Diversity Management at Unilever - Example

Management Theory and Practice Name Institution Lecturer Course Date Diversity Management at Unilever Introduction Recently, there has been increasing impetus for organisations to accommodate diversity in the workplace and their activities. Consequently, diversity management in organisations has gained increased attention owing to the numerous benefits of diversity (Trenerry and Paradies, 2012, p. 12). Recent changes in workforce demographics have made workplace diversity unavoidable in organisations thereby making diversity management a crucial management practice in organisations. Changes in employment policies and regulations, which require equal opportunity for all people and zero discrimination in organisations, have also placed workplace diversity as a business imperative and consequently, diversity management a key management practice. Increased globalisation has position diversity in organisation activities as a business imperative. Therefore, diversity inclusion and management arise from two unidirectional forces: the perceived benefits of diversity combined with changes in workforce demographics, employment policies, regulations and globalisation that force organisations to work towards diversity inclusion and management. Academic scholarship has identified various roles of diversity in the workplace with respect to the advantages and disadvantages of diversity inclusion in the workplace. Literature has recognized various benefits of diversity in the workplace, which include: innovative thinking, increased creativity and increased organisational productivity (Choi and Rainey, 2010, pp. 110-111); increased market share and customer satisfaction and enhancing the performance of an organisation (Riach, 2009, p. 320); and increased employee morale and commitment (Roosevelt, 2011, p. 5). However, diversity in the workplace can lead to conflicts, which, when high, can lead to reduced employee morale, commitment, productivity and, consequently, reduced organisational performance. Further, managing diversity in the workplace is challenging. Therefore, diversity inclusion in an organisation without the establishment of appropriate diversity management practices is potentially dangerous as it can lead to reduced organisational effectiveness and productivity instead of realizing the benefits of diversity. Diversity means variety. Therefore, diversity in an organisation involves acknowledging and embracing the different ways, visible or invisible, in which people differ (Shen et al., 2009, p. 235). People differ in many aspects including gender, race, age, religion, ethnicity, personality, culture, social status, disability, marital status and sexual orientation (Subeliani and Tsogas, 2005, p. 831). Therefore, diversity inclusion in an organisation involves acknowledging that people differ in the aforementioned aspects and, therefore, including diverse people in the organisation. A diverse workforce is a collection of a multitude of beliefs, values, understandings, world views, unique capabilities, talents and unique information (Shen et al., 2009, p. 235). Such a workforce that includes people of different talents, capabilities, understanding, beliefs and values leads to an enhanced organisation that is effective in handling various organisational aspects. However, managing such a workforce, to maintain and increase the benefits of diversity while decreasing its disadvantages, becomes challenging. Diversity management involves planning and implementing organisational systems and human resource practices in such a way as to maximise the benefits of diversity and minimize (eliminate as much as possible) its disadvantages (Trenerry and Paradies, 2012, p. 13). Discrimination is the main threat of diversity in the workplace (Triana, Garcia and Colella, 2012, p. 817). A discriminative workforce avoids people based on the aforementioned ways through which people differ. For example, an organisation may discriminate people based on ethnicity, which leads to the avoidance of people from given ethnic groups. Therefore, managing diversity involves using one or several strategies that minimize discrimination in the workplace, which minimizes unfair and avoidable treatment of people differing in different ways as aforementioned. Consequently, diversity management leads to equality in power, opportunities and resources to all people (in the organisation and society) irrespective of the differences between them. In fact, diversity management involves encouraging people from different diversity aspects to participate in organisational activities through equal employment opportunities and maintaining harmonious existence among the diverse workforce. Diversity in an organisation does not only involve the workforce. An organisation has numerous stakeholders including customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders among others. Therefore, diversity in an organisation involves conducting organisational activities in such a way that there is no discrimination among different people in each of the stakeholders of the organisation. Examples of diversity in organisations include; recruiting and hiring minority groups, such as physically challenged people, women and people from different religious backgrounds (Hunt, 2007, p. 2255); introducing employees to various job functions and departments through job rotation (Clair, Beatty and MacLean, 2005, p. 88 & Trenerry and Paradies, 2012, p. 13). Unilever Unilever is a multinational company that makes various consumer products including detergents, beverages, food products, and personal care products (Unilever, 2012). The company was started on 1st January, 1930 by three people, Bergh, Jurgens and Leverulme (Unilever, 2012). Currently, Unilever leads in the ice world cream market while it takes the third position in the global consumer goods market (Unilever, 2012). The company has established over four hundred brands sold in various parts of the world. Currently, the company operates in various countries in America, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East (Unilever, 2012). Diversity Inclusion and Management at Unilever Diversity in the multinational company is concentrated on its products and workforce. Unilever is highly committed to establishing workforce that is as broad and diversified as its customer base. A reflection of Unilever’s customer base leads to a broad definition of the term diversity, which includes human differences such as gender identity, sexual orientation, economic status, age, lifestyle, expression, geography, thought and marital status alongside the traditional aspects of gender, race and physical disabilities. The company considers diversity exceedingly fundamental in the delivery of highly innovative products. The company highly insists zero discrimination and harassment while ensuring full and equal opportunity for all to establish a diversified workforce. Diversity at Unilever comprises of affirmative action, equal opportunity and work/life, the common denominator being access to the workplace. The company provides the necessary tools that allow all employees to attend work and be productive thereby eliminating disadvantages in the workplace. Since the company was started in 1930, Unilever has embraced diversity in the workforce as a fundamental value in the organisation. The company has so far established several avenues for diversity inclusion and management, which include: Recruitment Recruiting a diverse workforce is one strategy of diversity inclusion in an organisation, particularly in its workforce. This is especially crucial for organisations with a diverse customer base with respect to age, gender, race, religion, nationality among other customer base demographics (Shen et al., 2009, p. 236). Diversity inclusion and management in an organisation through recruitment requires the organisation to ensure that all aspects of the recruitment process promote diversity (Chavez and Weisinger, 2008, p. 334). A faithful representation of the customer base demographics in the workforce is of paramount importance for the success of Unilever considering that the company’s customer base is extremely diversified with respect to all demographics aspects including race, gender, age, religion and nationality among several others. Unilever uses its customer base demographics during recruitment. The company strives to establish a faithful and appropriate reflection of its customer base demographics, which leads to the recruitment of a diverse workforce with respect to age, gender, race, sex orientation, religion and disability among other personality differences (Unilever, 2012b). Unilever ensures equality in employment opportunities and equal treatment of all applicants (Unilever, 2012b). Retaining Organisations striving to maintain diversity in the workplace should work towards retaining diverse employees in their workforces (Richardson, 2005, p. 26). There are several strategies for retaining employees, all of which revolve around ensuring that employees are comfortably engaged in the workforce by fostering a conducive workplace environment where a diverse workforce coexists (Chavez and Weisinger, 2008, p. 333). Such a workplace environment ensures zero discrimination by eliminating all aspects of discrimination, such as discriminative working facilities, remuneration inequality, inequality in promotion opportunities and preference of some groups of people among others (Triana, Garcia and Colella, 2012, p. 820). Unilever uses employee retaining approach towards diversity inclusion and management. The company creates an environment where diverse employees value and understand one another and their differences (Uniever, 2012b). The company also retains diversity in the workplace by providing equal opportunities in the workplace including rewarding innovative and hardworking employees equally (Unilever, 2012b). In doing so, the company creates and maintains an organisation culture that values diversity thereby enabling the company to realize the full benefits of diversity. Strategy Into Action (SIA) Unilever believes that it cannot manage diversity on its own, which has led to the company encouraging its stakeholders, employees, vendors and contractors to value and manage diversity (Unilever, 2012). As aforementioned, organisations aimed at promoting diversity must ensure that all their business aspects promote diversity (Chavez and Weisinger, 2008, pp. 332-335). Unilever believes on the same line wherein it encourages its employees to work towards the company’s goals of diversity inclusion and maintenance in the organisation. “Valuing diversity is the job for everyone especially people and organisations directly related to the company in its activities” (Unilever, 2012b). It is crystal clear that Unilever values diversity, which makes it promote diversity in the organisation. The company’s leadership has defined Unilever’s values to give diversity a forefront issue while encouraging its main stakeholders to embrace and uphold the value of diversity. Besides the three diversity inclusion and management strategies that have been described, Unilever has established and joined in several other programs aimed at promoting diversity in the organisation, which include: Mentoring Unilever established a global mentoring program aimed at driving competitive advantage in the organisation while accelerating the company’s readiness for high potential employees for high positions in the company (Unilever, 2012a). The company’s mentorship program gives employees an equal opportunity to be promoted to high positions, which is especially aimed at encouraging women to participate in high leadership positions in the organisation. Training on Diversity Unilever believes that its main stakeholders and especially its employees should have a positive attitude towards diversity in the organisation if at all the company wants to succeed in its diversity inclusion efforts (Unilever, 2012a). A similar view is given by Clair, Beatty and MacLean (2005) who believes that diversity efforts in an organisation can only be successful if employees and senior management understands the benefits of diversity for the organisation (p. 88). Further, the organisation should clearly outline its diversity goals, which should be in line with the organisation’s strategic objectives, and communicate them to its employees and senior management. Otherwise, the organisation’s diversity goals and efforts will be suppressed by its employees and senior management, who should instead play a pivotal role in diversity inclusion and maintenance (Clair, Beatty and MacLean, 2005, p. 88). Unilever understands this requirement and has established a Diversity Learning and Development program wherein it teaches its employees and senior management the reasons why the company should embrace diversity (Unilever, 2012a). The company puts it crystal clear that women represent the largest portion of its customer base considering that women are the most spenders (Unilever, 2012b). Therefore, including women in the company’s business activities is crucial for its success. Further, the company produced a booklet and a video that profiles successful women in its business (Unilever, 2012a). The media serves to encourage women to participate in its business activities. Forming Networks and Partnership with Diversity Groups Unilever recognizes networks especially on their ability to promote diversity through the promotion of personal and professional growth. The company believes that through networks, employees are able to relate with mentors and role models (Unilever, 2012a). Consequently, Unilever has established networks and relationships that support the company’s diversity efforts. Some of the networks and relationships include Women’s Interactive Network (WIN), People Respecting Individuality, Diversity and Equality (PRIDE), Unilever Fathers and Mothers (U-FAM), Bridging Inter-Generations (BIG), INSEAD, Catalyst, Women’s International Network (WIN), BITC Opportunity Now (BOW), Working Mother and Working Mums among others (Unilever, 2012a). The networks and partnership help the company in encouraging and maintaining diversity in the organisation. The Role of Diversity at Unilever A review of the company shows that it has attached numerous benefits of diversity in its workplace, which has led to the organisations efforts to include and manage workforce diversity. Diversity in the workforce brings together people from different backgrounds with unique capabilities, talents and values (Roosevelt, 2011, p. 1). People learn from each other, which lead to a highly effective and efficient workforce and, consequently, increased organisational financial performance (Choi and Rainey, 2010, p. 110).Unilever believes that “diversity gives the organisations an opportunity to learn from each, connect with a wide customer range and, therefore, enhance its business performance” (Unilever, 2012). Consequently, the company embraces diversity by giving a fair treatment and consideration of all applicants irrespective of their race, gender, nationality, sexuality, creed, race, style or disability (Unilever 2012). Diversity in the workforce bring together diverse employees whose unique contribution leads to highly effective and efficient workforce that eventually lead to increased organisational performance. A diverse employee population combines diverse life experiences that lead to enhanced innovation and growth (Roosevelt, 2011, p. 5). In fact, research indicates that diversity is a paramount factor behind innovation because it enables an organisation or a workforce to view a problem in diversified views, which lead to diversified and competitive solutions to the problem (Choi and Rainey, 2010, p. 110). Unilever is well known for its continuous innovative products that make it highly competitive. The company’s innovativeness can now be explained from its value for diversity and its efforts towards diversity inclusion and management. Diversity in the workforce enables an organisation to handle its customers effectively. Unilever believes that effective delivery of its business goals requires a workforce that represents its customer base (Unilever, 2012). Diversity has enabled the company to understand its market place properly through an appropriate reflection of its customer base demographics. Unilever has learned that women represent a significant portion of its customer base (Unilever, 2012b). Therefore, the company has attached a high value to gender balance in its workforce considering that women represent the major portion of its customer base. A majority of its products, for instance, are used by women. Such products include detergents, cleaning agents, sanitary pads, baby nappies, food products including cooking fats and beauty products among others (Unilever, 2012). Therefore, a workforce that represents women is crucial towards achieving its vision “helping people to look good, feel good and get more out of life” (Unilever, 2012b). Having women in the workforce enables Unilever to realize its main goal, satisfying customer needs. Women in the workforce help the company in designing and making products that meet the needs of its customers. Women in the workforce represent all other women so that they provide the company with innovative ideas that help in designing innovative and effective products. Diversity is one of the underlying factors behind the company’s success and leadership in its various markets. In fact the company believes that diversity in its workforce has contributed towards its enormous growth and success since it has been able to understand its consumers all over the world (Unilever, 2012). The company acknowledges that its customer base and needs are diversified, which demands diversity in the company to satisfy its diverse customers and needs (Unilever, 2012a). The company believes that it has to mirror the diversity in its customer base and needs in its activities to achieve business success. Accordingly, it has established various ways of enhancing diversity that enable it to realize the full benefits of diversity in the organisation (Unilever, 2012a). Effectiveness of Diversity Management at Unilever Diversity management has enabled Unilever to realize the full benefits of diversity in an organisation. In particular, diversity management in the organisation has largely contributed towards its enormous performance and enormous success particularly in its leadership in its various markets. The company is ranked first in the global ice cream market while it ranks third in the global consumer products market (Unilever, 2012). Unilever’s products are meant for all people irrespective of their various differences. Therefore, diversity in Unilever is paramount for its market competitiveness, financial performance and success. The mirror reflection of Unilever’s diversified customer base and needs has resulted into continued development of innovative products that are effective in meeting the various needs of its diversified customer base. For example, Unilever is very much focused on gender balance through its numerous programs that are aimed at encouraging, recruiting and maintaining women in its workforce and leadership. Women in the organisation represent women in the society, who represent a majority of its customer base. Consequently, the company is able to identify the needs of women, which help it to design and make innovative products, such as beauty products, detergents and food products that fully meet the needs of women. In a similar way, the company has been able to establish and fulfill the needs of all its customers who are diversified with respect to age, religion and nationality. Unilever’s efforts towards diversity have not gone unnoticed. Unilever has earned external recognition for its numerous programs aimed at diversity inclusion and management. In 2011, Work Life Matters magazine ranked Unilever among the top companies, in the world, that acknowledge Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) and include these people in their business activities (Unilever, 2012a). The company’s diversity and inclusive culture also enabled it to score 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index for four consecutive years (Unilever, 2012a). In 2010, Unilever’s Chief Executive Officer was awarded the 2010 Jackie Robinson Achievements in Industry award for the company’s extensive efforts towards diversity in the world and in particular for having provided job and scholarship opportunities to minority students (Unilever, 2012a). Unilever’s mentoring program aimed at diversity inclusion was recognized by Harvard Business Review in 2010 for having established a new sponsorship style that makes men and women equal for promotion in organisations (Unilever, 2012a). Lastly, but not the least, Unilever’s Chief R&D Officer appeared in the list of fifty Most Powerful Women in Business, which showed Unilever’s value for women (Unilever, 2012a). The external recognition outlined above shows the effectiveness of Unilever diversity inclusion and management strategies. For example, recognition of the company’s Chief R&D Officer shows the effectiveness of Unilever’s mentorship program that lead to the promotion of Genevieve Berger, the Chief R&D Officer. This not only shows that Unilever has equal opportunity of men and women in the organisation, but also shows that the company acknowledges the unique differences among different people. Internal analysis of the company also shows that its diversity inclusion and management strategies are effective. A survey done by the company, on its employees, shows that a high percentage of its employees is satisfied with the diversity management strategies employed by the company. In particular, the company’s efforts towards establishing a working environment where everybody is respected and treated with respect and dignity are considered highly effective in managing diversity. Conclusion Diversity in an organisation is associated with numerous benefits that lead to a company’s competitiveness and improved financial performance. Unilever values diversity in its business activities. In particular, the company values diversity in its workforce, which has resulted to the company establishing various management strategies geared towards diversity inclusion and management. The company’s diversity strategies have been effective because they have resulted to a diverse workforce in the organisation, which has made the company realize the numerous benefits of diversity while being recognized for its diversity efforts. In particular, diversity management strategies at Unilever have resulted to a diverse workforce, which is the main factor behind Unilever’s innovative and effective products, as well as the ability to handle its diverse customer base. Recommendations The diverse customer base and, consequently, diverse customer needs seems to be the main driving force behind the company’s efforts towards diversity in the workplace, which has led to the establishment of the various diversity management strategies. Support from the company’s senior management is highlighted as of paramount importance towards diversity inclusion in the organisation (Chavez and Weisinger, 2008, p. 334). Therefore, the company should intensify its education efforts wherein it should intensify education on the benefits of diversity to its employees and particularly its senior management. The education program would also involve educating employees on how to maintain diversity in the workplace. The company’s senior management and leadership are responsible for making various decisions in the organisations, most of which can highly affect Unilever’s diversity efforts. Such decisions include, for example, employee recruitment and selection, promotion and employee transfer, which directly affect diversity. In addition, Unilever should establish a reward scheme wherein it rewards employees who works towards maintaining diversity in the workplace based on the education program. In doing so, the company will have tasked its employees to include and maintain diversity in the workplace. References Chavez, C. I. & Weisinger, J. Y. (2008). Beyond Diversity Training: A Social Infusion for Cultural Inclusion. Human Resource Management, 47(2): 331-350. Choi, S. & Rainey, H. G. (2010). Managing Diversity in U.S. Federal Agencies: Effects of Diversity and Diversity Management on Employee Perception of Organisational Performance. Public Administration Review, 70(1): 109-121. Clair, J. A. Beatty, J. E. & MacLean, T. L. (2005). Out of Sight but not out of Mind: Managing Invisible Social Identities in the Workplace. Academy of Management Review, 30(1): 78-95. 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