Week 6 Managing Human Talent and Teams

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T experience, of different gender and ages shouldn't be underestimated. In fact managing diverse teams continues to remain one of the success factors (and challenges !!) of large and old organisations. But, managing these teams can sometimes prove to be an Achilles' heels for many organisations.

he challenge of leading groups of people from different backgrounds, with wide ranging aspirations and

L E A R N I N G & D E V E L O P M E N T

collaborative interaction. These teams work best where operations are multi-product, multi-function and multi-location. And companies have realised that in order to foster organisational agility and ensure quick response times, having diverse and cross-functional teams is the way to go.

Challenges of managing diverse teams Nowadays, workforces are becoming

In today's dynamic and fiercely competitive business environment, diverse teams have to be realised and leveraged as a competitive advantage as organisations are increasingly using work teams as functional tools to achieve their strategic objectives. As per Stephen Covey, "Strength lies in differences, not in similarities." The rationale for using diverse teams is that there are inherent synergies as teams allow both functional specialisation and

The rationale for using diverse teams is that there are inherent synergies as

teams allow both functional specialisation and collaborative interaction.

These teams work best where operations are multi-product, multi-function

and multi-location. - by Saurav Ray

Unity in diversity -

Managing diverse teams

Unity in diversity -

Managing diverse teams

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increasingly diverse with a mix of cultures, languages, functionalities and geographies that would not have been possible two decades back. Although this mix will bring increased range, expertise and adaptability to a company, it also presents several unique challenges for today's team leaders and HR managers.

One of the major challenges facing organisations promoting diverse teams is resistance. Every workplace has people who resist diversity and the changes it brings, even in the most positive of environments. Negative attitudes can damage morale, slow down positive changes and decrease employee productivity.

Although gender diversity is now pretty much balanced in sectors like IT/ITES and service, women employees are still considered to be an unacceptable norm in manufacturing sectors. The manufacturing sector is heavily skewed towards male employees and the percentage of women employees in this sector is dismal. That too, whatever female employees are found in manufacturing are in support functions. You would see a rare instance of a female employee working in the shopfloor, which is quite unlike some countries like Europe and Japan where the number of women employees on the shopfloor are quite significant, although the trend now seems to be changing in India. Organisations like IBM have acknowledged diversity as a strategic imperative and have created special task forces to ensure that diversity is well accepted and encouraged in the organisation through forums like WILL (Women in Learning and Leadership).

Employee resistance can be handled through workshops on team building and employees getting to know each other in formal and informal settings.

Another challenge that greatly differing backgrounds can present is communication difficulties, which sometimes cause disruptions in the collaborative fabric of the team. Assuming you don't have team members who are overtly prejudiced against other cultures or nationalities, you could still face the challenge of strongly ingrained belief systems and expectations. Methods of communication that are normal for one group of people may appear ineffective or improper to another group. For example, Americans tend to be informal compared to many other cultures and may come across as excessively friendly to someone, particularly an older person, from Europe or Japan. A person from a culture where loud voices and interrupting are not intended to be aggressive may intimidate someone from a culture that teaches a more reserved manner of expression. Learning in advance about the

cultures of co-workers before you work on a team with them can help you understand their methods of communication. As the leader, you're the one expected to overcome these challenges and ensure that the team achieves the stated goals.

If you are an expatriate - leading an organisation in a country to which you are not native - the potential challenges take on a new aspect. The requirements for multi-national leaders can be daunting. Global executives need the same knowledge and capabilities as domestic executives, as well as special attributes and skills to deal in unknown and often radically different cultures and environments. Multi- national organisations like Honda, LG and Tata Motors, to name a few, have developed cross-cultural training modules which an expatriate is expected to attend when he or she comes to India. Likewise Indian employees being sent on a global deputation is also taken through these training sessions which focuses on cross-cultural diversities and etiquettes. This enables the individual to overcome challenges of settling down in a new country with a new team.

Doing it right Twenty-first century organisations are challenged by diversity in many arenas. Demographic changes in workforce composition and customer populations, combined with globalised markets and international competition are increasing the amount of diversity organisations must manage, both internally and externally. Leaving aside whatever challenges diversity management may pose, the cultural diversity in today's scenario adds lot of advantages to an organisation. Organisations like Accenture have embraced diversity and leveraged it for competitive advantage. Accenture's enduring core values - stewardship, best people, client value creation, one global network, respect for the individual and integrity - have worked in support of inclusion and diversity since the organisation's founding. In 2003, Accenture

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In a career spanning over 16 years,

Saurav has worked in various diverse

industries and cultures across different

HR systems and sub-systems. His areas of

interest include leadership development,

change management, talent

management and organisational

development. He can be reached at

[email protected]

Saurav Ray Dy. General Manager – HR

Federal-Mogul India

HC

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formally established a 'Global Inclusion and Diversity' corporate function to provide strategic guidance and support for Accenture's diversity programs and activities in all countries around the world. Companies like Hindustan Unilever is changing the paradigm of diversity in India. It's nail products factory in Haridwar is run by an all- women's team. Other companies in the FMCG space like Gits Food Products and P&G are also following suit.

Another company which has always ensured that its workforce has always reflected the communities in which it does its business is Ford Motors. Recognising the company's day-by-day growth in diversity in the company, Ford realised that it needed to strategically and effectively manage the diverse workforce to enable its implementation continue to work to the company's advantage. Ford therefore recognised some measures like its global diversity vision of diversity and inclusion to attract new diverse workforce.

Way Forward To summarise, on the one hand, workplace diversity not only covers the differences between coworkers and colleagues, but also the acceptance, understanding and celebration of those differences. Diversity in a company offers a

variety of perspectives during decision making, access to a wider audience or client base and increased productivity, according to an article on Multicultural Advantage, an online business resource. On the other hand, establishing and managing a diverse environment has preventable and curable challenges that can be damaging to the company.

The only way of ensuring effectiveness towards diversity management is accepting it and embracing it with open hands. A first step towards popularising diversity management within an organisation is creating awareness amongst the employees through various communication channels and living it in letter and spirit. Employees should realise and appreciate that diversity and inclusion is a way of life within the organisation. The New Companies Act 2013 mandates greater representation of women on boards in India Inc., which will pave the way for including more women in the Indian workforce.

Diversity must be supported by a truly inclusive workplace, in which individuals are acknowledged and valued for all the different perspectives, ideas and experiences that they bring to their workplace. Only then can a diversity management program work for an organisation.

� One of the major challenges facing organisations promoting diverse teams is

resistance. Every workplace has people who resist diversity and the changes it

brings, even in the most positive of environments.

� Learning in advance about the cultures of co-workers before you work on a team

with them can help you understand their methods of communication.

� As the leader, you’re the one expected to overcome these challenges and ensure

that the team achieves the stated goals.

� Diversity in a company offers a variety of perspectives during decision making,

access to a wider audience or client base and increased productivity.

� The only way of ensuring effectiveness towards diversity management is accepting

it and embracing it with open hands.

� A first step towards popularising diversity management within an organisation is

creating awareness amongst the employees through various communication

channels and living it in letter and spirit.

takeaways

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