Strategic Diversity Management Chapter 12

Objectives Explore the development from equal opportunities to managing diversity Understand the role of the law in managing diversity Explore the concept of diversity Evaluate barriers to diversity, including prejudice, stereotyping and institutional racism Identify business benefits of diversity Explore the link between strategic business development and effective diversity management

The Law The Equal Pay Act 1970 addressing the inequality between genders in relation to pay and contractual terms The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 addressing discrimination relating to gender and marital status The Race Relations Act 1976 addressing discrimination on the grounds of race, nationality and ethnic origin The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 prohibiting discrimination against an individual on the grounds of trade union membership or non-membership The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 addressing the issue of discrimination on the grounds of disability The Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999 addressing the issue of discrimination on the grounds of trans-sexuality The Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 conferring the right to equality of treatment to part-time workers as compared with equivalent full- time workers engaged on the same type of contract The Fixed-Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 conferring the right to equality of treatment to fixed-term employees as compared with equivalent permanent employees. The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 protecting people against discriminatory treatment on grounds of sexual orientation, whether gay, lesbian, bisexual or heterosexual The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 prohibiting discrimination on grounds of religion or belief The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 prohibiting discrimination on grounds of age

Strands of the Law Direct discrimination Indirect discrimination Victimisation Harassment Positive action

Types of Diversity Social category diversity – relating to differences in demographic characteristics such as age and race Informational diversity – relating to differences in background such as education and knowledge Value diversity – relating to differences in personality and attitudes

Two Models of Diversity Human capital perspective Social justice perspective

Barriers to Diversity Prejudice Stereotyping Discrimination

Evidence of Discrimination Women workers are concentrated in low- paid, service sector and poorly organised industries and part-time work Black workers face disadvantage in the workplace and much higher unemployment rates than white workers Workplaces are organised for those without disability and as a result preclude many disabled people

Why Do Differences Occur? Stereotyped jobs Jobs of parents Flexibility of working Aptitude Roles in society Discrimination

Group Factors Group loyalty ‘In group’ and ‘out group’ Social identity Equal chance Equal access Equal share

Learning Instrumental conditioning Classical conditioning Observational conditioning

Proven Benefits of Diversity Easier to recruit scarce talent Reduction of absenteeism and turnover costs Enhanced organisational flexibility

Indirect Benefits of Diversity Improved job satisfaction and morale Better relations between different groups of workers Greater productivity Better public image Competitive advantage

Debatable Benefits of Diversity Boosted team creativity and innovation Improved team problem solving Better team decision-making Improved quality Improved customer service, especially to minority cultures

Impacts of Conflict employee frustration deteriorating interpersonal relationships low morale poor performance, resulting in lower productivity and / or a poorer quality to output or service disciplinary problems, including poor performance by employees resignation and the loss of good staff increased employee absenteeism withdrawal of employee goodwill resistance to change

Diversity in Practice Customer focus Innovation, creativity and learning Business process improvement The financial bottom line