Flashcards
16. Diversity Management
Cards in this deck (11)
- 1Define diversity management‘the systematic and planned commitment on the part of organizations to recruit and retain employees from diverse demographic backgrounds’ (Prasad and Mills, 1997: 4)
- 2Why does diversity management exist?• Emerged in the US in the 1980s following on from affirmative action and equal opportunity debates.
⇒ Johnston and Packer (1987) highlighted expected demographic changes in the workforce which organizations were seen as needing to adapt to by becoming more diverse (and hence gaining competitive advantage). - 3What does diversity management mean for HRM?According to Cassell (2016), ‘managing diversity is inextricably linked to strategic HRM’ and should be embedded into organisational policies and practices.
- 4Legislation and guidelines regarding diversity managementDiscrimination is controlled through a number of legislative measures, e.g.
→ Equal Pay Act, 1970
→ Disability Discrimination act, 1995
→ The Employment Employment Equality (Age) Regulations, 2006
There are also voluntary charters and guidelines, e.g.
→ Athena SWAN
→ Two Ticks - 5State the key perspectives on diversity• The social justice case for diversity
• The business case for diversity - 6The social justice case for diversityGrounded in moral principles of fairness and equality, social justice is the attempt to answer the question “How can we contribute to the creation of a more equitable, respectful, and just society for everyone?” (Zajda et al., 2006).
• According to the social justice case for diversity, employers have a duty to prevent inequality in their organisations. - 7The business case for diversityHarnessing differences will boost productivity and innovation (Kandola & Fullerton, 1998) and reflect a diverse customer base.
- 8Benefits of diversity management for businessAccording to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
→ Talent: Recruitment, retention, psychological contract.
→ Market competitiveness.
→ Corporate reputation.
⇒ A CIPD survey (2012) showed that ‘diversity and inclusion (D&I) is an integral feature of HR policy infrastructure, with 83% of respondents stating their organisation has developed an articulated strategy, policy or guidelines’. Characteristics covered by diversity strategy include: gender, ethnicity, age, disability, and more. - 9Does diversity management deliver?→ Some organisations report business benefits (e.g. wider talent pool, image and reputation, innovation).
• However, it is difficult to establish a specific link to organisational performance.
• Other business objectives are often prioritized, as there is no conclusive evidence for a diversity management – performance link (Cassell, 2016). - 10Why did critical diversity studies emerge?Critical diversity studies emerged in the 1990s ‘as a reaction to the re-appropriation of equal opportunities by business through diversity’ (Zanoni et al., 2010).
→ The business case…
• … reduces diversity to ‘quantitatively measured variables’ (Kerfoot and Knights, 2012).
• … located differences and their management at the level of the individual (Tatli, 2011).
• … fails to recognize structural inequalities which marginalize particular social groups - 11What are critical diversity studies?⇒ Furthermore, critical diversity studies question the mainstream view on identities and differences as clear-cut, stable and measurable variables.
⇒ However, it is perhaps more relevant to explore who is constructed as different – as the ‘diverse Other’ (Ahmed, 2012) – and in what situations, than to attempt to create exhaustive ‘lists’ of differences (Holvino & Kamp, 2009).
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- Business and Management 2B (Human Resource Management) Flashcards on 16. Diversity Management, created by Nina Olsson on 30/04/2018.
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