September 2010 Newsletter

Diversity

With the new equality legislation being launched on the 1^st of October 2010 Diversity is particularly topical at the moment. New legislation will ultimately provide a greater safety net for employees and will result in organisations having to assess their management of inclusivity and diversity at all levels. 

you:unlimited have considerable first-hand experience of the massive personal and commercial benefits associated with high-level organisational diversity.  Our new groundbreaking Diversity programme is headed by Rugby sports legend Gareth Thomas  and is an amalgamation of the work we have done to date with some of the UK's top companies as well as Gareth Thomas' poignant personal experiences. To request more information click here.

 

Why is Diversity Important to your Organisation?

Variance in customer service, poor staff retention, absenteeism and poor staff performance have all been explicitly linked to weak diversity management. This does not even take into account the massive costs associated with tribunals and grievances which have been on the increase by almost 20% per year since 2006 according to the UK Tribunals Service 

Not only are there very strong business benefits to a diverse workforce, but discrimination is still a very real issue in the workplace. In terms of discrimination on the grounds of sexuality alone a recent Unison survey showed that 44% of gay and lesbian members had experienced homophobic or biphobic comments from colleagues, or managers that made them feel uncomfortable.

This month we will be looking at the ways in which embracing diversity improves engagement, staff satisfaction as well as the commercial success of organisations.  We will also explore the negative impact of discrimination, and tips for improving diversity in your organisation.

What is Diversity?

There are seven areas that are covered under the term diversity; age differences, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity and disability. Embracing diversity and equality is about increasing the awareness of, and celebrating the differences between people. Utilising diversity is indispensable to any organisation which values engagement and takes talent management seriously.

Types of Discrimination

Discrimination along diversity lines can be incredibly damaging, not only to the person under attack, but also to the organisation as a whole. There are different levels of discrimination, from unintentional comments, avoidance and jokes, to purposeful discrimination shown through subtle aggression or physical attack.

Active discrimination is when people purposefully discriminate because of a factor such as cultural or sexual differences. This is normally heavily rooted in the perpetrator’s prejudices.

Indirect discrimination is also rooted in prejudice and a harboring of engrained stereotypes. It is different from active discrimination, as it is often the product of ingrained beliefs of which the perpetrator is unaware. This can be overcome by helping individuals identify and explore the basis of these beliefs and increasing awareness of their effects.

 

Why is being aware of diversity important?

First and foremost everyone has the right to not face prejudice. This is especially true in the workplace, where organisations have legal obligations to ensure this. Under the Employment Equality Regulations 2003, workers are protected from direct and indirect discrimination, victimisation and harassment. Aside from the legal issues, discrimination can have a huge personal impact on individuals, which in turn can affect the atmosphere and effectiveness of your workforce.

It is also important to understand that different people have different needs, in order to accommodate their needs. For example someone with a disability may need a different working space, or more flexibility with regards to hospital visits in order to work effectively.

 

Why is it important commercially?

Ultimately a diverse workforce means that there is a more diverse set of perceptions, experiences and ideas to draw from.

It is important for organisations to be aware of diversity for two reasons. Firstly, and most simply a better understanding of diversity helps to provide a happy and safe working environment. Creating a good working environment can go a long way to improving employee satisfaction, productivity and retention. Financially this also makes sense, as grievance procedures and tribunals can be very costly. Conflict between line mangers and their reports is also the most frequent reason cited for people leaving a job. Then consider that according to McKinsey the average cost of replacing an employee totals a 150% of their annual salary and the commercial case for diversity quickly becomes apparent.

Secondly, when people are working together they can be more creative and productive because they have more experiences and ideas to draw from. In many industries a diverse workforce is more likely to reflect the target consumer group meaning that embracing diversity can help to explore ways to attract different customer groups and better understand the demographics of the market place.

 

How?

So far we have explored why diversity is important, now we will look at ways to improve diversity within your workplace.

Firstly, and most importantly the best way to encourage diversity is to increase and improve communication. Without strong communication links it is difficult to sustain diversity. Good communication also helps avoid confusion and incorrect assumptions being formed. It is important that the workplace culture encourages people to discuss their issues and grievances before they develop into serious concerns.

The best way to implement this is for management to encourage an open dialogue with all employees on a one-to- one and group basis. Demonstrating the importance of communication, the CIPD have found that 65% of performance issues result from a strained relationship between line-managers and their reports.

By training line managers to understand diversity and manage conflict when it arises the risk of conflict and tribunals can be dramatically reduced. The second way is to have formal diversity training. This can be very useful, especially if there are large scale changes within the organisation. It is useful as it helps people understand each other and learn how to communicate more effectively. A good diversity training programme will cover how to confront stereotypes, understanding why biases are formed and how to overcome them, and how to set out appropriate behaviour.

 

And finally…

Unfortunately discrimination, in its many forms, is still an issue in the workplace. However more and more companies are embracing diversity within their organisations. This is leading to better working environments, and more organisations utilising the full potential of their workforce.

If you are interested in finding out how we can help you improve diversity awareness in your organisation give us a ring on 020 7407 0044 or mail edward@you-unltd.co.uk 

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