1. Diversity in Organisationen
Managing Diversity: an introduction

2. Krell, 2000 quoted from Cordes 2004
Diversity Management …
… refers to “all characteristics that influence the self-perception and above all the external perception of a person or group, and which can act as sources of discrimination, friction and tensions between different employees in the workplace.”

3. Legal Frameworks for Diversity Management
UN Human Rights Convention
Civil Rights Acts USA 1963/64
EU Community Law (Primary and Secondary legislation, e.g. Article 141
Austria: Federal Equal Treatment Act BGlBG 2004
Equal treatment of people regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, religion, world view and age
Outlawing of unequal treatment in the workplace
“Affirmative actions” /measures that transitionally give preference to underrepresented groups are permitted in order to achieve equality (=positive discrimination)
It is the legal responsibility of all employers to guarantee their employees that the workplace is free from all forms of discrimination.

4. Diversity Management makes sense in terms of …
… personnel marketing/recruiting
… employee satisfaction
… creativity and innovation
… marketing und sales
… the company‘s image
… compliance with legal requirements

5. Personnel marketing/recruiting
You can recruit at a national or international level
You have the most varied “pool of candidates”, at your disposal, from which you can select employees from
You can fill vacancies with exactly the right people

6. Employee Satisfaction
Diversity Management means taking the needs and requirements of your employees in the workplace/working environment seriously, valuing their potential, integrating their skills and talents into the work of the company and supporting their professional development.
This pays off in terms of
> employee satisfaction
> the internal working atmosphere > the loyalty of the employees towards the company
Which in turn results in
> lower staff turnover > reduced HR costs > higher productivity > better company performance > commercial success and greater job security

7. Creativity and innovation
Diversity within companies means that the personnel reflects the demographic reality of the customers, and thus all the requirements of your product or service will conform to this reality.
Your product or service corresponds therefore not only to the continued demands of your target group but rather the target group can be expanded.
Within diverse teams the intellectual barriers of homogeneous teams can be broken down, as other, more diverse, ways of thinking and viewpoints can be introduced.
Diverse teams are more creative than homogeneous ones, as they reflect this diversity. This makes innovation and development possible!
A quote from Hallstein-Moerk, Executive Vice President HR at Nokia: “Individuals who no longer feel they need to conform to fit in will think more authentically and bring new thinking to the company that is potentially important for innovation and strategy.”

8. Marketing and Sales
With diverse teams you are address the broad mass of customers.
Example Marketing: the presentation of a new product, that you want to reach the broadest possible target audience with, would be more successful if delivered by a diverse presentation team representing a wider target audience than by an individual person representing only one group.
Example Sales: “birds of a feather stick together” goes the saying, which can mean in sales terms, for example, a black woman feels more comfortable in a department store/boutique if the shop assistant is also a black woman. Perhaps she would not even enter the shop if there were only white shop assistants.
Best practice - company: IKEA became well known for its marketing strategy that spoke to all groups of people, enabling it to position itself as the “top dog” in the interior design / furniture sector. General Motors recognised that women were not being addressed by its sales strategies, and that the sale of cars was almost exclusively directed towards men. With the “female buyer influence initiative”, run by a diverse team, exhibition cars were displayed with child car seats, space for wheelchairs etc., and the sales personnel become more diversely mixed, and benefitting from specialist training in order to be able to effectively deal with all types of clients.

9. Image
Companies that are committed to diversity and that practice diversity management do not only increase their productivity but also enjoy a much higher reputation.

10. Compliance with legal requirements
Last but not least: By complying with European equality law and the respective national laws, companies remain within the law, avoiding legal proceedings and the associated reputational damage.