Research shows diversity management still a workplace challenge
However, less than one-third of those organizations have an official definition of workplace diversity or use a common language to guide companies in managing their diversity efforts.
Those findings are detailed in a research report just released by the SHRM and its partner, the American Institute for Managing Diversity Inc., that involved a yearlong study on the status of diversity in the workplace.
“Our research confirms that most organizations currently have diversity policies and practices in place,” says SHRM President and CEO Susan R. Meisinger. “But, while policies mark a significant step forward, challenges remain.”
The good news from the 2007 State of Workplace Diversity Management Report, say HR professionals and diversity practitioners, is that organizations are more aware of diversity in a general sense and can focus more on how diversity can have a positive impact on the bottom line.
A survey that was part of the research project asked more than 1,400 HR professionals and diversity practitioners, representing publicly and privately owned companies, nonprofits and the education sector, to gauge the extent to which diversity practices accomplish specific business objectives.
Among the findings were:
–A total of 52 percent of respondents said that to a “large extent,” diversity practices create an open work environment that allows all workers to contribute what they can to the organization.
–Some 49 percent said the practices achieved appropriate representation of racial and ethnic groups.
–In addition, 48 percent said that the practices enhanced the ability of people from different backgrounds to work together effectively.
Also within the “large extent” category, respondents said diversity practices leveraged differences and similarities in the workforce (39 percent) and among customers and markets (36 percent) for the strategic advantage of the organization, and that they eliminated or minimized prejudice (38 percent).
Still, diversity management remains a challenge. Respondents said that among other hurdles to diversity management, the field is not well-defined or understood, focuses too much on compliance and places too much emphasis on ethnicity and/or gender.
Other findings of the survey include:
–Small companies, those with 99 or fewer employees, are the least likely to have an official definition of diversity.
–Public/government organizations are more likely than private nonprofit and for-profit organizations to define diversity.
–Some 75 percent of HR professionals said that, from a strategic perspective, leveraging the diverse talents of the workforce was extremely important to their organizations. They would like to see greater emphasis placed on the positive relationship between diversity and business results.
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), founded in 1948, serves human resource professionals in over 130 countries.