Managing Diversity and Equality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Managing Diversity and Equality - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the British labour market is a highly diverse one and, according to available statistics, is continually moving towards greater diversity.   According to 2005 data released by the Office of National Statistics, 5.4% of the current labour force is foreign, with EU and former Commonwealth migration statistics, among other non-British sources of labour inflow, indicating a continual increase. The previous year, 2005, was witness to the largest ever influx of foreign workers to Britain, totalling approximately 400,000.   In addition to that, diversity statistics indicate that ethnic minority groups comprise approximately 8% of the current workforce; 25% are non-Christian; and around 12% are disabled.   Statistics pertaining to gays and lesbians are indeterminate, largely because of a lack of national surveys but, are estimated to stand between 5-7%. The implication here is that the British workforce is, incontrovertibly diverse; a fa ct which poses challenges to organizational management. Over the past thirty years, legislature has effectively acknowledged the reality of the nation's existent and, ever-increasing, gender, ethnic, racial, religious and cultural diversity and has sought its positive address. From 2003 to 2006, Employment Equality regulations addressed the issues of all of age, religion/belief and sexual orientation, effectively establishing the legal and regulatory framework for both the prevention of direct and indirect discrimination against minority group employees while, at the same time, outlining the imperatives of equity. Prior to that, all of the Equal Pay Act (1970), the Sex Discrimination Act (1975), the Race Relations Act (1976) and the Race Relations Amendment Act (2000), among others, sought to ensure against both direct and indirect discrimination in the provision of goods and services and within the workplace. Consequently, from the legal and regulatory perspective, Britain has take n the requisite steps to ensure that its minority groups are extended the necessary opportunities for integration and assimilation. While the legal and regulatory framework provides against both direct and indirect discrimination in the workplace, the fact remains that it did so largely because it outlawed the aforementioned. It imposed a toleration of differences upon employees and co-workers but, does not establish the mechanism for directing either to look beyond the differences or, indeed, to accept, rather than simply tolerate them. From the perspective of the management sciences, the aforementioned can function to inhibit efficient and effective operation; can stand as an obstacle towards the articulation, let alone realisation, of strategic objectives; and can offset the design and subsequent dissemination of a unifying organizational culture. Of equal importance is the potentially negative effect it can have upon teamwork. At the same time, if managed efficiently, the benefi ts of a diversified workforce can reflect upon both financial and non-financial performance indicators. The concept of diversity management arose from within this context. It aims, not only to achieve more than toleration for differences but, the realisation of the benefits of workforce diversity for the organisations in question.