Recall from Chapter 1 that p lanning is a specific action proposed to help the organization achieve its objectives. It is an ongoing process that includes troubleshooting and continually identifying areas where improvements can be made. Planning for diversity may involve selecting diversity training programs for the organization or setting diversity goals for employees within the department.

Setting goals for the recruitment of members of underrepresented groups is a key component of diversity planning. If top management has identified Hispanics as an underrepresented group within the company, every manager throughout the company will need to collaborate with the human resources department to achieve the organizational goal of higher Hispanic representation. For example, a manager might establish goals and objectives for the increased representation of this group within five years. To achieve this five-year vision, the manager will need to set benchmark goals for each year.

According to Chapter 1, o rganizing is the process of establishing orderly uses for all resources within the management system. To achieve a diverse workplace, managers have to work with human resource professionals in the areas of recruitment, hiring, and retention so that the best match is made between the company and the employees it hires. Managerial responsibilities in this area may include establishing task forces or committees to explore issues and provide ideas, carefully choosing work assignments to support the career development of all employees, and evaluating the extent to which diversity goals are being achieved.

After managers have begun hiring from a diverse pool of employees, they will need to focus on retaining them by paying attention to the many concerns of a diverse workforce. In the case of employees with families, skillfully using the organization’s resources to support their needs of daycare for dependents, allowing flexible work arrangements in keeping with company policy, and assigning and reassigning work responsibilities equitably to accommodate family leave usage are all examples of managers applying the organizing function.

According to Chapter 1, i nfluencing is the process of guiding the activities of organization members in appropriate directions. Integral to this management function are an effective leadership style, good communication skills, knowledge about how to motivate others, and an understanding of the organization’s culture and group dynamics. In the area of diversity, influencing organization members means that managers not only must encourage and support employees to participate constructively in a diverse work environment, but also must themselves engage in the career development and training processes that will give them the skills to facilitate the smooth operation of a diverse work community.

Managers are accountable as well for informing their employees of breaches of organizational policy and etiquette. Let us assume that the diversity strategy selected by top management includes educating employees about organizational policies concerning diversity (e.g., making sure that employees understand what constitutes sexual harassment) as well as providing workshops for employees on specific cultural diversity issues. The manager’s role in this case would be to hold employees accountable for learning about company diversity policies and complying with them. Managers could accomplish this task by consulting with staff and holding regular group meetings and one-on-one meetings when necessary. To encourage participation in diversity workshops, the manager may need to communicate to employees the importance the organization places on this knowledge base. Alternatively, the manager might choose to tie organizational rewards to the development of diversity competencies. Examples of such rewards are giving employees public praise or recognition and providing workers with opportunities to use their diversity skills in desirable work assignments.

Overseeing compliance with the legal stipulations of the EEOC and affirmative action is one aspect of the controlling function in the area of diversity. According to Chapter 1, controlling is the set of activities that make something happen as planned. Hence, the evaluation activities necessary to assess diversity efforts are part of the controlling role managers play in shaping a multicultural workforce.

Managers may find this function to be the most difficult of the four to execute. It is not easy to evaluate planned-change approaches in general, and it is particularly hard to do so in the area of diversity. Many times the most successful diversity approaches reveal more problems as employees begin to speak openly about their concerns. Moreover, subtle attitudinal changes in one group’s perception of another group are difficult to measure. What can be accurately measured are the outcome variables of turnover; representation of women, minorities, and other underrepresented groups at all levels of the company; and legal problems stemming from inappropriate or illegal behaviors (e.g., discrimination and sexual harassment).

Managers engaged in the controlling function in the area of diversity need to continually monitor their units’ progress with respect to diversity goals and standards. They must also decide what control measures to use (e.g., indicators of productivity, turnover, absenteeism, or promotion) and how to interpret the information these measures yield in light of diversity goals and standards.

For example, a manager may need to assess whether the low rate of promotions for African American men in her department is due to subtle biases against this group or group members’ poor performance compared to that of others in the department. She may find that she needs to explore current organizational dynamics as well as create effective supports for this group. Such supports might include fostering greater social acceptance of African American men among other employees, learning more about the African American males’ bicultural experiences in the company, making mentoring or other opportunities available to members of this group, and providing them with some specific job-related training.

Given the complex set of managerial skills needed to promote diversity, it is obvious that managers will need organizational support if the company is to achieve its diversity goals. One important component of the diversity strategy of a large number of companies is diversity training.40 Diversity training is a learning process designed to raise managers’ awareness and develop their competencies to deal with the issues endemic to managing a diverse workforce. More and more, managers are recognizing that a diverse workforce is critical to the exploration of new ideas and the creation of innovation in organizations and that diversity training is a valuable tool in achieving this diversity.⁴¹