MONASH

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SCHOOL

MGF 2661 HRM

Employee Diversity,
Inclusion & Well-being

Marie Crozier-Durham

1
Textbook references

▪ Nankervis et al., 2020 Chapter 2. Skim read chapter for an overview. Carefully read
pages 56 - 64 (Changes in the workforce and the nature of employment); pages 65 on
pay equity’; pages 66-73 (ageing workforce & changes in employment patterns;
Chapter 5 page 192 diversity management pp. 204-207.

▪ Nankervis et al., 2017 Chapter 2. Skim pages 54-63. Carefully read pages 63-79
(starting with Changes in the workforce and the nature of employment); Chapter 5
(managing diversity & flexibility), pp. 204-207.

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 Reading for this week
▪ Reading 4: Deloitte The diversity and inclusion revolution : Eight Powerful Truths
https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/deloitte-review/issue-22/diversity-and-inclusion-
at-work-eight-powerful-truths.html

and
▪ Reading 4b: Guest, D. (2017) Human resource management and employee well-
being: towards a new analytic framework. Human Resource Management Journal,
27(1), pp. 22-36.

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Managing Diversity and Inclusion Learning Outcomes

Understand the concepts of diversity and inclusion and how they relate
to anti-discrimination, competitive advantage and ethical management

Explain why diversity, inclusion and wellbeing are consistent with both a
Harvard HRM and SHRM approach

Explore and understand key issues relating to diversity and inclusion as

they relate to SHRM

Understand the issues relating to employee wellbeing and meeting the

needs of employees and the organisation
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What is diversity?
Defining terms
• A diverse workplace understands that each individual is unique, recognising individual
differences. These can be along the dimensions of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation,
socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, or other ideologies. They are
the same attributes that represent our diverse community.
What is inclusion?
• Inclusion, while closely related, is a separate concept from diversity. An inclusive workplace
can be defined as “the achievement of a work environment in which all individuals are treated
fairly and respectfully, have equal access to opportunities and resources, and can contribute
fully to the organisation’s success”.
• An inclusive culture is about creating a deep sense of belonging, where every employee is
valued and their ideas heard.
• https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/Diversity-Strategy

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Other terms
▪ Diversity (People’s similarities and differences)
▪ Inclusion (Respect, acceptance, valuing all employees)
▪ Diversity Management
– ’Creating an environment where individual differences are valued, respected, acknowledged
and included’ (Nankervis et al., 2020, p. 551 (Glossary entry)
▪ Equal employment opportunity (Government legislation)
– Employees have equal opportunity regardless of race, colour, gender, ability
– Remove sources of discrimination
▪ Affirmative Action
– Recognises some groups eg women may need particular policies and practices to achieve
equality eg Workplace Gender Equity Agency

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Dimensions
of Diversity
dD

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Why is diversity and inclusion a topic of interest for us/HR? #1
▪ Where to start? Well a few points ..
▪ Demographic, social, business, workplace change means
diversity is a real and prominent workplace /business issue
Compliance
• Nature of organizational cultures leading to sexual
harassment -including in the Australian Parliament
workplace and many organisations
▪ Representation and visibility of ethnically diverse including
Indigenous people, LGBTIQ+ and those with disability in
workplace profiles, and/or board and senior management
roles Brittany Higgins
• Organisations outperform non-diverse competitors
(McKinsey) (Correlation/Causation?)
▪ Ongoing concerns about the number of women occupying
board and senior management roles

▪ Diversity in the workforce affects financial Nas

performance, satisfaction & engagement Campanella
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Why is diversity and inclusion a topic of interest for us? #2
When there is a dominant group, other groups may be discriminated against

Discrimination impacts work, employment and

HRM
▪ Direct discrimination
– Employment policies and programs, outcomes
and decisions that discriminate on the basis of
age, gender, race or ethnicity, ability, sexual
orientation
▪ Indirect discrimination
– Employment outcomes or decisions that do not
seem to discriminate directly but they
disadvantage a person or group usually due to
factors such as motherhood, caring
responsibilities, ability, sexual orientation.
▪ Legal discrimination
– HR activities such as recruitment and selection
using job related criteria = legal discrimination
– Exemptions

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The good news story: Diversity at IBM

Diversity and Inclusion at IBM Australia

▪ Diversability - a group dedicated to furthering the
needs of people with disability.
▪ Women@IBM – a group which aims to support the
growth, development, advancement, and
recognition of women in IBM.
▪ Eagle (Employee Alliance for LGBT+
Empowerment) – a group for LGBT+ employees
and their allies.
▪ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders – This
group focused on creating and implementing IBM’s
Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) vision and
objectives.
▪ Maori & Pasifika – This group is dedicated to
https://au.gradconnection.com/employers/ibm/inclusion-and-diversity-at-ibm/
weaving te reo Maori and tea o Maori into all of IBM
NZ’s culture and practices.

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 Simplified SHRM Model & Managing Diversity & Inclusion &
Wellbeing
Dynamic Environment Organisational
Demographics, legislation,
Economic, legal, political, Outcomes
family and social relations,
social, and
industrial relations • Performance
industrial relations
• Productivity
• Flexibility
Vertical Alignment

• Efffectiveness
• Cost effectiveness
Vision • Profitability
HRM Strategies
Strategic Business Plan
and policies
Key Stakeholders
HRM activities to support diversity,
inclusion and wellbeing
Compliance Equity & Diversity and Inclusion
Dynamic Environment fairness Employee Wellbeing eg
Global, regional, national and local Eg flexibility, policies
Inclusion Job design, employee that value diversity
Eg recruitment, promotion Assistance programs and inclusion
rewards

Horizontal Alignment MONASH

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See Figure 1.5 page 39 of Nankervis et al 2020
 Why is are these things a concern for HRM?

DIVERSITY AND DISCRIMINATION ISSUES
IMPACT ORGANIZATIONAL OUTCOMES
VIA THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP AND
EMPLOYEES’ PARTICIPATION AT WORK
DIVERSITY AND DISCRIMINATION IMPACT
AT THE INDIVIDUAL LEVEL EG EMPLOYEE
ATTITUDES, ENGAGEMENT AND GENERAL
WORK MOTIVATION AND SATISFACTION
LEGALLY AND ETHICALLY EMPLOYEES HAVE
RIGHTS AND INDIVIDUALS SHOULD NOT BE
DISADVANTAGED OR DISCRIMINATED
AGAINST DUE TO NON-JOB RELATED
CHARACTERISTICS

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Different approaches to diversity and inclusion

Business Case/Resource •Invest in and use all available resources

•Economic benefits ie competitive advantage and improved performance, legal compliance
based view (strategic)
•Broad view of diversity and mobilizing diverse workforces to benefit the organization and employees via diversity and

SHRM inclusion.
•Branding organisations as open and diverse places to work
•Eg the Deloitte’s article

Ethical/Legal (justice •Diversity and inclusion linked to ethical and social issues with a concern with a broad range of stakeholders
•Legally, employees have rights and employers have responsibilities to treat employees equitably and fairly
and fairness) •Eg the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) examples

Organisational culture •Eg Deloitte’s article and IBM approach

& change

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Deloitte’s Eight Truths about diversity and inclusion (Dillon & Bourke)

▪ Business case for diversity and

inclusion (strategic) HR strategy can support diversity and inclusion
– Performance through diversity of
thinking
– Culture/Branding
– Leadership
▪ Ethical (inclusion involves respect,
freedom from discrimination)
▪ Legal case (lawful management
practices to remove discrimination)
(My comment: Human Rights perspective)
https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/deloitte-review/issue-22/diversity-and-inclusion-at-work-eight-powerful-truths.html

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Deloitte’s Eight Truths about diversity and inclusion (Dillon & Bourke)

Diversity will not offer benefits without inclusion

Inclusion may allow the organization to meet employee
needs for belonging, respect and personal growth.

Can you link these points

to last week’s
lecture on employee
Engagement & also
this week’s second topic
Wellbeing?

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 A model of inclusive organizations
Perceived
HIGH inclusion
Inclusion practices and

Degree of organization inclusion

processes:
Top • Psychological safety
Management • Involvement in the work
management Retention
focus on group
commitment to and
enhancement of • Feeling respected and
diversity and expansion
inclusion valued
inclusion • Influence on decision- of talent
making
• Authenticity
• Recognizing, honoring,
and advancing of Inclusion
diversity climate
LOW

Proactive e.g.,
Compliance practices and policies:
Psycholocially
• Recruitment of protected social
Top Management
categories Safe, Mentally
management focus on Healthy,Disability
• Management of harassment and
commitment to prevention of -Confident
discrimination claims
compliance exclusion
• Diversity training Workplaces

Management of micro-
inequities and subtle MONASH
discrimination BUSINESS
Shore,L.M.,Cleveland,J.N.,& Sanchez,D. 2018 SCHOOL
On the flip side lack of action on diversity & inclusion leads to negative outcomes for employees

Discrimination (direct and indirect) may impact of particular groups of staff eg

women, older workers, young workers

Indirect gender-based discrimination leads to outcomes for women eg inequities

in pay, career advancement, access to positions of power

Workplaces/practices that exclude young/old/LGBTIQ+/people with disabilities

lead to unequal outcomes eg access to employment, meaningful work

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Lack of action on diversity & inclusion leads to negative outcomes for organisations

RBV view – organisations do not make full use of their

human resources

SHRM view – HR outcomes may not be achieved because

employees are not valued/deployed as valuable resources

Legal/ethical view – the organization may face legal action,

be fined, face reputational damage for discrimination

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 Theory to make sense of diversity & inclusion
▪ Resource based view/human capital
theory
– Failing to value/capture value of
all human resources ie can we
argue male resources are more
valuable than female resources?
– Managing diversity viewed as a
source of competitive advantage?
▪ SHRM model/VRIO
– Deployment of
(valuable/useful/relevant)
resources to achieve sustainable
competitive advantage?
▪ Harvard Model
– Are all stakeholders’ interests
taken into account eg female
workers? Society/community in
general?
– Meets the needs of some
individuals (men)?
▪ Legal framework
– Compliant with the relevant anti-
discrimination, affirmative action
and industrial relations laws?

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 Going back to IBM: the benefits of diversity from an HRM perspective

▪ Diversity and HRM

– Employees are diverse in background,
characteristics and ways of participating in work.
– This can imply pluralism & potential conflict
– Hence managing differences will lead to improved
organisational performance ie competitive
advantage
– This will also lead to a more ethical and inclusive
workplace and enhance employee wellbeing
– May be associated with employer branding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NMHQZjamLY

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In summary, managing diversity is a legal, ethical, strategic and operational HRM
issue for organisations
• Non-discriminatory policies (SHRM & Harvard)
– Save $$ cost if HRM unlawful
– Champions equity and fairness (good for multiple stakeholders)
– Enhances branding and reputation
• Business case: strategic response to current conditions (SHRM)
– Diversity of workforce & ‘war for talent’
– Diverse customer markets, globalised markets
– Improved performance outcomes
• The RBV case (related to above)
– Competitive advantage by overcoming the above or managing more effectively
– Firms that manage their diverse workforces may be more profitable than their
competitors eg IBM

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Wellbeing

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Employee wellbeing

▪ Definition from World Health Organization

– Wellbeing is a ‘state of complete physical,
mental and social well-being, not merely
the absence of disease or infirmity’ (WHO,
1946 cited in Guest 2017, p. 26)
▪ Other elements of wellbeing
– More than job satisfaction and related to
‘fulfilment of potential and finding
meaning and purpose in work’ (p. 27)
– Linked to Quality of Working Life
movement
▪ Safe and healthy work environment,
development of human capabilities,
security, rights and representation
etc
▪ Also flexibility and individual
autonomy
▪ Link between wellbeing and
engagement?

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See pages 458-459 of your text

▪ Creating a safe, healthy and

ethical work environment to Stresses from the broader environment eg COVID19
address
– Work stress
– Employee personal problems
Workplace stress
▪ There has been much written
in relation to personal and Emotional and psychological responses to the work environment
work stress relating to COVID-
19 working from
home/lockdown Stress and other workplace maladies can come from the
▪ Compliance – OH&S design of work, how relationships are managed as well as
the physical environment.

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Guest’s (2017) argument
▪ Points to arguments (well discussed
this semester) about whether HRM
outcomes result in mutual benefits or
conflicting outcomes
▪ Argues that despite the rhetoric, HRM
can have damaging effects on
employee wellbeing eg high
performance work systems/high
involvement systems because of the
focus on organisational outcomes
25
▪ Proposes a model of HRM & wellbeing
that focuses on employee interests
and outcomes and suggests practices
likely to promote well being AND
performance
▪ Points to the usefulness of the Harvard
Model to inform his proposal
▪ Model assumes a mutual gains
approach and a positive employment
relationship
(see page 30 for the model)
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 Guest’s mutual gains model offers a broader understanding
of wellbeing

Wellbeing
related HRM

Guest, 2017, p. 30

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 HR practices designed to
promote employee well-being

HRM dimensions of well being HRM practices

Investing in employees Recruitment and selection
Training and development
Mentoring and career support

Providing engaging work Jobs with autonomy & challenge

Information and feedback
Skills utilisation

Positive social and physical environment Health and safety

Equal opportunities/diversity management
No bullying and harassment
Fair rewards
Security/employability

Organisational support Voice/participation

Flexibility and WLB
Performance management

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 In summary- adding Guest to our HR model
• Harvard Model • SHRM • Guest Model
– Pluralist – – Unitarist (single • Pluralist –
multiple outcome = Mutual gains
stakeholders organisational • Meets employee
and outcomes effectiveness/su & org. needs
– ‘Soft’ focus ccess) • Wellbeing leads
to productivity
employee – ‘Hard’ – focus
needs • ‘soft’ focus on
needs met via
employee
– Meets org, org. outcomes.
wellbeing
employee & – Meets org.
society needs needs only
The models assume that employees are valuable and best organised
through a system of HRM practices that are aligned with each other to achieve MONASH
particular outcomes BUSINESS
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Linking this week with last week
• SHRM –SHRM focuses on employee productivity & performance leading to business
success but questions remain as to SHRM losing sight of the value, needs, interests
and complexity of humans as employees/ resources
• Greater engagement can increase employee performance, satisfaction, retention and
contributes business success and competitive advantage
• Technological change and disruption has impacts on how work is done and how
employees (and their skills) are viewed and managed- implications in relation to
equality
• HR is impacted in terms of the changing nature of work due to technology as well as
how HR uses technology to deliver services Stronheimer& Parry
• HR activities which relate to engagement – socialization, recruitment & selection,
performance management, training and development – organizational culture
• HR activities which relate to diversity – all of the above and…, promotion,rewards, Job
design, Employee Assistance Programs, flexibility, policies that value diversity and
inclusion.

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 Conclusion
• Diversity and Inclusion
– The diverse characteristics of a
workforce may create unequal
contributions and outcomes
– Managing diversity and inclusion offers
benefits for both the organization and
employees
– Unequal outcomes due to discrimination
has business, ethical and legal
implications
– Diversity and inclusion has implications
for HRM in terms of valuable HRs being
undervalued or unable to perform due to
factors that exclude them.
• Employee wellbeing
– Guest’s model focuses on HRM
practices that enhance individual
wellbeing
– This model assumes that if people
feel looked after and valued then
they will be productive
– Stresses beyond the workplace
may impact on organisations and
employees eg COVID 19
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