Embracing Diversity Management and Strategies for retaining Talent
The actions by the human resources department in an organization greatly influence its sustainable development. Employee input is one of the primary aspects that determine the extent to which a company gains a competitive advantage necessary to succeed in the market today. The strategies employed by the human resources department in attracting and retaining employees influence the success of a company because talented employees promote the provision of high quality products and services (Iverson, 2000, p. 35). Further, the number of funds used in employee development activities such as training is significantly low in companies that are able to retain talented employees.
In the diverse working environment today, the human resources professionals are faced with the challenge of uniting the employees in working towards a common goal with the differences in sexual orientation, educational background, culture, gender, and religion. An organization that embraces diversity of employees benefits from broader service range due to the differences in employee talents. In the highly competitive business world today, it is crucial for companies to establish human resources management strategies that focus on attracting and retaining a diverse workforce for high productivity. This study discusses the approach that the human resources professionals need to embrace to ensure optimal benefit from the diverse workforce today.
Importance of having a diverse workforce
From a human resources perspective, a combination of employees with different background is beneficial as the individuals have varying ways of operations. Such a working environment promotes creativity and innovation as the employees are not afraid to experiment with their abilities. Further, the employees are able to contribute towards the success of the company more efficiently as due to increased morale (Martín et al., 2013, p.45). Retention of talent is among the primary benefits that organizations reap from creating a working environment that embraces diversity. By creating an environment that embraces diversity of the employees, companies gain a positive reputation for being an equal-opportunity employer and this attracts talented employees.
Strategies for recruiting and selecting a diverse workforce
One of the methods that the human resources professionals should use to ensure the recruitment of a diverse workforce is attracting candidates from different backgrounds. This may be achieved through posting job advertisements in different mediums and encouraging the qualified candidates to apply. Such advertisements should clearly state that the organization is an equal opportunity employer and provides the reasons why it values diversity (Pope, 2012, p. 26). Although academic qualifications form an important basis in the recruitment and selection of workers, it should not be the exclusive determinant but other variables such as recommendations by former employees should be considered. The nature of the interviewing panel may also influence the type of employees selected for a job. To promote diversity in the selection phase, the company should ensure that the panel is made up of individuals from diverse backgrounds.
Strategies of retaining a diverse workforce
Once the company has selected a diverse workforce, it is necessary to implement strategies that keep them interested to continue working for the company. The ability to retain the diverse employees is greatly influenced by the nature of diversity programs initiated in the company. One of the effective programs is training the employees on diversity (Brannick, 2001, p. 30). The training aims at encouraging all the employees to appreciate the efforts of one another, united by a common goal. It discourages action such as stereotyping the minority groups by encouraging the employees to respect each other’s choices. The other type of training that ensures retention of diverse workforce is leadership development. The training aims at increasing the chances of career development for the employees, thus reducing their need to look for employment elsewhere as they are assured of personal growth in their current positions. The trainings offered by the organization should be based on the need to develop the capabilities of the employees and should be offered to all qualified workers without discrimination.
Treating all employees equally
What the human management professional need to do to treat employees equally
To ensure equal treatment of the employees, the human resource professionals have a role of promoting a working environment that does not tolerate discrimination. The human resource policies in the organization should be structured in such a way that none of the employees is excluded from the company (Labedz & Berry, 2013, p. 220). Human resource professionals have a significant role to play in formulating policies that relate to employee’s welfare including career development plans. It is their duty to ensure that the policies focus on quality of performance and no other features such as race and religion. The communication channels in the organization need to be open to all employees so that they contribute effectively to organizational success. Policies on performance evaluation need to be fair to all the employees. The human resource professionals have a duty to ensure that the evaluations are conducted using fair methods such as the 360 degrees’ approach to avoid bias in actions such as promotion. The professionals have a role to ensure that policies that govern conflict management in the organization are effectively implemented to ensure that all employees understand how to relate with others.
How to treat employees equally
The input of the workers in the organization differs greatly due to their different capabilities, but it is crucial for employers to treat the employees equally without favoritism. Having favorite employees implies that the leaders prioritize the needs of some employees and ignore others and this may break team cohesion in organization, leading to poor retention of the diverse workforce. To ensure that all employees are treated equally, the leaders should ensure that they communicate clear job instructions to all the employees so that their performance is rated on similar grounds (Rickera & Marilyn, 2009, p. 40). The leaders should also set aside some time to interact with the employees at an individual level about issues that are not related to work. The essence of doing this is to cultivate a friendship with all the employees equally so that it becomes easy for them to communicate about their issues. Treating employees equally entails ensuring that organizational policies apply to all the workers. Leaders should consistently reward and punish unacceptable behavior in the institution without discrimination (Morgan, 2008, p. 123). Having clear guidelines on promotion of employees is a way of ensuring equal treatment of the employees. Employees at every level should be aware of the qualities that they must meet to warrant a promotion to provide them with a fair opportunity for growth. Employee training should also be conducted on all depending on their need to develop their capabilities.
References
Brannick, J. (2001). Seven strategies for retaining top talent. Journal of Business Strategy, 22(4), 28-31.
Iverson, K. (2000). Managing for effective workforce diversity: Identifying issues that are of concern to employees. The Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 41(2), 31-38.
Labedz, C. S. & Berry, G. R. (2013). Emerging systemic-structural threats to workforce diversity: Beyond inadequate agency. Journal of Organisational Transformation & Social Change, 10(3), 218-237.
Martín Alcázar, F., Miguel Romero Fernández, P. & Sánchez Gardey, G. (2013). Workforce diversity in strategic human resource management models: A critical review of the literature and implications for future research. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 20(1), 39-49.
Morgan, H. J. (2008). I hired you, you’re perfect… now stay! (The top ten list for retaining top talent). Business Strategy Series, 9(3), 119-125.
Pope, M. (2012). Embracing and harnessing diversity in the US workforce: what have we learned? International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 12(1), 17-30.
Ricker F. D & L. Marilyn. (2009). Attracting, developing and retaining talent. Research Technology Management, 52(6): 33 – 44.