Posted in : Focus
Workplace Diversity
By Rita Fae Harris
Jan 20, 2008 - 3:13:37 PM

Management and Responsibility

Workforce diversity is the inclusion of ethnic and gender minorities into the organization. Managing diversity effectively can increase business resilience by incorporating life experiences into the company’s culture. It can set new, forward-looking initiatives by changing attitudes and recognising new markets. 

Identifying the responsibilities of managers and employees in fostering diversity will help towards developing an organisational culture that reaps the benefits outlined above.

Diversity Management

In practice, diversity management should foster a responsible environment with a focus on equality amongst all members of the organization. Both employee and managers can actively participate in fostering diversity across an organisation if they understand the responsibilities towards diversity management practices.

Zero Tolerance Policy

Setting a universal “zero-tolerance” policy against sexual and racial harassment is the employer’s human resources or upper management function. In this regard, it is noted that the employer has an overall responsibility to foster diversity commitment amongst managers and employees. For management, the responsibilities towards diversity include practice, communication and discipline. The application of this policy into the workplace is the direct manager’s responsibility.

Management Responsibilities

The responsibility of the manager is to refrain from breaking the law as well as adhere to company codes of conduct and policies on harassment. Beyond that, however, the manager has a responsibility to foster an environment that does not subject co-workers to harassment, fear tactics, or violence. This can help ensure that harassment is not tolerated, and secondly, establish the responsibility of discouragement and fair reporting.

The manager’s responsibility is then two-fold, to maintain an appropriate behavior and to recognize and report harassment to superiors and, possibly, to report in a legal manner.

The manager has a responsibility to ensure that fair and viable development occurs throughout the organisation for the betterment of employees. However, some studies maintain that managers are unable to deliver proper recruitment and advancement training because they lack the information and knowledge resources.

This shows that upper level managers within the organisation also have the responsibility to deliver these resources to the manager.

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