Daring to be different

Just over 18 months ago, the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 banned age discrimination in terms of recruitment, promotion and training together with unjustified retirement ages of lower than 65 and it removed the former age limit for unfair dismissal and redundancy rights.

The regulations were followed in April 2007 by the Gender Equality Duty, dubbed "the biggest change to sex equality legislation since the Sex Discrimination Act", which placed an obligation on all public bodies to promote gender equality and eliminate discrimination.

Legislative changes such as these have turned the spotlight on the issue of diversity. However, managing diversity is not just a moral and legal obligation, it can present tangible business benefits as well.

What is diversity?
We in the UK are fortunate to live in a country that is rich in the diversity of its population. Nowadays, your work colleagues might be any age, male or female, from any ethnic, religious or cultural background, married, single or living with a partner of the opposite or same sex, able-bodied or not.

This has many advantages, but also presents organisations with the challenge of getting the best out of such a diverse workforce, while at the same time meeting their legal responsibilities. It is therefore important that companies give due consideration to how to achieve this if they want to maintain or, ideally, improve their position in the market.

Introducing and promoting diversity is morally the right thing to do. Diversity not only assumes that all individuals are unique and different, but that difference is "value added".

It acknowledges that everyone has the right to express their views and beliefs in a manner that is sensitive to those around them (ie, free from racism, sexism, ageism and other forms of prejudice).

Everyone should have the right to contribute to activities and grow within their workplace. A diverse work environment also demonstrates an organisation that is caring, inclusive and respectful.

The key to diversity
By definition, a diverse group inevitably draws on a wider range of experience, background and culture; but also benefits because, in the presence of diversity, the mind is encouraged to stretch and dares to move.

The key to making diversity work is self-esteem. People have to like who they are; they have to take pride in themselves and draw on what they know to be true from their real experience. If they are ashamed of the group from which they come, they will try to blend into the dominant group and nothing interesting will happen. On the other hand, however, if they think and speak proudly, they will communicate with greater range, depth, freshness and insight.

Diversity is inclusive. It is about ensuring that the ideas, opinions and contributions of all are heard regardless of race, colour, culture, creed, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion or gender.

Making diversity pay involves real and difficult choices. For instance, to attract more women, City and consultancy organisations are having to tone down their long-hours-dominated cultures and pay attention to unfamiliar concepts such as mentoring and work–life balance.

Diversity has become a very important and profit-sensitive business issue. Research shows that well managed diversity potentially has a positive, practical and productive value to almost every business. Every organisation must therefore have a clear understanding of what it intends to achieve in living and working with its own diversity.

Developing a diversity strategy is a central part of this, with commitment from senior managers being absolutely critical to success. This could be expressed, for example, through the inclusion of statements related to diversity within an organisation's corporate values or by establishing special teams to set targets for diversity and drive the process forward.

Business benefits
According to the study Harnessing Workforce Diversity to Raise the Bottom Line, published by CREATE, an independent research centre, a more diverse workforce improves business performance.

The study, which involved around 500 companies operating in the UK, US and Europe, uncovered a range of business benefits including:
• Higher staff retention
• Reduced recruitment costs
• More satisfied customers
• Access to a wider customer base
• Better supply chain management
• Access to new ideas on process and product improvements.

Diversity is also key to success in global markets. Organisations wishing to expand internationally cannot hope to do so effectively without a detailed understanding of the cultural background of the new markets.

The study found that diversity management is a long-term process with no quick fixes. Two obstacles in particular were widely experienced:
• Ingrained attitudes that make it difficult for senior managers to manage people who are very different to them
• The culture of long working hours, which makes it difficult for women to aspire to senior management positions.

The report concluded that diversity produces maximum financial impact when it is linked with business strategy and has the support of senior executives.

According to Professor Amin Rajan, chief executive of CREATE and co-author of the report, companies are beginning to see that diversity in the workplace pays. Rajan said: "Instead of thinking about diversity as being about equality, that is, in terms of the law or compliance, companies are now seeing it as an issue of merit and merit alone."

Other benefits of diversity are that diverse organisations will:
• Find it easier to recruit as there will be a far greater market to choose from
• Enjoy access to a greater wealth of experience, skills and talent
• Gain improved public image – as an employer and as a service provider
• Experience increased staff motivation
• Encourage and develop entrepreneurs
• Develop role models, thus helping future growth in management
• Increase their market penetration
• Show better overall financial performance.

Managing diversity
Sadly, legislation such as the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations is often the only way to give businesses the stimulus they need to take actions that they ought to have implemented already.

Research by Penna Consulting suggests that organisations that want to be successful in implementing diversity will need to adopt a practical approach including key elements, such as the following:
• How diverse is your organisation, and is it representative of the local population? Does your workforce mirror your customer base? If not, you could be missing out on opportunities
• What are the tangible benefits of implementing a diversity policy, both for your organisation and its employees?
• Include your policy on diversity within your corporate strategy and values
• Embed the policy within your core HR processes and systems. Make it part of everyday operations
• Ensure leaders implement the policy and give it their full commitment
• Involve staff at all levels. Implement awareness training, together with initiatives such as the creation of a diversity handbook, mentoring schemes, diversity councils etc
• Communicate the content of the diversity policy and success of diversity initiatives
• Understand your organisation's needs. Depending on its size, understanding of diversity and ability to change, it may benefit from external support
• Monitor and evaluate. Benchmark your organisation's progress and the impact of diversity internally and externally.

Getting help
Many organisations try to tackle the issues of managing diversity simply by providing their staff with a series of training sessions, as though it were an add-on skill that can be easily absorbed.

Managing diversity means more, however, than just training your staff. It has to involve the organisation's culture, processes and systems, and may well involve the need for externally managed initiatives including:
• Diversity audits
• Development of a diversity strategy
• Policy writing (an Equal Opportunities policy is mandatory as laid down by the EEOC)
• Training and development
• Coaching
• Recruitment and selection
• Practical help and assessment on a continuing basis to measure the benefits of cultural diversity within the organisation.

Research confirms that diversity presents significant business opportunities but only for those organisations that manage it effectively by implementing agreed strategies and offering training.

Sooner or later, employers who do not take maximum advantage of these opportunities will have to realise that by failing to employ the best person for the job, for whatever (perceived) reason, the result will be a negative impact on their profit margins and, ultimately, the viability of their business.

The Author:
Carole Spiers is a business coach and stress consultant. She can be contacted on info@carolespiersgroup.com