Diversity Management

Knowledge Center

What is Workforce Diversity? Meaning

"Workforce Diversity", a "Diverse Workforce", and an "Inclusive Workforce" are more or less inter-exchangeable terms expressing a HETEROGENEOUS COMPOSITION of an organization; one that it is composed of employees having different backgrounds. These employee backgrounds include race, language, gender, age, social class, religion, region, ethnicity, sexual orientation and physical disabilities.

The term is also used to indicate the NEED and the APPRECIATION of such workforce. It then indicates a working environment that values individuals and harnesses the abilities of each individual, embracing their different backgrounds and perspectives.

What is Diversity Management? Meaning

Diversity Management refers to all organizational actions that aim to promote workforce diversity and greater inclusion of employees from different backgrounds into an organization's functioning through various policies, programs and other means.

Benefits of Workforce Diversity. Advantages

A diverse workforce can bring a set of different experiences and ways of thinking to the table which can drive creativity and support innovation. Because the twenty first century's society is so dynamic, complex and interconnected due to globalization and due to rapid advancements in technology, workforce diversity and inclusion have become more important for many organizations. Diversity in workforce is also establishing a positive corporate reputation and can be helpful in recruitment and decreasing the rate of employee turnover and absenteeism.

Workforce Diversity and Inclusion Checklist

In order to establish, promote and enforce employee diversity and inclusion, an organization can do many things. Here is a checklist:

• Educate leaders about the concept and benefits.
• Form a diversity/inclusion council.
• Set employee diversity and inclusion goals and objectives.
• Write a mission statement that expresses the importance of diversity for the organization. All the dimensions of diversity should be addressed in this statement (such as race, ethnicity, religion, ...).
• Develop a strategy for enforcing employee diversity and inclusion.
• Build a diversity and inclusion policy (HR).
• Communicate the diversity statement, goals, objectives, policy and strategy.
• Elucidate diversity in your organization's perspective.
• Celebrate employee differences.
• Specify a benchmark for best diversity practices.
• Listen to employees. Conduct one on one interviews from employees representing different backgrounds to gather information about their culture and beliefs.
• Offer holidays on the important religious days to the employees having different ethnic backgrounds.
• Encourage employees to celebrate their diversity through sharing their culturally diverse food in lunch party.
• Measure the progress in implementing the diversity and inclusion strategy.
• Organize a cultural audit annually.
• Mentor employees in meetings and through a living example.
• Develop a 360 evaluation process for making the leadership accountable for retaining diversity and employee inclusion.
• Start a communication system or platform for employees internally in which they can share their personal life stories.
• Utilize business parties as a platform for networking with employees from diverse background.

Forum Forum about Diversity Management. Below you can ask a question about this topic, share your experiences, report a new development, or explain something. Start a new topic about Diversity Management Share your knowledge here (or ask a question)   Ending Racial and Gender Inequities: The Shared Sisterhood Framework How can you eradicate racial and gender inequities and at the same time diminish worried, stressed post-COVID feelings among your employees? Read on… I just stumbled across a new diversity manageme... 12   5 comments How to Deal with a Younger Boss For the past decennia, the number of organizations having a multigenerational workplace has been on the rise. These are workplaces where many employees of different age groups work together. Such work... 10   8 comments 🔥 NEW Five Stages of DEI Maturity Firms and organizations wanting to improve in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) should realize that DEI is not a short-term project. Rushing to make a press statement and picking low hanging fruit... 8   14 comments The Business Case for Diversity A more diverse workforce is a nice idea, but does not automatically produce benefits for an organization. Merely recruiting and retaining more people from underrepresented (female, racial) backgrounds... 7   4 comments Hating Diversity is Disastrous I think the ultimate example of how dangerous the hate of diversity can be, were the Nazis. That's why by doing the opposite it is sure the best results will be accomplished - I have no doubt about i... 5   3 comments The Importance of Shared Values to Form a Great Team When we need to perform a big and complex project, like for example scientific research or corporate creative work, we can not only depend on a single individual, but we require a high-performing team... 4   12 comments Diversity that Matters and Diversity that Should not Matter in Organizations Matters: Experience, training, successes, failures, teamwork, collaboration, attitude, work ethic, willingness to participate, willingness to ask questions, to admit you do not know. Ability to learn ... 4   7 comments

Best Practices The best, top-rated topics about Diversity Management. Here you will find the most valuable ideas and practical suggestions. Organizational Change Effort to Increase Diversity and Inclusion When organizational change involves creating a more diverse and inclusiveness work environment, resistance by some employees may be embedded in fundamental issues such as values and beliefs. Which cha... 14   12 comments Managing a Diverse Workforce: Challenges and Measures There is consensus that in general, a diverse workforce is inevitable as much as it is beneficial to the general interest of an organization. Diversity can yield higher productivity in the case of gre... 10   2 comments How to Build More Diverse Teams? Pitfalls and Tips ADVANTAGES OF DIVERSE TEAMS Diversity can help to build powerful teams. Members can thrive in such teams. Respect for diversity can be considered universally applicable because it constitutes a core ... 10   13 comments Practices for Inclusive Leadership and Management Organizations that prioritize inclusiveness have shown to outperform those that are not. However, it remains a challenge for leaders/managers to create an inclusive culture. They need curiosity and co... 8   2 comments

Expert Tips Advanced insights about Diversity Management. Here you will find professional advices by experts. Pitfalls and Best Practices in Managing Multicultural Teams Multicultural Teams Brett, Behfar and Kern describe 4 common problem areas in managing multicultural teams: 1. Direct vs indirect communica... The Advantages of Group Decision-Making Group Decision-Making The benefits of group decision-making include: - Synergy: Group decisions tend to combine and improve on the knowledge... The Disadvantages of Group Decision-Making Group Decision-Making The drawbacks of group decision-making include: - Longer time frame: Groups generally need more time to make decisions ... Positive Effects of Age Diversity on Company Productivity and (Tacit) Knowledge Sharing Tacit Knowledge Transfer, Workforce Productivity, Incentive Management Backes-Gellner and Veen (2013) outlined the main advantages of having an age-diverse workforce within a company. The fol... The Role Diversity in Personal Traits is Playing in Innovation Innovation, Increasing Organizational Innovativeness New research by Hewlett, Marshall and Sherbin proves that diversity (of personal and team traits) drives innovation and ...

Information Sources Various sources of information regarding Diversity Management. Here you will find powerpoints, videos, news, etc. to use in your own lectures and workshops. Management Across Cultures: Managing in a Global Context Cross-Cultural Management, Cultural Dimensions, Cultural Intelligence, Multicultural Teams, Global Leadership, Global HR This presentation consist of six sections that together form an extensive description of management across cultures. The... Doing Business Globally and Repecting Cultural Diversity Globalization, Global Business Presentation about doing business in a global world and highlights the importance of cultural diversity and global etiqu... Your Organization in a Globalized World Organizational Behavior, International, Hofstede, Organizational Culture, Globalization, Cultural Intelligence Presentation about organizational behavior in an age of globalization. The presentation includes the following sections:... Corporate Diversity and Inclusion Cross Functional Team, Organizational Culture, Globalization, Organizational Change, HRM, Cultural Dimensions In this introduction video, top managers of Skanska share their vision on Diversity and Inclusion and the strategic impo... International Human Resource Management Human Resource Management, Globalization, HR in Multinationals Presentation about HRM in an increasingly globalized environment. The presentation includes the following sections: 1. ...

Research Links Jump to further research sources regarding Diversity Management. News Videos Presentations   Books Academic More

Compare with: Cross-Functional Team  |  Globalization  |  Six Thinking Hats  |  Cultural Dimensions  |  Bottom-up Approach  |  360-Degree Feedback  |  Knowledge Management  |  Employee Engagement  |  Empowerment of Employees

Return to Management Hub: Change & Organization  |  Ethics & Responsibility  |  Human Resources  |  Knowledge & Intangibles  | 

More on Management  |  Return to Management Dictionary

This ends our Diversity Management summary and forum.