Managers' Forum ~ Business Case Reviews

Within the last two decades many changes have taken place in the work environment. As companies move toward achieving the goals of broadening their workforce across gender, ethnicity, age, educational background and skill
dimensions, some dilemmas regarding diversity may solve themselves. However, some other problems will emerge and it's here where the leader should play an effective role to deal with them. The characteristics that defined an
effective leader two decades ago are obsolete, which means that an effective leader in the past is not necessarily a good one today. For example, a leader today needs to have some skills such as: create empathy within a diverse
workforce, encourage team building, detect latent conflicts within individuals or groups, master to engage parties in constructive dialogue, encourage employee participation etc. It is important to mention that in the past some of these skills were not needed.

"Challenges of leading a diverse workforce" is a case study, in which the authors first explain how organizations differ in their ability to capitalize on the diverse characteristics of their workforce. In a stage of intolerance,
organizations comply, at best, with legal requirements regarding the composition of the workforce. In this stage employers consider that having a diverse workforce is just an obligation and don't see any benefits from it.
In the second stage, of tolerance, diverse members of the organization are actively sought and included in the daily practices of the organization, but the skills and talents of these members are not fully utilized. In an appreciation stage, organizations surpass acceptance and actively embrace diversity. Organizations are fully aware of the benefits of having a diverse workforce. This stage is the optimum one, because all employees are treated
on an equal-basis regardless of his/her sex, age, race, religion, etc.  Then, the authors outlined six challenges confronting leaders of diverse work groups and suggest practical solutions that can be adapted for implementation
in most organizations. The challenges are: Shifting power dynamics, Diversity of opinions, Lack of empathy, Tokenism, Participation and Overcoming Inertia.  What it is very interesting about this case is that the authors group these challenges and practical solutions based on the above three stages. For example, "Diversity of Opinions" in the stage of Intolerance, Tolerance and Appreciation and how leaders should respond in each stage.

The main message that the authors want to transmit, which I consider relevant, is that leaders need to carefully know in what stage their company is before engaging on diversity initiatives. Leaders need to ask themselves,
questions such as, does it make sense to encourage diversity of opinions, within my group, if the organization doesn't support it? It is likely that they're actions will be much more effective if make an assessment of their
company's culture.

Janice R.W. Joplin and Catherine S. Daus, Academy of Management Executive, 1997 Vol. 11 #3.

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