Leadership and Diversity: Critical Analysis of Wesfarmers' Policy

This report critically analyzes the diversity policy of Wesfarmers, an Australian organization, to understand how diversity is implemented and maintained within its organizational culture. The report examines the incorporation of diversity policies, the roles of leaders in promoting a supportive environment, and the organization's strategies for recruitment and retention. It assesses the commitment of leaders to diversity and inclusion, the initiatives taken by HR/managers, and the measures used to monitor diversity. The analysis includes a comparison of Wesfarmers' policy with those of other organizations and provides recommendations for improvement to ensure effective diversity and inclusion management. The report highlights the importance of leadership in fostering a diversified and inclusive business environment.

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
1) Diversity policies and procedures incorporated in the organizational structure......................2
2) Identify and assess the diversity and inclusion components of that particular ‘Diversity’
policy...............................................................................................................................................4
3) Are the leaders committed to diversity and inclusion management that are evident in the
policy/procedure?............................................................................................................................5
4) What roles do leaders play to create a supportive organizational climate and culture within
the policy structure?.........................................................................................................................5
5) Do they have inclusive recruitment practice and long-term retention strategy written in their
policy guideline; and what are their strategy to implement these guidelines appropriately?..........6
6) What initiatives do HR/managers take to implement the diversity policy/procedure in reality
(e.g. diversity training, inclusive recruitment board)?.....................................................................7
7) Do the organisation has any measures to ensure and monitor diversity and inclusion within
the policy structure? If they have any then how they do that?........................................................7
8) How can they improve their policy, procedure and strategy to ensure better diversity and
inclusion management?...................................................................................................................8
9) You need to compare and contrast your diversity policy/procedure with other diversity
policies/procedures; and legislations to analyse and evaluate your policy critically......................9
References......................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
The assignment is written to understand the necessity of diversity policies which are
essential in bringing diversity and a change in the organizational culture within the organization.
The entire report talks about how diversity policies can be implemented within the organization
in order to uplift the diversity and maintaining the stability of the organizational culture through
the organization leaders. For this purpose, an Australian organization called Wesfarmers is
chosen. The organization is located in Australia and it focuses on the production of chemical
fertilizers, coal, mining, and safety products. Since the organization has thousands of employees
working in each and every branch, it carries out a diversified culture. The corporate culture is
followed within the company and the employees are from different states and countries carrying
out a different outlook speaking different languages (Figiel and Sasser, 2018). In order to uplift,
the cultural diversity in the Australian organization, certain diversity procedures, and cultures are
suggested and they are evaluated whether they are suitable for the industry or not. The report
also suggests some recommendations to improve the diversity policies so that the company can
acquire a better-diversified business environment.
1) Diversity policies and procedures incorporated in the organizational
structure
It has been seen that Wesfarmers is an organization that accepts a diversified culture
where the employees of the organization prevail across different countries. These employees
speak different languages and they come from different cultural backgrounds (Fischler, 2016).

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The directing board of the Wesfarmers organization highly appreciates the diversity and their
inclusion within the organizational environment. With regards to the diversity policymakers in
the Wesfarmers, the list of diversity policies is:
 All the employees working in the Wesfarmers are aware of the diversified culture. The
employees who work in the Australian industry are from different countries and from
different cultural backgrounds. The major diversity policy which is undergone with this
organization is that the organization respects and invites the culture adopted by different
people across the nation.
 The directing members of the organization are responsible to invite the cultures adopted
by different employees so that the employees can work in a collaborative and in a
coordinative environment (Horsti and Hultén, 2016).
 The organization values diversity a lot instead of focusing on success and productivity of
the organization.
 The motto of the organization is to include the diversity policies and implement them
within the organizational culture which proves as an inspiring model for some other
organizations too (Kahn, 2018).
 Setting up of the measurable diversities is one of the diversity policies of the organization
so that the culture followed by each and every employee is worshipped and respected by
all the employees of the organization (Kreimer and Feld, 2017).

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2) Identify and assess the diversity and inclusion components of that
particular ‘Diversity’ policy.
Creation of a multicultural organization: It is a known fact that Wesfarmers is an international
organization that supports the cultures carried out by many employees working in an
international organization. Wesfarmers is an organization that promotes the cultures and
maintains the cultural diversity within the organization.
Leaders promoting cultural diversity: It is one of the most identified components which helps
in incorporating the culture within the organization. The cultural aspects of the industry are well
understood by the leaders and they support them and balance them so that no cultural disputes
occur among the employees of the organization (Lo Bianco, 2016).
Re-engineering of the organizational structure: One of the most identified components is that
the diversity in culture requires in the re-engineering of the organizational structure where the
level of employees from different cultural is shifted from one level to the other. By doing so, the
cultural level of different employees is mixed up together so that the cultural diversity of the
organization is maintained.
Presence of a diversified and inclusive environment: It has been seen that the organization is
an international firm and the employees prevailing in the organization is from different firms
hence these employees come from the different cultural backgrounds and hence a cultural
diversity is maintained. The international organization is capable of promoting the diversified
culture in this way and hence establishes a pathway in promoting the cultural diversity across the
national organization.

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3) Are the leaders committed to diversity and inclusion management that
is evident in the policy/procedure?
It is clear that the leaders are committed to their duties of promoting the cultural
diversities within the organization. The leaders are the people whose role is to promote the
cultural diversities within the organization and to promote them in a better way so that the
company maintains its cultural heritage.
Role of leaders in maintaining cultural diversity in Wesfarmers: The leaders are those people
who are responsible for establishing a business environment which helps in promoting the
cultural values of several employees and the leaders also helps in resolving the disputes that may
occur among the difference in the cultural opinions of the employees. The leaders are those who
not only promote the culture but also help in protecting the culture of each and every employee
working in an organization (Lo Bianco, 2016).
In this way, the leaders promote the dignity and the heritage of the cultural values of the
organization.
4) What roles do leaders play to create a supportive organizational climate
and culture within the policy structure?
Role of leaders in supporting the healthier cultural climate within the organization: The
leaders of the Wesfarmers organization are responsible for bringing the light and energy of the
cultural values which are embedded within the business environment. Even though the people
arise with disputes with their culture, it is the responsibility of the leaders to maintain and sustain
them to have a peaceful and successful working environment.

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The leaders are those people who are supposed to cultivate and make awareness of the
importance of the cultural values that are essential in making up of industry to the next level. The
leaders guide the employees and allow them to follow their cultural practices mixed up with the
corporate culture and to resolve its associated disputes (Mayer, Warr and Zhao, 2018).
The leaders are people who help the industry to move on to the next level and help the
organization to be promoted and blended up with the cultural values so that the cultural practices
can be retained well within the organization.
Way of communication of diversity policies by leaders with the employees:
The leaders majorly make use of direct means of communication to spread on the different
aspects of the cultural diversity policies revolving across the organization. The means of
communication include voice messages, sending phone calls, emails, and so on.
5) Do they have inclusive recruitment practice and long-term retention
strategy written in their policy guideline; and what are their strategies
to implement these guidelines appropriately?
It is clear that the diversity policymakers associated with the Wesfarmers are not
involved in any sort of recruitment practices and at the same time they carry out some retention
practices in order to retain the strategies of the diversity policies. The policymakers of the
organization are clear in their mind that they should include the diversified culture within the
organization and the policymakers should be aware of including the cultural diversified cultural
activities within the organization. The policymakers are the people who create an envelope of
awareness among the existing employees of the organization to maintain the cultural heritage
and the respect of the company.

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6) What initiatives do HR/managers take to implement the diversity
policy/procedure in reality (e.g. diversity training, inclusive recruitment
board)?
Initiatives taken by the HR managers to implement the diversity policy: A Human resource
manager is a person who is responsible for taking the correct decisions within the Wesfarmers.
The HR manager of the organization is responsible for recruiting the employees who can
promote the cultural diversity within the organization and who are able to manage the teamwork
activities among the employees who can motivate the spirit of the cultural diversity actions
within the organization. The collective cultural business environment allows many employees to
join the organization and to work for the organization in spreading the light of cultural diversity
in order to satisfy the current employees and to maintain their culture. A human resource
manager is also responsible for conducting several meetings, presentations, and agendas where
the employees can show their cultural values and can also inspire other employees to work with
the organization (Moghaddam, 2017).
7) Does the organization have any measures to ensure and monitor
diversity and inclusion within the policy structure? If they have any
then how they do that?
It is clear that the organization makes use of a monitoring team to look after the diversity
practices that take place within the company. The organization is supposed to have an HR
manager who is supported by a team of diversity policymakers who is responsible to monitor
over the practices taken by the board of directors who are involved in the framing of the diversity
policies.
The ways in which the monitoring process is carried out in the organization are:

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 The HR manager recruits the candidates who are supposed to monitor the cultural
diversity activities.
 Initially, a team of members is selected who is supposed to work as per the guidance o
the HR manager in order to furnish the activities which are dealt with the monitoring
activities.
 The monitoring of people looks into the culture followed by each and every employee of
the organization and allows them to adopt them thereby maintain the cultural heritage of
the employees and the diversified culture of the organization (Mühling, 2017).
8) How can they improve their policy, procedure, and strategy to ensure
better diversity and inclusion management?
Improvement of policy procedure and strategies;
The diversity policies and their inclusion within the business can be done through the
following ways:
a) An awareness program should be generated among the employees on the diversified
culture.
b) The diversity policies should be amended in such a way that any employee who is
eligible to work with the organization is allowed to follow their culture.
c) The diversity policies can be made common among all employees
d) The diversity policy should be framed so that cultural disputes can be prevented.
e) The diversity policymakers should be stubborn in bringing a universal diversified culture
within the organizational environment (Sawyer and Thoroughgood, 2017).

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9) You need to compare and contrast your diversity policy/procedure with
other diversity policies/procedures, and legislations to analyze and
evaluate your policy critically.
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the diversity policy of Wesfarmers with
organizations, a detailed comparative study is done:
Diversity policy of Wesfarmers Diversity policies in other companies
In this organization, the first priority is given to
the culture followed by employees rather than
focusing on hard work and innovating products
In these organizations, the first priority is given
to the project innovations and success instead
of focusing on the culture followed by each
and every employee in the organization.
The culture of the employees are respected The culture of the employees are not respected
Diversity policies are amended and
implemented
No diversity policies are amended.
A team of members is elected to monitor
cultural diversity activities.
Lack of a supervising team in monitoring the
cultural diversity activities (Spencer, 2019).
The cultural diversity is given more importance
in the organization.
In other organizations, cultural diversity forms
the second priority.
The cultural festivals are highly promoted in
this industry.
Here, organizations tend to follow the culture
and festivals of their clients (Westerman,

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2017).
From this comparative study, one can critically tell that the diversity policies carried out in the
organization are more appreciable and healthier when compared with other organizations. In
addition to this, one can conclude that by following the recommendations in the policies, the
overall diversity cultural values can be cultivated in a better way.

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References
Figiel, V. and Sasser, M. (2018). Factors Contributing To Employee Decisions To Ignore
Diversity Policies. Journal of Diversity Management (JDM), 5(4).
Fischler, M. (2016). Culture, Conflict and Change. The International Journal of Community
Diversity, 12(2), pp.35-39.
Horsti, K. and Hultén, G. (2016). Directing diversity. International Journal of Cultural Studies,
14(2), pp.209-227.
Kahn, A. (2018). Diversity Work in Organizations. Journal of Psychological Issues in
Organizational Culture, 3(S1), pp.174-189.
Kreimer, P. and Feld, A. (2017). Sociologie des sciences : divers objets, diverses approches,
divers agendas. Sociologies pratiques, HS 1(Supplément), p.137.
Lo Bianco, J. (2016). The importance of language policies and multilingualism for cultural
diversity. International Social Science Journal, 61(199), pp.37-67.
Mayer, R., Warr, R. and Zhao, J. (2018). Do Pro-Diversity Policies Improve Corporate
Innovation?. Financial Management, 47(3), pp.617-650.
Moghaddam, F. (2017). Catastrophic Evolution, Culture and Diversity Management
Policy. Culture & Psychology, 12(4), pp.415-434.
Mühling, M. (2017). On the culture-independent assessment of the diversity and distribution of
Prochlorococcus. Environmental Microbiology, 14(3), pp.567-579.

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Sawyer, K. and Thoroughgood, C. (2017). Culture Doesn't Just Intersect With Diversity, Culture
Defines Diversity. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 5(3), pp.346-348.
Spencer, J. (2019). Wesfarmers wants Lynas for rare earths. C&EN Global Enterprise, 97(13),
pp.18-18.
Westerman, M. (2017). Human Rights Policies, Neoliberal Discourse, and the Neutralization of
Human Rights Issues in Canadian Harassment and Discrimination Policies. The
International Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities, and Nations: Annual
Review, 10(1), pp.409-418.

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