Contenido de Nitrógeno

Learning outcomes

By the end of this chapter you should be able to:

• explain the differences between managing diversity and equal opportunities approaches to diversity management and the debates relating to these approaches;

• explore the interdependence between managing diversity and equal opportunities approaches in managing human resources strategically;

• evaluate the business case for diversity management;

• be able to integrate diversity management with other SHRM issues such as organisational culture;

• assess the implementation issues for organisations adopting diversity management as part of their strategy to manage human resources.

Summary

• Conceptualisations of diversity management within the literature can be broadly categorised into two groups:

• the equal opportunities approach, which has a legislative and compliance focus and is concerned with equality of status, opportunities and rights. This, it can be argued, is deeply rooted in traditional approaches to human resource management;

• the managing diversity approach, which focuses upon an explicit holistic strategy of valuing differences, such as age, gender, social background, ethnicity and disability. This, it can be argued, is like SHRM, driven by organisational needs.

• The business case claimed for a managing diversity approach includes a better public image for the organisation, a satisfying working environment for employees, improved employee relations, increased job satisfaction and higher employee morale, increased productivity and, for the organisation, improved competitive edge. It is argued that organisations will only survive and prosper in an increasingly competitive and dynamic global environment if they respond to the heterogeneity of their markets. However, there is limited empirical evidence to support these claims in either the UK or USA.

• Despite a lack of evidence, it seems probable that the benefits of diversity management will only be realised within the context of the re-alignment of an organisation’s culture to one

where diversity is valued. For this to happen, it will be necessary to persuade those in power that this will impact positively on organisational effectiveness.

• Empirical evidence suggests that, for many organisations, diversity management remains a theoretical concept rather than a strategic reality, combining equal opportunities and managing diversity approaches. The most frequent reason advanced for this is that organisations believe they are already undertaking sufficient investment through ensuring equality of opportunity. However, for organisations considering the implementation of a managing diversity approach, advice is available.

Teaching and learning suggestions

Comment

Issues of diversity and diversity management have received considerable coverage in the national press, particularly with regard to ethnicity, age and gender. It is also an area of SHRM where, most students often have firmly held personal beliefs regarding what is right and wrong. However, despite this, few have considered the implications of their beliefs for their own world of work, for organisations and in particular how these beliefs relate to recent European Union (EU) employment related legislation.

In the current highly competitive labour market, the ability to attract and retain talented people is now rated higher than market share in the top 10 non-financial measures investors use to analyse company performance. Traditional markets for attracting talented people, however, are changing and becoming increasingly challenging for many organisations, owing to major shifts in the demographic composition of the workforce including age, gender and ethnicity. The topicality of this chapter’s material means that it is relatively easy to make it both relevant and exciting to students using recent news events to highlight these issues. EU enlargement and associated migration have considerable diversity implications for organisations both in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in the EU. Within organisations issues associated with the composition of organisations’ workforces and their management are a strategic imperative for Human Resource (HR) Managers and, as a consequence, their management a necessity. However, the ways in which such issues associated with workforce diversity are tackled and the approach adopted are varied. It is this variation that and the associated implications that form the focus of this chapter.

The chapter starts by considering the different ways in which diversity management has been conceptualised. Building upon this equal opportunities and managing diversity approaches to diversity management are compared and contrasted and the debates relating to these approaches discussed. As part of this the question as to whether managing diversity represents a strategic shift from equal opportunities is addressed. After evaluating the business case for adopting diversity management, the issues for organisations wishing to implement a managing diversity approach to managing their human resources are assessed.

Student preparation

Prior to the class, we believe it is essential that students read and make notes from the chapter. We have found that producing mind maps of the chapter content is a useful approach to note

Millmore et al., Strategic Human Resource Management: Contemporary Issues, Instructor’s Manual

132

© Pearson Education Limited 2007

taking and encourages students to reflect on the internal integration of the subject content of the chapter.

We use a variety of vehicles to bridge student preparation and class-based activities to enhance their understanding of the chapter content and its overall relationship to managing human resources strategically. As standard, we would ask students to make a note of any queries arising from their reading and to come to the teaching session prepared to raise them. Sometimes this may be formalised by asking students to write down (as questions) the three issues addressed by the chapter where they would like further clarification and guidance.

Students may also be asked to do one or more of the following:

• address pre-set questions and write up their answers briefly in note format;

• complete the self check and reflect questions and come to the session prepared to share and discuss their responses; and

• familiarise themselves with the chapter case study (or an alternative case supplied in advance) and come to the session prepared to tackle the case questions.

Our outline answers to both self check and reflect questions and case study questions follow in the next two substantive sections of this chapter guide. Pre-set questions that we have found useful for structuring student reading, preparatory activities and classroom discussion for the topic of diversity management include:

1. What are the main differences between equal opportunities and managing diversity approaches?

2. Outline the key legislation with regard to equal opportunities and managing diversity since 1975.

3. What arguments have been put forward to support the business case for managing diversity?

In the classroom

Clearly the approach adopted to ‘student preparation’ can be followed through into the classroom. A starting point that we find useful is to surface and discuss the issues arising from students’ preparatory reading. This avoids providing lecture input that simply repeats what students have already grasped, reinforces the value of reading as an essential prerequisite for class-based discussion and provides a platform from which further class-based activities can be launched. However, when adopting this approach, we find it useful, once student queries have been exhausted, to provide a short summary of key issues.

Where preparing answers to self check and reflect questions has been set as part of preparation for the teaching session, at least two alternatives present themselves. First, students can be asked to contribute individual responses that are then subjected to plenary discussion. This is our preferred approach because it makes students more accountable for their personal learning and reserves any group work for case study analysis. Second, students can be formed into groups to share their individual answers and draw conclusions from their discussions. However, if preparing answers to self check and reflect questions was not part of preparatory work but consideration of the questions is to feature as part of the teaching session, we would favour the

group approach as a more stimulating approach. In all cases student responses can be considered against our suggested answers, which themselves can be usefully critiqued.

Where case study work has featured as part of preparatory activities, similar approaches to those suggested for self check and reflect questions can be adopted. If coming to the case afresh, there is unlikely to be time for groups to consider all four questions. Here we would suggest that groups major on one of the case questions only moving on to others if they have time.

Equal opportunities and diversity is an area where every student has some experience irrespective of whether they are full or part time. Most full-time students will have accumulated work experience prior to and during their higher education studies and many will be following business-related courses, which incorporate a placement element. Therefore, we have found it both feasible and useful to surface these experiences during class discussion and to subject them to critical analysis to evaluate their strategic credentials.

Follow-up work

The pedagogic features adopted throughout this book are intended to offer up a number of alternatives for follow-up work while at the same time leaving the lecturer free to add or substitute their own ideas.

If they have not already been used as part of class activities, any prior preparation of answers to the self check and reflect questions and/or the questions suggested for student preparation and/or the chapter case ‘Making diversity an issue in leafy Elgarshire’ will serve as a useful reinforcement to chapter content. Our outline answers to both self check and reflect questions and case study questions follow in the next two substantive sections of this chapter guide. There are also a number of follow-up study suggestions after the chapter summary that can be undertaken by students either individually or in groups and an extensive list of references provides many opportunities for directed further reading.

Answers to Self-Check and Reflect Questions

13. 1 Note down the changes in the EU’s population highlighted by Figures 13.1 and 13.2. How are these predicted changes likely to impact upon the composition of the labour force in relation to full- and part-time work, age and gender?

What implications do you consider these changes are likely to have for SHRP (strategic human resource planning)?

What other demographic changes do you predict based upon your own knowledge of labour markets?

The Eurostat (2005) data shown in Figures 13.1 and 13.2 indicate the following key trends in relation to full- and part-time work, age and gender:

• The overall population of working age (16–59) across the EU is due to fall from 228m at present to 203m in 2030.

Millmore et al., Strategic Human Resource Management: Contemporary Issues, Instructor’s Manual

134

© Pearson Education Limited 2007

• However, in the 60 plus age group, the population is set to rise from 83m in 2005 to 123m in 2030, and increase of more than 40%.

• Over the next 25 years, the number of full-time workers in the EU is set to fall by 8%, but the number of long part-time work (20–31 hours per week) is predicted to remain constant. • Short part-time work (less than 19 hours), however, is set to rise by 5% across the EU. • Thus, general trends would indicate that over the next 25 years, the working population

across the EU will be older, less reliant on full-time workers and a greater shift to more flexible forms of working, particularly short part-time work.

• In terms of gender composition, employment growth will occur in the part- time sector, more typically associated with a female workforce.

As for other more general trends indicated by the above data, the following are frequently mentioned in the literature:

• a decline in the youngest labour market group, of 16–24-year olds. • in the UK, 80% of labour market growth by 2010 will be amongst women

• by 2010 only 20% of the workforce will be white, able-bodied, male and under 45.

• the above trends indicate that employers have little option but to broaden their view on the types of people to target in the labour force. Those relying on the so-called ‘traditional’ model of an employee as being white, able-bodied, male, under 45 and working full-time, are likely to find themselves facing severe skills shortages in the not too distant future. 13.2 What do you consider to be the strengths and limitations of the equal opportunities and

the managing diversity approaches to diversity management? Equal Opportunities

Although your list may differ in the way it is worded from the one below we would expect you to have listed most of the following strengths:

• the equal opportunities movement, gaining legislative force in the 1970s, has focused attention on the organisational practice of equal opportunities, and through such attention has made practices like direct sex and race discrimination a rarity.

• the movement has gained much from legislative backing, with Acts in relation to sex, race and disability being on the statute books for three decades. The area is a developing one, with new provision being made as circumstances require; for example, regulations to limit age discrimination and to protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

as well as the following limitations:

• treats everyone the same, and focuses on ‘disadvantaged’ groups; can mean people lose their individuality and that simply by being a member of a particular group discrimination is assumed to be an issue.

• there has been little observable impact (except in the case of direct race and sex discrimination) on employment patterns, despite three decades of legislation. For example, men still account for the most senior management positions in the United Kingdom,

women’s pay still lags behind that of men and those from ethnic minorities and the disabled have made few inroads into senior organisational positions.

• it is argued that a compliance-based model may mean that organisations while complying with the letter of the law, do not actually comply with the spirit of the law; the equality approach does not address this issue.

Diversity Management

Although your list may differ in the way it is worded from the one below we would expect you to have listed most of the following strengths:

• It is a strategic approach to managing people, which does not try to suppress difference but actually seeks to identify it and value it.

• Its focus on improving organisational performance through promoting practices designed to enhance individual productivity is seen as a key component of effective people management. • It is a move away from a compliance-based model, to a much more positive and business-

focused approach to ensuring workplace equality. as well as the following limitations:

• Few examples exist of the approach actually delivering what it promises.

• The business focus of ensuring maximum profit may be at odds with key principles of social justice and fairness

• The extent of organisational change required to fully embrace the approach is considerable; in the current fast-paced business environment, organisations may be unable to resource initiatives with little to show in the way of short-term payback.

13.3 Outline the strengths and limitations for diversity management of the equal opportunities approach.

The strengths for diversity management of the equal opportunities approach which you are likely to have outlined should include:

• the equal opportunities approach, based primarily on legislative provision, has meant that the issue of equality in employment has been on the organisational agenda for the past 30 years or so, and since the law applies to all but the smallest enterprises; few organisations will be unaware of the issue or of their obligations under the legislation

• the equality approach has undoubtedly fallen out of favour in recent times, particularly with the addition of EU directives, making some organisations feel that this is an overly burdensome and highly regulated area. This makes the time ripe for an approach to equality; which shifts the focus from legal compliance to leveraging and valuing difference for organisational benefit; i.e. from an external imperative to an internal one. The agenda becomes a far more positive one, emphasising the value to be gained from valuing and embracing difference, rather than a punitive avoidance of legal penalty.

Millmore et al., Strategic Human Resource Management: Contemporary Issues, Instructor’s Manual

136

© Pearson Education Limited 2007

The limitations for diversity management of equal opportunities should include:

• the approach may be negatively viewed by organisations used to the restrictive equal opportunities approach. The shift in mindset required from avoiding discrimination to actively valuing difference may be difficult to grasp, and more importantly to articulate organisationally in terms of practical measures that need to be taken to advance the agenda.

• for some organisations the shift from an approach based on social justice, equity and fairness, to one where differences between individuals are valued simply because of their positive impact upon organisational performance, may seem morally questionable.

• the equality approach has led to a plethora of legal regulation, and with the adoption of EU directives organisations have a considerable number of regulations to comply with. Organisations may in these circumstances feel they are doing enough, and that this is not an area to which further resources can be invested.

13.4 Outline the strengths and limitations for diversity management of the managing diversity approach.

The strengths you have outlined are likely to include:

• a shift in the agenda from externally focused drivers for action to internally, business-linked drivers.

• a more positive, strategic and ultimately holistic approach to the management of equality and difference.

• closer contact and understanding with customer and employee markets.

• the possibility of wider-scale culture change within the auspices of a diversity management programme.

Your limitations are likely to include:

• little empirical evidence, either in the United Kingdom, United States of America or Europe to support key contentions made.

• a plethora of consultants in the area renaming a basic equality of opportunity approach as diversity management; organisations then believing there to be little difference.

• the focus on the business case promotes a view that issues of social justice, equity and fairness are no longer important.

• there is confusion as to the focus of interest; group, individual or both?

13.5 To what extent is it appropriate to support a positive climate for diversity management for purely business-focused reasons rather than as part of its cultural values?

Those supporting the view that it is appropriate to support a positive climate for diversity management for purely business-focused reasons, may raise some of the following points to support their position:

• without articulating the financial return an organisation could gain from diversity management, in times of high competition, few organisations would commit resources to such programmes.

• in tight labour markets, emphasis on the link between effective diversity management and access to new and emerging labour markets will be a powerful argument.

• in times when customer satisfaction is at a premium, a link between a diverse workforce and an improved ability to meet customer requirements through improved understanding is of great value.

• links to improving productivity, reducing turnover and absenteeism will all be highly