
Managing Diversity
Business Management and Enterprise (Year 12) - People (U3)
Kanwal Singh
Globalisation brings a range of ethical obligations and cultural challenges. Business must be aware of different social, cultural and religious beliefs.
There are different strategies that a business can follow:
1. Cultural Awareness Training
Sensitivity towards different religious beliefs, customs and convictions, which shows empathy, respect and tolerance
Create an organisational culture that condemns discriminatory behaviour and promotes respect for different cultures
Address concerns regarding favouritism or discrimination
Encourage employees to report instances of discrimination
Provide language training to encourage multiculturalism
2. Development practices
Programs can be developed to prepare employees for a greater level of responsibility and advancement. This could involve job rotation, mentoring programs or providing new employees with network and support groups.
Role playing involves putting employees into an uncomfortable situation in a safe environment. This builds confidence, strengthens listening skills, and fosters team culture.
3. Recruitment
Focus to attract diverse employees at all levels of the business to gain a competitive advantage.
Set up a broad and diverse pool of talented people to be trained for job promotion or selection.
Language inclusivity (e.g., multi-lingual advertising of job advertisements) may need to be attended to.
Foster partnerships with educational institutions, so that the firm has access to a wider range of diverse talent.
Managing diversity is beneficial for many reasons:
Business is viewed as attractive place to work, which attracts the best talent
Diversity can create a competitive advantage
Diversity may increase overall productivity
Improved public image