2002EHR Human Resource Management Principles - Managing Diversity - Analytical Report

• Introduction

As a consequence of the rapid changes within the external business atmosphere and the emergence of many factors that are connected with the idea of globalisation, the changing composition of community settlements as well as the emergence of multi-ethnic structures within society that are marked by the presence of varied attitudes, preferences and lifestyles, the practice of human resource management continues to revolutionize. Under these circumstances modern human resource practice is expected to adopt business processes to manage an extremely diverse workforce owing to factors such as economic migration, globalization and expatriation. While, the implementation of diversity management mechanisms is thought of as a complex task for organizations irrespective of their size, the implementation and effective execution of this framework is of critical importance. Considering diversity and discrimination as two critical aspects for contemporary human resource managers and practitioners, this paper focuses upon exploring HR issues that migrant and ethnic background workers face. The analysis incorporates key findings which have been highlighted in numerous peer-reviewed articles to determine how HR professionals should address the presence of diversity in their organizations and ensure that employees from migrant and ethnic backgrounds do not face any discrimination. The paper also presents recommendations for steering human resource managers and practitioners in the right direction when developing applicable mechanisms to effectively manage key problems and successfully address areas of concern.

• Appraising and Managing Performance 

The significance of globalisation within the contemporary business setting is not merely limited to a firm’s interaction with a wider international client base and engagement with overseas suppliers to secure financially viable agreements. Most significantly, countries that posses a high immigration rate or welcome the arrival of numerous communities, understanding and acknowledging cultural and social differences becomes an essential responsibility to ensure the attainment of an organization’s objectives.

As noted by Sharma (2016), performance appraisals have been identified as being a major source discrimination in organizational settings especially because of the influence that raters hold in determining the outcomes of this process. In a study conducted at a distribution supply centre located in the eastern part of the United States, it was discovered that females and African Americans were less favoured during the appraisal process in comparison as raters preferred to give a higher rating to those belonging to their own race and ethnic group (Sharma, 2016). Researchers have observed the presence of a ‘glass ceiling’ which limits individuals to advance and grow in their career because of their ethnic affiliations (Sharma, 2016). 

According to Shore et al. (2011) the foremost issue which should be addressed in an organization that promotes diversity at every level is to introduce a “culture of inclusion”. The foundations of this idea have emerged from the operations of a company that believes in providing truthful and just opportunities to people no matter their background and strictly focuses on the attainment of company objectives by recruiting individuals which have the right skill-set and qualifications to drive the firm towards success.