Workplace Diversity-An All Inclusive Workforce

We are more than 7 billion people, yet, our fingerprints are all unique. All, almost all, of us have 10 fingers, but fingerprints are all unique. All, almost all, of us have 2 eyes but our retinal capillary prints are all unique. The one tongue that we all 7 billion have is unique too, for all of us. We are all so similar but yet so distinct. The world won’t have been so beautiful if all the weathers smelt the same, all the flowers looked the same, and all the sounds heard the same and all the touch felt the same. The difference brings the flavor in life. The feeling that the day today will be different than yesterday drives us every day and motivates us to spring out of the bed to start afresh. People would have had hard time finding topics for small talk, had the weather always remained the same. Our differences make us what we are and they make our life worth living.

“Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another”- Desmond Tutu

Laura Cox Kaplan, Regulatory Affairs and Public Policy Leader at PwC highlighted the importance of workforce diversity by quoting, “The strongest teams are those that are diverse even beyond race and gender — teams whose individual members bring varying perspectives that culminate from both professional and life experiences. These teams are even more effective when team members feel supported by each other and the organization.” In a study of 28 teams, heterogeneous teams solved complex tasks better than homogeneous teams. The diverse teams exhibited a higher level of creativity and a broader thought process. There has been a definite push in the direction of bolstering diversity at workplace worldwide. Before going ahead, it is very important to understand what actually diversity is. Merriam Webster defines diversity as: the condition of having or being composed of differing elements:  variety; especially:  the inclusion of different types of people in a group or organization or an instance of being composed of differing elements or qualities. Diversity is classified broadly as Surface level diversity and Deep level diversity. Surface level diversities are those differences which can be observed at the surface i.e. by simple observation. These are typically unchangeable and difficult to measure. Differences of age, sex, race, physical disability, etc can be classified as surface level diversity. Deep level diversities are those differences which cannot be observed at the surface. These can be measured to some extent and can be influenced by continuous effort. They are communicated through verbal and non verbal cues and often define the relation between individuals. Attitudes, Personality, Lifestyle, Beliefs and Physical & Intellectual Ability can be classified as deep level diversity. Diversity brings with it, its own benefits:

•   Adaptability- For an instance, if an organization aims to go for expansion, it generally recruits people from that specific location. In order to coordinate well with them, it serves an organization better to have someone from that place, somebody who can help the organization to manage its new workforce better.
• Broader Service Range- This seems to be a rather obvious benefit. The more diverse the teams are, the more customer needs they can understand and so on.
• Team Dynamics- Working in more diverse teams increases the employee’s team dynamics- working with different people and understanding them.
•  Learning- With the same type of people in the organization, the learning remain limited.

 The advantages are many and the list is not exhaustive.

Teams today are no longer confined to certain geographies, languages, cultures and not even time zones. Globalization has brought in people from everywhere to work together. In such circumstances, Diversity Management becomes the need of hour. Diversity Management can be defined as addressing and supporting values and perspectives of different individuals, promoting the same ideals and aligning the views of different individuals with the organization keeping the integrity of their systems and values unharmed and protected.

P&G in its Diversity and Inclusion Report, 2015 have set their mission to “Everyone Valued, Everyone Included, and Everyone Performing at Their Peak”. They have focused a lot on cultural, gender and disability diversity in their organization. The NASSCOM Corporate Awards for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion are the only awards given out to the companies who invest in inclusion in their organizations. It has made a continuous effort in this direction and the nominations have grown up from 23 in 2007 to 104 in 2011 across 6 different categories. Infosys became the first Indian company to establish an office for diversity and inclusion.

A lot of emphasis has been put by the regulatory bodies and government too on the inclusion of differences at workplace. The Person with Disabilities Act, 1995 and The Right of Person with Disabilities Bill, 2014 can be steps by government towards the inclusion of disabled into the workforce. The New Company Law is considered to be a big push in the direction of inclusion of women in the workforce at the top level.

These are some of the efforts taken in the direction. The following guidelines can help the managers to maintain diversity in organization:

•  Recruitment, Selection and training process: The recruitment process should be extended to various educational campuses, not limited to certain campuses or certain educational background if the job description permits. The thought process should form the back bone of the selection criteria. Also, certain lapses can be met by training and constant scrutiny of the candidate.
•   Recognizing diversity: The first step towards diversity management is the recognition of differences, acceptance of the differences and working towards the inclusion of diverse people. One step could be setting up an office for diversity management.
•  Listening to different perspectives: We generally tend to ignore the ‘crazy ideas’ but it’s the crazy ideas that make history and make organizations big.
•  Encouraging mentorship networks: The mentorship programs can help an individual to discuss his/ her feelings, any instances of discrimination and any suggestions they can bring in to the organization.
•  Celebrating differences: Programs such as focusing on promoting women leaders can help inclusion of diversity of the workforce.
•  Encouragement and Appreciation: The NASSCOM Corporate Awards for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion are the only awards in India focusing on diversity inclusion. Such initiatives can help foster diversity inclusion.
•  Regulations: Every company’s nominating committee should keep a check on the diversity of the Board of Directors at least. These regulations can be passed on to the lower levels subsequently.

Diversity Management is just like forming a team for a football or basketball game. We know certain players are good at offensive play and some are good at defensive play. We don’t ignore any; rather we use these differences to form a stronger team.

“We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.” – Jimmy Carter