Google Australian and How It Conducts Its Workforce Diversity Initiatives - Case Study Example

Name Institution Tutor Date Introduction The changes in the demographics of the workforce, an increase in the number of employment opportunities and the continued expansion of globalization has resulted to an increase in workplace diversity. Any organization that offers equal employment opportunities is therefore characterized by the existence of diversified employees. Workplace diversity can be described as a collection of different people that work together for a common objective (Hankin, p67). When the workforce is diverse, numerous challenges are bound to arise. However, several benefits can also be attained from a diverse workforce. It is therefore essential for Human resource managers to manage the existing diversity in order to get desired benefits. This paper seeks to examine how managing a diverse workforce can contribute to an organization’s sustained competitive advantage and meet the needs of its employees. The scope of the analysis will be grounded on providing a case of Google Australian and how it conducts its workforce diversity initiatives. How managing a diverse workforce can contribute to an organization’s sustained competitive advantage and meet the needs of its employees Studies have shown that organizations that hire and support a diversified workplace of ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds and then manage the existing diversity effectively, can develop a sustainable competitive advantage. A case in point is a study conducted by Ali et al (p2) on gender diversity in the workplace discloses that managing gender diversity in the workplace has the ability to influence the existence of a sustainable competitive advantage. The study majorly focuses on examining the linear relationship that can be attained from the resource based view of the firm, whereby the business uses its resource to gain a competitive advantage. The findings disclosed the existence a U shaped curvilinear relationship which demonstrates that there can be difference in the findings on the basis of the existing industry differences. In addition, both positive and negative implications on the competitive advantage of the business can be attained. An underlying assumption of the study however is that managing gender diversity can bring about a competitive advantage for the firm. For instance when men and women are integrated together in teams/ departments, the arrangement can bring about positive implications on the processes and performance of both the departments and teams in different levels of the organization. In the longrun, the company will be able to attain a competitive advantage over other firms. The study therefore encourages Human resource managers to increase diversity in terms of gender at different levels of the organization (Ali et al (p2). According to Saxena, (p77) human resource management is usually concerned with managing the human aspect of the organization. This basically implies that managing workplace diversity is an essential activity for human resource managers. When organizations recruit employees from different genders, perception, attitudes, religion and caste, there is need to ensure that the employees work towards meeting the objectives of the organization. Although managing workforce diversity is a difficult task there is need for Human resource managers to be actively involved in the practice, this will therefore result to attaining a cardinal interpersonal relationship within the work environment. The existence of a cardinal working relationship then becomes an incentive for the smooth functioning if the company. Based on the fact that an organization is a network of people who work together in order to attain certain objectives , if the objectives are constantly attain then productivity is attained and in the finally a sustained competitive advantage can be attained from the improved performance (Saxena, p77). The model can be illustrated by figure I.0 below Pride et al (p254) argues that although managing workplace diversity can be seen as a challenge by Human resource managers, there is need to see it as an opportunity as opposed to a threat. The Human resource manager therefore has a great role to contribute when it comes to managing workplace diversity. A key area of diversity that should be managed is cultural diversity. Pride et al (p254) discloses that managing cultural diversity can be beneficial for the organization in terms of gaining a competitive advantage. A cultural diverse workplace refers to the differences that exist among people in terms of race and ethnicity. Managing cultural diversity therefore involves motivating and supervising people who have a broad range of value systems. When managed effectively cultural diversity can result to creativity whereby employees from diverse cultural backgrounds can come up with unique business ideas that can advance the performance of the business, and therefore creating a competitive advantage for the business. Additionally, firms that manage their cultural diversity effectively may be provided with an opportunity to gain a marketing edge based on the fact that the organization is able to understand different cultural groups. This is because the culturally diverse employees are able to market to people from different backgrounds and therefore giving the organization a competitive edge over organizations that cannot that have not established and effective system of managing cultural diversity (Pride et al , p254). Effective managing of diversity in the workplace can also influence or enhance organizational performance which can further enhance the competitive advantage of the business. Simons and Rowland (p171) examined the impact of workplace diversity on organizational performance. According to Simons and Rowland (p181) when human resource managers adopt a good diversity program in good faith, the performance of the organizations can be improved. This can be attributed to the fact that the employees from diversified backgrounds can work together as an innovative team that can improve the performance of the organization. In addition, when diversity in managed effectively, employees can embrace each other and work collaboratively in teams to improve the performance of the organization. The employees accept each other’s differences in terms of thinking, their talents and abilities which can further enhance collaboration and good performance. In the long run, the organization is able to attain a competitive advantage that is derived from the good performance (Simons and Rowland, p171). Managing human resource diversity is also able to respond to the needs of the employees. Workforce diversity acknowledges the fact that employees differ in various ways which includes ; gender, marital and social status, age, religious beliefs, disability, ethnicity, personality, cultural diversity, work and life experiences, social-economic background and perspectives (Kossek et al. 2006, Shena J. et. al. 2009). As a result, managing the existing diversities is bound to meets the requirements of the based on the fact that the work environment would be made conducive for the employees and thus enhancing their production capabilities , their motivation and their commitment to the organization . A case of Managing Workplace Diversity at Google Australia Managing diversity among Employees from the Asian Community Google as an international company is one of the global leading companies that have embraced workplace diversity. Google Australia has employees from different ethnic backgrounds and the Asian community is well represented in the company. Although the company acknowledges the fact that it is not where it what’s to be when it comes to managing employee diversity, nevertheless , the company has adopted various initiatives to manage employee diversity among the Asian community (Google Australia, 2015). One of the basic reasons for managing employee diversity of the Asian employees is to connect them to the Google community. Employees from a non-English speaking nation from Asia often experience the challenge of being disconnected from the others. This may be influenced by language, moral and cultural barriers that may hinder the employees to connect with the rest of the workforce. The Human resource department at Google therefore manages employee divert in order to connect the employees from the Asian community to the recent of the workforce (Google Australia, 2015). Google Australia also manages employee diversity in order to increase the productivity of the employees. The polices that exist in the company work towards ascertaining that the employees recruited from different communities are result driven. The employees should be able to produce good results for the company. The Human resource department has therefore works towards ascertaining that the Employees from the Asian community have conducive working conditions that can enhance their productivity (Google Australia, 2015). The retention of Asian employees in the company is also a significant aspect for the Google Australia Company. This is because many of the Asian workforce are well qualified within varies departments and work areas such as Information technology. Consequently, the company ensures that workforce diversity management is conducted to ensure that the skills and competencies of the Asian employees are retained with the organization (Google Australia, 2015). How and Why Google manages the diversity of the Asian community The Asian community is about 30% of the employees that work in Google Australia. This therefore makes them to be a minority despite the existence of employees from other nations. One of the key reasons why managing diversity among the Asian community is that they are lack common factors that may connect them with employees from other regions of the one. Some of the common factors include, language, cultural and ethical perspectives. There is therefore need to ascertain that the employees are effectively integrated into the work environment and that they are comfortable. Strategies Adopted by the Google to manage employee Diversity Google developed the Asian Googler Network (AGN), which is basically one of the biggest resource groups created as the Google Company. The objective of the network is to educate the employees about the Asian culture. It is essential for employees from different backgrounds to be aware of the Asian culture in order for them to effectively work in collaboration with them. The network has therefore been beneficial in provision of education concerning the Asian culture. The Asian Googler Network (AGN), has also been useful in terms of supporting career development and retention of employees from Asian regions. This is because through the network, employees are able to access career development resources that are suitable to their career requirements. The Asian Googler Network (AGN), accomplishes this through mentorship, networking and providing opportunities for community services which include national mentorship programs, annual Autumn Moon Festival and competition (Google Australia, 2015) Provision of equal benefits to all the employees is another approach that has been adopted by Google Australia in order to manage employee diversity. Google wants to ensure that the Asian employees feel appreciated and loved. As a result, the organization ensures that they are provided to similar benefits just like any other employee. Some of the benefits provided include programs such as caregiver leaves and other work life balance benefits (Google Australia, 2015) Google also works towards ensuring that there is fairness in the work environment. The objective of the company is to create a work environment whereby every employee feels that they are treated fairly and without any discrimination. The Human resource department evaluates and examines the opportunities that exist in the organization to ascertain that there is equity in promotion of employees. This ensures that the employees from the Asian community do not feel excluded from promotional opportunities and other existing opportunities in the organization (Google Australia, 2015) Conclusion Works Cited Ali, Mohammed, Metz, Isabel and Kulik , Carol. Workforce gender diversity: Is it a source of competitive advantage?, 21st ANZAM conference, Sydney, Australia. Hankin, Harriet. The New Workforce: Five Sweeping Trends That Will Shape Your Company's Future. AMACOM. 2005. Google Australia. 2015. Retrieved From Kossek, .E., Konrad, P and Pringle , M. ‘Human Resource Strategies to Manage Workforce Diversity,’ in Handbook of Workplace Diversity, Sage, pp. 54–74. Simons, Starlene and Rowland , Kimberly. Diversity and its impacts on Organizational Performance. Journal of Technology Management & Innovation, J. Technol. Managing Innovation. 2011. Volume 6, Issue 3 Shena J. et al. Managing Diversity through Human Resource Management: An International Perspective and Conceptual Framework .The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 2009. Vol. 20, No. 2, 235–251. Pride, William and Hughes, Robert, Kapoor , Jack. Business . Cengage Learning, 2009 Saxena, Ankita . Workforce Diversity: A Key to Improve Productivity. Procedia Economics and Finance 11 ( 2014 ) 76 – 85. Read More