Analyzing Diversity Issues and Strategies at HardEdge Solutions

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of workplace diversity challenges at HardEdge Solutions, an Australian-based software service company with a presence in Pakistan. The study highlights issues such as demographic disparities, gender bias, work-life balance problems, and a lack of diversity management strategies. It examines the impact of these issues on employee well-being, productivity, and organizational culture. The essay delves into the role of diversity in organizations, emphasizing the importance of an inclusive environment and equitable treatment. It explores the benefits of diversity, including access to a wider talent pool and improved business performance, while also addressing the legal and ethical considerations. Furthermore, the paper discusses diversity management strategies, including the development of programs and initiatives to foster a diverse and inclusive workplace. The case study underscores the need for HardEdge Solutions to address the identified issues through strategic HR interventions and a commitment to creating a more equitable and supportive work environment. The essay concludes by emphasizing the importance of emotional intelligence and cross-cultural understanding in managing a diverse workforce and achieving organizational goals.

Running head: Diversity in HardEdge Solutions
Diversity in HardEdge Solutions
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note:

1Diversity in HardEdge Solutions
In present years, diversity has come into consideration of the organizational work culture
and play an essential role in corporate life. It happens only because of the increasing
consequence of the globalization, greater workforce diversity and the expanding complexity of
jobs. The concept of diversity encloses both acceptance and respect. Each individual is unique,
that is the understanding of the central stance. Also, it can recognize individual difference. It
depicts along dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status,
age, religious beliefs, physical abilities, political beliefs or other ideologies. It is about reliability
and compatibility of each other and moving beyond simple tolerance to embracing and
celebrating the rich dimensions of diversity. The diversity theory suggests the degree of
heterogeneity among team members on specified demographic aspects; it aims how this
heterogeneity affects the efficiency and performance (Hays-Thomas 2016). Diversity should be
accepted in the way of different perspective and approaches to the workplace. So it can be said
that workplace diversity is not a simple study of some empirical data, instead of that it is all
about the understanding and acceptability. It has been observed that the first stage of
implementation draw the biggest challenge for any management and the barriers that usually
arise from the insecurity and pre-determined notions which the employee bore in their minds.
Many organization operate based on “color-blindness” theory which is treating all staff equally
irrespective of their skin color. The main intentions lead to encourage among the employee.
Without absorption the implementing of the diversity theory, various culture and without
knowing it is very difficult to understand equality. Adjacently the initial cost of the mandatory
training which used to provide to each employee on how to manage workplace diversity is very
high.

2Diversity in HardEdge Solutions
This paper provides some in-depth understanding of diversity, its role and strategies and
issues in the concern of multicultural work environment.
Overview of the case study:
This paper encompasses a case study of HardEdge Solutions, a software service
Australian based company also has a presence in Pakistan. It has been running of 12 years ahead.
It has been checked that the company has faced some workplace diversity issue. Generally, it is
examined that when diversity issue comes into consideration, demographic dilemma plays a vital
role within the employee. The same problems are also happening in this case also. Recently the
company employ three hundred regional staff in Pakistan office of which a hundred employees
were from Australia. This demographic changes may cause a workplace diversity (Giudice
2017). Workplace diversity is an essential part of the success of any organization in general.
Setting up a diverse work environment is key to break the social barriers and generating equal
opportunities to all the employees. Some of the legislation currently protects diversity in the
workplace. Equality Act 2006 has built up a body known as the Commission for Equality and
Human Rights. It acts suggests that the general duty of this body is to encourage and support the
development of the society in respects of human rights and to prevent them from prejudices and
discrimination. The Equality Act 2010 clearly states that the employer discriminates against job
applicants or employees during their employment. So after scrutinizing the case, it can be clearly
depicted that the case does not follow the rules and provisions that legitimate the workplace
diversity. It has been seen that the issue regarding diversification has raised especially in
Pakistan office since some of the employee were from Australian background. Instead of higher
turnover in Pakistan the employees has been paid out at very low and average rate, particularly to

3Diversity in HardEdge Solutions
the female employee. This case also state some critical problems regarding diversity like work-
life issues of employees, inequality in the application of work life practice, gender biasness, lack
of support. The reason of such issues arises is no wellbeing policy that company has adopted.
They did not have a proper diversity management strategy.
Issues in the Case Study
This study finds some issues regarding diversity in the workplace; HR manager
conducted a survey with the support of system manager in Pakistan to trace out the work culture
and the productivity in both the place that is Australia and Pakistan. The survey found such
issues like a lack of understanding by local supervisors which tells the (Matthew and Dauda
2015) work-life problem with the employees. (Hakim 2016) Since hundreds of the employee are
posted in Pakistan, so they cannot adopt their culture, their phenomena of work-life are getting
misbalance. Generally, there is a gap in coordination by the local supervisors. It may lead a
challenge to Work life practice. (Boehm and Dwertmann 2015). The company expand their work
and presence base on some model and policies that they have adopted already but issues of
diversity have arisen very generally because of the absence of diversity management policy in
the organization. Since the company has multiple presences automatically, they have a
diversification work platform. A multicultural worker is working over there. Since The HR
manager was recruited a good number of people in Pakistan who are actually from the Australian
domain, it automatically arises inequality in the application of work-life platform between
Australia and Pakistan (Rice 2015). Out of three hundred people has been posted in Pakistan, of
which twenty per cent was female. So it can be seen that the incorporation of the supervisor has
dominated female employee. Even if the Pakistan branch has got a good number of turnover,
particularly that female staff got paid average salary, it leads very harmful to their work-life and

4Diversity in HardEdge Solutions
demotivates towards efficiency as well. (Al-Jenaibi 2017) The study also depicts a lack of
support for employees because of the un-wellbeing workplace in Australia, (D'Netto et al 2014)
gender bias in the organisation, (Deng at al 2014), which was against the company’s set of values
and behaviours. Globally it has several impacts in the corporates life-like communication;
employees are typically facing perpetual, cultural and language barrier, which may lead the
ineffective communication (Matthew and Dauda 2015). Usually, employees refuse to accept the
cultural changes in the workplace; (White and Rice 2015) in short; there is a problem regarding
Resistance to change.
Role of Diversity in Organizations
Organization operating globally possess certain factors which helps them to bind and
work together internationally. Apart from the marketing strategies, global strategies and financial
aspects human resource is the most important part of any organization. The human resource
factor is the key asset of the organizations. Therefore, it is highly important to nurture the
workforce of an organization (Roberson, Ryan and Ragins 2017). The workforce is the ultimate
aspect which helps the organization to increase its productivity and performance of the
organization. In the recent years, diversity, equity and inclusion have become the most important
factor in the workplace and has a drastic impact in the workplace. The organizational diversity is
mainly referred as having an inclusive and diversified workplace where individuals from
different regions work together in the same organization. On the other hand, the term inclusion
refers to the achievement of a workplace environment where the individuals are being treated
equally, fairly and respectfully (White and Rice 2015). All the employees in the organization
have all the rights to be treated equally and fairly and understand them. It is usually observed that
the organization are devoid of the capability of understanding employees. The organization must

5Diversity in HardEdge Solutions
focus on the concept of diversity keenly as it plays a vital role in fostering the work performance
of the employees.
Effective diversity practices in the organization manifests the organization in building up
a good reputation of the company. This would increase the profitability and more opportunities
for the business to expand globally. Diversity provides the organization access to greater range
of talent, and the talent which is not only confined to particular ethnicity or world-view. It aids
the organization to provide insights of requirements and motivation to be credible globally.
Another important concept which lies within diversity is gender diversity, it is evident through
studies that gender-diverse companies are associated and profited with higher turnover rate,
higher return on equity and higher profits. When compared to the homogeneous companies the
gender-diverse companies possess all the above achievements. According to the McKinsey
report the companies in the top quartile of gender-diversity 15% higher net profit is reflected
than those of the national median companies. Many companies have realized that there are
number of benefits of having a gender-diverse workforce in the organization. According to the
research studies it has been found that the gender-bias is rampant within the organization system
apart from knowing its consequences and advantages. There are provisions and legal laws of
diversity such as anti-discrimination act 1970, diversity act 2010 and equal employment
opportunity act 1972. Apart from the legal provisions, acts and code of ethics in the organization
the members of the organization tend to promote gender biasedness (Oh, Dotsch, Porter and
Todorov 2019). It is very important for the organization to understand their employees and work
accordingly. Here the term emotional intelligence come across, the term emotional intelligence
refers to the capacity to manage and understand own and the respective person emotion.
Emotional Intelligence is a widely used concept which helps the organization to improve its

6Diversity in HardEdge Solutions
communicational aspect, problem-solving skills and maintaining collaboration among the
employees. It helps the higher supervisors to understand the problems and issues of the
employees. Generally, it becomes difficult for the employers to understand their employees who
are non-local and belong from different region. As people from different regions have different
work-life style and culture, lack of understanding other region culture might bring conflict in the
organization.
Diversified workforce will have the ability to sell a diverse customer base. For example,
the company Avon Corporation initially had low profitability when it used to operate inner-city
markets. After implementing and adopting diversity within the organization the company earned
higher profitability and recognition. Diversity within the organization help to overcome cross-
cultural challenges as the business expands globally within the market. The local employees
must gather information about the culture of foreign country and design strategies within the
organization to overcome obstacles and risks (Rice 2015). A culturally diversified workforce
could use all the relevant information and knowledge of the individual workers to achieve
individual goals and objectives. This approaches helps the organization to decrease the turnover
rate. This also fosters motivation within the employees and contribute in the organization. When
the employees in an organization are motivated to give their best in their job role and seek career
opportunities within the organization. In order to perform effective diversity management, the
organization enroll itself in developing diversity management strategies and programs in
companies. There are wide range of initiatives, approaches, and strategies in order to manage
diversity in the organization. However, there is no single initiative which is comprehensive
enough to solve the diversity issues or to manage the diversity in the organization.
Diversity Management Strategy

7Diversity in HardEdge Solutions
The diversity management strategy is an effective approach which comprises initiative
and strategies which helps to manage diversity within the organization. In order to compete in
the global market place where the organization experiences significant demographic changes, the
business needs to develop diversity management strategy. The concept of diversity management
strategy is a basically a strategic business objective which aims to increase the organizational
capacity where all the employees are valued and recognized.
According to the case study of HardEdge Solution, the issues with the diversity are irrelevant and
unethical which should be seriously considered by the management of the company. Therefore
the diversity management strategy would help the human resource supervisors to promote fair
and ethical decisions within the organization.
According to the studies it is revealed that diversity issues will continue as the population
is becoming more diverse and companies aims to become more global. Since, the term diversity
is becoming more and more complex in nature, the diversity training has become the most
important and essential element of the overall diversity strategy. The diversity training has been
the ultimate source to reap the advantage of using a diverse workforce. The main objective of the
diversity management strategy for HardEdge Solution, is to enable the employees to perform
effective diversified workforce, maintain inclusion and promote gender-diverse workforce. In
order to compliance with the diversity management strategy, the company will have to adhere
according to the goals mentioned below:
Goal1: Recruiting diverse employees at all levels
Recruiting diverse employees at all levels would help the supervisors to understand their
employees especially their work-life issues and their problems. As mentioned in the case study

8Diversity in HardEdge Solutions
the supervisors are local and there is a lack of understanding of the work-life issues of the
employee. If the some of the supervisors in Pakistan are from Australia, it would have been
better for them to understand the Australian employees (Noe et al., 2017). There may be issues
with leave or culture in the organization therefore, a supervisor from the same cultural
background would understand their employees profoundly than the local ones.
The diversified recruitment approaches could be strengthened by the following strategies;
Recruiting through job portals and through the use of technology recruitment 3.0. The
organization muse use diverse panel to evaluate candidates (Maini and Heera 2019). The
company could continue to review and modify recruitment strategies in order to identify and
attend the minority and women job fairs. The management could emphasize and encourage the
members of the organization to participate and apply for the development programs.
Goal2: Effective Training to the employees
Training is considered as the most effective approach to promote diversified work
culture. It is observed that the company HardEdge Solution has faced issues like inequity in the
application of the work-life balance and gender bias in the work practices. The training session
must include the importance of diversity, concept of emotional intelligence, understand the
Australian and Pakistan culture as well and employee engagement. The educational skills and
training programs has to be enhanced in the company to gain critical knowledge on diversity.
Training on unconscious biasness should be trained to the employees to avoid gender biasness.
Moreover, the communication should be flexible so that the employees could feel free to share
their thoughts and opinions in the organization.

9Diversity in HardEdge Solutions
The training should be given to the supervisor and senior management as well. The
training should be on being effective leader in the organization. There should be executive
development programs for the supervisors, since it has been observed in the case study that the
supervisor lack leadership skills and qualities.
Goal3: Promoting an Environment that values differences
Promoting an environment that values differences is building and creating an
environment which would facilitate effective diversified and inclusive workplace environment.
The organization is comprised of people from two different regions and background. The
organization could acknowledge holidays of all cultures such as Christmas, Good Friday and
other festive. The management could mix up teams in order to improve collaboration between
the employees. The supervisors must aim to treat the female employees with more respect and
honor (Matthew and Dauda 2015). Moreover, the organization could enroll in activities such as
dinner nights, group games and communication sessions. This would foster relative bonding
within the employees, this approach is the initiation for promoting diversified and inclusive
workplace environment.
Apart from enduring activities in the organization the company must promote monthly
session with the employees in order to get prompt feedback from them. The feedback would
allow the organization to perform and develop strategies to build inclusiveness within the
organization. The most important part of the organization which needs to be amended is the
policies and code of conduct of the organization (Pidun et al., 2019). The whole organization
must adhere under the legal laws and legislation and the company must oversee that all the
employee do follow the company’s code of ethics. The legal legislations and laws which should
be adhered in the company are anti-discrimination act1970, diversity act 2010 and equal

10Diversity in HardEdge Solutions
employment opportunity act 1972. Apart from the above policies the company must focus on the
well-being policy as well. For example, “To promote smoke free environment within the
workplace premises and support them to quit smoking”.
“To promote healthy eating choices in the workplace and keeping clean environment”.
“To treat your colleagues with honor, respect and dignity, and will promote a culture of mutual
respect in the teams”.
To foster good and clear communication within the teams and avoid unwanted disturbances and
conflict within the workplace”.
Conclusion
It can be deferred from the above discussion that the company HardEdge Solution, needs
to work on its policies and developing a multi-culture environment for its diversified employees
The diversity management strategy would help the organization to understand its employees
through understanding the concept of emotional intelligence. Out of the three goals, the most
effective goal is found to be training to the members of the organization. According to the issue
mentioned in the case study the company aims to implement the best practice to promote
diversity in the organization. The best practice for the organization which should be encouraged
every day in the organization is to promote and create an environment that values differences.
Pakistan employees and the Australian employees could be trained in the best possible way to
encourage diversity and inclusion within the organization. The company aims reviewing and
amending the policies of well-being and communicate to each and every member in the
organization. The above approaches would help the company HardEdge Solution to resolve the

11Diversity in HardEdge Solutions
diversity issues and lower the employee turnover rate. This could help the company gain
productivity and gain recognition in the global market.
Reference
Adamson, M., Kelan, E.K., Lewis, P., Rumens, N. and Sliwa, M., 2016. The quality of equality:
thinking differently about gender inclusion in organizations. Human Resource Management
International Digest.
Al-Jenaibi, B., 2017. The scope and impact of workplace diversity in the United Arab Emirates–
A preliminary study. Geografia-Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 8(1).
Boehm, S.A. and Dwertmann, D.J., 2015. Forging a single-edged sword: Facilitating positive age
and disability diversity effects in the workplace through leadership, positive climates, and HR
practices. Work, Aging and Retirement, 1(1), pp.41-63.
Brunner, M. and Osorio, J., 2017. Recruitment, Retention, Diversity, and Professional
Development. Academic Librarianship Today, pp.143-160.
De Cieri, H., Dwertmann, D.J., Festing, M., Jansen, W.S., Klarsfeld, A. and Mor Barak, M.,
2019, July. Exploring the Measurement of Inclusion in Organizations: Contributing to Construct
Clarification.
Deng, X., Berletch, J.B., Nguyen, D.K. and Disteche, C.M., 2014. X chromosome regulation:
diverse patterns in development, tissues and disease. Nature Reviews Genetics, 15(6), p.367.