Description
The doc explains Diversity management dealing with the various theories and policies on this subject.
FT MBA I – Div B Trimester II
Diversity Management – Theories and Policies
Project Report: Group and Organisation Dynamics
Executive Summary With the advent of globalisation, organizations have transformed from local hubs to international centres. Hence, resources as well as customers have become global. Employees’ being an integral part of resources, the need for diversity management and diversity policies has become important even more in this era. This study tries to draw a parallel between the existing theories and the practises adopted by the companies. Our study deals with the following theories:
1. Discrimination & Fairness Paradigm 2. The Access & Legitimacy Paradigm
3. The Emerging Paradigm For the scope of our study, we selected those companies that are from diverse backgrounds, based on the following parameters: 1. Company Origin: National and Global 2. Company Operations: India 3. Existence of Diversity Policy Based on these parameters, we have selected the following companies: 1. Barclays:
• • •
Company Origin: Global Company Operations in India: Since 2006 Existence of Diversity Policy: Not for Indian operations
2. Tata Consultancy Services: •
•
Company Origin: National Company Operations in India: Founded 1968 Existence of Diversity Policy: Yes.
2
•
3. Oracle
• •
Company Origin: Global Company Operations in India: Since 1993 Existence of Diversity Policy: Yes
•
Through this study, we have gained insights from the employees as well as the Human Resource Department of the company. We have tried to access the level of awareness in employees regarding the issues faced by them from the diversity perspective. We have found that the awareness regarding the existence and importance of the diversity policies is similar across organizations. It is essential for companies to ensure and educate their employees regarding various diversity issues and the corrective measures that the company may adopt for these issues.
3
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................5 THEORIES ON DIVERSITY....................................................................................................6 Discrimination & Fairness Paradigm:....................................................................................6 The Access & Legitimacy Paradigm:.....................................................................................7 The Emerging Paradigm:........................................................................................................8 DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT POLICIES: COMPANY’S PERSPECTIVE..........................8 Diversity at Barclays:.............................................................................................................8 Diversity at Oracle:..............................................................................................................10 Diversity at TCS:..................................................................................................................10 RELATION OF THEORY TO COMPANY POLICIES:........................................................11 Barclays diversity policy:.....................................................................................................11 Oracle’s diversity policy:.....................................................................................................11 Tata Consultancy Services’ Diversity Policy:......................................................................11 RESPONSE ANALYSIS.........................................................................................................12
4
INTRODUCTION
Team building is an important aspect of every business and management organization. Therefore, team dynamics and composition are equally vital for the organization. A significant dimension of team composition is diversity. There are two kinds of team compositions possible: a) Homogenous teams: Teams that have members with common technical expertise, demographics (age, sex), ethnicity, experiences or values. b) Heterogeneous teams: Teams that have members with diverse personal characteristics and backgrounds.
Some forms of diversity are apparent on the surface such as sex and race. Deep level diversity refers to differences in personalities, values, attitudes and other psychological characteristics. Surface level diversity is visible as soon as the team is formed; on the other hand deep level diversity is visible over a period of time.
Both the teams have their advantages and disadvantages and both are effective depending on the various situations. Heterogeneous teams experience more conflict and thus take longer time to develop. In contrast, homogenous teams experience more satisfaction, less conflict and interpersonal relations. Although, heterogeneous teams have these difficulties, they are generally more effective than homogenous teams in executive groups and in other situations involving complex problems requiring innovative solutions.
The reasons for the same are as follows: 1) Heterogeneous teams have the advantage of seeing the opportunity or threat from different perspectives. 2) As the members are from varied backgrounds, they have a broader knowledge base. 3) The heterogeneous teams also provide representation to the team’s constituents, such as other departments and client base.
5
THEORIES ON DIVERSITY
Theories on diversity and diversity management within the field of Organization Studies started to develop in the 80s, mainly under the influence of managerial reports pointing towards the increasing diversity of the future workforce. Three paradigms of diversity management would be discussed in this report. The discrimination-and-fairness paradigm is based on the recognition that discrimination is wrong. Under it, progress is measured by how well the company achieves its recruitment and retention goals. The paradigm idealizes assimilation and color- and gender-blind conformism. The access-and-legitimacy paradigm, on the other hand, celebrates differences. Under it, organizations seek access to a more diverse clientele, matching their demographics to targeted consumers. But that paradigm can leave employees of different identity-group affiliations feeling marginalized or exploited. In companies with the right kind of leadership, a third paradigm is showing that beneficial learning takes place and organizations become more effective in fulfilling their missions if employees are encouraged to tap their differences for creative ideas. Leaders in third-paradigm companies are proactive about learning from diversity; they encourage people to make explicit use of cultural experience at work; they fight all forms of dominance and subordination, including those generated by one functional group acting superior to another; and they ensure that the inevitable tensions that come from a genuine effort to make way for diversity are acknowledged and resolved with sensitivity.
Discrimination & Fairness Paradigm:
Prejudice has kept members of certain demographic groups out of organization. As a matter of fairness and to comply with Governmental mandates, organizations need to work towards restructuring their makeup to let it more closely reflect that of society. Managerial processes should ensure that all employees are treated equally and with respect and that some are not given unfair advantage over others.
Although it resembles the thinking behind traditional affirmative-action efforts, the discrimination-and-fairness paradigm does go beyond a simple concern with numbers. Companies that operate with this philosophical orientation often institute mentoring and career-development programs specifically for the women and people of color in their ranks
6
and train other employees to respect cultural differences. Under this paradigm, nevertheless, progress in diversity is measured by how well the company achieves its recruitment and retention goals rather than by the degree to which conditions in the company allow employees to draw on their personal assets and perspectives to do their work more effectively. The staff, one might say, gets diversified, but the work does not.
This paradigm definitely has its benefits like it does tend to increase demographic diversity in an organization, and it often succeeds in promoting fair treatment. But it also has significant limitations. The first of these is that its color-blind, gender-blind ideal is to some degree built on the implicit assumption that "we are all the same" or "we aspire to being all the same." Under this paradigm, it is not desirable for diversification of the workforce to influence the organization's work or culture. The company should operate as if every person were of the same race, gender, and nationality. It is unlikely that leaders who manage diversity under this paradigm will explore how people's differences generate a potential diversity of effective ways of working, leading, viewing the market, managing people, and learning.
Not only does the discrimination-and-fairness paradigm insist that everyone is the same, but, with its emphasis on equal treatment, it puts pressure on employees to make sure that important differences among them do not count. Genuine disagreements about work definition, therefore, are sometimes wrongly interpreted through this paradigm's fairnessunfairness lens -- especially when honest disagreements are accompanied by tense debate. A female employee who insists, for example, that a company's advertising strategy is not appropriate for all ethnic segments in the marketplace might feel she is violating the code of assimilation upon which the paradigm is built.
The Access & Legitimacy Paradigm:
If the discrimination-and-fairness paradigm can be said to have idealized assimilation and colour- and gender-blind conformism, the access-and-legitimacy paradigm was predicated on the acceptance and celebration of differences. The underlying motivation of the access-andlegitimacy paradigm can be expressed this way: Organizations are operating in an increasingly multicultural environment, and new ethnic groups are quickly gaining consumer power. An organization needs a demographically more diverse workforce to help them gain access to these differentiated segments. They need employees with multilingual skills in order to understand and serve the customers better and
7
to gain legitimacy with them. This paradigm can be summed up as: Diversity is not just fair but it makes business sense too. This paradigm has its strengths. Its market-based motivation and the potential for competitive advantage that it suggests are often qualities an entire company can understand and therefore support. With such kind of support the success of such a diversity management policy can be expected to a larger extent. But the paradigm is perhaps more notable for its limitations. In their pursuit of niche markets, access-and-legitimacy organizations tend to emphasize the role of cultural differences in a company without really analyzing those differences to see how they actually affect the work that is done. Whereas discrimination-and-fairness leaders are too quick to subvert differences in the interest of preserving harmony, access-and-legitimacy leaders are too quick to push staff with niche capabilities into differentiated pigeonholes without trying to understand what those capabilities really are and how they could be integrated into the company's mainstream work.
The Emerging Paradigm:
The emerging paradigm organizes itself around the overarching theme of integration. Assimilation goes too far in pursuing sameness. Differentiation overshoots in the other direction. The new model for managing diversity transcends both. Like the fairness paradigm, it promotes equal opportunity for all individuals. And like the access paradigm, it acknowledges cultural differences among people and recognizes the value in those differences. Yet this new model for managing diversity lets the organization internalize differences among employees so that it learns and grows because of them. Indeed, with the model fully in place, members of the organization can say, “We are all on the same team, with our differences -- not despite them”.
DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT POLICIES: COMPANY’S PERSPECTIVE
Diversity at Barclays:
The diversity programme at Barclays was launched in July 2001 to start the process of mainstreaming equality and diversity. It states that Barclays will become “a beacon of enlightened equality and diversity policies and practices world-wide” and that it will integrate
8
“equality and diversity rationale into business, employment, supplier and community practices world-wide”. It covered lot of initiatives as follows: 1. Extensive awareness training across the group 2. Reviewing the recruitment process to ensure that they are completely fair and open to candidates of all backgrounds 3. Improving work/life balance 4. Taking a fresh look at policy and practice around dealing with inappropriate behaviors The Equality and Diversity Charter was signed by the members of Barclays Executive Committee. Following were the focus areas: 1. Sexual Orientation task force The task force ensured that all Barclays employment benefits and pensions treat people fairly regardless of their sexual orientation or marital status. It also includes awareness training across the group and launching a gay and lesbian staff network. 2. Ethnic minorities: People from ethnic minorities make up 7.4% of the Barclays UK workforce. It is UK’s biggest financial service provider for ethnic minority business. Attention is focused on ensuring that colleagues from ethnic minorities fulfill their potential, as much as any other group in the workforce. Recruitment and selection processes are being reviewed to make sure that people are treated fairly. Measures are being taken to introduce greater flexibility around religious holidays and provision of multi faith rooms in contact centers. 3. Age Profile: Policies are being reviewed to remove any inadvertent age bias. Work is also underway to extend the retirement age on a voluntary basis and make work arrangements more flexible at the end of careers. The drive is to recruit a diverse range of individuals, reflected in the current year’s graduate profile, with 47% female and 53% male and 12% new recruits coming from ethnic minorities. 4. Gender Balance: 67% of Barclays staff is women. The aim is to ensure that women can fill more senior roles, by creating an environment that is inclusive and flexible. Research is also
9
underway looking into senior women’s experience at the top of organization. Mentoring schemes are also being considered. 5. Tackling Disability: The group has spent over 11 million pounds on making its branch network accessible to people with disabilities and has established a corporate relationship with youreable.com, a new web site for consumers with disabilities and their careers/families. Particular attention is also being paid to recruitment and career development of people with disabilities to ensure “level playing field” for all. The Equality and Diversity Charter tries to apply these principles for its shareholders, customers, employees and the community on the whole.
Diversity at Oracle:
Oracle affirms the principle of equal employment opportunity without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, gender, physical disability, pregnancy, marital status or sexual discrimination. They do so in all aspects of employment relationship from recruitment and hiring through performance evaluation, compensation and promotions to the end of relationship with Oracle. Oracle’s policy is to take personnel actions strictly on the basis of individual ability, performance, experience, and company need, avoiding actions influenced by personal relationships and discriminatory practices of any kind. The policy also provides for a work environment free from harassment. Although "harassment" most frequently refers to sexual harassment, workplace harassment may also include harassment based upon a person’s race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical disability or any other inappropriate or illegal basis. Oracle prohibits harassment in any form, whether physical, verbal, or non-verbal. Employees are free to report instances of harassment to their manager or as appropriate to the HR department. The report is kept confidential and no complainant or witness has to suffer retaliation because of a report made in good faith.
Diversity at TCS:
According to Equal Opportunities Employer clause of TCS in their code of conduct, a Tata company shall provide equal opportunities to all its employees for employment without regard to race, caste, religion, color, ancestry, marital status, gender, sexual orientation, age,
10
nationality, ethnic origin or disability. Human resource policies shall promote diversity and equality in the workplace, as well as compliance with all local labor laws, while encouraging the adoption of international best practices. It further states that employees of Tata shall be treated with dignity and in accordance with the Tata policy of maintaining a work environment free of all forms of harassment, whether physical, verbal of psychological. Employee policies and practices shall be administered in a manner consistent with applicable laws and other provisions of the code, respect for the right to privacy and the right to be heard, and that in all matters equal opportunities would be provided to those eligible and decisions would be based on merit.
RELATION OF THEORY TO COMPANY POLICIES:
Barclays diversity policy:
Barclays Diversity policy follows the Emerging Paradigm theory, which blends the discrimination and fairness paradigm as well as the access and legitimacy paradigm. To ensure fairness, people from ethnic minority, women as well as disabled are made a part of its workforce. This also has the advantages of providing diverse viewpoints in decision making and provides a representation of all sections of society. Including people from different age groups is also an initiative in this direction. The awareness program followed by Barclays creates an environment in which differences are valued and they are viewed as adding to the organization.
Oracle’s diversity policy:
Oracle has a diversity policy based on discrimination and fairness paradigm. It is an equal opportunity employer with no regards to race, religion, sex, age, physical disability, marital status etc. its policy ensures that no one gets unfair advantage in promotions or compensation and all individuals are judged equally on the basis of abilities.
Tata Consultancy Services’ Diversity Policy:
TCS’ diversity policy is also based o discrimination and fairness paradigm as it aims to be an equal opportunity employer and promotes fairness in its organization through its recruitment program.
11
RESPONSE ANALYSIS
We sent questionnaires to the Human Resource Department as well as the employees of the following organizations: 1) Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) 2) Barclays India 3) Oracle TCS has a Diversity Policy as stated above. As stated by the HR personnel of Barclays India, it is in process of finalizing on the policy and initiatives related to Diversity & Inclusion. Oracle also had a Diversity Policy which talks about equal employment opportunities across diverse employee segments. However most of the responses obtained from employees were that they are not aware of any such policy. Only a few employees were aware of existence of a Diversity Policy in their organization. Some of the observations made on the basis of the responses obtained from the employees of these organizations are as follows: a) There is no awareness about the Diversity Policy across all the organizations b) The perception about Diversity is restricted to gender, religion and region. Only few employees are aware that diversity ranges from gender, caste, creed, physical ability, pregnancy, religion, region etc. c) Some of the employees also believe that diversity policy deals mainly with gender and thus is same as sexual harassment policy d) Some of the male employees believe that a negative bias exists whereby in an attempt to be unbiased or impartial to women, the managers tend to give undue advantage or privileges to female employees e) Most of the employees felt that they had not experienced or were not witness to any bias based on diversity issues at workplace. This indicates that due to lack of knowledge employees do not even notice any such discrimination happening f) Most of the employees link diversity issues to appraisal. Since they do not find any problem in the appraisal process and they are free to address any kind of issue in
12
relation to appraisal to higher management, they feel that there is no discrimination on the basis of diversity. g) There is limited understanding that working in an organization is not just about good remuneration but also about a conducive work environment which encourages creative thinking and thus is beneficial to the organization on the whole. h) Most of the employees are not aware of any communication from Human Resources Department about the existence of a Diversity Policy. Neither are the employees aware of the point of contact in such matters or the course of action to be taken in case of occurrence of such discrimination. E.g. In cases of Oracle, employees are aware of existence of a clause in their offer letters which talks about a no discrimination policy. However they are not aware what course of action to be taken in case of any such occurrence. Hence, it can be seen that Diversity Policy does not find proper cognizance among the employees of the assessed firms. However HR does believe that Diversity brings in varied perspectives which are beneficial for any organization. Thus a Diversity Policy helps in dealing with this diversity in workforce in an efficient manner.
13
References
1. Harvard Business Review: September 1996/October 1996, Making
Differences Matter: A new paradigm for managing diversity by David A Thomas and Robin J Ely 2. TATA Code of Conduct 2008, Clause 4, Equal Opportunity Employer
3. http://www.personal.barclays.co.uk/PFS/A/Content/Files/Copy_of_ED_Newsl
etter_FINAL_14.12.01.pdf
4. http://www.oracle.com/corporate/community/workforce/diversity.html
14
doc_951606516.doc
The doc explains Diversity management dealing with the various theories and policies on this subject.
FT MBA I – Div B Trimester II
Diversity Management – Theories and Policies
Project Report: Group and Organisation Dynamics
Executive Summary With the advent of globalisation, organizations have transformed from local hubs to international centres. Hence, resources as well as customers have become global. Employees’ being an integral part of resources, the need for diversity management and diversity policies has become important even more in this era. This study tries to draw a parallel between the existing theories and the practises adopted by the companies. Our study deals with the following theories:
1. Discrimination & Fairness Paradigm 2. The Access & Legitimacy Paradigm
3. The Emerging Paradigm For the scope of our study, we selected those companies that are from diverse backgrounds, based on the following parameters: 1. Company Origin: National and Global 2. Company Operations: India 3. Existence of Diversity Policy Based on these parameters, we have selected the following companies: 1. Barclays:
• • •
Company Origin: Global Company Operations in India: Since 2006 Existence of Diversity Policy: Not for Indian operations
2. Tata Consultancy Services: •
•
Company Origin: National Company Operations in India: Founded 1968 Existence of Diversity Policy: Yes.
2
•
3. Oracle
• •
Company Origin: Global Company Operations in India: Since 1993 Existence of Diversity Policy: Yes
•
Through this study, we have gained insights from the employees as well as the Human Resource Department of the company. We have tried to access the level of awareness in employees regarding the issues faced by them from the diversity perspective. We have found that the awareness regarding the existence and importance of the diversity policies is similar across organizations. It is essential for companies to ensure and educate their employees regarding various diversity issues and the corrective measures that the company may adopt for these issues.
3
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................5 THEORIES ON DIVERSITY....................................................................................................6 Discrimination & Fairness Paradigm:....................................................................................6 The Access & Legitimacy Paradigm:.....................................................................................7 The Emerging Paradigm:........................................................................................................8 DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT POLICIES: COMPANY’S PERSPECTIVE..........................8 Diversity at Barclays:.............................................................................................................8 Diversity at Oracle:..............................................................................................................10 Diversity at TCS:..................................................................................................................10 RELATION OF THEORY TO COMPANY POLICIES:........................................................11 Barclays diversity policy:.....................................................................................................11 Oracle’s diversity policy:.....................................................................................................11 Tata Consultancy Services’ Diversity Policy:......................................................................11 RESPONSE ANALYSIS.........................................................................................................12
4
INTRODUCTION
Team building is an important aspect of every business and management organization. Therefore, team dynamics and composition are equally vital for the organization. A significant dimension of team composition is diversity. There are two kinds of team compositions possible: a) Homogenous teams: Teams that have members with common technical expertise, demographics (age, sex), ethnicity, experiences or values. b) Heterogeneous teams: Teams that have members with diverse personal characteristics and backgrounds.
Some forms of diversity are apparent on the surface such as sex and race. Deep level diversity refers to differences in personalities, values, attitudes and other psychological characteristics. Surface level diversity is visible as soon as the team is formed; on the other hand deep level diversity is visible over a period of time.
Both the teams have their advantages and disadvantages and both are effective depending on the various situations. Heterogeneous teams experience more conflict and thus take longer time to develop. In contrast, homogenous teams experience more satisfaction, less conflict and interpersonal relations. Although, heterogeneous teams have these difficulties, they are generally more effective than homogenous teams in executive groups and in other situations involving complex problems requiring innovative solutions.
The reasons for the same are as follows: 1) Heterogeneous teams have the advantage of seeing the opportunity or threat from different perspectives. 2) As the members are from varied backgrounds, they have a broader knowledge base. 3) The heterogeneous teams also provide representation to the team’s constituents, such as other departments and client base.
5
THEORIES ON DIVERSITY
Theories on diversity and diversity management within the field of Organization Studies started to develop in the 80s, mainly under the influence of managerial reports pointing towards the increasing diversity of the future workforce. Three paradigms of diversity management would be discussed in this report. The discrimination-and-fairness paradigm is based on the recognition that discrimination is wrong. Under it, progress is measured by how well the company achieves its recruitment and retention goals. The paradigm idealizes assimilation and color- and gender-blind conformism. The access-and-legitimacy paradigm, on the other hand, celebrates differences. Under it, organizations seek access to a more diverse clientele, matching their demographics to targeted consumers. But that paradigm can leave employees of different identity-group affiliations feeling marginalized or exploited. In companies with the right kind of leadership, a third paradigm is showing that beneficial learning takes place and organizations become more effective in fulfilling their missions if employees are encouraged to tap their differences for creative ideas. Leaders in third-paradigm companies are proactive about learning from diversity; they encourage people to make explicit use of cultural experience at work; they fight all forms of dominance and subordination, including those generated by one functional group acting superior to another; and they ensure that the inevitable tensions that come from a genuine effort to make way for diversity are acknowledged and resolved with sensitivity.
Discrimination & Fairness Paradigm:
Prejudice has kept members of certain demographic groups out of organization. As a matter of fairness and to comply with Governmental mandates, organizations need to work towards restructuring their makeup to let it more closely reflect that of society. Managerial processes should ensure that all employees are treated equally and with respect and that some are not given unfair advantage over others.
Although it resembles the thinking behind traditional affirmative-action efforts, the discrimination-and-fairness paradigm does go beyond a simple concern with numbers. Companies that operate with this philosophical orientation often institute mentoring and career-development programs specifically for the women and people of color in their ranks
6
and train other employees to respect cultural differences. Under this paradigm, nevertheless, progress in diversity is measured by how well the company achieves its recruitment and retention goals rather than by the degree to which conditions in the company allow employees to draw on their personal assets and perspectives to do their work more effectively. The staff, one might say, gets diversified, but the work does not.
This paradigm definitely has its benefits like it does tend to increase demographic diversity in an organization, and it often succeeds in promoting fair treatment. But it also has significant limitations. The first of these is that its color-blind, gender-blind ideal is to some degree built on the implicit assumption that "we are all the same" or "we aspire to being all the same." Under this paradigm, it is not desirable for diversification of the workforce to influence the organization's work or culture. The company should operate as if every person were of the same race, gender, and nationality. It is unlikely that leaders who manage diversity under this paradigm will explore how people's differences generate a potential diversity of effective ways of working, leading, viewing the market, managing people, and learning.
Not only does the discrimination-and-fairness paradigm insist that everyone is the same, but, with its emphasis on equal treatment, it puts pressure on employees to make sure that important differences among them do not count. Genuine disagreements about work definition, therefore, are sometimes wrongly interpreted through this paradigm's fairnessunfairness lens -- especially when honest disagreements are accompanied by tense debate. A female employee who insists, for example, that a company's advertising strategy is not appropriate for all ethnic segments in the marketplace might feel she is violating the code of assimilation upon which the paradigm is built.
The Access & Legitimacy Paradigm:
If the discrimination-and-fairness paradigm can be said to have idealized assimilation and colour- and gender-blind conformism, the access-and-legitimacy paradigm was predicated on the acceptance and celebration of differences. The underlying motivation of the access-andlegitimacy paradigm can be expressed this way: Organizations are operating in an increasingly multicultural environment, and new ethnic groups are quickly gaining consumer power. An organization needs a demographically more diverse workforce to help them gain access to these differentiated segments. They need employees with multilingual skills in order to understand and serve the customers better and
7
to gain legitimacy with them. This paradigm can be summed up as: Diversity is not just fair but it makes business sense too. This paradigm has its strengths. Its market-based motivation and the potential for competitive advantage that it suggests are often qualities an entire company can understand and therefore support. With such kind of support the success of such a diversity management policy can be expected to a larger extent. But the paradigm is perhaps more notable for its limitations. In their pursuit of niche markets, access-and-legitimacy organizations tend to emphasize the role of cultural differences in a company without really analyzing those differences to see how they actually affect the work that is done. Whereas discrimination-and-fairness leaders are too quick to subvert differences in the interest of preserving harmony, access-and-legitimacy leaders are too quick to push staff with niche capabilities into differentiated pigeonholes without trying to understand what those capabilities really are and how they could be integrated into the company's mainstream work.
The Emerging Paradigm:
The emerging paradigm organizes itself around the overarching theme of integration. Assimilation goes too far in pursuing sameness. Differentiation overshoots in the other direction. The new model for managing diversity transcends both. Like the fairness paradigm, it promotes equal opportunity for all individuals. And like the access paradigm, it acknowledges cultural differences among people and recognizes the value in those differences. Yet this new model for managing diversity lets the organization internalize differences among employees so that it learns and grows because of them. Indeed, with the model fully in place, members of the organization can say, “We are all on the same team, with our differences -- not despite them”.
DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT POLICIES: COMPANY’S PERSPECTIVE
Diversity at Barclays:
The diversity programme at Barclays was launched in July 2001 to start the process of mainstreaming equality and diversity. It states that Barclays will become “a beacon of enlightened equality and diversity policies and practices world-wide” and that it will integrate
8
“equality and diversity rationale into business, employment, supplier and community practices world-wide”. It covered lot of initiatives as follows: 1. Extensive awareness training across the group 2. Reviewing the recruitment process to ensure that they are completely fair and open to candidates of all backgrounds 3. Improving work/life balance 4. Taking a fresh look at policy and practice around dealing with inappropriate behaviors The Equality and Diversity Charter was signed by the members of Barclays Executive Committee. Following were the focus areas: 1. Sexual Orientation task force The task force ensured that all Barclays employment benefits and pensions treat people fairly regardless of their sexual orientation or marital status. It also includes awareness training across the group and launching a gay and lesbian staff network. 2. Ethnic minorities: People from ethnic minorities make up 7.4% of the Barclays UK workforce. It is UK’s biggest financial service provider for ethnic minority business. Attention is focused on ensuring that colleagues from ethnic minorities fulfill their potential, as much as any other group in the workforce. Recruitment and selection processes are being reviewed to make sure that people are treated fairly. Measures are being taken to introduce greater flexibility around religious holidays and provision of multi faith rooms in contact centers. 3. Age Profile: Policies are being reviewed to remove any inadvertent age bias. Work is also underway to extend the retirement age on a voluntary basis and make work arrangements more flexible at the end of careers. The drive is to recruit a diverse range of individuals, reflected in the current year’s graduate profile, with 47% female and 53% male and 12% new recruits coming from ethnic minorities. 4. Gender Balance: 67% of Barclays staff is women. The aim is to ensure that women can fill more senior roles, by creating an environment that is inclusive and flexible. Research is also
9
underway looking into senior women’s experience at the top of organization. Mentoring schemes are also being considered. 5. Tackling Disability: The group has spent over 11 million pounds on making its branch network accessible to people with disabilities and has established a corporate relationship with youreable.com, a new web site for consumers with disabilities and their careers/families. Particular attention is also being paid to recruitment and career development of people with disabilities to ensure “level playing field” for all. The Equality and Diversity Charter tries to apply these principles for its shareholders, customers, employees and the community on the whole.
Diversity at Oracle:
Oracle affirms the principle of equal employment opportunity without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, gender, physical disability, pregnancy, marital status or sexual discrimination. They do so in all aspects of employment relationship from recruitment and hiring through performance evaluation, compensation and promotions to the end of relationship with Oracle. Oracle’s policy is to take personnel actions strictly on the basis of individual ability, performance, experience, and company need, avoiding actions influenced by personal relationships and discriminatory practices of any kind. The policy also provides for a work environment free from harassment. Although "harassment" most frequently refers to sexual harassment, workplace harassment may also include harassment based upon a person’s race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical disability or any other inappropriate or illegal basis. Oracle prohibits harassment in any form, whether physical, verbal, or non-verbal. Employees are free to report instances of harassment to their manager or as appropriate to the HR department. The report is kept confidential and no complainant or witness has to suffer retaliation because of a report made in good faith.
Diversity at TCS:
According to Equal Opportunities Employer clause of TCS in their code of conduct, a Tata company shall provide equal opportunities to all its employees for employment without regard to race, caste, religion, color, ancestry, marital status, gender, sexual orientation, age,
10
nationality, ethnic origin or disability. Human resource policies shall promote diversity and equality in the workplace, as well as compliance with all local labor laws, while encouraging the adoption of international best practices. It further states that employees of Tata shall be treated with dignity and in accordance with the Tata policy of maintaining a work environment free of all forms of harassment, whether physical, verbal of psychological. Employee policies and practices shall be administered in a manner consistent with applicable laws and other provisions of the code, respect for the right to privacy and the right to be heard, and that in all matters equal opportunities would be provided to those eligible and decisions would be based on merit.
RELATION OF THEORY TO COMPANY POLICIES:
Barclays diversity policy:
Barclays Diversity policy follows the Emerging Paradigm theory, which blends the discrimination and fairness paradigm as well as the access and legitimacy paradigm. To ensure fairness, people from ethnic minority, women as well as disabled are made a part of its workforce. This also has the advantages of providing diverse viewpoints in decision making and provides a representation of all sections of society. Including people from different age groups is also an initiative in this direction. The awareness program followed by Barclays creates an environment in which differences are valued and they are viewed as adding to the organization.
Oracle’s diversity policy:
Oracle has a diversity policy based on discrimination and fairness paradigm. It is an equal opportunity employer with no regards to race, religion, sex, age, physical disability, marital status etc. its policy ensures that no one gets unfair advantage in promotions or compensation and all individuals are judged equally on the basis of abilities.
Tata Consultancy Services’ Diversity Policy:
TCS’ diversity policy is also based o discrimination and fairness paradigm as it aims to be an equal opportunity employer and promotes fairness in its organization through its recruitment program.
11
RESPONSE ANALYSIS
We sent questionnaires to the Human Resource Department as well as the employees of the following organizations: 1) Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) 2) Barclays India 3) Oracle TCS has a Diversity Policy as stated above. As stated by the HR personnel of Barclays India, it is in process of finalizing on the policy and initiatives related to Diversity & Inclusion. Oracle also had a Diversity Policy which talks about equal employment opportunities across diverse employee segments. However most of the responses obtained from employees were that they are not aware of any such policy. Only a few employees were aware of existence of a Diversity Policy in their organization. Some of the observations made on the basis of the responses obtained from the employees of these organizations are as follows: a) There is no awareness about the Diversity Policy across all the organizations b) The perception about Diversity is restricted to gender, religion and region. Only few employees are aware that diversity ranges from gender, caste, creed, physical ability, pregnancy, religion, region etc. c) Some of the employees also believe that diversity policy deals mainly with gender and thus is same as sexual harassment policy d) Some of the male employees believe that a negative bias exists whereby in an attempt to be unbiased or impartial to women, the managers tend to give undue advantage or privileges to female employees e) Most of the employees felt that they had not experienced or were not witness to any bias based on diversity issues at workplace. This indicates that due to lack of knowledge employees do not even notice any such discrimination happening f) Most of the employees link diversity issues to appraisal. Since they do not find any problem in the appraisal process and they are free to address any kind of issue in
12
relation to appraisal to higher management, they feel that there is no discrimination on the basis of diversity. g) There is limited understanding that working in an organization is not just about good remuneration but also about a conducive work environment which encourages creative thinking and thus is beneficial to the organization on the whole. h) Most of the employees are not aware of any communication from Human Resources Department about the existence of a Diversity Policy. Neither are the employees aware of the point of contact in such matters or the course of action to be taken in case of occurrence of such discrimination. E.g. In cases of Oracle, employees are aware of existence of a clause in their offer letters which talks about a no discrimination policy. However they are not aware what course of action to be taken in case of any such occurrence. Hence, it can be seen that Diversity Policy does not find proper cognizance among the employees of the assessed firms. However HR does believe that Diversity brings in varied perspectives which are beneficial for any organization. Thus a Diversity Policy helps in dealing with this diversity in workforce in an efficient manner.
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References
1. Harvard Business Review: September 1996/October 1996, Making
Differences Matter: A new paradigm for managing diversity by David A Thomas and Robin J Ely 2. TATA Code of Conduct 2008, Clause 4, Equal Opportunity Employer
3. http://www.personal.barclays.co.uk/PFS/A/Content/Files/Copy_of_ED_Newsl
etter_FINAL_14.12.01.pdf
4. http://www.oracle.com/corporate/community/workforce/diversity.html
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doc_951606516.doc