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Managing for Inclusion: Equality and Workplace Diversity (Social dilemmas…
Managing for Inclusion: Equality and Workplace Diversity
The glass ceiling
A phenomenon that limits the advancement of women and other minority groups to senior managerial positions in organisations
only 25% of key management positions on company boards are held by women in Australia
However, in the public service 40% of all senior executive positions filled by women
Eastern European and Scandinavian nations lead the way in abolishing the glass ceiling
Social identity theory
Social identity theory stipulates that individuals validate their social identity by favouring their ‘in- group’ at the expense of ‘out-groups’
Individuals perceive that it is ‘easier’ to communicate with other members of their in-group as they are more predictable, trustworthy, and more likely to reciprocate favours
A shared social identity increases perceived differences between individuals belonging to different social categories (i.e. between in- and out-groups)
The success of organisational diversity initiatives is dependent upon mitigating these perceived differences
Social dilemmas of workplace diversity
Individual participation
The success of organisational diversity initiatives is dependent upon the degree to which its employees embrace/resist them
Formation of subgroups along social categories may result in restricting the movement of information
Due to exclusion, employees may form further informal subgroups resulting in subgroup competition
Organisational participation
Dependent upon how well the social dilemmas relating to individual and managerial participation are addressed
Incorrect perceptions in relation to the relationship between homogenous workers and employee turnover
Belief that diversity initiatives benefit society not organisations implementing them, organisations bear the costs and accrue little benefit
Focus on short-term costs and not long-term benefits
Creates barriers for selecting highly talented candidates due to ill informed and short sighted views
Managerial participation
A consequence of the dilemma of
individual participation
Managers likely to recruit individuals they perceive to be similar to them (i.e. their social category)
Individuals may also seek out managers that are similar to them
Those that do not ‘fit in’ often leave resulting in a homogenous workforce
Can result in ‘power battles’
Solutions for social dilemmas
The management problem - overcoming individual & managerial participation
Aligning individual interest with organisational diversity initiatives by restructuring incentives
Keeping work team/group sizes small
Measuring managerial performance from along-term
perspective
Embeddingthevalueofdiversitytomission,vision
The public policy problem – overcoming organisational participation
Avoiding the creation of legislation that results in ‘protected classes’ of workers
Instead developing legislation that requires firms to develop and implement diversity initiatives that result in sustainable success
Not focusing on encouraging just diversity,but‘effective’diversity
Workplace diversity & the need to manage it
What is diversity?
Term used to describe differences among individuals
Age, race, ethnicity, gender, physical characteristics (height, weight etc.), mental and physical ability, personality, sexual orientation etc.
Workplace diversity therefore refers to differences among people at work
In addition to the above differences, workforce diversity also encompass differences among workers in:
Religious beliefs, educational attainment, experience, family status, parental status, pregnancy etc.
Is it necessary to ‘manage’ diversity?
One of 4 core labour standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) – Elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation
Anti-discrimination, equal opportunity, and affirmative action legislation in Australia
Increasing diversity of consumers due to globalisation
More than managing cultural diversity, a necessary
precondition for continuous innovation
Changing composition of the labour market – attracting the right kind of talent and retaining such talent
Not about merely meeting ‘legal’ or ‘moral’ obligations, but embedding the process in business strategy developmen