Journal of Management Development

Managing your diverse workforce through improved communication

Golnaz Sadri Hoa Tran

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Journal of Management Development, Vol. 21 Iss 3 pp. 227 - 237
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Managing your diverse

workforce through improved
communication
Golnaz Sadri and Hoa Tran

Department of Management, College of Business and Economics,

California State University, Fullerton, California, USA
Downloaded by Universiti Malaysia Sabah At 00:48 23 March 2016 (PT)

Keywords Mentoring, Equal opportunities, Management, Communications, Personnel

Managing your
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227
Received November 2000
Revised March 2001
Accepted April 2001

Abstract Diversity in the workforce has become a demographic reality across the globe. There
has been some debate amongst academics and practitioners over how to deal with employee
diversity. Many agree that organizations should aim to manage diversity rather than simply value
it or rely on affirmative action policies. Proposes that improvements in supervisor-subordinate
communication will assist organizations toward the goal of managing diversity by promoting
integration and equality in the workplace. Recommends two strategies for accomplishing better
supervisor-subordinate communication: managing personal growth and mentoring. The former
may be implemented successfully in the short term while the latter takes a long-term focus.
Concludes that in order for any managing diversity program to succeed, managers and
supervisors need to demonstrate their commitment to the program and to communicate the
relevance, importance and benefits of such programs to all employees throughout the
organization.

Introduction
Diversity may be defined as the ``state of being diverse, that is, different, unlike,
various'' (Patterson, 1990). Thomas (1996) suggests that diversity relates to
everybody and is multidimensional. Diversity in today's society encompasses
culture, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, physical abilities, social class,
age, socioeconomic status, and religion (Allen, 1995; Ferdman, 1995; Hopkins
and Hopkins, 1994).
Diversity in the workforce is not just a politically correct buzzword, it has
become a demographic reality. According to Ferguson and Johnston (1995),
diverse describes a typical firm's employees, independent contractors and
customers. Increased attention to diversity initiated partially from a report
(funded by the US Department of Labor) which had predicted that by the turn
of the century, five out of every six new workers in the USA would be women,
African-American, Hispanic or an immigrant (Packer, 1987). In addition, almost
one in every three persons in the USA is African-American, Hispanic Asian or
native-American. The birth rate in the USA is not sufficient to replace the
working population and so companies will look to replace their workforce with
people who previously did not work retirees and women caring for their
children. The shifting demographic profile of the US population and workforce
are likely to introduce tensions at work because differences in norms and
values among varied groups are likely to manifest themselves in different
work-related attitudes and behaviors (Allen, 1995).

Journal of Management Development,

Vol. 21 No. 3, 2002, pp. 227-237.
# MCB UP Limited, 0262-1711
DOI 10.1108/02621710210420291

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While most organizations agree that diversity is a reality, there has been
disagreement over how to deal with such diversity. There are at least three
different approaches: affirmative action, valuing diversity and managing
diversity. Gardenswartz and Rowe (1994) compare these three approaches.
According to them, affirmative action tries to monitor and control the
changing demographics of an organization. It affects hiring and promotion
decisions, is legally driven, benefits specific target groups, assumes that
groups brought into the organization will adapt to prevailing norms and
meets resistance due to fears of reverse discrimination and the limitations it
imposes on autonomy in decision making. Valuing diversity focuses on the
benefits of differences and on developing an environment in which everyone
feels valued and accepted. Valuing diversity is driven by ethics, assumes that
incoming groups will retain their own characteristics and help to mold the
organization (as well as be molded) so that a common set of values is created.
The benefit of valuing diversity is that it can result in positive employee
attitude, but it meets resistance due to fear of change and a general
discomfort with differences. Managing diversity tries to build specific skills
and to create policies that derive the best from each employee. It is
strategically driven in that policies are seen as contributing to organizational
goals and objectives (like profit and productivity). Managing diversity is
based on the assumption that diverse groups will create new ways of working
together and that morale, profit and productivity will increase. The main
resistance to managing diversity comes from denial (of demographic realities
and of the need for new approaches) and the difficulty involved in learning
new skills, new systems and finding new solutions. Academics and
consultants agree that organizations should aim to manage diversity rather
than simply value it or rely on affirmative action policies (Gardenswartz and
Rowe, 1994).
The present paper agrees that managing diversity is the most appropriate
strategy and adds to the literature in this area by proposing that
improvements in supervisor-subordinate communication will assist
organizations toward this goal. Effective communication strategies can assist
in managing diversity by promoting both integration and equality in the
workplace. Specifically, this paper presents two approaches: managing
personal growth and mentoring. We suggest that organizations use the
managing personal growth process as a short-term strategy to dealing with
diversity-related issues and that organizations use a mentoring program as a
long-term strategy for achieving real equity and fairness amongst all
employees in the workplace.
This paper is divided into four sections. First, the problems associated with
workplace diversity are addressed. Second, openness in superior-subordinate
communication is presented as one solution to the problems associated with
diversity. Third, the managing personal growth process is presented as a
short-term approach to managing a diverse workforce. Fourth, employee

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mentoring is proposed as a long-term strategy for managing a diverse

workforce.
Problems associated with workplace diversity: similarities and
dissimilarities at work
In the workplace, perceptions of similarities and dissimilarities have an
impact on work-related behaviors and outcomes. Research derived from the
reinforcement-affect model of attraction has focused mainly on attitudinal
similarity as a determinant of interpersonal attraction, and it has led to the
conclusion that we tend to like people who are similar to us and dislike those
who are dissimilar to us (West and Wicklund, 1980). For example, there is a
tendency to attract, select, retain and reward organizational members who
are similar to those who are already in place (Herriot and Pemberton, 1995;
Triandis, 1995). If the managers in place are strong leaders with exceptional
interpersonal and task skills, then attracting those who are similar only
strengthens the organization. However, within a diverse workplace
environment, the reinforcement-affect model of attraction can have a
negative impact. For example, managers may react more negatively toward
workers who are perceived as dissimilar to themselves than toward workers
perceived as similar. Such negative reactions can, in turn, limit the potential
of the individual and ultimately limit the potential of the organization. These
negative behaviors can include stereotyping, differential organizational
socialization, subtle bias, micro inequities (small events which are hard to
prove, events that are covert, often unintentional, and frequently
unrecognized by the perpetrator) and ineffective communication. Clearly, all
such behaviors are likely to lead to employee perceptions of inequity in the
workplace.
A solution to workplace diversity: openness in superior-subordinate
communication
There is a distinction in the management literature between theory X and
theory Y managers (McGregor, 1960). Theory X managers typically like to
maintain most, if not all, control and assume that employees are lazy and
lacking in initiative. Theory Y managers prefer to delegate and to share
responsibility and decision making with their subordinates. Theory Y
emphasizes the independence, responsibility and growth of individuals in
organizations. From this orientation toward employees there developed a
concern for improving superior-subordinate communication through openness,
trust and mutual respect, for establishing supportive organizational climates
and for sharing power through participatory decision making. Theorists
reasoned that improving relational communication would increase job
satisfaction and worker involvement, thus leading to higher productivity
(Euske and Roberts, 1987). Although research has reflected that the link
between effective communication and employee satisfaction is stronger than
the link between communication and employee productivity (O'Reilly and

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Anderson, 1980; Pincus, 1986), the importance of perceived openness in

superior-subordinate communication is undeniable. It can help companies
develop good management-employee relations and thus improve overall job
performance.
Although openness in superior-subordinate communication is only one
ingredient in the recipe for effective business communication, it is an essential
element in the overall process. A supervisor's tendency to disclose more or less
job-related information to workers based upon similarity or dissimilarity
creates feelings of discomfort, discrimination and alienation among those who
perceive they are victims of an unfair and inequitable system. If we accept that
open communication is a path to facilitating diversity and creating perceptions
of fairness and equity among employees in the workplace, then it is
constructive to examine both short-term and long-term strategies for achieving
this goal.
A short-term strategy for managing diversity: the managing
personal growth process
The managing personal growth (MPG) process was developed by
BlessingWhite (a Princeton-based individual and organizational development
firm). The MPG method was used to facilitate discussions aimed at finding a
means to boost employee job satisfaction and to make employees realize their
role in their career development. The MPG approach involves four phases:
pre-workshop assignment, workshop, development discussion and continued
feedback. Each of these is discussed below (BlessingWhite, 1999):
(1) Pre-workshop assignment. Each participant and his or her manager
independently define the employee's job responsibilities, important
skills and personal capabilities (or talents). Employees are asked to
examine and rate their personal and professional values, and to begin
accepting responsibility for their successes and failures.
(2) Workshop. Participants attend a one-and-a-half-day to two-day
workshop during which they clarify their values and personal
motivators, develop ideas for increasing job satisfaction, and compare
their priorities and skills with their manager's assessments. Using this
insight, employees then create a developmental plan that outlines
specific actions.
(3) Development discussion. The workshop prepares participants to
initiate an honest, results-oriented discussion with their managers.
When the meeting takes place, the employee and his or her manager
review the employee's development plan and agree on job priorities,
areas for development and the best ways to use the person's strengths.
The open discussion, usually lasting an hour to an hour-and-a-half,
creates a partnership that helps promote individual and organizational
success. The development discussion differs from a performance

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appraisal conference because the manager plays the role of coach, not
judge.
(4) Continued feedback. Participants and their managers meet two or three
times a year to talk about progress and plan for continuing
development.
Implementing the managing personal growth process: Dow
Chemical USA
Dow Chemical USA successfully opened up the communication line between
employees and their supervisors through the MPG process (see American
Management Association, 1993). When asked to rate its effectiveness,
participants gave the MPG procedure scores between 4.6 and 4.8 on a five-point
scale, with five being the highest. Managers at Dow Chemical also reported
improved attitudes, job control and feelings of empowerment among
employees. Because employees who take part in the program became more
conscious of their performance and their jobs, MPG ultimately benefits the
company as well as the individual.
After participating in MPG, employees understand better how to discuss
problems and challenges with their managers. Not only does the employee
discuss problems with his/her manager but often employees suggest avenues
for improvement, and frequently such ideas are implemented and lead to
ongoing collaborative improvements in the problematic situation. In instances
when the situation could not be improved, the employee and his/her manager
discussed the reasons why it could not be improved and the employee felt
better equipped with such knowledge.
Although MPG is a process geared toward individual growth, a company
can also benefit in a variety of ways. Participants begin to see their jobs as
ways to fulfill their personal needs and this helps them to develop more of an
interest in improving their performance at work (BlessingWhite, 1999).
A long-term strategy for facilitating communication: mentoring
Contemporary organizations are increasingly turning to mentoring programs
as a vehicle for creating opportunities for open communication between
employees and for assimilating newcomers into the institutional culture (Webb,
1995). As it occurs naturally, mentoring is a relationship between a senior
organizational member (the mentor) and a more junior organizational member
(the protege). Mentoring can be viewed from different perspectives such as
management, communication, education and career development. The focus
here is on communication because mentorship can help influence and socialize
the protege.
Owing in part to its current popularity as an organizational socialization
technique, mentoring can initially appear as a panacea, a ready solution for
many organizational communication problems. However, one must remember
that any type of effective management of diversity requires organizational
change on at least three levels: cultural, structural and behavioral. Cultural

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change involves changes that alter the organization's basic assumptions,

values, beliefs and ideologies that define its view of itself and its environment.
Structural change involves changes in the grouping of positions and
departments within the organization. Behavioral change involves changes in
behaviors, attitudes and perceptions among individuals and work groups
(Ragins, 1995). While this multi-level approach can be applied as an antidote to
numerous organizational ills, Ragins emphasizes that all three levels of
organizational change must occur before mentoring can be implemented
effectively and operated optimally. For example, management must encourage
the process by publicly announcing and backing mentoring programs (cultural
level). Then management must ensure that there are enough experienced hands
on board to serve as mentors, especially during times of corporate downsizing
(structural level). Finally, the mentor must be willing to share his/her
hard-earned experience and wisdom with a younger or less experienced
colleague, without expecting anything in return and the protege must not be
afraid to ask questions, no matter how stupid or embarrassing such questions
may appear (behavioral level).
Mentoring is a practice that serves a number of roles or functions in the
workplace: mentors provide career development roles, which include:
.
coaching;
.
sponsoring advancement;
.
protecting proteges from adverse forces;
.
providing challenging assignments; and
.
fostering positive visibility.
They also provide psychosocial roles, including:
.
personal support;
.
friendship;
.
acceptance;
.
counseling; and
.
role modeling (Kram, 1985; Ragins, 1995).
The preceding activities are all interpersonal in nature and they all build on
and extend reciprocal and open communication between the mentor and the
protege.
The mentoring relationship and the activities that occur within its
boundaries ideally allow the protege to enter and to adjust to the organization
with much more ease than he/she would be able to do without the mentor. In
essence, the properly mentored employee is able to make the transition from
outsider to insider more easily, to become initiated to his/her job more quickly,
to establish new interpersonal relationships more effortlessly, to discover his/
her role in the organization more clearly, to find congruence between
self-evaluation and organizational evaluation of his/her work performance

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more accurately, and to resolve conflicts more readily. Given the many benefits
for both the mentor and the protege involved in the mentoring relationship, this
process is definitely one avenue for addressing the perceived inequities
associated with increased diversity in the workplace.
In spite of the benefits of such relationships, however, barriers sometimes
inhibit the initiation, formation or continuation of mentoring relationships.
They can include organizational cultures, structures or behaviors that impede
diversified mentoring. As noted by Hennefrund (1986), some mentoring
relationships run into trouble when the interests of the parties change,
differences in judgment exist between mentors and proteges, or mentors and
proteges have undue involvement in one another's personal problems. Myers
and Humphreys (1985) note that some mentors are tyrannical or selfish.
Natale et al. (1988) discuss the role of envy in mentoring relationships that can
result in proteges cloning themselves into images of their mentors or the
mentor blocking the progress of a protege who is a ``rising star'' in the
organization. The key to overcome these problems and to carry out a
successful mentoring relationship is the fit of mentor and protege. This goes
beyond just personality. An ability to work together provides the foundation
for a more successful relationship. This is based on trust and respect each has
for the other. The chemistry between protege and mentor is not required for
success. This chemistry can, however, develop over time to enhance the
relationship.
While potential barriers that can hinder the effectiveness of mentoring
programs do exist, mentoring is a useful strategy. It is a strategy, however,
that requires adjustments and synchronicity at cultural, structural and
behavioral levels in order to operate effectively. Consequently, it is most
effective as a long-term strategy for improving communication within a
diverse workplace.
Mentoring in practice: Texas Commerce Bank
The 9,000-employee Texas Commerce Bank in Houston began a formal
mentoring program in its retail division in early 1995 by providing highpotential management employees, such as branch managers, an opportunity to
learn from more experienced senior managers. The program has since
expanded to include two distinct initiatives aimed at nurturing minority
managers and another that offers ``informal'' mentoring to all employees in the
bank's retail division (Jossi, 1997).
The formal program begins with a two-day training session that teaches
mentors and proteges what to expect from the relationship and how to get the
most out of it. Then mentors and proteges meet face to face at least once a
month, and most speak on the telephone or exchange e-mail on a regular basis.
Proteges are taught in the initial training session to be as clear as possible
about the skills they want to learn from their mentors. In effect, proteges direct
the mentors' role by probing for information about specific subjects and
seeking coaching for particular skills.

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As a result of the mentoring program, surveys suggest that there is more

teamwork and better mobility throughout the bank. Many employees see an
improvement in their work performance, leading to promotions after receiving
the mentoring (Jossi, 1997).
Discussion and conclusion
This paper looked at some of the issues that arise from managing a diverse
workforce. Diversity can sometimes have a negative impact on members of
minority groups because there is a tendency to attract, select, retain and reward
organizational members who are perceived as similar. Various authors have
discussed the barriers and challenges to managing diversity (Loden, 1996;
Morrison, 1992; Spragins, 1993). Among these barriers are:
(1) Inaccurate stereotypes, and the belief that differences are a sign of
weakness. Thus, hiring from a diverse employee pool will result in a less
competent workforce.
(2) The ethnocentric belief that one's own cultural rules and norms are
superior to the rules and norms of other cultures.
(3) Lack of opportunities and poor career planning on the part of diverse
employees that eliminates them from senior management positions.
(4) The development of a hostile working environment for diverse
employees who may be excluded from social events and group activities.
(5) Diverse employees often do not know how to play the political games
necessary to get ahead. For example, women and people of color are
often excluded from organizational networks (Ferris et al., 1996).
(6) Women still assume the bulk of child-related activities and this makes it
more difficult for them to balance career and family issues.
(7) There is fear among some employees that managing diversity is a form
of reverse discrimination. This results in the perception of managing
diversity programs and policies as a win-lose rather than a win-win
phenomenon.
(8) Diversity is often not seen as an organizational priority, thus time and
resources devoted to diversity are viewed as being diverted from more
important projects.
(9) Managing diversity often requires that performance appraisal and
reward systems be changed to consider a new set of criteria. This meets
with resistance if people feel that their promotion opportunities or
financial rewards will be adversely affected.
(10) Managing diversity involves organizational and personal change, and
change of all kinds meets with resistance.
This paper proposed two solutions to help attract, retain and reward
members of diverse groups. The first of these solutions was the managing

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personal growth process, offered as a short-term solution to the problem. In

terms of the barriers and challenges identified by Loden (1996), Morrison
(1992) and Spragins (1993), managing personal growth will assist in the
management of a diverse workforce by improving the career planning of
the diverse employee, providing a more supportive work environment and
by helping the employee balance career and family issues by clarifying his
or her priorities. The second solution was employee mentoring, offered as a
long-term solution to the problem. Again, in terms of the barriers and
challenges identified by Loden (1996), Morrison (1992) and Spragins (1993),
mentoring can assist members of diverse groups by improving employees'
career plans, providing a supportive environment, teaching them some of
the rules for success, and helping to balance career and family issues. In
addition, because mentoring is a long-term relationship, it can have the
benefits of helping the mentor to change any inaccurate stereotypes he/she
may hold and this will, in turn, help to eliminate feelings of ethnocentrism.
In organizations that reward the mentor for his/her mentoring activities,
the process of managing diversity becomes a win-win phenomenon and
this, in turn, will help to lessen fears of reverse discrimination.
Most workplace diversity initiatives fail because many people do not have
a complete understanding of what managing diversity entails. They are
either overly concerned with numbers, make wrong assumptions about the
type of work individuals can accomplish, or fear the adverse consequences
such programs might have on them. To ensure the success of diversity
programs, managers and supervisors need to demonstrate their commitment
to such programs and, more important, communicate to all employees the
relevance, importance and benefits of such programs to all employees.
Where there is acceptance for diversity programs throughout all levels of the
organization, fears of reverse discrimination and adverse performance
appraisals and promotion are reduced and sometimes eliminated. In such
cases, diversity will clearly be viewed as an organizational priority and
resistance to change will be lessened.
Empirical research in the area of managing diversity is needed. This
paper proposed improved communication as one step toward the goal of
attaining a more satisfied and motivated diverse workforce. Specifically, we
focused on two strategies: managing personal growth and mentoring.
Empirical research is needed to test the effectiveness of these approaches.
Researchers may want to consider criteria such as job satisfaction,
absenteeism, productivity and turnover before and after the implementation
of such strategies. Such research would be of interest and relevance to both
academics and practitioners.
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