...IMPACT OF WORKFORCE DIVERSITY ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN THE EDUCATION SECTOR OF KARACHI PAKISTAN 1Hafiza Sumaiyyah Iqbal, 2Faiza Maqbool Shah (Supervisor) Department of Business Administration, Jinnah University for Women (JUW) Karachi Pakistan ABSTRACT Diversity is gradually used and accepted as a significant organizational resource in esteems to whether the objective is to be an employer of choice, to offer outstanding customer service, or to sustain a competitive advantage. It also has verified to have controlled to an opinion of being essential for organizational performance. This ultimate faith forces managers to hold and understand the theory of workplace diversity, its benefits and barriers. The purpose of this research is to discover the impact of diversify workforce towards organizational performance which focus into the education sector. The research also emphases on workforce diversity which contains the gender, ethnic and education background of the employees which is the utmost critical variables amongst all the others. The research was done by distributing 100 questionnaires to the faculty members of 5 different universities of Karachi. The questionnaire outcomes show that there is an impact on performance when diverse workforce is working in the education sector. Key words: Workforce Diversity, Organization, Performance, Gender, Ethnic, Qualification, Karachi, Universities. ___________________________________________________________________________ ...
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...Does workforce diversity always result in better organizational performance? In today’s global competitive environment, workforce diversity became a competitive edge that helps firms better understand different cultures and different ways of conducting business globally (“Benefits and problems”). Taylor Cox emphasized that increasing workforce diversity for better organizational performance is still an essential business issue that receives great attention, as “most of today's small business owners and corporate executives recognize that attention to the challenges and opportunities associated with the growing trend toward culturally diverse work forces can be a key factor in overall business success”. Rob McInnes identified 7 factors that motivate companies to diversify their workforces: As a Social Responsibility: companies exercise corporate social responsibility role by diversifying their workforces and supporting their good living. As an Economic Payback: “diversifying the workforce, particularly through initiatives like welfare-to-work, can effectively turn tax users into tax payers”. As a Resource Imperative: companies shouldn’t be hindered from attracting best talents available in the markets because of discriminatory practices. As a Legal Requirement: law requires companies not to be discriminatory in their employment practices or they will be exposed to penalties, as “fines and loss of contracts with government agencies”. As a Marketing Strategy: companies...
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...Effect of workforce diversity in the performance of an organization Name: Institution: 1.0 Introduction Diversity in the workplace has for a longtime been viewed as a challenging issue to manage within an organization. The management therefore takes quite some time to ensure that the employees get along. This has to be done to enable every single employee feel engaged within the organization. The website identified for this study is Apple Company website. The company clearly highlights the reason it identifies diversity among its staff. The website also highlights on what it aims to benefit from a diverse force based on its quest for more innovation. When the term diversity is searched a series of plans the company has for diversity pop up (Apple, 2016). For instance the plans it has for the present workforce, future plans, job creation by identifying diversity, its policy on diversity and inclusion and diversity based jobs. The material on diversity is related to the organization’s plans for innovation as it targets to have a workforce that have different ideas that will enable it come up with unique products. The mission and goals are all inclined with the plans the company has for a diverse workforce (Apple, 2016). Potential employees and customers will be able to know by logging onto the website the immense opportunities the organization has and will not hesitate working with them. The information on diversity is current because the management has put...
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...Review on Workforce Diversity Training Abstract Diversity training has significantly influence equality and fairness in the workplace. Many organizations may face challenges how to balance diverse workforce, and they have realised the importance of diversity as a key of their business in order to quickly respond the needs of customers. Accompanying with the global economic integration, diversity has been a priority on the development of human resource. Creating equal and fair working environment would be significantly associated the profitability of organizations. This essay will mainly review the literature of workforce diversity training from several perspectives: definitions of diversity, benefits of diversity, diversity training and organizational attitude, evaluation of diversity training, challenges and resistance to diversity. The major benefits of diversity include increased quantities of high quality decisions, high employee loyalty and low turnover, and improved business performance. Diversity training approaches can be categorized into awareness-based training and skill-based training, and six major training techniques such as lecture, questioning, brainstorm, small-group discussion and role-playing can be adopted. Evaluating diversity training should be aligned with organizational business goals, and four steps could be used to evaluate diversity training programmes. Diversity blindness and diversity hostility are recognized as the major challenges...
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...Targeted Workforce Diversity: Strategies to Avoid Adverse Impact Workforce diversity has increasingly become more and more vital to organizations across the world. Many scholars articulated the value that workforce diversity has in enhancing an organization’s longevity, ability to attract the best talent, and increase novelty. According to Ployhart and Holtz (2008), “recruitment and selection are essential mechanisms for increasing diversity” (p. 153), therefore, in order to effectively increase and target diversity, organizations must develop or adapt new strategies of recruiting to avoid adverse impact. The purpose of this paper is to review literature that offers strategic remedies for organizations to consider in developing and maintaining their workforce diversity programs. Workforce Diversity and Diversity Management Practices Diversity has been defined in many ways and can have multiple meanings depending upon the objective for which it is sought to be defined. For the purposes of this paper, workforce diversity is defined as policies and practices that seek to include people within a workforce who are considered to be, in some way, different from those in the general population (McInnes, 1999). Knouse (2008) defines diversity management as the ability to maximize the advantages of organizational member diversity and minimize the problems. One can make the case for diversity several ways (Cox, 1993). It is the legal thing to do; it is the moral thing to do;...
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...Mission Introduction There has clearly been an evolution of the workforce as we knew it. There have been a number of factors that have contributed to these changes. Some of which are changes in the economy, company restructuring, globalization and technology. The changes in the workforce have led to the complete revision in the culture of some organizations. Now let’s take a look at some of the changes we have seen within the workforce. One major shift that we see in the modernized workforce is a change in demographics. There has been an increase in diversity of the workforce including age, race, ethnicity and gender. Another difference we have seen is the change in skills required to perform jobs. Technology has played a role in changing the way jobs are performed, the length of time it takes to complete a job, and the knowledge required to do the job. Organizations have had to find ways to manage the changes in the workforce in order to remain competitive in today’s marketplace. In this paper we will look at the Hershey Company, and ways that it has utilized to help manage these changes. We will look at ways to redesign Hershey’s performance management system to include diversity. We will also look at Hershey’s value system particularly focusing on how employees could interpret them in relation to their role with the company. We will continue to delve into the topic of the workforce trends and determine which has had the greatest impact on the Hershey...
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...Introduction Workforce diversity refers to the differences among people in terms of age, race, gender, ethnicity, religion and disability status (Robbins and Judge, 2014). In today's business environment, workforce diversity is at the highest peak it has ever been. Companies are becoming more diverse to cope with globalization, business expansion, technology advancement and maintaining its competitiveness in the market. The purpose of this report is to understand the demographics and level and types of diversity of the workforce in the author’s organization. After which identify and describe the diversity management strategy that the organization employs, with the aims to eliminate issues and challenges of a diverse workforce and improve overall performance of the organization. 2. Demographic and Diversity of the workforce Singapore’s workforce is naturally diverse due to the multi-racial society. The changing demographic profile, the presence of more women and elderly in the workplace and globalization has also increased the workforce diversity. In almost every organization, the employees are from different backgrounds, age, gender, nationalities and religions. Robbins and Judge (2014) argued that it is these differences of each employee that framed the behavior and culture of each organization. According to Robbins and Judge (2014), there are typically two types of diversities: surface-level diversity and deep-level diversity. Surface-level diversity is the demographic...
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...Human Resource Management (HRM) interventions targeted at developing, integrating and supporting the employees in an organization. These interventions operate on the premise that employee development and well-being can lead to increased organizational performance. There are three main HRM interventions: Performance Management, Developing Talent and Managing Workforce Diversity and Well-Being. 1. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT “Performance management involves goal setting, performance appraisal, and reward systems that align member work behavior with business strategy, employee involvement , and workplace technology” (Cummings &Worley, 2009). Research has shown that organizations with a fully functional performance management system outlive those...
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...the process of specifying outcomes toward which individuals, teams, departments and organizations will strive and is intended to increase organizational efficiency and effectiveness (Hellriegel and Slocum, 2011). Goals motivate individuals, teams and whole organizations to perform better and at higher level (Adenike, 2009). As a matter of fact, it is considered one of the most important motivational tools for affecting the performance of employees in organizations (Hellriegel and Slocum, 2011). Achieving goals is certainly not an easy task, but Allstate Corporation believes that its diversity strategy is one of the company's most important competitive weapons. According to James DeVries, senior vice president of human resources, this strategy has two major points: one internally and one externally focused. The internal diversity focus is about discovering potential in Allstate's workforce by providing them with all necessary tools, resources and opportunities to succeed. The external focus of diversity is about making sure that the Allstate's workforce matches the experience, backgrounds and sensitivities of the markets it serves (Hellriegel and Slocum, 2011). Allstate made its first action program back in 1976. The main question human resource management faced was how to incorporate all differences together and make a program that will lead to achievement of corporate goals? They made a program that consists of four steps: - Succession Programming. Allstate identifies...
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...June 2013 Research Paper: Workforce Diversity Chapter 1: Introduction In recent years, workforce diversity has become an essential business concern. Workforce diversity refers to the important similarities and difference among the employees of organizations. In a diverse workforce, managers are compelled to recognize and handle the similarities and differences that exist among the people in the organization. Employees’ conceptions of work, expectations of rewards from the organization, and practices in relating to others are all influenced by diversity. The importance of renewed interest in diversity is that it helps organizations reap the benefits of all the similarities and differences among workers. Diversity helps bring together ideas from cultures all over the world, in addition to new attitudes and perspectives that can help a company be truly competitive. The workforce is only going to continue to diversify through the years. The change is inevitable, and soon minority groups will become the majority. Managers must first recognize that diversity exists in organizations in order to manage it appropriately. Managers who do not recognize diversity may face an unhappy, disappointed, and underutilized workforce. Chapter 2: Review of the Literature "Diversity Management: Expert-Identified Leading Practices and Agency Examples." MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO, 14 Jan. 2005. Web. 11 June 2013. A high-performance organization relies on a dynamic workforce with the requisite talents...
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...ABSTRACT Workplace diversity exists when companies hire employees from various backgrounds and experiences. Many companies see workplace diversity as an investment toward building a better business. Although workplace diversity provides many benefits, it also poses many challenges to employees and managers. To reap the benefits of workplace diversity, employees and managers must understand the challenges and know how to effectively deal with them. Diversity is commonly interpreted in relation to ethnicity, gender and culture. Diversity also captures the differences and similarities between individuals and group, encompassing race, ethnicity, gender, culture, age, sexual orientation, religion, language, education, family status, physical and mental ability. These demographic variables are related to other important diversity characteristics such as values, attitudes, interaction styles, physical and cognitive abilities and non-work commitments. The impact of diversity is both positive and negative. The research questions was: How can diverse workforce affect the organization? Table of Contents Chapter 1. Introduction 4 Background of the Study 4 Statement of the Problem 4 Purpose of the Study 5 Research Questions 6 Chapter 2. Literature Review 6 Chapter 3. Methodology 12 Data Analysis 12 Final Results 14 References 15 CHAPTER 1. BACKGROUND Today, globalization has become...
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...Can companies gain competetive advantage from multicultural differences in their workforce ? As the business world gets ever more connected, it is more critical than ever for global organizations to recruit, develop, and retain multicultural leaders who can navigate the myriad opportunities and challenges their companies face. Multicultural workforce can offer cultural competence or cultural intelligence; this can allow them to work effectively in cross-cultural situations. For example, they may have more than one ethnicity or spent time working abroad, where they likely would have experienced adjusting to a different culture. This can make them more culturally sensitive than a manager who hasn't worked with people from other cultures or regions. Managing diversity is about recognizing the unique contribution each employee can make to the organization. It is about creating an environment in which everyone feels valued, welcomed, and able to make an important contribution toward the attainment of corporate objectives. Additionally, companies facing challenges in competing global marketplace for market share can use diversity as "competitive advantage" in a multicultural environment with a diverse pool of talented and experienced individuals who can bring innovation and creativity to the organization. Diversity is not only associated to limited attributes that can be observed but also to those invisible characteristics such as differences in educational background, creativity...
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...Agrawal,V.(2012),”Managing the diversified team: challenges and strategies for improving performance”, Team Performance Management: An International Journal,Vol.18 No.7/8,pp.384-400. The article,“Managing The Diversified Team: Challenges And Strategies For Improving Performance” have been written by Vidhi Agrawal which from Ajay Kumar Garg Insitute of Management, Ghaziabad¸ India. This article has been taken from ‘Team Performance Management: An International Journal, volume 18 no 7/8 in 2012 and it has sixteen pages only. The type of this paper is research paper whereby this study is investigating the company in the context of India industries. According to the article, the method has been use by author to form the issue is making an extensive review of existing literature. Besides that, the author use the SWOT analysis which strengths, weaknesses, oppositions, threats analysis of diversified team was done with help of secondary research. Moreover, the concept is based on the authors own practical experience. The author has combine primary and secondary research to highlight and show the strengthen the author views and opinions. Basically, the concept and the ideas are based on the author’s own experience. In fact the article is fairly confusing for the first paragraph because the title are not clear stated this study actually investigate on the what area or country. So the people will confusing at the first they read. Purpose of the study According to the abstract...
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...Workforce diversity is a valuable asset for any business that seeks a competitive advantage in the global economy. Learn about the issues associated with workforce diversity and take a quiz to test your knowledge. Definition of Workforce Diversity Have you ever learned about another culture from someone you met at work? People from all walks of life come together in today's business world. Many companies pride themselves on having a diverse workforce, one that is made up of individuals with a wide range of characteristics and experiences. Some of the key characteristics of workforce diversity include race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, ability, and sexual orientation. A company that embraces diversity can broaden its skill base and become more competitive and innovative. Workforce diversity also brings with it a number of issues and challenges. Issues and Challenges You may know someone who has experienced unfair treatment based on a personal characteristic.Discrimination occurs when someone is denied opportunities on the basis of a personal characteristic that has no bearing on job performance. Discrimination causes great harm and is illegal in most cases. It's natural that tensions will arise among individuals in a diverse workforce, so it's important for employers to have diversity management policies in place. Most large organizations have taken steps to promote diversity awareness and understanding. These diversity initiatives contribute to a positive work environment...
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...Management Diversity February 25, 2012 As companies are becoming more and more diverse its becoming more and more important for companies to understand and manage it. The people of different background, races, religion creates diverse workforce. There is an importance of having diverse workforce to provide better performance. There are perspectives of managing the diverse workforce, which require organization leaders and managers of being responsible of attaining better diverse workforce. Diversity means differences, difference of age, sex, race, religion and culture etc. People with different demographic differences working in the organization makes diverse workforce. And it is becoming more important for the organizations to know about these differences and how to manage it. Diversity is also the common issue in the workforce environment, in some companies employees often get discriminated or misunderstood because of the diverse features. So it is important for the companies to manage the diversity workforce to value best performance. Most important aspect these days is to train the managers to handle the diverse workforce. Many organizations are engaging in activities to manage their employees of different genders, ages, race, sexual orientations, etc. When demographic diversity is valued, all employees, even the non-traditional (i.e., other than white males), are encouraged to participate fully and develop their unique skills and perspectives. Diversity is increasing...
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