Analyzing Management of a Culturally Diverse Workforce

Management of a Culturally Diverse Workforce

Diversity refers to the demographic variations of one form or another among the members of a particular group (Podsiadlowski, Groschke, Kogler, Springer & van der Zeec, 2013). Scholars have come up with different ways of categorizing demographic differences, often predicting the outcomes for different work groups based on the degree and nature of diversity in the workforce. In addition, the culture of a company heavily influences its decisions and outcomes. An organization's prevailing beliefs, attitudes, values and ideas guide the way that its staffers feel, think and conduct themselves. This often occurs subconsciously (Hernandez & O'Connor, 2010).

Determination of Organizational Culture

Organizational culture is one of the best theoretical principles required for understanding how companies work. To verify and use organizational theories, one has to compare the different cultures between different organizations, which mean the identification of common perspectives for evaluating organizational culture. Organizational culture can be evaluated by reflecting on the inner views of the members of an organization. There are several levels of culture. Despite being dominant, "norms" and "values" are only the intermediate levels of culture (Papa, Daniels & Spiker, 2008). The other levels in this multilayered culture models are the superficial levels -- manifested in the form of "artifacts" and the deepest level- manifested in the form of "basic assumptions." The three different layers of culture have been studied utilizing different approaches i.e. "basic assumptions" and "artifacts" are normally investigated utilizing qualitative approaches while "values and norms." which are the focus of this paper. are normally studied using quantitative approaches (Hernandez & O'Connor, 2010; Podsiadlowski et al., 2013).

Organizational values are those which inform the conduct and behaviors of all employees (Podsiadlowski et al., 2013). Values often belong more to the individuals working in an organization than to the organization itself, thus the assessment of values should be of particular importance during any hiring process or reassignment of staff (Robbins & Judge, 2011). The norms or patterns of conduct in an organization are the ways that the majority of members in an organization are thinking, believing and behaving (Luthans & Doh Jonathan, 2015).

Strong and Weak Cultures as They Are Found Within Health Care Organizations

A strong organizational culture is that in which there are dominant or shared assumptions and beliefs that are consistently adhered to throughout an entire organization. There are three factors that determine the strength of an organization. The first, is the thickness -- this represents the number of beliefs or assumptions shared by the organization's members; second, is the degree of sharing -- which represents the number of members that share the beliefs or assumptions; and third, is the clarity of ordering, which denotes how dominant the beliefs or assumptions are compared to competing assumptions. Thus, strong cultures are those that are thick, well-ordered, and widely shared (Papa et al., 2008). A strong organizational culture in a healthcare organization creates a clear sense of guidance and meaning, allowing employees to achieve set goals. A strong culture also enables staffs to better identify with organizational values, enabling them to in turn show more loyalty, cooperation, morale, and commitment to their work (Hernandez & O'Connor, 2010). On the other hand, conflicting beliefs or assumptions and a lack of consensus on many issues can result in a weak organizational structure, resulting in rampant divisiveness, animosity or even outright conflict in an organization, leading to decreases in productivity and/or profitability (Hernandez & O'Connor, 2010).

Organizational Culture Management

Human resources departments can adopt the following framework so as to manage a culturally diverse workforce.

i. Creating an Environment for Change

Culture can only be effective if it is used in a relevant area that requires some sort of change or if it is tied to an organizational issue (Runy, 2007).

ii. Leaders as Champions

Management is one of the most significant determinant factors in the success of culture change. The leaders of companies ought to be the champions, at the forefront of understanding and managing a culturally diverse workforce. A leader should be able to effectively use rewards / "punishments" so as to merge the organization's subcultures into several dominant and widely shared beliefs and values that can enable the organization function in harmony (Runy, 2007; Boddy, 2011).

iii. Employee Engagement and Empowerment

The engagement and empowerment of employees is crucial to guarantee the effective management and merger of subcultures within an organization (Boddy, 2011).