Question

Define what diversity means in an organisational context and how you would optimise employee talent.

Answer 1

Workplace organizational diversity applies to the overall workplace staff composition and the amount of diversity involved. Diversity refers to variations in specific distinguishing personal traits such as age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, ethnic origin, faith, education and many other secondary attributes. The influential subject of diversity management is closely related to organizational diversity. It refers to the process of proactively preparing the human resource and management to maximize the benefits of diversity while playing down challenges. Diversity management characteristics typically provide knowledge about sensitivity and cultural awareness.

Diversity can provide the organizations with many benefits. A primary benefit is that a wide range of employee experiences ensures the organization as a whole has greater breadth of experience and expertise in critical areas impacting the company. Similarly, when employees have diverse backgrounds, discussions typically produce a broader range of ideas. Furthermore, businesses serving a diverse population or a global audience can support the diverse market through workers who can speak the language and communicate from a cultural point of view more appropriately.

When an employee is a mismatch for a job, there is not only a loss of productivity but also a time-loss in the hiring and training processes. However, recruiting is greatly improved by embedded intelligence, artificial intelligence (AI), and other emerging technologies.

For applicants, these new technologies may benefit by finding and applying similar job openings based on the experience and skill set of the applicant, or by reacting with more details relevant to the position being considered. Similarly, hiring managers can use the technologies to identify best-fit candidates, understand their best recruitment sources and use recommendations to help narrow the list.

The onboarding of new employees is often an overlooked job, albeit a crucial one. Employees join an organization full of hope and anticipation but on the first day they are often met with frustration and a checklist of administrative tasks. HR teams that are able to reinvent the onboarding process and create a positive new employee experience will help turn new hires into committed, productive employees and company ambassadors as well.