Workforce Performance vs Diversity and Conflicts
Workforce performance has always been one of the key drivers in leading organisations towards their set goals. Workforce diversity is one the main components of workforce performance that has never been a big issue before globalisation. Workforce diversity refers to a planned commitment to employ, retain and reward a heterogeneous mix of employees. Diversity in an organisation can help in improving effectiveness. Organisations which sets an image of managing and recruiting a diversity of employees attract more employees that can fill the missing gap of skilled companies. Managing diversity also enhances capabilities of competitive advantage with benefits like better decision making, higher creativity and greater success in the workforce which overall boosts workforce performance. Managing diverse workforce can come up with many challenges attached to it which requires top management techniques to successful combat those challenges, these are:
Diversity should be linked to human resource management decisions made during recruiting employees, placement of employees in departments and keeping performance management indicators always in mind.
Motivation, satisfaction and commitment of employees are a must for an excellent working environment.
Communicating performance standards clearly and establishing them with set criteria must be adopted when analysing desirable/undesirable behaviours at work.
Strategies in-place should always be based on culture of the workforce and managers should analyse the culture and alter strategies to fit all with an unbiased approach.
Mentoring programs that involves engagement with experienced professionals from the industry also helps in providing advice and solving conflicts on personal basis.
A clear business case should be practiced and presented so that employees are aware of tasks assigned and outcomes of their work.
Relevant literature articles and authors with workforce related experience along with researchers have discussed the need of a set of performance measures that should be in-placed in order to provide HR managers with a scorecard when setting performance criteria for employees. These set of criterias are:
Company’s objective must be kept central when choosing performance criteria.
Competing organisations should be compared to make sure performance criteria cuts above the other companies in same business.
Clear and concise purpose should be stated for each performance criteria
All methods and data collection techniques should be clearly defined.
Performance criteria should never exceed the capabilities of employee, making sure people are not overworked to meet the set criteria.
Selection of performance criteria should always include discussions with people who will be directly affected by the criteria.
Conflict in an organisation is also considered as one of the main factors that causes disturbances in the environment. A conflict can be good or bad. Conflicts occur due to different perceptions of individuals where ideas, behaviours, attitudes, interests, political differences can be a topic of dispute. Its role of managers to avoid/ solve conflicts as when solved conflicts results in dynamic team performance whereas when unresolved they can damage the organisation’s culture in long term.
Figure above describes the conceptual framework consisting of what role does human resource management has to play in order to promote workforce performance.
