Abstract

Managing the work place is the main responsibility of the Human resource department
because it has a lot of impacts on the productivity of the organisation. The workplace
diversity in Almarai Company totally transforms the environment and the operations of the
organisation. This report illustrates the initiatives and the challenges that are faced by the
company while implementing the workforce diversity.
Introduction about organisation
The name of the company which I have selected is Almarai; it is located in Saudi Arabia and
comes under the top leading food and beverage manufacturers and distributer. It was founded
in 1977 and working well in the middle East and North African regions of Saudi Arabia. The
main products of the company include poultry, bakery, juice and dairy items and infant
nutrition.
Vision
Remaining in the top most preferred choice of their customers is the vision of the company
and delivering them super quality of food and beverages.
Mission
The mission of the company is to provide superb quality of nutritious food to its customers.
Maintaining nutrition in the beverages is very important for them for the health of their
customers.
Organizational structure
Introduction about diversity
Definition
The significant differences among people are known as diversity. It could be noticeable in in
different organisations all over the world. The differences are based on gender, sexual
orientation, race, culture, cast, age, physical ability, religion, class etc.
Concepts
The concept of diversity for Almarai Saudi Arabia is always demands upon the acceptance in
respect of every single individual. The organisation clearly understands that every individual
is unique in his own way. The company is managing the diversity in a very well manner by
valuing every individual rather than discriminate them. Almarai Saudi Arabia focuses upon
every employee talent and diversity and work very hard to make sure that every individual is
developed and valued every single day.
Benefits of diversity
According to Almarai company there are a lot of benefits diversity in the organisation:
Different perspectives
If there is a factor of diversity in the organisation it always ensures that it is a variety of
different perspectives. If every employee is from different characteristic and background so
they have different skills and experience, which results in highly beneficial for the company
in planning and executing the business.
Increased creativity and innovation
The food and beverage company Almarai while focusing on diversity gets a lot of good ideas
and creativity in the organisation. The innovation is in creativity is only because of having
people with different backgrounds and with fresh and new ideas.
Better decision making
The company also observe the factor of better decision making, because when the employees
are from different background and perspective came together they have better solutions and
strategies. Which improve the decision-making process and results on the success of the
company goals.
Challenges of cultural diversity at work
Here are some of the challenges of cultural diversity that are faced by Almarai Company in
Saudi Arabia:
Language and Communication issues
One of the biggest challenges for Almarai Company is language and communication issues
while having diversity in the organisation. English is not considered as a first language in
Saudi Arabia that’s why it’s difficult for every individual to understand the language of the
other one. Due to the lack of understanding the language is it results in poor communication
and drop in productivity. Employees feel difficult to understand their cultural gaps as well as
avoid some specific words which may have different terminology is there used as a slang in
the other language.
Too many opinions
People are from different backgrounds in Almarai Company that’s why the management of
the company face difficulty in managing too many opinions. As people have different culture
so they have different experiences and solutions to every problem. The thinking perspective
of every individual is also different that’s why too many opinions would result in the
reduction in productivity.
Implementation challenges
At start the company face a lot of difficulties in the implementation of diversity in the
organisation. The company is also further divided into different bands that was difficult for
the management to implement diversity in every brand and store. Most of the employees feel
frustrated at the start because there are a lot of people who resist changing.
Factors to consider in adopting a diverse workforce
Almarai Company in Saudi Arabia considers these factors in adopting a diverse workforce:
Equal treatment with the diverse employee groups
While adopting the diverse workforce in your organisation Almarai Company focuses upon
the equal treatment with the diverse employee groups. The company make sure that every
single employee even having different background of perspective must fall the access
towards the same opportunities.
Fair recruitment policy
The company also look up on the fair recruitment policies while selecting the employees
from diverse backgrounds. It is very important to make the recruitment policy fair and based
upon the merit. The company always make sure to ignore the personal characteristics of the
employee which are not related to a job performance.
Respecting employees special needs
Most of the workers, while the recruiting processes from diverse backgrounds are disabled
but they are crucial because they have a lot of talent. While adopting a diverse workforce
focus upon hiring disabled employees and through the help of technology the company
enable the disabled employees to be an active part of your organisation.
Criticism and limitations of managing diversity
Criticism
While managing diversity in the organisation can have criticism in some negative ways
which includes the creation of barriers, miscommunications and the adaptation of behaviour
is between people with different cultural backgrounds.
Limitations
Diversity in the workplace would results in reducing the factor of trust in the organisation.
There is also a limitation that some of the diverse groups become hostile.
Conclusion
So, it is concluded that Almarai Company in Saudi Arabia manage their workplace diversity
so well. The company clearly represent that the reflection of diverse workforce would result
in changing perspectives in their organisation. It is clearly seen that a lot of diverse working
teams in Almarai Company brings high value to the organisation. The company respect
individual differences a lot which creates a competitive edge as well as increase the
productivity.