Capitalizing on a Diverse Workforce 7

8/12/2019 Capitalizing on a Diverse Workforce 7

1/7

:RSiTY

capit 1

Y MAI \1/1lntA MAYi"At IBM, no matter who you are you will have to work with o ~ w o r k e r s and customers who are

different from you-black white. brown red or yellow. young or old gay or straight male orfemale, ablebodie.d ot physically chal1eng ii.. n

J T cm PS j l t V CE"?RE..


2/7

-he work environment described by JT. Childs isbecoming more and more familiar to those of usworking in organizations that are becoming

increasingly diverse. People of different race, sex, tenure,culture and educational and functional backgrounds arebt ing reqUired to work effectively, side by side.

Teamwork in such a diverse environment brings aboutboth opportunities and challenges for organizations andmanagers. The opportunities arise from the numbt:r andvariety of perspectives that can be used to solve problemsand the extemal links that individuals provide to thegroup. The challenges come from the conflicting valuesand stereotypes that people often bring to the team.

Capitalizing on the opportunities and minimizing thechallenges assodated with increasing diversity havebecome top priorities for today's business leaders who arctrying [ compete successfully in a global businessenvironment. This article suggests two leadership practicesthat can deliver the benefits of diversity: matching taskrequirements to members' skills and managing acro "sgroup boundaries. Two additional leadership practices thatcan mtenuate the dO\'lrTIsideof diversity-deve oping acommon vision and values and promoting a collectiveidentity-are also discussed.THE NEW BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Several demographic and business trends havecombined to push diversity to the top of the bUsinessagenda. First, increasing diversity is a worldWide trend. Athome, anadian Sodal Trends reports that minorities areexpec.ted to make up 20 per..:ent of all adults in Canada by2016. This is more than double the proportion in 1.99l.Also. the total number of women employed in Canadaincreased from 3.4 million in 1975 to 5.6 million in 1993,These trends extend beyond Canada., For example, 85percent of the net additions to theD.S. workforce by theend of the century Will be women and non-white lnen. nEurope, 375 mOIion people of l1i.unerous nationalities,languages and cultures have Joined together in oneremarkably div tse entity, the EUT()pean Union,

Secondly, the consumer market is becomIng inLTcasinglydi,, el se. As markets become global, companies keep up byoffering and meeting an. ever-expanding variety ofcustomers' needs. As Canadian and US. markets become

gmore heteroge.neous, dome:5uc companies ate being forcedf to take a closet look at their business st.rategies. Alld in an

attempt to improve their understanding of this emergingmarketplace, all companies are aggreSSively competing toattract and retain talented employees of diversebackgrounds

/\ third major factor highlighting the impoltance ofdiversity is the growing use of teams as building blocks oforganizations. A recent survey by PurchCl ing magazinefound that 57 percent of companies use multifunctionalteams to make strategic decisions. Teams are becoming afavourite way of organizing work, especially as the numberof success stories \vith work teams proliferates. Forexample, General Mills plants that use teams are 40-percentmore productive than plants that have a more traditional,hierarchical struct.ure. With its workforce in teams,Westinghouse Canada in Edmonton, Alberta, reduced thetime cycle for made-tel-order motor control devices from 17weeks to one week. In Memphis, Tennessee, a team ofclerks in the back-office operation of federal Expressimproved quality and solved a billing problem that wascosting the company U.S.$2' million a year. What's themain reason for this superior pClfonnance? Its effectiveteamwork. Jnstead of fOCUSing on individuals and theirnarrowly defined functions, team-based organizationspromise high perfonnance, innovation and fle.,,\ibility bycreating and managing interdependencies amongindividual.s and functions,IMPLIC TIONS FOR M N GERS

Globalization, the changing nature of the workforce andthe popularity of tealhwork are proViding managers withnew challenges and 0pPi,Yrrunities. As the workplacebecomes more divetse and team-oriented, the likelihoodincreases that people lrom different backgrounds \\ill workside by side. More face-to-face interaction is likely andpeople w n be asked not just to co-exist in the sameorganization but to co-operate to achieve team andorganizational goals. \1.anaging diversity then becomes amatter of buHding co-operation and teamwork amongmembers of the minMity and the majority group.

It is imperative that organizations prepare theirmanagers to lead in th'is new workplac.e. Traditionaldlversity pnlgrams such as sensitivity training forexecuU",cs arid min(Wlty/women recruiting initiatives haveilltegr'ated more mi.nmities into the workplace. Yet, theseprogran1$ do not capitalb:t on the opportunities thatdiversity presents because they tend to focus on issues that

21


3/7

DIVERSITY

affect only individual minority members rather thandiverse teams of both minorily and m ~ j o r i t y members.

While organizations need to maintain their rraditionaldiversity programs, they must also invest in newleadership training. Leaders-team leaders, projectmanagers or traditional supervisors--need to developskills that help them provide the guidance, support andvision that\vi.ll make a diverse group of people excel.Managers need to develop skHL that help them lead notdifferent individuals, but teams of different individuals. fmanaged properly, diversity can be the cornerstone of aglobally competitive organization. But if mismanaged,diversity can e counterproductive and costly.

OPPORTUNITlES\ h ~ t opportunities does diversity present and how can

managers capitalize on them?More and more business leaders believe that innovation,

creative solutions and better decisions can be more easHyreached by a diverse group of people. Ivan Seidenberg,CEO of Bell Atlantic, says that, ". ,. diverse groups makebetter decisions." James P Holden, vice.president ofChrysler Corporat.ion, noted that, "In the corporate c:ulnm:of upports this notion. 1surveyed 73 work teams at all levels, from production tosenior management. The study showed that well-manageddiversity had a positive impact on perfonnance, byfacilitating an exchange of information among experts withdissimilar perspectives and a discussion of differentviewtmints related to a task. One may conclude that thegelicral advantage of diversIty is that it increases theknowledge pool available. for p r o b l e m ~ s o l v i n g or decisionmaldng. When group members have a variety of skilL ,abilities and opini(ms, there is a greater chance t.hat the


4/7

team will have the resources it needs to perform effectively.However, these benefits are not always realized when it

comes to mixed-sex, mixed-race teams. When I comparedsame-sex, same-race groups with mixed-sex, mixed-racegroups I found that mixed groups develop fewerfriendships. This, in turn decreases the overalleffectiveness of the team. Furthermore, mixed groups tendto be more hierarchical, with one or two people who take

control and clearly emerge as informal leaders.Over all, we learned that a diverse group's perfonnance

S optimized in cer tain situations; for example, where thereis a fit between the type of diversity and the task.Heterogeneous groups whose characteristics are relevant toa task-for example, educational background andfunctional expertise-are more likely than homogeneousgroups to be creative, reach hi.gh-quality decisions andperform a task effectively. Because the tasks performed bythe employees in the study did nOt reqUire cultttralknowledge, the benefits of diversity in terms of sex andrace were not evident. However, tasks that requireknowledge of a specific ethnic or sex group, such asmarket segmentation, would clearly benefit from havingmixed-sex, mixed-race teams.

Maybelline Inc. is a distinct example. The Wall Streetoumal reported that in the early 19905, the company

started a new product line, Shades o You for women withdarker skin tones [The Wal StreetJournal J\.ily 3/96 p.Bll.With no minorities working in marketing, Maybelline hiredpeople of colour to promote the line. Shades of You seized41 percent of the $.'55-million ethnic cosmetics market,making Maybelline the main player in the ethnic market.

A 1other reason why diversity has a positive impact isthat a diverse group forms a relatively high number andV


5/7

DIVERSITY

productive because their emphasis on individualdifferences reinforces the very stereotypes they are tryingto break down. Instead of focusing on individualdjfferences, management training should focus oncharacteristics common t o all members of the group.

The task is probably the single most unifying element ona diverse team. Thus, when managing a diverse team, amanagers allention should be directed first and foremostto achieving the task at hand. Leaders must ~ ~ n g i n e e r thetask to break um l l1 members parochialism and win theircommitment to a common goal. A good leader arLiculatesthe requirements of the task and the role that each memberplays in accomplishing it. Everyone is included andeveryone5 talents are utilized. All members are aware thatthey need each other and that they must pool theirabilities, energy and resources to get the job done.

At the same time, leaders can capitalize on the extemalconnections of diverse teams by managing across groupboundaries and encouraging le m members to beambassadors for the team. A leader ofa diverse team not

MEETING THE CHAJ LENGESOF DIVERSITY

While managers should celebrate diversity, they need tobe cautious when managing its challenges. Retaining adiverse workforce and buHding cooperation among it is asignificant challenge. Diversity increases a team s potentialfor high performance, but it decreases its stability Studieshave conSistently found that diverse work team. :; havehigher tumover rates. [n particular, haVing members withdifferent ages and tenures increases the proponion ofgroup members who will leave the group and theorganization. l urthermore, women and minorities aremore likely to leave organizations t.han white males. Anarticle in the Harvard usiness Review QanlFeb. 1989)reported that the turnover rate for black people in the U.S.workforce is 40-percent higher than the rate for whites.Turnover among women is twice as high as it is for men.

Contrary 1:0 popular belief, minority members are notthe only ones affected by diversity in the workplace. Arecent research study reports that white males are alsoaffected. A survey )f more than 1,000 employees workingin 152 groups showed that increased diversity was

a ~ s o c i a t e d with lower leveL.;; o psychological commitmentnly needs to maintain team unity but also needs to find away of working effectively with other parts of theorganization tlun influence the group (e.g.,marketing, finance, senior management). Teamleaders should encourage the development ofoutside networks of allies In other parts of theorganization whose co-operation is required. Fdrexample, the leader of new prOihH.:t-deve1opment

instead of foclIsing onindividual diferences,management t ra in ingshould focus onteam tmtst make sure that the team ha:s a

communication network that ensures support fromthe top-m.anagement team, finandal resources fromthe finance department and market-relatedinformation from the marketing group.

ch.aracteristics common toa l l members of tl le group

On a homogeneous t.eam, leaders typically are in chargeof this cmss-boundary communication because theirexternal network is probably wider than that of the othermembers of the group. However, leaders on a diverseteam must delegate cross-boundary responsibilities if theywant to maximize lhe human capital ill the group. Leaderswho encourage members of diverse teauns to developexternal networks em increase the group); breadth ofresources and information, build commitment to itsprodU(:tsand decisions and increase the team s owncredibility and importance.

to the otganization. What is most interesting about thisstudy is that white men were less committed than whitewomen. The authors eX Plained these findings in tenns ofstatus and social identity. Both men and women use genderto assign a social category and identity and to develop as u ~ i e < t j v e indication of status and power. Given that menhave traditionaUy held high-status jobs, balanced orfemale-dominated settings may reduce a group s appeal for:men. F()r women, however, working in male-dominatedenvi.ton:ments may be an indiCation of a high sodal status.Why these challenges? It is now accepted wisdom that


6/7

individuals with different demographics, such as age andsex, hold different work values and, in tum developdifferent understandings of organizational events andattitudes. For ex.1mple, individual,;' values are somewhatinfluenced by the era in which they grew up. A number ofstudies have examined the dominant work values acrossseveral generations in the U.S. workforce and found thatthere is a set of unique values for each cohort. For instance,employees who entered the workforce during the 1960sthrough the mid-1970s valued quality of life loyalty to selfand non-confonnity. Workers who entered the workforcefrom the mid-1970s through the late 1980s valued success,achievement and hard work. The present cohort, known asGeneration X, values flexibility; job satisfaction and loyalty.

Employees who have different work values also havedifferent work habits and behavioural styles. Thesedifferences can be a source of emotional conflict when

employces need to work together on a team.Disagreements are likely to arise not only about whatneeds to be done but also about how to get it done. Thesedisagreements distraCt the group from the task and c r e ~ t efeelings of dissatisfaction that make individuals feel likeleaving the group and the orgatli:zation.

Another challenge facing diverse teams is thedevelopmcnt of demographic groupings that encourage a

w e ~ t h e y competitiveness. Because members of diverseteams are more likely to perceive themselves and others aspart of demographk groupings, e.g., men versus womenor black versus white., cliques based on sex, race or age arelikely to develop. IndiViduals perceive 'them as lesstrustworthy, honest and co-operative than members oftheir own group. Research haa found that simply beingav are t us versus them stimulates c1.1mpetitiQn for statUsand organizational resources.

DEALING WITH THE CHALLENGESRetaining a diverse workforce and building co

operation among it is a significant challenge for leaders. Incontrast to traditional diversity programs that focus onindividual differences, propose that managers focus oncommonalities. Leaders must begin by developing acommon vision of the task to be perfonned. Then theymust unite all team members around common values anda collective sense of identity.

Managers can deal effectively with the interpersonalconflict that arises from conflicting values by focusing on acommon vision and positive goals. Burt Nanus, a leadershipscholar, noted that, vi.sion is a signpost pointing the way forall who need to understand what the organization is andwhere it intends to go. The right vision is an idea so

I.

energizing that [it] jump-stans the future by callingforth the skills, talents and resources to make ithappen. Diverse teams need a vision that connectsall members so that when the team wins, everybodywins. It is why managers must articulate a vision thatis acceptable and emotionally uplifting.

Another cntkal ta


7/7

Organizational identities develop when individualsperceive themselves and others as part of organizationalareas or categories. There are many areas in mostorganizations, inc luding regional operations, departmentaldivisions, functional areas. ranKs, functional work teams.job titks, etc. Beyond fulfilling organizational needs, theseareas meet social and psychological needs. They serve asframes of reference that organize the social world bylocating the individual and rekvam others in the wmplexnetwork of relationships within the organization.

One of the clitical tasks for managers is to createcategories that help individuals define t.hemselves beyonddemographic lines. The challenge of managers in diverseteams is to manipulate the salience of demographks byincreasing the salience of collective categories such as ateam identity. For example, managers could create a newcategory by giving a name such as The Seven O'clockTeam to a task force that meets weekly at 7:00 a.m. todiscuss i s ~ m s of absenteeism. This new categorydiscourages demographic comparisons and heightens asense of collt-ctive identity.

6

S UM M I N UPToday, a combination of demographic and business trends is

creating a more diverse, team-oriented organization thatpresents a manager with new challenges and opportunities,Traditional diversity programs and leadership training thatfocus on individual differences rnay not completely address thecritical issues of the new work-place. Organizations need toinvest in new leadership training that. re...;;ponds to the uniquedemand:; of a diverse, t.eam-based environment. Leadershippractices must capitalize on the benefits of diversity, such asthe multiple and diverse cognitive resources and extraordinarysocial capital. It must e.limL'1ate the natural difficulties that misewhen pellple with different values and identities worktogether. Some of U1C5e leadership practices include but arenot limited to-initiating structures, managing boundarieswhile building external nelwork

Documents

Capitalizing on a Diverse Workforce 7