A Report on Diversity Considerations and Motivation in India

This report examines the impact of diversity considerations on employee motivation within the Indian context. It explores various factors influencing motivation, including work culture, company policies, growth opportunities, performance management, and leadership styles. The report highlights the significance of diversity in the workplace and its impact on business operations, particularly in a country like India with a wide range of cultures and religions. It discusses the challenges arising from diversity, such as potential conflicts, communication barriers, and differing approaches to decision-making, while also acknowledging the benefits of a diverse workforce, such as enhanced adaptability and a wider range of ideas. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of addressing these challenges through effective strategies like employee surveys and the development of inclusive workplace cultures. The report is contributed by a student to be published on Desklib, a platform which provides all the necessary AI based study tools for students.

Personal and professional
development
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Impact of diversity considerations on motivation in India..........................................................5
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8
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INTRODUCTION
In the existing business environment, companies faces different types of issues in
maintaining a diverse workforce. The workforce consists of employees from different cultural
backgrounds (Lorriman, 2005). The differentiation can be made on the basis of factors such as
age, culture, nationality, gender etc. The purpose of this report is to examine the impact of
diversity considerations on motivation in employees. The research is specifically focused on the
individuals in India. It will include the theoretical explanations of the nature and context of
diversity and how this is being viewed in India.
Factors that influence motivation
There can be many factors which influence motivation among the Indian employees.
These can be discussed as follows:
 Work culture – Working environment of an organization is having a high impact on the
behaviour and actions of the employees (Silhanek and DeCenzo, 2001). They desire to
work in a good and friendly environment where their contributions can be praised.
Presence of good infrastructure and facilities makes them more productive. Company’s
culture must be of something which is open for every religion. It must praise every
religion so that employees working for the company does not feel de-motivated for what
they are doing. Support from management is needed at all the levels (Simonsen, 2006).
 Rules and policies – Another factor which affects effective motivation among the
employees is company’s rules and policies (Beausaert and et.al., 2013). The ethical
framework for every individual within the company is required to be the same. Things
such as biasness and favouritism are needed to be avoided. Worker’s performance are not
to be judged on the basis of factors such as gender, caste, religion etc. Good policies can
provide effective motivation for them (Silhanek and DeCenzo, 2001).
 Growth & opportunities – Before joining an organization, an individual always look for
the expected growth and opportunities which are available for them (Bennett,
Cunningham and Dawes, 2000). These things are not be decided on the basis of gender,
caste, origin, religion etc. Every employee has a right to receive equal opportunities.
However, this may influence the motivation among them. They will try to work with full
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commitment in case of they see many opportunities lining up for them ahead in the
company.
 Performance management – Actions of an individual are also influenced from the factors
such as pay-scale, training, performance judgment etc. Good training opportunities can
turn the weak employees into efficient ones (Davies, 2005). They expect that their
performance is being measured on regular intervals. Company should focus on giving
them the rewards for their respective contribution. Presence of rewards, recognition etc
bring a sense of positive motivation in the minds of the employees. They are inclined to
perform better if their performance is appreciated (O’Grady, 2013).
 Leadership – It is another biggest factor affecting the motivation at the workplace.
Leaders play a crucial role in the success of an organization. They are responsible for
achievement of the stated goals and objectives (Dawes and et. al., 2000). They have the
potential to give right motivation to the employees. However on the other side, wrong
guidance can also lead to bad results. Hence it can be said that leaders can play an
important role in giving motivation. They can make people work and contribute towards
the company.
Impact of diversity considerations on motivation in India
Diversity is ubiquitous and companies are well aware of it since many decades. The
world has been and is a stage of huge mix of people from different backgrounds, race and
culture. It has become imperative for the leaders and manage to understand the cultural diversity
and how it can affect the business operations (Dixon and et. al., 2003). Indian is a democratic
nation where people of different religions can be found in large numbers. The cultural diversity
is high because the number of religions are also very wide. Hence it is evident that every firm
maintains a diverse range of workforce.
According to, in case of diverse workforce, problem related to coordination can emerge.
For instance different cultured people work together for fulfilling different goals (Lopper, 2007).
While contributing towards a common goal, different types of conflicts may arise due to cultural
differences. Individuals from dissimilar backgrounds may not have similar view points on a
particular aspect. Hence it may produce bad results for the business (Dixon and et. al., 2003).
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According to, in case of cultural diversity issues related to language and communication
may also arise. India is a country with 22 spoken languages in different states. Every state has its
own way of communication mannerism. Almost all the entities maintain employees from
different backgrounds (Lorriman, 2005). Hence it becomes little difficult for them to make
communication between each other. This is because of the language dissimilarities. It act as a
constraint in the achievement of the common business goals. Lack of communication is not good
for the business as it will spoil the decision making process (Dawes and et. al., 2000).
According to, cultural diversity may also lead to change in the approaches towards the
decision making. In a company, different categories of individuals work together. Every one of
them carries own approaches towards all aspects (Morgan, 2011). They make use of those
approaches in order to come towards a particular solution. Conflicts also arise in situations where
people work with dissimilarities in their approaches. This may have a negative impact on the
motivation of the employees. Further business operations will also be affected.
According to, diversity may also lead to issues in the management of the employees.
Their management will become little complex (Mumford, 2001). Handling people from different
ethnic backgrounds is not an easy task. They need to apply the right approach and methods.
There is also a requirement of giving them the right solutions.
It can be stated that diversification has direct impact on motivation within workplace
setting. In the present scenario, it has become very important for businesses to take care of
motivational level of all their workers (O’Grady, 2013). Employee with high morale and
motivation level are the one which supports organizations in getting competitive advantage over
other market players. In addition to this, it also assists in companies in delivering the best quality
of services to customers. India is a country which consist of wide range of diversified people and
this means that staff members in organizations in the country also belong from different caste,
color and cultural background. It can be also stated that workplace diversity, has several benefits
along with challenges which needs to be taken care of (Silhanek and DeCenzo, 2001).
Organization in India has diversified workforce and one of the major benefit of this is that in
enhances its overall degree of adaptability. Having a diversified workforce means that during
situations of issues and problem, businesses are able to get diverse range of ideas and
suggestions. On the other hand, companies in India also faces various kind of challenges due to
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diversification at workplace. One of the major among those is related to communication (Davies,
2005). It can be stated that when people with different religion, culture and caste work together
than it is not easy for them to communicate with each other. Further, working style and language
emerged as some of the biggest barriers in the same. This also lower down the overall
productivity and performance of all people within organization (Simons, 2013). Along with this,
it is not easy for managers to bridge the gap between language and working style of employees
from diverse background. On the other hand, resistance to change is another big challenge which
has been faced by businesses in India because of diverse workforce. In the present scenario, there
are always some employees which are not ready to accept changes and are not able to cope up
with the same (Simonsen, 2006). Businesses are required to develop a mix culture in situations
where diverse workforce is there within organization. Further, it is not easy for some people to
cope up with such a kind of mix culture.
In order to deal with the challenges regrading diverse workforce, businesses are required
to develop effective plans and implement the same in the best possible manner. Strategies such
ass employee survey at regular intervals are very effective (Sweitzer and King, 2008). This will
make the employers aware about the issues and challenges which are faced by people working in
the business organization.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it can be concluded that diversity considerations has a high impact
on the motivation level of the employees. The framework for the rules and policies is need to be
the same for them. Differentiation on the basis of factors such as gender, caste, religion,
community etc are to be avoided. In India the cultural diversity is high because the number of
religions are also very wide. Company’s culture must be of something which is open for every
religion. Leaders and managers must judge the performance on the basis of potential.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Beausaert, S. and et.al., 2013. Effect of using a personal development plan on learning and
development. Journal of Workplace Learning. 25(3), pp.145 - 158
Bennett, B., Cunningham, L. and Dawes, G., 2000. Self Managed Learning in Action: Putting
SML Into Practice. Gower Publishing, Ltd.
Davies, B., 2005. Educational Leadership – Personal Growth for Professional Development.
International Journal of Educational Management. 19(3), pp.269 – 270
Dawes, G. and et. al., 2000. Self Managed Learning in Action: Putting Sml Into Practice. Gower
Publishing, Ltd.
Dixon, S. and et. al., 2003. Personal development plans for dentists: the new approach to
continuing professional development. Radcliffe Publishing.
Lopper, J., 2007. Personal Development: 40 Best Articles. Lulu.com.
Lorriman, J., 2005. Lifelong learning in Japan. Journal of European Industrial Training. 19(2).
pp. 8-14.
Morgan, L., 2011. Benefits of self managed learning. Oxford press.
Mumford, A., 2001. Planning and Organizing Personal and Professional Development. Industrial
and Commercial Training. 33(7). pp. 270-273.
O’Grady, A., 2013. Lifelong Learning. Routledge.
Silhanek, B. and DeCenzo, A. D., 2001. Human Relations: Personal and Professonal
Development. Prentice Hall PTR.
Simons, L., 2013. Effective time management startegies. SAGE.
Simonsen, P., 2006. Concepts of Career Development. Training and Development Journal.
11(2). pp. 70-74.
Sweitzer, H. and King, M., 2008. The Successful Internship: Personal, Professional, and Civic
Development. Cengage Learning.
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