How equal opportunities and managing diversity impact on organisations and their HRM practices

AbstractDiversity in giving medications has been increasing, specially in the ult decade. This has brought ab prohibited the need for managers in organizations to ensure that they implement in effect(p) policies that allow for not only reduce discrimination but also amplify the productivity of their versatile work delineates. This report presents a principal that was carried let out development both(prenominal) primary and secondary advancementes to hand up the importance of comprehension and motley instruction on organizations. Whereas the importance of renewal guidance is highlighted in this report, in that location is also evidence that points out the challenges that managers may face in managing mixture. accounting entryIn any organization, human beings resources are among the closely vital assets to its success. Thus, it is desperate for them to be manages in the most good manner that impart hone their productivity. One of the trends that characteriz e the twenty-first century human resource force in the United Kingdom is the gain in employment regeneration (Michalle &038 Barak, 2010). The basis of effectively managing build at the work ready is acknowledging the differences that may hold up among the come withs work force and implementing workplace practices that create an inclusive milieu for all employees. It is worth noting that on that point are divergent types of conversion in workplaces. These include gender, race and religion (Poster, 2008). Having able and disabled employees also represents a certain degree of transmutation. Effective focusing of diversity benefits organizations by up(p) communication among employees and facilitating innovation and diversity. For businesses, having a diverse workforce helps in addressing involve of a diverse customer base and thus, an increase in returns (Tarmac, 2012). In regard to this, this report presents findings from primary and secondary investigate that was carr ied out to establish the importance of embracing and managing workplace diversity.Research ApproachAs aforementioned, this look for was carried out using both secondary and primary approaches. The secondary approach involved reviewing literature that has been published on various databases round the paper of workplace diversity. A preference was given to peer-reviewed journal articles because of their renowned credibility in terms of the researched information they offer (Yin, 2010). Since the time and resources to carry out an exhaustive primary research was limited, semi-structured interviews were used to collect qualitative data from a seven colleagues in college. The data was collected through an audio frequency recording for further analysis. This approach was selected because it is relatively informal and does not beseech a lot of time to get the required information (Yin, 2010).FindingsFindings from supplemental ResearchMany researchers mother carried out studies the subject of workplace diversity. However, as pointed out by Herring (2009), this concept is relatively new, dating to the 1980s. Some of the factors that scram contributed to an increase in workplace diversity include the increased immigration especially to developed countries which has led to an increasingly international workforce. The equality campaigns that have been on the increase have also led to an increase the number of pagan minorities and women in the present-day labour pool. It is evident that if poorly managed, diversity depart adversely affect productivity of human resources. Thus, human resource managers in organizations ought to implement effective diversity vigilance practices so as to turn diversity into an advantage (The Times 100, 2013).Importance of Managing Workplace DiversityWith the ever increasing diversity in global universe and workplaces, it is vital to establish the benefits of managing diversity. Michalle and Barak (2010) argue that diversity incr eases the productivity of employees. This is because of the fact that a diverse workplace comprises of different talents, skills and experiences, and if these differences are combined and directed towards the achievement of a common goal, it is certain that it impart be advantageous to the organization. In another(prenominal) research on workplace diversity, Herring (2009) established that effective perplexity of a diverse workforce increases creativity and problem solving. By treating contributions of every employee at the workplace as important, regardless of their experience, race or gender, useful insights about how to approach a certain task in the organization can be found. Organizations that proceed to take advantage of the diversity in their workforces may lock out ideas from employees that may be of phenomenal importance to the progress of the company.Companies that have created a account for effective counsel of diversity have the advantage of attracting and retaining a diverse workforce, which comes with diverse talents and capabilities. Inclusion in the workplace motivates employees by creating in them a sense of belonging. Acknowledging diversity in the workplace motivates the employees and also increases their levels of load towards the organization. In a study carried out by Groeneveld (2011) on management of workplace diversity and its impacts on employee turnover, he established that companies adhering to diversity policies in recruitment and other human resource management practices in their organization had much less cases of employee turnover than those whose diversity management approaches were not as ideal. Given that diversity will be almost inevitable in future, organizations have to ensure that they put the most effective diversity management practices in place. There is also a legal advantage of managing diversity in organizations and encouraging inclusion. Application of appropriate approaches in diversity management limits th e chances of lawsuits by employees that feel excluded (Michalle &038 Barak, 2010). Not only does this save money that could have been spent on litigation expenses, it also creates a positive reputation of the organization to a wide range of stakeholders. Tadmor et al. (2012) argue that companies that target a market with diverse customers greatly benefits from employing a diverse workforce. For instance, if a company has a marketing team that comprises of people from different races, religions and genders, the possibility of such a team attracting a wide range of customers is higher as compared to a team that consists of people from the same gender, race or religion. Thus, effective diversity management may increase the returns of a company by attracting more customers.Challenges of Workplace Diversity Management regular(a) though management of diversity has galore(postnominal) advantages for employers and employees in organizations, Canas and Sondak (2010) argue that on that poi nt are several associated challenges. Management of diversity involves the recognition of the value associated with the differences in the workforce, promotion of inclusiveness and elimination of any kind of discrimination that exists in the workforce. Ensuring that all these aspects of management are exhaustively address may be challenging for human resource managers, especially when diversity among employees is quite extensive. Some of the disadvantages that are associated with poor workplace diversity management include increased employee turnover, lack of synergy and ineffective communication among employees, and an increase in the chances of companies facing lawsuits and negatively charged publicity (Tarmac, 2012). A recent voice of a diversity issue that tainted the image of an organization took place in 2011, when a Liverpool hospital placed an key outisement for job vacancies. In their conditions for application, the included as statement that referred to equal opportunit ies as usual attack (Hough, 2011). Even though the statement was replaced after negative feedback from the public, it has drawn negative attention from different parts of the world, which has also affected reputation of the hospital. For effective diversity management, Herring (2009) suggests that managers have to first comprehend the diverse of necessity of their employees and identify areas from which discrimination may arise. They should then create the ideal policies that will ensure inclusiveness in the organization.Findings from Primary ResearchTo establish the impacts of equal opportunities and diversity management in the workplace, mixed reactions were obtained from some of the peers that were interviewed. Whereas two of them were of the view that ensuring workplace inclusion may be unnecessary for organizations, five of the respondents were for the idea that managing diversity is among the most important human resource management practices of the 21st century.Responses i n deliver of Workplace DiversityOne of the questions that the subjects were asked was how diversity may affect the productivity of an organization. In repartee to this question, one of the respondents, who is a proponent of diversity argued, There is no focusing that a company in the 21st century can work without having a diverse workforce. Diversity does not only exist in the colour of the skin or the language we speak. Everywhere in the UK, there is diversity in religion, gender, and generations. What companies ought to do is agree that diversity is inevitable, and find ship canal to deal with it for their own advantage. This response indicates that there is widespread knowledge about diversity and organizations ought to device the necessary approaches to increase productivity of their diverse employees. other respondent added Diversity in the workplace is good. Though it may be difficult at the start, continued co-operation with team members from different backgrounds makes it possible to understand and appreciate one another. If I am offered a job in two companies, one with a good reputation of inclusion and another known for discriminating against some workers, I will definitely deal the one that has created a reputation of inclusivenessResponses against Workplace DiversityIn response to the same question on how diversity may affect productivity of an organization, another respondent who thought diversity is overemphasized argued, I think back diversity in organizations is a good thing, but organizations ought to focus more on merit. If I have vacancies in my company and I am looking for the best employees to fill up those positions, I should not be forced to select a diverse workforce because the policies say so, instead, I need to select the most fit candidates. If the most qualified candidates are from the same gender, ethnic or unearthly backgrounds, I should be free to hire them. This whole diversity struggle may not be as constructive as we think it is. The response given by this respondent is also quite sensible, which indicates that there are some disadvantages that are associated with workplace diversity policies.Findings from primary research, as indicated, were mixed. Whether the response provided by the respondents supports or is against the importance of diversity in the workplace, they both acknowledge the existence of diversity issues in the 21st century. However, most of the respondents were in support of the implementation of appropriate diversity management strategies. This indicates that equal opportunities and management of diversity in organizations is among the most important practices in present-day human resource management. With a projected increase in levels of diversity in the UK population, as well as other parts of the world, it will be inevitable for organizations to have a diverse workforce (Canas &038 Sondak, 2010).ConclusionThe 21st century has been characterized with a phenomenal increase in diversity among population across the globe, which has also affected the composition of employees in many organizations. This research had the aim of establishing the importance of inclusion and the management of diversity in organizations. Even though some disadvantages of employee diversity were established from the primary and secondary research that was carried out, most of the respondents and all the secondary sources accessed indicated that inclusion and diversity management is a very vital human resource practice. From the findings of the research, one of the recommendations that can be made for human resource managers is that all employees have to be sure on the importance of workplace diversity and how to effectively collaborate with their workmates from different backgrounds and gender.ReferencesCanas, K.A. &038 Sondak, H., 2010. Opportunities and challenges of workplace diversity. New York Prentice Hall.Groeneveld, S., 2011. Diversity and employee turnover in the Dut ch public sector Does diversity management make a differenceInternational diary of Public Sector Management, 24(6), pp.594-612.Herring, C., 2009. Does Diversity Pay? Race, Gender, and the Business Case for Diversity. American Sociological Review, 74, pp.208-24.Hough, A., 2011. NHS hospital usual equal opportunities rubbish job advert sparks investigation. The Telegraph, 5 September.Michalle, E. &038 Barak, M., 2010. Managing Diversity Toward a Globally Inclusive Workplace. Thousand Oaks, CA SAGE Publications.Poster, W.R., 2008. Filtering Diversity A Global Corporation Struggles With Race, Class, and Gender in Employment Policy. American Behavioral Scientist, 52(3), pp.307-41.Tadmor, C.T., Satterstrom, P., Jang, S. &038 Polzer, J.T., 2012. Beyond Individual Creativity The Superadditive Benefits of multicultural Experience for Collective Creativity in Culturally Diverse Teams. ledger of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 43(3), pp.384-92.Tarmac, 2012. Diversity and inclusion policy. Online Available at http//www.tarmac.co.uk/about_us/about_tarmac/idoc.ashx?docid=ffe70bb0-4510-476a-8dd4-b352a63c1b48&038version=-1 Accessed 26 February 2014.The Times 100, 2013. Competetive advantage through diversity. Online Available at http//businesscasestudies.co.uk/tarmac/competitive-advantage-through-diversity/conclusion.htmlaxzz2MxtlEGBP Accessed 26 February 2014.Yin, R.K., 2010. Qualitative Research from Start to Finish. New York Guilford Press.