Actions speak louder than words for diversity

Line managers play a critical role in the successful management of employee diversity in an organisation, and staff perceptions of how positively their manager handles diversity impacts their job satisfaction and commitment to the company.

These are the findings of Nadia Nagamootoo from the Institute of Work Psychology at the University of Sheffield and Marc Adams from Pearn Kandola, the occupational psychologist practice.

Two types of diversity training were conducted in a large UK service organisation; awareness and skills based. The aim was to establish the extent to which participants' behaviour towards diversity had changed over the year in which they had received awareness and/or skills based training.

Managers who had received only the awareness training reported little change in their behaviour to diversity. However, those who participated in the awareness and skills based training reported a positive increase in their management of diversity. A key finding from the research was that staff perceptions of how positively their manager handles diversity impacts on their job satisfaction and commitment to the company.

Marc Adams said "Line managers play a pivotal role in implementing diversity. However, all too often companies talk the rhetoric of diversity and fail to put it into action where it matters - in how their employees are actually managed."

Nadia Nagamootoo said, "Organisations have become increasingly aware of the importance of managing diversity effectively, not only in terms of meeting legal requirements, but also possible impacts on the bottom line. The implications of these findings demonstrate the need to help managers develop practical skills to effectively manage diversity issues in the workplace".