People Management- A Globally Multicultural Outlook

Diversity recognises existence of differences in a work force with regard to the race, gender, physical ability, lifestyle, tenure, age, religion, geographic origin, education, attitude/behaviour, functional expertise and personality. A study on one of the Fortune 500 companies, a multi cultural organisation, gained immense popularity from its employees on implementing a multicultural policy. The policy ensures that there are no discriminatory issues in an organisation with regard an employee's nationality.

Diversity management is considered a new organisational paradigm. Companies have realised the need to move beyond a human resource model to a model with inherent value in diverse workforce. Globalisation has brought the 'diversity' factor into focus. Employers feel that diversity should be given significant importance since complications on such issues are unwarranted at work place.

Many Indian companies have expatriates occupying senior management positions and find it difficult to deal with the rest of the employees. Management should formulate anti discrimination policies to cater to such problems. To be a global player, it is imperative to have a diversity initiative programme in place.

The Diversity Programme

Dow Chemicals with plants and offices all over US was designated a multicultural organisation. It made substantial progress towards 'inclusion'. It identified certain key areas, which influenced diversity initiatives.

Initiation and support from the top management

Dow Jones, an organisation that has its offices all over the U.S., has an anti discriminatory policy, which focuses on serious commitment towards the diversity initiative. Though it was considered as 'frivolous' for some, the top management's initiative made a lot of difference to employees across the board. Employees started taking the issue more seriously than before.

Another company with a good track record of diversity management is Xerox. The top management's objective was to convince employees that managing diversity was not an obligation but was a business imperative.

Companies looking to tie up or acquire global companies should ensure that a diversity management policy is in place.

HR initiatives

Several inclusionary measures were made sub functions of the human resource department. A committee called

'The Preferred Employer Quality Action Team' comprising of a cross-section of managers at corporate headquarters spearheaded policies. The team identified five categories for improvement: overall compensation, employment security, operating environment/culture, policies and values and personal dimensions. It believed that these areas affected employee satisfaction and were derived from general attributes that the company hoped to achieve.

Organisational communication

Employee involvement in HR policy making was the high point of the diversity initiative the organisation could have come up with. The Equality Council comprising of a cross-section of employees met once a month to discuss issues related to a diverse workforce. Membership rotated every two years.

Suggestions ranging from a diversity booth at the Family Day Picnic to offering discrimination refresher training sessions, preparing guidelines during performance appraisals and creating an anonymous suggestion box titled "Dr. Equality" were conceived by this council.

The council also designed posters, calendars, and coffee mugs to promote the diversity theme. Employees collectively determined policies at work and could express disgruntlement with existing policies through the council. The HR manager moderated the discussion.

The council also helped design yearly employee opinion surveys. Diversity progress at plants within the organisation was highlighted, in an annual corporate diversity conference. The in-house and corporate newsletters encouraged employee involvement and helped to transmit the diversity message.

The organisation had a corporate philosophy governed by diversity policies. The standardisation of policies was in accordance with the desire to create a stronger organisational unity and identity among the employees. These policies created a "sense of linkage" and a feeling of unity by having a common cause.

A true commitment to diversity encompasses a variety of measures over a period of time. Creating a climate of acceptance requires major, systematic, and planned change efforts, which are typically not part of affirmative action plans. Efforts to address managing diversity must be supported by profound changes that are reflected in the day-to-day operation.

Staying employable!

Grappling to stay employed? Don't fret, say industry experts, you can make yourself indispensable.

Just 6 months back, who'd have thought employability would become a point of contention. And now, people across the Indian corporate world are having sleepless nights, fretting over how to hold on to their jobs. The key to this, as experts and HR managers say, lies in having the right mindset and certain attributes which will keep you sailing through. Here are some sure-shot ways of staying employable even in a bad economy.

Crisis management skills: This entails the skill of responding intelligently to a certain difficult situation by coming up with effective solutions and viable alternatives. "This is the time to confront and not avoid uncomfortable truths about yourself and the organisation," explains Ajay Soni, business leader - talent & organisation consulting, Hewitt. "It's also important to discuss these brutal facts and act to overcome them," he adds.

Multitasking: In a downturn, a generalist scores over a specialist as s/he can multitask, thereby, creating value. "One should focus on having cross functional skills and be open to different job roles," opines Diptarup Chakraborti, principal research analyst, Gartner. "Many might have latent talent, this is the time to tap that," he asserts. Surely, this also gives many of us the chance to do something we might be good at and have not been able to do.

"Employees must look at smarter ways of doing things, cutting where necessary, and keeping a steadfast eye on growth," - Ajay Soni, business leader - talent & organisation consulting, Hewitt

Customer Focus: This is the time to be closest to your customers, even if there's no business coming in immediately. That's the only way to understanding their needs and be able to reequip yourself and the organisation to meet the new customer demands. "Individuals who have outstanding customer relationship with their clients are the most vital resources for the company as they create sustainable business," notes Sanjay Jha, executive director, Dale Carnegie Training India. "It's important to go beyond the silos within the organisation and be closer to the customer," adds Soni.

Financial Intelligence: It is important to be familiar with the basic of the organisation's top line and bottom line, so that you can estimate the likely impact of your performance and the repercussions of non-performance. "In a downturn, you need people who have their eye on the costs," explains Judhajit Das, chief – HR, ICICI Prudential Life.

Flexibility and Adaptability: Challenging economic environment requires pragmatic response based on a holistic view. "This demands a high adaptability," says Jha. "It calls for energy and enthusiasm to learn new things, explore new roles and responsibilities," elaborates Srini K, head - strategy, HR, Satyam.

Citing the Indian IT case, Chakraborti explains, "Being geographically mobile is critical as big IT firms like Infosys have centres all across." He further adds, "If the business in one centre goes down, employee should be open to relocation to another centre where there's more project work etc." He feels many in the Indian IT sector have a narrow outlook. "Take the recent case of Wipro which faced opposition from employees for shifting them from IT business to BPO business in its Kolkatta centre," he adds. "Employees should deeply reflect on roles in the context of current business environment and modify accordingly," Das suggests.

High Performance Focus: Every sector and business needs high performers, so no matter where you are, you should be seen as a performer. "Employees must look at smarter ways of doing things, cutting where necessary, and keeping a steadfast eye on growth," Soni points out. "You must have the drive to succeed and excel even in the worst of market scenarios," asserts Srini K.

Surely, this is no mammoth task and any one of us can hone these skills by being more self-aware and making an effort. "Individuals can acquire these skills through training, experience, reading and job exposure," says Jha. Chakraborti believes that HR managers have a huge role in fostering these skills in employees. "HR managers should identify employee skills other than what are being used and channel that accordingly," he stresses.

To out it in a nutshell, if you follow these simple tips and adhere to what experts suggest, you will definitely come out a survivor!