Companies are well aware of the strong business case for diversity, but is HR taking the right approach to diversity management? Natasha Gunn investigates.

Picture a group of young 'white' males, all working for a leading management consultancy, presenting their proposal to a major client across the table. Next, picture this highly qualified team filing out of the meeting room having had their 'valid' proposal turned down by the client on the grounds that their group isn't 'diverse' enough.

According to Job Voorhoeve, Deloitte's Director Recruitment and Deployment, Europe Middle-East and Africa and board member of NVP (www.NVP-plaza.nl), this is exactly what happened to a group of advisors from one of Deloitte's European offices.

"In this case, the client said, 'If this is the team that is going to support me or give me advice on strategic business issues, then I don't think this is the right match. We are a much more diverse group than you are'," said Voorhoeve, speaking at a recent business networking event at the Rotterdam School of Management Erasmus University, which focused on the management of staff in an intercultural arena.

Voorhoeve sees the above example as evidence that diversity is driven by the economy; by clients' demands. 

"Typically, our clients ask the question, 'is this group able to advise our organisation and our people how to do things differently?'," said Voorhoeve. "Clearly this wasn't the kind of group the client had in mind."

But, as Professor Kurt April, of the Graduate School of Business of the University of Cape Town (SA), countered, "in such a group of young white males there could be diversity; after all each individual has a very different identity." 

Although clearly, as Executive Coach Fredrik Fogelberg commented; such a group shares several attributes: a similar profession, nationality and gender.

"In practice there are some aspects of people's behaviour that are related to the groups they belong to – therefore there probably would be 'narrowness' there," he said.

No one, however, would dispute that there is a business case for diversity and numerous reports cite evidence to this end.

For instance, a recent report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) warns that if organisations do not take diversity seriously they could face difficulties attracting the best candidates to fill vacancies.

"It is important to provide training for line managers in order to demonstrate the business case behind diversity because they can help make the change," writes Dianah Worman, CIPD Diversity Adviser.  "Changing mindsets and developing good practices will help organisations retain knowledge and experience, widen the recruitment base, and could lead to more customers and greater profits."

Nina Jacob, a visiting professor of Intercultural management, speaking at the RSM event, gave a case-study of a company which, after setting up offices in Singapore, found it needed to set up a new 'loosely-coupled' structure in order to operate effectively. 

The company found its structure needed redesigning on a continuous basis to cater to the needs of its multicultural personnel. Details of this case-study and others can be found in Jacob's book 'Intercultural Management' (Published by Kogan-Page in 2003).
 
So diversity management often leads to rules, policies and structural changes, and that makes sense. So why isn't it all plain sailing?

"HR managers need to ask themselves three fundamental questions," said Professor April: "Why can't we get diversity management right? And if we can't get it right then why do we keep doing it, and then only harder and faster? Plus, when we do get results, then what were we doing?"

He pointed out that organisations "are looking at diversity as a problem to be solved," and "diversity keeps talking about people in categories."

Although by nature people do categorise immediately, the paradox according to April is "how can a unique individual's potential be celebrated if it is seen as deviant?"

Common practice informs HR that "'diversity' is a form of tension—and as management theories are against tension this indicates that diversity is undesirable," said April, who believes that when diversity management is done right it becomes "inclusive and 'mysterious', but not a problem."

Fogelberg also holds this viewpoint. "The whole message of diversity is to bring some tension into your system—some differences in view points—and manage them correctly," he said.

When tensions arise, according to April, the key for HR is to recognise when it is culture, professional reasons, or background that they are dealing with.

April also feels that HR needs to pay more attention to patterns of power. How this influences groups as they feel included or excluded. "HR managers should see how to sustain these groups," he said, pointing out that the whole issue is less about culture and more about people's self-esteem and how this shrinks as they feel themselves in 'out-groups' and expands as they feel part of  an 'in-group'. 

This interpretation is based on the Social Identity Theory, originally developed to understand the psychological basis of intergroup discrimination and further developed by Tajfel and Turner in 1979.

Fogelberg agrees that subconsciously the majority group sets the rules, the values, and behavioural norms within an organisation.

"In a group, when there is a majority on a certain aspect, like language for instance, or when the majority is female, or a finance group, or people who have been a long time with the company, you do see the majority/ minority dynamic playing out," he said.

Helping people to live in more ambiguous situations is a way forward according to April, who suggested that coaching could be the solution.

So how do you go about selecting a coach? Although the title 'coach' itself is not protected—anybody can put the title under their doorbell—not anyone can be a member of a coaching federation or governing body.

"Many bodies are trying to make sense of coaching and to regulate it and to protect the title, such as the European Coaching Association," said Fogelberg, whose work as an executive coach involves supporting managers and leaders who are internationally active and who lead intercultural teams and organisations.This means he also coaches individuals in using diversity more effectively.

In April's view, if companies find they don't have the resources to justify the extra cost of coaching, perhaps they should perhaps think of the secondary costs of what a dysfunctional person is doing to the business.

"HR needs to become business consultants with an HR flavour," he said.

Natasha Gunn is the editor of Expatica HR. Any feedback on this topic is welcome.