspect of diversity will bring several brainstorming ideas for the company to
implement (Himmelstein, & Gopalakrishnan, 2017). The employees in the environment will
work on the basis of their teachings and practices which will enhance the satisfaction of the
company by increasing the level of innovation in the business. Innovation in an organization is
driven by the employees of the company so diversified workforce will provide various options to
the company to act upon and initiate innovation for the business (Hunt, Layton, & Prince, 2015).
Need to Attract Customers: Premier businesses present in the industry need to attract people to
the maximum level so as to maintain their competence in the target market. In order to attract
and retain customers, the management of such companies would require adequate workforce
who would understand the needs and wants of the customers and satisfy them accordingly
(Ravazzani, 2016). People belonging to same cultural background cannot solve all the problems
of diversified employees so in order to understand the concern of the customers and satisfy them,
it is important for the management to attain diversified workforce for the business. The
companies present in the environment can attain the trust of customers only if they embrace
diversity as a central growth enabler.
Need of Cultural Intelligence: Cultural intelligence is one of the most compelling reasons that
create the need in the business to employ diversified workforce in the business. When the
employees and customers in an organization are diverse then it is important for the business to
not just learn but appreciate to the value and cultural background of other people so as to resolve
confusion and conflicts in the environment (Sakdiyakorn, & Wattanacharoensil, 2018). Adoption
of these values in the business creates better understanding of different cultures in the
environment. It is important for the management to understand that it is important for them to
take care of the needs and limits of the employees and respect them accordingly. Diversity factor
can easily create the sense of cultural intelligence in the business (McCann, Sparks, & Kohntopp,
2017).

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Benefits of Diversity
There are various benefits that diversity provides in an environment, some of them are listed
below:
Better Decision Making: workplace diversity leads to better decision making process in the
environment. The research also says that inclusion of diversity in the business improves the
decision making power of the business. As with the process of diversity, the business gets to
work with people having differential skills and mind set due to which the decision making
process is also enhanced as it focus on areas that other might lose focus on. Employee with
different background and perspective come together with better approach and solutions to
improvise the functioning of the business (Singh, 2018). Thus, it should be noted that the aspect
of diversity ultimately increase the decision making power of the business.
Increased Creativity: another benefit of diversity at workplace is increased creativity. People
coming from different cultural backgrounds tend to have a different experience which results in
different outlooks as well. Introduction to variety of diverse perspectives and outlooks lead to
increase the creativity segment of the business. When people from diverse environment come
together who look at same things in a different way then, the business is most likely to get
different creative suggestions for the growth and profitability aspect (Lynch, 2017).
Increased Profits: Implementation of diversity aspect in the business gives rise to increased
profits for the business as well. As different types of people come together for a single motive
due to which the work gets completed in an innovative and creative way. Innovation and
creativity in the business leads of increased profitability of the business as well. Further, it
should also be noted that the Top Financial Performer companies like Google, Tesla etc. have
grown in the environment because of introducing diversity in the business (Velasco, Villar,
Lunar, & Velasco, 2016). Diversity provides various options to the top management to act upon
on the basis of which the profitability of the company is subsequently increased. Companies with
diversified workforce tend to make better decision by introducing creativity and innovation in it.
Resulting to which, the competence of the business is subsequently achieved and profitability of
the company is increased (Carter, 2017).

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Increased Goodwill: Workplace diversity increases the reputation of companies in the target
market. Diversity adds an attractive feature to the list of positive factors of the company in the
target market. Diversity at workplace increases the branding of the company and makes the
company more desirable to work. Diversity also helps in attracting top talent in the environment
for recruitment. No person in the environment would like to work in a company where people
like him belong to minority (Al-Jenaibi, 2017). Diversity eliminates the concept of majority and
minority and aims to recruit diversified workforce from different cultural background resulting to
which the image of the company is uplifted in the eyes of prospective customers and talented
people as well. Diversified workforce helps in attracting diversified talent present in the
environment and thus goodwill of the company is subsequently improved. As this an important
aspect for the talent thus, workplace diversity attracts them to the maximum extent (Phillips,
Deiches, Morrison, Chan, & Bezyak, 2016).
Challenges of Diversity
Below mentioned are various challenges that a company like CERA might face in external
environment while introducing diversity aspect in the human resource management prctices:
Language and Communication Barrier: Language barrier is one of the biggest barriers in the
process of diversity management in an organization. Diversity in an environment introduces
people having different cultural background ethnicity in the company due to which language
becomes a barrier in the process of communication. People coming from different cultural
background faces problem in understanding what other person is trying to say. Communication
problem makes it difficult for the management to understand the concern of the employees and
increase their level of satisfaction as well (Boehm, & Kunze, 2015). For instance, a person
coming from China will face difficulty in settling in France because they won’t be able to
understand his language nor he would be able to understand French resulting in which the
productivity of the business will subsequently reduce.
Generation Gap: diversity also involves hiring people belonging to different age group in the
environment. So, conflict might rise at workplace due to difference in thinking of people
belonging to different age group. It might get difficult for a millennial employee to understand

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the concepts of a middle age experienced employee in the company due to which problems
might arise (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2017).
Resistance to Change: it is difficult for the organization to make the employees adopt diversity in
the business. The employees of the company feel comfortable in their native background and
adoption of diversity will make the employees adopt the background and practices of other
religion and culture as well. Resulting to which, the employees of the company might resist
towards change in the external environment as they do not want to adjust with other people.
There are always some employees in the organization who refuse to change or accept to change
in the environment due to the social or cultural background of other people. Such people face
difficulty in changing the business process by adopting innovation in the business (Cascio,
2015). Thus, resistance to change can also occur as a threat for the diversity management aspect
in an organization.
Ethnic and cultural Differences: Some people present in the environment hold prejudice against
the people who have diverse ethnic, religious as well as cultural background as their own. This
can create complication among the employees as they all respect their own cultural background
and cannot talk to a person overlapping their cultural belief in the environment. For instance, a
Muslim needs to have separate place and breaks at workplace so as to read namaz. So, if other
people of the company along with the management will not respect the difference in culture then
they will not be able to retain them in the functioning of the business. Thus, it is important for
the business to respect the culture and background of diverse people present in the company
(Reiche, Stahl, Mendenhall, & Oddou, 2016).
HR functions to encourage diversity in CERA
Three functions of human resource management that can help the business CERA to successfully
implement diversity management in the business are discussed below:
Recruitment: with the help of recruitment HR function, the business should focus on hiring
people belonging to different age group, sex, race, creed etc. This segment is most important
function in the process of diversity management. In order to manage the diversity, it is important
for the business to hire people belonging to different societies in the worldwide market then only

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they can initiate the practices of diversity management in the environment. The HRM of the
company CERA should initially focus on diversifying new and talented people from different
groups. They should promote the hiring of people from different parts of the world and keep it as
their first priority as well (Wilton, 2016). This will help the business in attracting and hiring fresh
talent in the business. It will also eliminate various barriers belonging to the process of
recruitment as now the company is focusing on attracting people based on talent and experience
and not on religion or culture. The company should conduct recruitment process in different
parts of the world so as to hire talent that is resourceful for the business.
Training: In order to encourage diversity in the business it is important for the management to
train themselves and other employees of the company. Cross cultural training along with cultural
sensitivity training should be conducted by the HRM of CERA at workplace. Cross cultural
training will help the employees to survive in diverse business environment. This type of training
will help them to adjust in diverse environment and respect each and every culture present in the
environment. Cultural sensitivity training will help the employees of the company to understand
that it is important for them to respect the cultures of people belonging to different background.
This type of training will help them to eliminate various conflicts in the environment and create a
friendly environment at workplace (Bratton, & Gold, 2017). Cultural sensitivity is an important
aspect due to which expatriates leave the company so it is important for the management to train
the employees to respect different culture. Further, communication training should also be
provided to the employees in the environment. The management of CERA should train the
existing employees to successfully take care of the interest of expatriates coming in the company
and initiate a conversation with them so as to make them comfortable in the environment. So, it
should be noted that the HRM of CERA should initiate these trainings in the business so as to
encourage diversity at workplace (Tung, 2016).
Performance Management: The HR manager of the company should create the performance
management plan is such a way that it welcomes the segment of diversity in the environment.
The management of the company should set clear goals based on the diversity factor of the
company. They should aim to appraise people on the basis of their personal capabilities and
characteristics (Brewster, Vernon, Sparrow, & Houldsworth, 2016). The HR management should

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provide effective incentive strategy in the business so as to attract and retain employees at
CERA.
Conclusion
Thus, in the limelight of above mentioned events, the fact should be noted that the above
mentioned report evaluated details about the diversity management concept in the business
CERA. The company is struggling to initiate the diversity management aspect in the business so
as to increase the profitability of the company. The above mentioned stances clearly explain that
it is important for the business to introduce diversity at workplace so as to increase its
profitability. Diversity at CERA will help the management to hire people coming from different
cultural background and increase efficiency of business as well. Thus, after attaining above
information it is sure that the company CERA should successfully introduce diversity at
workplace so as to attain adequate talent at the business.

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Routledge.

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