Diversity in the workplace is an inevitable result of globalization. In the era of diverse workforce, managers are primarily concerned with obtaining high levels of performance, through creating cultural energy among the employees.

In most types of workplace, we see employees of different age groups, race, beliefs, work attitudes, leadership style, relationship with others and their mind-set towards higher authority. This creates a generational diversity in the workplace, and has affected how current employee views the workplace. The continual change in work force composition is a direct result of this. We can classify the workplace into four generations, namely Silent (veterans, matures); Boomer (baby boomers); Generation X (busters, 13th); and Millennial (nexters, Y, digital, Net), according to social scientists and demographers.

To illustrate, I will utilize my past experience as an admin clerk in the army to bring out the differences between two particular generations, that of “Silent” and “Generation X”, highlighting some of the problems faced and the compromises to be made for the survival in this workplace.

There was a drastic transition period from the basic military training to doing clerical work. Partially, it was due to the working style of my immediate superior, the chief clerk. She had experience in the admin aspects for the past twenty years, and had formed a set of working principles which was to be strictly adhered to, and any suggestions for improvements was rebuked with dismay. All decisions were made by her alone, and the clerks had to carry them out, regardless of personal interest. With her added interest in working extra hours to prove her capabilities to others, she has demanded other clerks to stay back as well. To the clerks, many of us have felt the sense of helplessness, and have desired greatly to leave this place, although we know that is impossible as we are all serving our national service.

This is an ideal example of the “Silent” generation worker, where they appear to others as dependable, equipped with good leadership, wise, and experienced experts on their area of work. However, from the subordinate point of view, they could be overbearing, with lack of flexibility and unwillingness to accept other deviant points of views.

Personally, during that period, I was enthusiastic about the new environment and had new ideas on the existing work practices. I saw several problems in current practices as they were either too tedious or impractical. Since highlighting these problems seemed futile, I took my own initiative to do them in a more efficient manner. However, this was greeted with hostility and in the end; I was punished for doing something which actually help to attain the same results with less work. I was labeled as uncooperative by my superior, and was treated badly as compared to others who were quiet conformists. Negative feedback like these had inhibited any further new ideas, and enforces the notion that conforming is the way to go. This is a close resemblance of the “Generation X” workers, where workers are action oriented, focused, competent in the task at hand, and practical. However, the worker can also be defiant of authority, and hence difficult to manage.

To conclude, the workplace was not conducive in promoting team spirit, and clerks seldom felt the need to go the extra mile for work. To survive, most of us will tend to weigh the costs and benefits and depending on the situation, select the role or identities that we would like to portray to others. In this context, downplaying to satisfy the immediate superior while protecting self interest has become dominant.

Just some food for thought on workplace diversity in different environments and how to survive accordingly.

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At the beginning of every business consultation I more than often spend some time talking about why companies exist. i.e. to provide products and services via specific marketing channels to end users. The challenge is to identify the relevant channels to market which relate to the target end user customer, other major factors such as compelling value propositions, branding and category marketing all have a bearing on the final strategy decisions.

The companies which define their target customers the best and deliver their products and services to them via the most appropriate marketing channels are the companies which end up having the most success.

Today’s companies with its diverse workforce find themselves in potentially advantageous positions that is, if they harness the marketing capability advantages of the the workforce. Individuals from a particular dimension of Diversity with the relevant marketing expertise may well find themselves in the best placed position to interpret research data, conduct focus groups and talk to end user customer who are like themselves. The challenge is for the organizations is to allow the talent which exists within the various segments of the workforce to bubble up to the surface through recognition and appropriate promotions to be in the positions where they can make relevant decisions as to devising and executing company strategies and tactics.

It is indeed beneficial to all involved to view Diversity in this unemotional fashion i.e. having the best people in the best positions to make the best decisions for the company. This is indeed one of the many challenges facing management today when faced with developing, marketing and delivering products and services to a diverse target end user customer base.

Much of the questions that arise in say developing skincare products to dark skinned women when the majority of skincare products are developed for Caucasian skin may we be more readily answered by individuals who have faced the specific issues all their lives. Skincare is just one of the many examples that could be cited; food is another one wish springs readily to mind where the benefit of the point of view of individuals from specific backgrounds and cultures may well enhance the strategy development process.

The results of fully incorporating Diversity into the fabric of the organization’s decision making process by the management team (ably assisted by the Human Resources department) will result in products and services which are more targeted to the desired end user customers and delivered to those customers via appropriate marketing channels.

It is therefore the responsibility of the management team to keep the diverse target end user customer base in mind (where appropriate) and doing so ensure that the teams in place to develop and deliver the company’s products and services and best placed to do so. i.e. those teams should ideally have the balance of product development and marketing strategy skills coupled with an understanding of the end user customers of which they are selling to.

For various products and services the input into the product development process may well be seen to benefit greatly with the input of those within the organization who are most closely aligned to the target market customers. Getting these individuals involved in the appropriate decisions making junctures may well provide cherished career development opportunities as well as providing management with valuable interaction with those within the organization from the various dimensions of Diversity.

Stephen C Campbell (MBA, MSc, MCIM) has worked on diversity programs throughout Europe, Far East & U.S. whilst employed in the corporate sector. He now runs a Business Consultancy and has a keen interest in working with corporations on the link between Diversity and their Marketing Strategies.
http://www.CapidHouser.Com

Whilst working in technology marketing management for one of the largest and most respected computer companies in the world I acted as chair of the European Black and Ethnic Minority employee network as well being involved and liaising with the Diversity team in the United States. Being based in the United Kingdom it was indeed fascinating for me to see how in many respects the corporate Diversity program for my colleagues in the United States was far ahead (years) when compared to the program which we were implementing in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe. Indeed we have no Affirmation Action here in the United Kingdom and were not affected by some of the political and legislative pressures that were being experienced by my counterparts in the United States.

As my career progressed I was promoted to manage a section of the Far Eastern business based in Japan. I spent most of my time in Japan, about 80% with the rest of my time being spent managing the business in Taiwan, India, Korea and the other countries in the region for which we had business interests. Hearing of my experience with Diversity I was soon contacted by the local Human Resources team in Japan and quickly got involved in the Diversity initiative there.

As I made the comparison between the differences between the Diversity landscape in Europe versus that in the United States and then began to draw the comparison between the picture of Diversity which I was looking at in Japan in comparison to anything I had ever experienced. Indeed, as I saw a time lag between implementation within Europe when compared to the United States and I saw time lag in Japan. However I could not even begin to focus on implementation but more on awareness and the path to implementation had not even been laid as yet.

With the management teams and decision makers being dominated by men largely set in their ways I saw many challenges up ahead. The first challenge was in educating the management team and workforce about Diversity, about the fact that their were different ways of doing things and also that men didn’t always have all the answers.

I was frequently surprised as I moved around the company I was working for at the time and; also in meeting other women from some of the other traditional Japanese companies professionally and socially how much talent was being laid to waste. I would meet women with degrees from universities here in the United Kingdom and also in the United States with excellent command of the English language who were working as secretaries. Even more surprising to me at the time was the fact that this was accepted and that they assumed and thought that that was they way that things were.

As things related to this move very slowly in Japan, I worked closely the Human Resources team to give them the benefit of my experience to assist them in raising the awareness of Diversity amongst the management team and the employees. Of course we had to couple the implementation with the tightly integrated customer base of the other Japanese companies who were more traditional than the company for which I was working at the time and who had the traditional management structures of men, men and more men. This lead into the long some unnecessary meetings, drinking sessions and related activities which; were all part of the business structure and; had to be respected as we dealt with interpreting Diversity from the western perspective into the Japanese company culture and the necessary impact of the management, employees and also the customer base.

Is has been a few years since I left the great country of Japan which will also have a special place in my heart. The lesson here for us all is that the implementation of Diversity must be coupled with and interpreted for local cultures and practices as we management folks seek to create inclusive workforces in today’s multi location organizations. This leaves open the challenge to us global managers and consultants who manage in cultures which are largely alien to ours.

Stephen C Campbell (MBA, MSc, MCIM) has worked on diversity programs throughout Europe, Far East & U.S. He runs a Business Consultancy and has a keen interest in working with corporations on the link between Diversity and their Marketing Strategies.
http://www.StephenCCampbell.Com