MANAGING EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY

Meaning and Nature of Diversity

Thomas (1995) defines diversity as any mixture of components characterized by

similarities and differences. The components of a diversity mixture include differences
and similarities between and among races, ages, genders, educational levels, religious
affiliations, geographical origins, and work styles. One study (Johnston & Packer,
1987), regards diversity as significant changes in the composition of the workforce
such as the increasing number of women, racial minorities, senior workers, and
immigrants. Cox and Blake (1991) view diversity as a business imperative and
highlight that firms should understand how they value diversity to establish a
competitive edge over their competitors, an approach that may be appropriate to
leaders of organizations who generally aim to increase the bottom line through reduced
cost and turnover, enhanced profitability, and improved market value.

In general, diversity can be regarded as the broad spectrum of variation that

distinguishes among the human resources of an organization. This multi-dimensional
view of diversity assumes that humans differ from one another along any number of
dimensions. Whereas some dimensions are highly visible (i.e., race and gender),
others are less so (i.e., values, personality, education, experience, sexual orientation,
and religion). Our study goes beyond issues of gender and race to encompass the
various aspects of diversity that affect firms. In addition to conceptualizing diversity, it
is important to clarify diversity-related concepts: equality versus diversity; having
diversity versus managing diversity; and valuing diversity versus managing diversity.

Diversity management is recognizing, understanding and utilizing the differences in all

individuals.

Equality versus Diversity

Equality and diversity are to a large extent linked and mutually dependent. Equality is
concerned with the application of fairness (Ross & Schneider, 1992). Fairness does
not mean treating everybody in the same way. It means recognizing and responding
to individuals’ needs in a uniform and consistent way (Armstrong, 2002). It also means
treating equals equally and unequals unequally with regard to particular issues,
opportunities, and concerns, but always in accordance with professional and
organizational standards (Anderson, 1999). Equality of opportunity legislation still
provides a useful framework for challenging discrimination.

Pursuingdiversitystrategiesisessentiallygoingbeyondthebasiclegal requirements of
equality of opportunity. Diversity derives from the idea of fairness of treatment based
on the recognition, valuing, and harnessing of differences, and based on a whole range
of individual differences in religion, race, gender, sexuality, etc. Diversity involves
adopting flexible and inclusive management styles, acknowledging that people
experience the working world in different ways, and creating a climate in which all
employees feel safe, valued, and recognized. Thus, the difference between equality
and diversity is related more to evolutionary development within the organization than
to any overall change of direction.

Diverse Workforce versus Managing Diversity

It is worthwhile to distinguish simply having a diverse workforce from managing a

diverse workforce. Because shifting demographic trends can create an older, more
ethnically diverse labour pool, the simple existence of a diverse labour pool is a reality
that faces most organisations (e.g., having diversity). Thus, all organizations can share
the same opportunity to increase workforce diversity through selection procedures.

However, not every organization will necessarily utilize the benefits of a diverse
workforce; only those that learn to manage their diversity will obtain the benefits.
Managing diversity implies proactive efforts on the part of all organizational members
to respond effectively to the challenges posed by diversity in workgroups. Thus,
managing diversity does not mean leaving the situation in which firms do not feel
comfortable, but learning from the situation in which they feel uncomfortable.

Valuing Diversity versus Managing Diversity

These two concepts can be differentiated on the basis of focus. Valuing diversity
focuses on appreciating differences among diverse groups. That is, valuing diversity
starts from the position that people’s differences are an asset rather than a burden to
be tolerated (Meyerson&Fletcher, 2000). On the other hand, managing diversity
focuses on building diversity management-related skills and changing policies or
strategies. Because managing diversity is ideally driven by a corporate strategy or
mission, all employees and their organization can gain benefits.

11.6.3 Dimensions of Diversity

(a) Gender: Organizations should take into account the needs of both women and
men. In Zambia, women constitutes about 52% of the total population. Therefore,
organizations should create opportunities for women.
(b) Ethnicity and Race: Ethnicity or Tribe is more pronounced in Africa, including
Zambia, while in the USA, race is more pronounced. Racial and ethnic diversity in
an organization should be celebrated; organizations should not discriminate
employees on the basis of ethnicity or race.

(c) Disability: Providing reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities is

crucial in diversity management. Organizations should promote a
nondiscriminatory workplace environment as well as educate all employees about
disability issues.

(d) Accommodation for Religious Beliefs: Religion is another aspect of diversity

management in the workplace. In order to promote diversity relating to religion,
management should commit to the following;
 Scheduling of critical meetings should take into account religious beliefs for
employees.
 Providing flexible time off for holy days.
 Posting holy days for different religions on the company calendar.
Promotion of Diversity

 Get familiar with the professional aspirations of your employees

 Create diverse teams when assigning projects
 Create opportunities for your employees to interact with others whom they may
not otherwise connect with
 Delegate fairly
 Mentor/coach
 Explain the unwritten rules for success
 Provide training in Team dynamics
 Be intolerant of disrespectful or inappropriate behavior and communicate zero
tolerance
 Create a culture that is inclusive of all and promotes honest communication
 Understand laws covering discriminatory behavior

Benefits of Diversity Management

The question of why hospitality firms should put great emphasis on workforce diversity
has been important to marketers and researchers as organizations pursue continuing
economic prosperity. Support for diversity as an economically sound business practice
provides firms with several benefits: generating new ideas (e.g., marketing strategy),
improving firm growth, enhancing firm image, and hiring valuable human resources.

(a) Generating Fresh Ideas

Firms may need new ideas to thrive, and such ideas may stem from hiring employees
from many diverse backgrounds. A homogeneous workforce is not likely to come up
with creative solutions to the problems faced in a national and global market that
consists of individuals of many races, nationalities, and religions. Successful firms
make the best use of the collective knowledge of their employees, and such collective
knowledge is enhanced by including people with different experiences and
backgrounds. Marketers have discovered that many ideas for new products have come
from subcultures.

Attributes or characteristics of subculture groups can be used as an important

marketing strategy which can be called empathetic marketing. Wolf (1998)
emphasizes that firms should develop empathy with their customers to create enduring
customer relationships; each party reaches out to identify with and understand the
other party’s circumstances (e.g., feelings and motives). This marketing strategy can
give a firm a better chance to connect with the deeper drives of customer behaviours
than traditional customer research offers. An empathetic marketing strategy suggests
that the firms that hire employees similar to their customers (e.g., women, disabled
individuals, and racial minorities) will become more successful businesses; their
employees will know the special problems faced by their customers and may be able
to come up with ideas for new products that best satisfy them. The ethnic market in
the U.S. has particularly high potential. Hispanics are expected to be the largest ethnic
minority group within the next 50 years, representing nearly 25 percent of the U.S.
population and Asians with 8 percent (Allen, 1999).
(b) Improving Firm Growth

Mismanaged diversity may prevent employees from improving their abilities and
increasing their motivation to get things done, thereby decreasing their job satisfaction,
job performance, and organizational productivity. In contrast, well-managed diversity
may provide firms with an opportunity to increase organizational effectiveness by
maximizing individual potentials, combining individual talents, increasing productivity,
and promoting innovation. A recent study demonstrates that the sales growth for
companies with multicultural teams was higher than for those utilizing teams consisting
only of white males (Weaver, 2001).

Diversity management helps firms compete in international markets effectively. For

example, what a hospitality firm learns about marketing to foreign nationals could be
very helpful if it decides to expand its business into new markets. As hospitality firms
extend their businesses globally, their customers and employees become more
diverse. Hospitality firms can respond to this trend by finding important perspectives
from employees inside and outside their country to understand the needs of a diverse
customer base. Because adaptation to cultural diversity is essential to meeting the
needs of customers in host countries, firms that practice workforce diversity will clearly
find themselves at an advantage when competing globally.

(c) Enhancing Firm Image

Firms are concerned with what the public thinks of them and the kinds of feelings
evoked when their names are mentioned. For instance, what feelings are evoked when
you think of companies such as Marriott International, Hilton International, McDonald’s,
and T.G.I. Fridays’? That is their image. Ineffective diversity management may alienate
diverse consumers who possess considerable buying power. That is why hospitality
firms spend a great deal of time and money on public relations to create a positive
image for themselves and their products. A favourable image helps the firms attract
investors, customers, and employees. Being known as a firm that values diversity can
do wonders for a firm image.

A firm image can be enhanced by reducing the chance of discrimination lawsuits,

which negatively affect a firm’s visible (e.g., financial compensation) and invisible
aspects (e.g., image or reputation damage). Denny’s restaurant chain, for example,
once faced a great deal of adverse publicity when it was sued in the early 1990s by
various African-Americans who had been denied service because they were black.
The media published numerous stories describing the discriminatory practices of
Denny’s. Today, Denny’s is considered one of the best companies for minorities: In
2000-2001, Fortune magazine ranked Denny’s No. 1 in its list of America’s 50 Best
Companies for Minorities two years in a row (http://www.dennys.com).

Managing diversity has been considered a vital managerial responsibility to improve

both the welfare of society as a whole and the interests of the business organization.
Thus, failure to respond to social norms and values (e.g., to increase workforce
diversity) can undermine the company image and discourage potential employees
from applying to the company. For example, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide,
Inc. lists diversity of people as one of their key business values (http://www.
starwood.com).

(d) Hiring Valuable Human Resources

Hospitality human resource managers should keep an eye on the supply of labour.
The U.S. 2000 census indicates that minorities and women will account for almost all
of the growth in the labour force over the next two decades. This means that firms that
want to survive had better plan on recruiting more minorities. It is well known that
people are more comfortable working with those who are similar to them, implying that
it is easier to hire women and minorities once you already have a significant number
of them working in the firm. Robinson (2002) insists that minority employees tend to
prefer working in firms that are committed to corporate diversity.

Labour shortage has been a serious issue in the hospitality industry mainly because
of high turnover; especially in foodservice, because of the poor job environments in
entry-level jobs, it can be difficult to obtain quality labour to meet the demand for higher
levels of service and customer interaction. As hospitality firms recognize that diversity
provides them with a great opportunity to enhance competitiveness and meet the
needs of diverse groups, they have begun to manage diversity effectively. As a result,
entry-level positions in the hospitality industry have been increasingly filled with
minority groups.

Business Case of Managing Diversity

(a) A variety of points of view and approaches to problems and opportunities can
improve managerial decision making.
(b) Diverse employees can provide a wider range of creative ideas.
(c) Diverse employees are more attuned to the needs of diverse customers.
(d) Diversity can increase the retention of valued organizational members.
(e) Diversity is expected/required by other firms