Modern Day Workplace Environment Is Changing At A Very High Rate

According to Sullivan and Decker there is a ten-step process to implement change (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). In the first three steps the manager must

Managing change is a difficult and complex task for a number of reasons. Planned change needs to be balanced with continuity to maintain personal and organizational equilibrium. Most of the work of managers is concerned with maintaining routine day-to-day activities. Too much change leads to initiative fatigue and innovation overload; too little leads to stagnation.

Managing organizational diversity is the most critical leadership issue facing organizations today. According to Daft, “The growing diversity within organizations brings vitality and many benefits but also brings a variety of challenges, such as maintaining a strong corporate culture while supporting diversity, balancing work and family concerns, and coping with the conflict brought about by varying cultural styles” (Daft, 2013). The United States is becoming more diverse every day. Leadership is now having to deal with issues that were not has prevalent in the past because of workforce diversity, globalization, and technological advancements. An organization that embraces this change and creates diversity management plans will stand out from its competitors. Having employees from various backgrounds lays the foundation for productivity, creativity, and innovation.

Managers must be aware that change is a never ending process; but also that people might react differently to it. Many people fear change so it is up to the manager to take them out of their comfort zone and make them have a positive reaction. It is a leader’s job to explain why change is needed, how it will improve the activity of the organization and make sure that everybody is on board. If employees’ opinions are taken into consideration, then cooperation is established and changes are accepted much easier. However, change for the sake of change must not be encouraged. Only when change will improve the business’ activity should it be taken into account.

In the United States, sociologists research the implications of the modern economy and the workplace environment. Studying workplace industry and the effects on the economy allows sociologists to understand overall social structure and inequality. Studying work and work related problems, sociologists’ three major theoretical approaches each identify very unique issues and deductions. At the macro level, sociologists study the effects of the changes within the workforce which includes how the changes in technology and the fluctuating economy effect the workplace environment. At the micro level, sociologists are looking at the more personal effects of society in the workplace including identifying the difference between upper-level management versus the blue-collar worker. The micro level analysis is focused on the emotional component and the effects of work on feelings, self-esteem and family. The structural-functional theory, the symbolic-interaction analysis and the social-conflict theory related to work and workplace problems each provide a very different perspective and viewpoint.

Challenging conditions in within the working environment include global expansion and diversity impasse which becomes an organizational problem based on the lack of multiplicity in key appointments therefore leading to the lack of presence in resolutions, strategies, representation, and leadership roles. This western organizational problem has a long past that was devised before regulations were legislated periods ago with inequity and discrimination of minorities and other diverse groups defined as dimensions in culture, age, ethnicity, gender, physical ability and qualities, race, and sexual and affectionate orientation (Loden, M., & Rosener, J., 1991). The shortage of diversity in the western corporate world has become a topic of conversation in recent years as the majority of the population ages, innovation and technology

Organizations today have to constantly change and adapt in order to survive in the current dynamic market. To this end, all businesses have to be prepared to deal with change appropriately, with the help of managers who are responsible for preparing the company for change and the employees who have to cope with the changes. All organizations experience a certain degree of change on a daily basis, however large scale changes cannot be adopted into daily routines as easily (Kotter & Cohen, 2012). Hence, the success of any organization when faced with change entirely depends on how the leadership of the company presents the new vision for change which can either lead to successful transitions or can end in failure. This means that the management plays a crucial role in ensuring that all employees of a business are made aware of the importance of the changes taking place and the implementation plan. Moreover, managers and leaders have to be prepared to overcome any resistance from employees who are unwilling to adapt to the required changes (Leavy, 2014).

Change is inevitable in business life, those who can manage it well will be beneficial from the change, as Mr. M Beer (2003) stated. However, resistance, as an obstacle of the process of change, can hold back the development of managerial change (David Foote, 2001). Bhutan(1995) claimed that it is important to understand one’s state of mind in order to make them accept the change. To figure out the possible reasons why people tend to resist when it comes to make some changes. According to De Jag er (2001) , most people are reluctant to change resulting from their suspicions and fear to the new challenges. Resistance can also occur when change goes against their habits or values ( Robbins & Sanghai, 2006). Kotellnikov (2001) stated that employees could resist because they have an inadequate understanding of the purpose and meaning of change. To achieve maximum benefits from change, managers must try to minimise resistance behavior first ( Coetsee ,1999).

An organizational change is a process that manifests itself in all organizations in greater or lesser scale. It refers to the adaptive capacity of these organizations to the transformations of the environment in which they operate. Change involves a transition from the current situation to a different one, assuming a change of values, attitudes and behaviors. These changes will involve employees and managers to unlearn models and behaviors in order to learn new ones. The leader of the organization may encounter resistance and opposition from these groups and will have to deal with them using effective methods. For this reason, the leader must be aware of what causes resistance to change in an organization, this could be fear of the unknown, uncertainty, resistance to new experiences, changes in relationships, limited flexibility, or fear of failure. Effective communication reduces the interrogations and unfounded fears. The leader can provide all the necessary information and alternatives to the team so they will be allowed to gradually get used to the

Workforce Diversity: In the past, companies took a “melting pot” approach to diversity assuming that people would somehow automatically assimilate into the existing culture. But today’s managers have found out that employees di not set aside their cultural values and lifestyle preferences when they come to work. The challenge, therefore, is to make organizations more accommodating to diverse groups of people by addressing multiple different variables.

There are many theories on the best strategies of implementing organisational change, but reducing resistors of change is potentially more important. Worley and Vick express their view, that often employees are not ‘given the chance to understand the reason for the change’, (Worley& Vick 2013). A vast majority of organisational change is planned and organised by the upper management team, with little involvement of their employees who are responsible for running the current system and may have useful ideas about a new system.

In many cases, resistance to change is viewed and analyzed from the managerial perspective (Schultz & Schultz, 2004). From the managerial point of view, resistance to change is considered as a cause to the delay in the achievement of the organization’s strategic goals. Hence managers are aware of the effects of the resistance to change, such as wastage of time. As a result, change projects are introduced earlier than the actual time, so that by the time the management can mobilize consensus on the proposed change, the ideal time for the commencement of the project is fulfilled. Hayes (2002) outlines other ways of managing change, such as coercion, manipulation and dialogue with the employees. At this point, it is also necessary to realize that change is not only a property of the employees but also an aspect common with the middle level managers. According to Folger and Skarlicki (1999), such managers are reprimanded, transferred to given higher positions in order to allow the change process to take its course. In some cases, employees who resist change were sacked such as shown below.

Analyzing the composition of the modern companies working environment around the globe, it can be concluded that the workforce is quite diverse. This diversity of the company 's employees may be determined by gender, race, age, religion, or physical characteristics. The importance of the organization development is about understanding of how these characteristics of from the organizational behavior. While many companies are willing to make a variety of work environments, others find it difficult in terms of effective human resources management.

Most organizations in their own viewpoint, take on diversity at their organization to develop into more ingenious and open to change. Growing and improving workforce diversity has developed into an important issue for managers in the recent years due to the recognition of how the workforce is changing. While managing diversity still remains a challenge in organizations, managers tend to learn managerial skills required in a multicultural working environment and prepare themselves to teach others within their organizations to value cultural differences and treat all employees with poise.

This case study report describes a research on two large organizations namely PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia and HSBC in relation to their approaches to managing workforce diversity. The goal of this report was to identify workforce diversity theory and its advantages and disadvantages of managing workforce diversity. It also aims to analyse two organizations approaches to managing workforce diversity and evaluate advantages and disadvantages of the organizations’ approaches based on workforce diversity theory. The report concludes that workforce diversity is one of the primary concerns for most of the businesses; therefore, managing diversity is an important element of management in today’s organisation. Workforce