Workplace diversity yields dividends

MANAGERS ON MANAGEMENT:OVER THE past decade, the majority of Irish companies have moved from employing only Irish workers to recruiting a mix of the 150 nationalities who have made Ireland their home.

What do Irish managers really believe, though: that cultural diversity is invigorating for their businesses, or that it's simply another additional cost?

"Chief executives always concentrate on the bottom line, so I have to admit that some are still sceptical about the view that effective management of a culturally diverse workforce can contribute to their competitive edge," says Mary Hogan of the Irish Management Institute (IMI).

However, she adds she believes this perception is changing.

"Authoritative research showing that there is, in fact, an enhanced margin - if those different cultural strands within an organisation are handled with sensitivity - is only now beginning to emerge," she says.

"That margin comes from employees having greater work satisfaction, more motivation, better work-life balance and reduced stress - all of which leads to reduced absenteeism and increased productivity, innovation and creativity. That's never easy to achieve, and it's even more challenging with a culturally diverse workforce. So the question is: how do we get there?"

The first test for managers is to put aside preconceived notions.

"You cannot assume that people can be assimilated, and we do tend to assume that," says Hogan, who is director of the Cultural Diversity BizLab at the IMI. "So diversity management is mainly about organisational and cultural change and about putting structures in place that make sure everyone's difference is acknowledged and everyone's dignity is respected."

That has a practical impact from the recruitment process onwards. Interview panels, for instance, should reflect the cultural diversity of a company.

Staff training, development and appraisal should be handled in a way that ensures there are no in-built biases and that non-Irish employees have equal opportunities.

The workplace environment should also reflect its diversity - by marking different national or religious holidays, for example, even if it's only by putting a mention in the company e-mail or on a noticeboard.

"The important thing in the long run is that all of these elements become part of the mainstream, bedded into the everyday life of the company. It's not enough for managers - and for the most part these are middle managers, at an operational level - simply to be aware of them; they have to actively support them and make them part of the company culture."

Is there resistance from some managers? "That varies considerably," Hogan says. "It comes down in the end to the openness of the individual and the organisation involved. HR managers are typically supportive because they see the practical benefits of a more harmonious workplace, and that's influencing chief executives as well."

She says management experts such as Sir Gerry Robinson - who will speak at an IMI conference, Cultural Diversity: Driving Organisational Success, on November 5th - have been "important advocates of using all the talents and fresh insights that different nationalities bring to a company to make it a better, more efficient, place to work".

However, non-Irish workers do sometimes encounter discrimination and occasionally even racism. "More often, though, you see cases of alienation through exclusion, for instance," says Hogan. "A group of the same nationality all go out for a cigarette together and, of course, speak in their own language and, if there's a lone worker of another nationality, perhaps even Irish, that effectively excludes him.

"That's the sort of culture that has to change."

Name:Dr Mary Hogan

Organisation:Irish Management Institute www.imi.ie

Job:director, IMI Cultural Diversity BizLab

Management advice:manage the cultural diversity in your workplace to achieve a competitive edge

Next week: Paul Rellis, chief executive of Microsoft Ireland, on how US multinationals are facing the economic downturn

petercluskey@yahoo.fr