Module 12 - MANAGING DIVERSITY

Diversity is an inclusive term based on recognising all kinds of difference. It is about ‘valuing everyone as an individual’. It acknowledges that people from different backgrounds can bring fresh ideas and perceptions which can make the work being done more efficiently and products and services better. Diversity is an inclusive concept that covers all kinds of difference that go beyond the traditional understanding of what equal opportunity is about (CIPD, 2005).

As per the above, new ideas and attitudes that could be brought to agree to the people from different backgrounds can work and be a better product and service to be more efficient and go beyond the traditional understanding of equal opportunities and diversity what difference all concept is covering part types.

The basic concept of managing diversity accepts that the workforce consists of a diverse population of people. The diversity includes visible and non-visible differences which will consist of factors such as sex, age, background, race, disability, personality and work style. It is founded on the premise that harnessing these differences will create a productive environment in which everybody feels valued, where their talents are being fully utilised and in which organisational goals are met (Fullerton and Kandola, 1998).

As they said, diversity management is the concept of the bottom line employees, which consists of the various populations. Such as gender, age, background, race, disability, personality, and elegance of work. Further, it is about ensuring that all people maximise their potential and their contribution to the organisation and value the differences between people and the different qualities they bring to their jobs which can lead to the development of a more rewarding and productive environment.

Most successful initiatives adopted by the organisation,

• Introducing equal rights and benefits for part-time workers (compared with full-time workers);
• Allowing flexibility in uniform/dress requirements;
• Granting time off for caring for dependants beyond that required by law. E.g. extended maternity/paternity leave;
• Benefits provided for employees’ partners are equally available to same-sex and different-sex partners;
• Buying specialised equipment, e.g. braille keyboards;
• Employing helpers/signers for those who need them;
• Training trainers in equal opportunities;
• Eliminating age criteria from selection decisions;
• Assisting with child care;
• Allowing staff to take career breaks. (Fullerton and Kandola, 1998).

Characteristics of diversity-oriented, (acronym - MOSAIC)

• Mission and values that are strong and positive and where practical, successful diversity management is a necessary long-term goal.
• Objective and fair processes exist within the organisation, and these are audited regularly to ensure that power does not sit within informal networks, and no one group of employees dominates at any level.
• Skilled workforces aware of the effects of biases and prejudices on their decision making, and managers who manage the diversity effectively while stressing excellence in individual and team performance.
• Active flexibility means that the diversity-oriented organisation will display increasing flexibility, not only in its working patterns but also in its practices, policies and procedures.
• Individual focus – organisations must guard against averaging out-group differences or similarities by creating segregated groups.
• Culture that empowers achieved through openness, engendering trust between all individuals through an absence of prejudice and discrimination.

(Source - Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (10th Edition) – (Armstrong, 2006))

References,

CIPD 2005. (2005). Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal, 20(2).

Fullerton, S. and Kandola (1998). International economic impact of functional gastrointestinal disorders. Gastroenterology, 114.

Armstrong, M. (2006). Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (10th Edition). 10th ed. London, GBR: Kogan Page, Limited.

Managementstudyguide.com. (2019). Managing Diversity at the Workplace. [online] Available at: https://www.managementstudyguide.com/managing-diversity-at-workplace.htm [Accessed 6 Jan. 2019].

Module 11 - CHANGE MANAGEMENT

The business of the 21st century is considered by the rapid change brought about due to technological, economic, political and social changes. In future managers and employees of the organisation unable to achieve their objectives by dedicated works since their technique of management has perished. In this context, it becomes dynamic to organisations develop the capabilities to adapt and navigate to change in their advantage. 

“When we talk about resistance to change we tend to imply that management is always rational in changing its direction and that employees are stupid, emotional or irrational in not responding in the way they should”(Woodward, 1968). 

However, most of the employees do not think logically, they usually hate to change or adopt new changes or innovations, but there some innovators among the employees and they believe in different tactic, and some innovates valued as the management expectation.

Type of changes,

1. Strategic change
2. Operational change
3. Transformational change

The basic mechanisms for managing change,

 

Source: Organization Design and Development

1. Unfreezing – altering the present stable equilibrium that supports existing behaviours and attitudes. This process must take account of the internal threats change presents to people and the need to motivate those affected to attain the natural state of equilibrium by accepting change.
2. Changing – developing new responses based on further information.
3. Refreezing – stabilising the change by introducing the new responses into the personalities of those concerned. (Lewin, 1951).

Change management is a complex process, acute attention to either achieving a meaningful or progressive transition across various levels across the board, as well as control and at all levels, and people need participation. Hence the changing process starts with an awareness of all the need for change, and it should be analysis, evaluate and clear direction to be taken to implement.

Change management process,

1. Set goals and define the future state or organisational conditions desired after the change.
2. Diagnose the present condition concerning these goals.
3. Define the transition state activities and commitments required to meet the future state.
4. Develop strategies and action plans for managing this transition in light of an analysis of the factors likely to affect the introduction of change (Beckhard,1969).

It can also be an organisation or a different kind of change that will be forced to undertake internal and external factors. Actively act as a way to keep the competition in the method between the elements in the interior, including restructuring and restructuring, facing a future challenge. In the organisation, changes can effect slowly, or it can be radical which is rapid, sudden and uncertain. Hence, many managers tend to resist change because the change initiators have not spelt out the outcomes of the changes and the possible impacts that such changes have on the organisation.

Why people resist changing,

1. The shock of the new – Anything upset their established routines.
2. Economics fear – Loss of money, threats to job difficulty.
3. Inconvenience – the change will make life more difficult.
4. Uncertainty – Change can be worrying because of uncertainty about its likely impact.
5. A threat to interpersonal relationships
6. Treat to status or skill
7. Competence fears

References,

Armstrong, M. (2006). Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (10th Edition). 10th ed. London, GBR: Kogan Page, Limited.

Ololube, N. and Ololube, D. (2017). Organizational Change Management. International Journal of Applied Management Sciences and Engineering, 4(1), pp.25-42.

Woodward, L. (1968). British Foreign Policy in Retrospect. International Journal, 23(4), p.507.

Lewin (1951). Internatinal Bank for Reconstruction and Development. International Organization, 5(01), p.199. 

Beckhard, R. (1969). The Changing Shape of Management Development. Journal of Management Development, 1(1), pp.51-62. 

Module 01 - HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Human resource management can define as the process of managing people in organisations in a structured and systematic manner since the most valued asset of an organisation is people. Further, it incorporates the control of people in the organisation from a macro perspective as the managing people in the form of a cooperative relationship between management and employees. 

“A strategic, integrated and coherent approach to the employment, development and well-being of the people working in organisations” (Armstrong, 2014). 

As he said it is a strategy, it covers the field of staffing employees, retention of people, pays and incentives are setting and management, performance management, change management and caring for the exit from the company to block the activities.

Following the step by step strategies for addressing issues related to human resource coordination, and the human resource management strategy is entirely accumulated from the organisational objectives. Hence, the organisation that takes its HRM policies seriously will ensure that training is based on focused and topical methods.

“All the management decisions and actions that directly affect, or influence, people as members of the organisation rather than as job holders” (Henderson, 2017). 

As he said, all organisation decisions directly effect to the employees of the organisation. Hence, management should issue the organisation goals as well as the individual goals to employees. All organisation objectives also should engage with employee's personal objectives since the employees' motivation is the best catalyst for the achieve organisation objectives.

Key activities of HRM as follows,

• Strategic HR planning and analysis
• Equal employment opportunity (Compliance, Diversity, Affirmative action)
• Selecting and hiring employees (Job analysis, Recruiting and Selection)
• Training and development (Orientation, Training, Employee development, Career planning, Performance Management)
• Compensation and Benefits (Wages, Salary, Administration, Incentive, Benefits)
• Performance Appraisal
• Care Health, Safety & Security of the employees
• Managing legal issues (HR policies of the organisation, Employees rights and Privacy) 

References

Armstrong, M. (2006). Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (10th Edition). 10th ed. London, GBR: Kogan Page, Limited.

khalid (2019). Activities of HRM | Human Resource Management. [online] Hrmpractice.com. Available at: http://hrmpractice.com/activities-of-hrm/ [Accessed 3 Jan. 2019].

Juneja, P. (2019). What is Human Resource Planning ?. [online] Managementstudyguide.com. Available at: https://www.managementstudyguide.com/human-resource-planning.htm [Accessed 4 Jan. 2019].

Images.search.yahoo.com. (2019). sample-assignment-on-human-resource-management-3-638 - - Yahoo Image Search Results. [online] Available at: https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrWpyboqydcgVoAGywPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTB0NjZjZzZhBGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=sample-assignment-on-human-resource-management-3-638&type=33nt_7503_CHW_LK&hspart=iba&hsimp=yhs-1&ei=UTF-8&fr=yhs-iba-#id=0&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fsampleassignmentonhumanresourcemanagement-161230112114%2F95%2Fsample-assignment-on-human-resource-management-3-638.jpg%3Fcb%3D1483096945&action=click [Accessed 3 Jan. 2019].