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Difference is 'value added'
We in the UK are fortunate to live in a country which is rich in
the diversity of its population. Nowadays, your work colleagues
might be any age, male or female, from any ethnic, religious or
cultural background, married, single or living with a partner of
the opposite or same sex, able-bodied or not. This has many
advantages, but also presents organisations with the challenge
of getting the best out of such a diverse workforce, while at
the same time meeting their legal responsibilities. It is
therefore important that companies give due consideration to how
to achieve this if they want to maintain their place in the
market.
The moral and legal case for diversity In the UK: * Women make
up half the workforce, but just 9% of management grades and 2%
of senior management (The Observer, September 2003) * Ethnic
minorities make up just 1.5% of management, and are almost
non-existent at senior levels (The Observer, September 2003) *
By 2011, only a third of the workforce will be male and under
45. (2002-based projections issued by the government.) * By
2014, the working age population will increase by one million,
and ethnic minorities will account for half that increase.
(2002-based projections issued by the government.)
Introducing and promoting diversity is morally the right thing
to do. Diversity not only assumes that all individuals are
unique and different, but that difference is 'value added'. It
acknowledges that everyone has the right to express their views
and beliefs in a manner that is sensitive to those around them
(i.e. free from racism, sexism, ageism and other forms of
prejudice). Everyone should have the right to contribute to
activities and grow within their workplace. A diverse work
environment also demonstrates an organisation that it is a
caring, inclusive and respectful.
While there is no one specific piece of legislation covering
diversity, there are several Acts of Parliament, European laws,
Regulations and examples of case law which together make up the
legal framework for diversity. (The Equal Opportunities
legislation in particular makes it mandatory.) Although the
following list is not exhaustive, the key legal frameworks
include: * Pay discrimination (1970) * Sex discrimination or
marital status (1975) * Race discrimination (1976) * Positive
action [1986] * Disability discrimination (1995) * Human Rights
Act (1998) * Gender reassignment (1999) * Age discrimination
(1999 code of practice) * Genuine occupational qualifications
[2000] * Equality in sexual orientation (2003) * Equality in
religion and belief (2003)
The business benefits of diversity According to a study
published in 2003 by CREATE, an independent research centre
('Harnessing Workforce Diversity to Raise the Bottom Line'), a
more diverse workforce improves business performance. The study,
which involved around 500 companies operating in the UK, USA and
Europe, uncovered a range of business benefits including: *
Higher staff retention * Reduced recruitment costs * More
satisfied customers * Access to a wider customer base * Better
supply chain management * Access to new ideas on process and
product improvements
Diversity is also key to success in global markets - any
organisation that wants to expand internationally cannot hope to
do so effectively without a detailed understanding of the
cultural background of the new markets in which it hopes to
succeed. The study did however find that diversity management is
a long-term process with no quick fixes. Two obstacles in
particular were being widely experienced: * Ingrained attitudes
that make it difficult for senior managers to manage people who
are very different from them * The culture of long working
hours, which makes it difficult for women to aspire to senior
management positions
The report concluded that diversity produces maximum financial
impact when it is linked with business strategy and has the
support of senior executives. According to Professor Amin Rajan,
chief executive of CREATE and co-author of the report, companies
are beginning to see that diversity in the workplace pays. Rajan
says "Instead of thinking about diversity as about equality,
that is, in terms of the law or compliance, companies are now
seeing it as an issue of merit and merit alone". For instance: *
Customers want to be served by a company they can identify with,
so a white male sales force might be too limiting * Teams made
up of mixed ethnicities, backgrounds and genders are likely to
be genuinely more creative than teams made up of the same type
of people
Other benefits of diversity are that diverse organisations will:
* find it easier to recruit as there will be a far greater
market to choose from * enjoy access to a greater wealth of
experience, skills and talent * gain improved public image - as
an employer and as a service provider * experience increased
staff motivation * encourage and develop entrepreneurs * develop
role models, thus helping future growth in management * increase
their market penetration * show better overall financial
performance
An additional spur has been the rash of multi-million dollar
discrimination lawsuits brought against pillars of the US
corporate establishment such as Texaco (a racial discrimination
case settled for $176 million in 1996), Coca-Cola (a sex
discrimination case settled for $192 million in 2000) and
Wal-Mart (various disability discrimination cases settled for in
excess of $7 million, plus a pending and potentially very
expensive case alleging sex discrimination involving large
numbers of both past and current female employees).
The keys to diversity A diverse group inevitably draws on a
wider range of experience, background and culture; but also
benefits because, in the presence of diversity, the mind is
encouraged to stretch and dares to move.
The key to making diversity work is self-esteem. People have to
like who they are; they have to take pride in themselves and
draw on what they know to be true from their real experience. If
they are ashamed of the group from which they come, they will
try to blend into the dominant group and nothing interesting
will happen. But if, on the other hand, they think and speak
proudly as themselves, they will communicate with greater range,
depth, freshness and insight.
Diversity is inclusive. It is about ensuring that the ideas,
opinions and contributions of all are heard regardless of race,
colour, culture, creed, sexual orientation, disability, age,
religion or gender. Making diversity pay involves real and
difficult choices. For instance, to attract more women, City and
consultancy organisations are having to tone down
'long-hours'-dominated cultures and pay attention to unfamiliar
concepts such as mentoring and work-life balance.
Diversity has become a very important and profit-sensitive
business issue: research findings such as the above show that
well managed diversity potentially has a positive, practical and
productive value to almost every business. Every organisation
must therefore have a clear understanding of what it intends to
achieve in living and working with its own diversity.
Developing a diversity strategy is a central part of this - with
commitment from senior managers being absolutely critical to
success. This could be expressed, for example, through the
inclusion of statements related to diversity within an
organisation's corporate values; or the setting-up of special
teams to set targets for diversity, drive the process forward,
and monitor and feed back the results.
Implementing a diversity policy Research by Penna Consulting
(2002) suggests that organisations that want to be successful in
implementing diversity will need to adopt a practical approach
including key elements such as the following: * Analyse your
business environment. How diverse is your organisation, and is
it representative of the local population? Does your workforce
mirror your customer base? If not, you could be missing out on
significant business opportunities. * Define diversity and the
business benefits. What will be the tangible benefits of
implementing a diversity policy, both for your organisation and
its employees? * Include your policy on diversity within your
corporate strategy and values. * Embed the policy within your
core HR processes and systems. Make it part of your everyday
operations. * Ensure leaders implement the policy - and give it
their full commitment. * Involve staff at all levels. Implement
awareness training, together with initiatives such as the
creation of a diversity handbook, mentoring schemes, diversity
councils etc. * Communicate the content of the diversity policy
and success of diversity initiatives. * Understand your
organisation's needs. Depending on its size, understanding of
diversity and ability to change, it may benefit from external
support. * Monitor and evaluate. Benchmark your organisation's
progress and the impact of diversity internally and externally.
How can external organisations help? Many organisations try to
tackle the issues of managing diversity simply by providing
their staff with a series of training sessions, as though it
were an add-on skill that can be easily absorbed. Managing
diversity means more, however, than just training your staff. It
has to involve the organisation's culture, processes and
systems, and may well involve the need for externally-managed
initiatives including: * diversity audits * the development of a
diversity strategy * policy writing (an Equal Opportunities
policy is mandatory as laid down by the EEOC) * training and
development * coaching * recruitment and selection * practical
help and assessment on a continuing basis - to measure the
benefits of cultural diversity within the organisation.
About The Author Carole Spiers combines three roles of
broadcaster, journalist and corporate manager in the challenging
field of stress management and employee wellbeing.
With 20 years as a top industry guru on stress management and
wellbeing, Carole's energy and dynamism extends to providing
professional comment to media including television (BBC, ITV,
Sky, NBC, CNN), print (Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, trade and
professional journals) and countless radio interviews.
A successful entrepreneur herself, Carole is the founder and MD
of the Carole Spiers Group - a dynamic, niche consultancy, and
the UK's No. 1 provider of Stress Management and Employee
Wellbeing from the shop floor to the Boardroom
A former Chairperson of the International Stress Management
AssociationUK, Carole was instrumental in establishing National
Stress Awareness Day™. Carole acts as an Expert Witness on
Stress Risk Assessment before the Courts, and is the author of
Tolley's 'Managing Stress in the Workplace'.
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Contact us to receive our FREE Special report 'The Ten Most
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Middlesex. HA7 3QR. UK Tel: +44(0) 20 8954 1593 Fax: +44(0) 20
8907 9290 Email: info@carolespiersgroup.com
www.carolespiersgroup.com
About the author:
Carole Spiers combines three roles of Broadcaster, Journalist
and Corporate Manager in the challenging field of stress
management and employee wellbeing. Over the past 20 years, she
has built up her corporate stress consultancy Carole Spiers
Group (CSG) Carole is frequently called upon by the national and
international media and provides keynote presentations on
stress-related issues.
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