Organizational diversity enables individuals from diverse backgrounds, religions, communities, age groups, experiences, and educational qualifications to work on a common platform, striving to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization within the shortest possible time frame.
Management plays an essential role in managing organizational diversity — and it starts with treating every employee equally, regardless of designation, background, community, or religion. It hardly matters to the organization whether an individual is a Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or a Sikh — what matters is willingness to learn and passion to perform.
Treating Every Employee Equally
All individuals need to be treated equally. If you have recruited someone, he or she is your employee and thus an indispensable resource of the organization. Management should not forget that even the office boy is an employee of the organization and ought to be treated with the same respect and care as everyone else. Do not make separate policies for them — remember, they too have the right to enjoy the company’s benefits, the way others do.
Every employee is important irrespective of designation, time spent in the organization, or educational qualification, and contributes in his or her own way. Organization B had all types of employees — some who had recently joined, and some who had been in the system for quite some time. Joe was never called for team meetings because he had joined the organization just one month back. This is a wrong practice.
Management and superiors need to ensure that every individual is called for team meetings and has the liberty to contribute in formulating team strategies and organization policies. An organization does not always need experienced people; it also needs young and dynamic individuals who have the passion for innovation and accepting challenges. Do not neglect someone just because he or she is new to the industry — you never know when they come up with an idea that benefits not just the team but the entire organization.
Fair and Consistent Policies
Appraisals and incentive plans need to be similar for everyone. If a twenty percent hike has been decided, make sure it is the same for everyone, be it the general manager, manager, executive, or the office boy. Incentive slabs and bonus criteria should not change with designation and hierarchy — the same rules apply across the board. If a hike is decided, or if the organization grants ten days of leave a year, make sure the same applies to office staff, pantry staff, and entry-level executives alike. Appraisals should be based strictly on individual performance over the year, and nothing else.
Effective and Transparent Communication
Encourage effective communication at the workplace. No employee should be left out of important discussions, and management needs to ensure transparency at all levels of hierarchy — this is in fact the best way to effectively manage organizational diversity. Make sure everyone, irrespective of designation or level in the hierarchy, is aware of their roles and responsibilities, and that organization policies are communicated well to each and every person.
Recognizing and Encouraging Employee Contributions
Appreciate employees whenever they do well, and make sure individuals get their due credit. A common failing is that whenever a team performs well, the team leader gets all the recognition and appreciation while the team members are left out — management needs to be impartial to promote genuine organizational diversity.
Encourage employees to interact with one another, discuss work, share experiences, and gain from each other’s knowledge and working styles. Individuals who sit together once a day to discuss team strategy and decide on the plan of action not only come closer to each other but also learn a great deal from one another’s talents. In today’s business environment, it is essential that individuals develop the habit of working in unison — not only does this help teams meet deadlines, it also motivates people to keep bringing their best work.
Supporting Female Employees
You need to take good care of your female employees to promote a healthy work culture. Ensure male employees are not misbehaving with their female counterparts, and take strict and immediate action if they do. Guide your male employees and ask them to behave sensibly with their female colleagues, and draw a line where needed — do not blindly take their side. If a female employee raises a complaint, do not ignore it; find out the actual problem and act at the earliest.
Do not ask female employees to work late unless there is a genuine emergency or deadline, and if you do, make sure a cab is arranged to drop them home. Ask the administration department to make proper arrangements if they need to travel out of the city.
Celebrating Festivals Together
It is the responsibility of management to encourage individuals to celebrate and enjoy all festivals irrespective of their religion and community. We may be Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, or Christian, but above all we work toward the same organizational goals. Do not ignore someone just because they don’t belong to your religion.
A good way to put this into practice is to divide employees into groups and ask them to decorate the office, arrange a small office party, and organize small gifts for colleagues during festival seasons. The idea isn’t to test anyone’s decorating skills — it’s to build awareness of different cultures and traditions, and to develop trust and respect between colleagues so that they genuinely start accepting each other and working together as a single unit.
Finally, make sure no individual gets an undue advantage at the workplace.
