What does it mean to be an effective manager in a diverse workforce?

1 INTRODUCTION

Diversity has been the most popular business topic over the past few decades. Workforce diversity is defined as how people in an organisation differs and are similar to one another. The definition does not only emphasis on the differences but also the employee's similarities. Traditionally, diversity has been considered a term used by the human resource departments associated with fair hiring practices, discrimination, and inequality (Qin, Muenjohn & Chhetri 2014; Dahanayake, Rajendran, Selvarajah & Ballantyne 2018). The demographic characteristics when we think of diversity are society, tradition, race, gender, culture, and others. When a company is looking to build a diverse workforce, it requires an employer brand that helps to attract, retain, and develop diverse talent (Patrick & Kumar 2012). In this topic, we will discuss how managers and organisations properly manage culture diversity by focusing on all the four ESCT issues which influence managerial behaviour in the workforce.

2 CONTENTS

A diverse workplace that meets the ethical and cultural standards of the modern era is more sought after by employees (Mahdawi 2016). Even though the media and existing literature embark upon the benefits of cultural diversity in the workplace, citing enhancements to employees' creativity and expertise, this acknowledgment does not indicate, in real practice, as strong as theoretically (Al-Jenaibi 2011). Different cultures and experiences need to be combined to have a wide range of understanding of what the customer wants. It improves the relationship with them, proving that there are many mutual interests between both parties. By showing the team that the business is a recognition to all differences will make everyone in the workforce feel more trusted and respected. Communication is extremely important. People that we are going to be working with may have multiple different languages. Healthy and safety policies, company policies and regulations must be clear and easy to understand (Chang-kyu & Nicolaides 2017). As a manager, it is important to make sure that every member at the workforce knows what their responsibilities are and how they are to be held accountable. It is necessary to simplify the language to ensure everybody's life easier and to eliminate confusion.

To enhance the company's diversity, an approach called the collaborative process and structure paradigm can be used. It implements structure and procedures to address how diversity is lived and communicated by organization members (Tosey, Visser & Saunders 2012). Different kind of identities are recognized as a part of every individual's personality, all the employees are part of different collectives within the organisation. A company should apply structures that allow similarities and differences simultaneously, so employees are integrated into the organisational culture where they feel appreciated in their individual distinctiveness. Such differences and diversity are a connecting aspect and an important resource (Zhuwao, Ngirande, Ndlovu & Setati 2019). Structures that integrate a continuous improvement of diversity can be created by connecting human resources, communication management, and organisational development. Hence, every part of the organisational structure holds the responsibility for diversity. The leaders should support the employees to ensure their multiple identities and abilities stay transparent to maximise them to the organisation's advantage.

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According to Henry Fayol, due to traditional roles of managers, mainly consisting planning, organising, leading, and controlling, these values need to change to keep up with the modern world. Combining the mentioned four ESCT values with this theory will help to lead to a more modern style of leadership (Pretorius, Steyn, Bond-Barnard 2018). Companies must develop a systemic framework for the management of change to address the diversity. Research suggests that organisations should provide diversity training programs that help to educate staffs regarding different cultures, raise awareness and accept the differences (Changuk & Kye-Sung 2000). This may be useful in the changes of policies to help educate ethnic minorities to get used to the industry and, similarly, to teach managers or leaders about the importance of employing the group. It is insufficient to improve diversity in the workplace; only if the differences are valued and managed effectively, the benefits of diversity can then be realised (Saxena 2014; Hsiao, Auld, Ma 2015).

3 CONCLUSION

Most of the big successful organisations act globally and diversity at the workforce is more common than ever. They have to deal with diversity in both society and also within the individuals. As every personality consists out of a variety of multiple and diverse aspects, identities become more and more complicated. Diversity brings better opportunities, innovation, use of skills, and thus better performance to the company (Dahanayake, Rajendran, Selvarajah & Ballantyne 2018). Managers of a diverse workplace have more effective teams and a broader range of benefits, evident throughout different industries (Brett 2018). Categories are no longer acted as a tool to apply diversity in an organisation, rather than just accepting and respecting differences. Any types of diversity are actively encouraged and to be utilised. An organisation must develop a diversity competence on a structural and personal level. Within a continuous progress, plurality must be constantly assessed, modified, and developed to encourage better creativity, innovation and networking.

4 REFERENCES

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