The Impact of Workforce Diversity in HCL Technologies, India

Table of Contents1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................1

1.1 Problem Statement............................................................................................................3

1.2 Aims and Objectives of the Study....................................................................................4

1.3 Significance of the Study..................................................................................................4

2. Literature Review...............................................................................................................5

3. Research Methodology...........................................................................................................8

References..................................................................................................................................9

1. Introduction

Workforce diversity is defined as policies and practices that seek to include people within a

workforce who are considered to be in some way, different from those of the prevailing

constituency. A diverse workforce is one of the greatest assets, yet precious few companies

have learned to leverage its power. It is time for a systematic application of diversity concepts

to the business of the organization (Adler, 1980). Diversity should be as something more than

a moral imperative or a business necessity; it should be seen as a business opportunity.

Leveraging diversity at work lays the foundation for the transformational work that must be

done first with every member of a company. Fostering an atmosphere of acceptance and

understanding, to create a workplace that is accepting and respectful of the differences seen

in others, while encouraging employees to see the unique values in each of their co-workers.

Align diversity with the mission and business of the organization increases employee

satisfaction and retention, improves competitiveness and productivity; increases

responsiveness; and adds value to the customer.

The term diversity is also defined as, people with different ethnic backgrounds, nationalities,

age, religion and social class (Ely and Thomas, 2001). Diversity can be a problem to an

organization but could also be a solution, It also comes with its disadvantages but also

benefits and dangerous but also constructive. The challenge then is to extract the very essence

of diversity and tactically manage it for the improvement of the people and the organization

It is easy to identify occurrences when diversity is absent, but we know little about how much

diversity is needed for a group to be perceived as diverse (Berry, 1980). Workforce diversity

is a complex phenomenon to manage in an organization. The management of workforce

diversity as a tool to increase organizational effectiveness cannot be underscored, especially

1

with current changes sweeping across the globe. Workforce diversity management has

become an important issue for both governments and private organizations. Its importance

has mainly been brought about by the free movement of labour due to globalization and the

fight for human rights by certain minority groups who feel excluded from the employment

sector. The workforce diversity emerged mainly to further the availability equal opportunities

in the workplace.

This equal opportunity philosophy is aimed at ensuring that organizations make the most out

of the difference from a diverse workforce rather than losing talent which might assist the

organization to be more efficient and effective.

Diversity brings with it the heterogeneity that needs to be nurtured, cultivated and appreciated

as means of increasing effectiveness in this competitive world. Organizations in India ought

to have diversity in the composition of their workforces. Its multicultural heritage,

constitutional provisions, liberal atmosphere, economic globalization and liberalization have

provided substantial support for this diversity. Today, the diversity model is one of inclusion

which reflects a globalized economy and multicultural work force where value is placed on

diversity of thought, and the perspectives shared from individual standpoints are seen to

benefit organizations that are savvy enough to capitalize on them.

Diversity may be defined from the Indian sense, as the situation that arises when employees

differ from each other in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, education, etc. The term diversity is

also used for skin, colour and gender. It refers to multifarious difference including religious

affiliation, age, disability status, sexual orientation, economic class, educational background,

and lifestyle in addition to gender, race, ethnicity and nationality. It is like a two edged

sword. An optimal environment should be that which seeks to optimize the contributions of

2

diverse workforce, suppliers and the communities where they work. It should reflect both the

market place and the customers.

Diversity is being considered as one of the key points in today’s business vision statements

and not just a philanthropically aspect. The term workforce diversity refers to policies and

practices that seek to include people within a workforce who are considered to be, in some

way, different from those in the prevailing constituency. The role that diversity plays in the

workplace has increased over time as more companies adopt diversity management strategies

in an effort to increase performance or attract new employees (Ely and Roberts, 2008).It is

argued that organizations that value diversity will definitely cultivate success and have a

future in this dynamic global labour market (Johnson and Packer, 1987).

HCL Technologies Limited is an Indian multinational IT services company, headquartered in

Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is a subsidiary of HCL Enterprise. Originally a research and

development division of HCL, it emerged as an independent company in 1991 when HCL

ventured into the software services business. HCL Technologies (the abbreviation of

Hindustan Computers Limited) offers services including IT consulting, enterprise

transformation, remote infrastructure management, engineering and R&D, and business

process outsourcing (BPO) (Business Standard, 2013). The company has offices in 34

countries including the United States, European countries like France and Germany, and

Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom (Forbes, 2000).

1.1 Problem Statement

This study is provoked by the gap left unfilled by a substantial number of research works that

has been conducted on workforce diversity and its significance on the corporate culture. In

recent years Diversity Management and workforce diversity have been substantial and as

such have forced companies to embrace these concepts in their companies with the aim of

3

increasing productivity and profit. This forced integration has created divergence and

uncertainty in the workforce, as management is not skilled enough to control the concept of

diversity management and its ethics, and so managers are finding it difficult to effectively

practice diversity management, which in turn has become an albatross on their neck.

Managers find it difficult in knowing the factors that contribute to effective diversity

management or the exact leadership tasks that can be achieved to effectively and efficiently

deal with issues related to workforce diversity.

1.2 Aims and Objectives of the Study

The prime aim of the study is to study impact of workforce diversity in organizations,

especially, HCL Technologies.

More specifically, the objectives of this research are:

To discuss the evolution of workforce diversity

To analyze the benefits and limitations of workforce diversity

To explore the required tools for managing workforce diversity

To study the views of HCL Technologies regarding the choice and implementation of

workforce diversity

To suggest appropriate measures to HCL Technologies in order to manage the

consequences of workforce diversity with employees in Delhi/NCR

1.3 Significance of the Study

The rationale behind this research is to examine the different ways of dealing with workplace

diversity as well as to provide management with the necessary guidelines for effective

diversity management in small and big International companies in order to show the reader

how to build effective workplace diversity by applying different diversity management tools

4

2. Literature Review

It studies the concept of diversity, its definitions, Organizational behaviour to study the

impact of diversity on individual, interpersonal and group system of diverse employee, the

study on the factors of diversity like race and ethnicity, generational differences, gender, age,

disability, sexual orientation, leadership, cultural and National origin of diversity, Industrial

diversity, Diversity Interaction Frameworks, approaches and theories of diversity, cultural

and coaching models of diversity, role of HR department in the context of diversity and

organization performance, effects of diversity, Indian dimensions of diversity, study on

diversity factors in manufacturing sector in India and Globally, study of diversity done in the

existing Indian companies and the challenges and benefits of managing workforce diversity,

to understand the research gap. The concept of diversity management gained attention with

globalization and the need for more organizations to spread globally to reach customers

across the world.

Kulik and Roberson (2008) identified four notions of diversity management, namely

managing differences and similarities of individuals, managing differences and similarities

within a collective, the process of managing inclusion‘ rather than assimilation of differences

in a dominant culture, and specifying the dimensions of diversity. Race, gender and age are

defined as primary dimensions of diversity, whereas secondary dimensions refer to human

factors that can change, for example, religious belief or educational level.

According to Kulik (2008), diversity is managed at three levels in organizations, namely at

strategic, managerial and operational levels. Building the desired organizational culture,

improving management systems and developing leadership competences are described as

actions taken at strategic level. At managerial levels it involves designing HR policies to

5

support values and the desired culture and at operational levels it involves implementing the

policies and processes developed (Roberson, 2008).

According to Fiske and Lee (2008), there is an increasing need to understand more about

workforce diversity, which is deeper than what we see at the surface level. This can give

managers an understanding as to what can go wrong in a diverse team. The 1990s saw the

development of a new trend in the form of workforce diversity mainly because of the

liberalization and globalization of markets.

Ely and Thomas (2001) explained about organizations that develop experience in and

reputations for managing diversity will likely attract the best personnel. Diversity refers to the

co-existence of employees from various socio-cultural backgrounds within the company.

Diversity includes cultural factors such as race, gender, age, colour, physical ability,

ethnicity, etc.

Diversity requires a type of organizational culture in which each employee can pursue his or

her career aspirations without being inhibited by gender, race, nationality, religion, or other

factors that are irrelevant to performance (Barak, 2005). Managing diversity means enabling

the diverse workforce to perform its full potential in an equitable work environment where no

one group has an advantage or disadvantage (Fredrickson, 1999). Diversity has increasingly

become a "hot-button" issue in corporate, political, and legal circles. For example, managing

workforce diversity is one of the most difficult and pressing challenges of modern

organizations.

Coxes (2001) said that the demographic differences like sex, age, and were conventionally

related to team level 56 outcomes. Managers in public and private organizations will have to

understand, predict and manage this intriguing nature of the diverse workforce. An

6

understanding about the history of diversity management gives an idea about the evolution of

the interest in a diverse workforce in organizations.

Human resource planning analyzes and identifies the need for and availability of human

resources for an organization to meet its objectives (Connolly & Burnett, 2003).

Socialization, the process of orienting new employees to the organization, can make the

difference between a new worker‘s feeling like an outsider and feeling like the member of the

team (Williams and Reilly, 1998).

Rijamampianina and Carmichael (2005) argued that the cultural dimensions pertaining to

employees are treated primarily as individual differences within the context of national

culture. Such dimensions are illustrated using Hofstede‘s work that found cultural differences

affect individuals ‘work-related attitudes. All the authors address global business issues, but

the degree of focus varies; they believe that students need to learn about national cultural

dimensions and values in order for them to conduct effective business internationally.

The success of diverse employees in terms of leadership, management styles, decision

making and stress management, with little data supporting inroads into higher levels of

management. There is little depth of discussion around group level diversity issues, perhaps

because research remains to be done to distinguish ways in which different kinds of persons

lead and manage. Most authors recognize the advantages of diversity in groups tasked with

solving problems or generating creative solutions.

Ruffino (2005) categorized diversity in four levels:

1. Diversity as racial/ethnic/sexual balance

2. Diversity as understanding other cultures

3. Diversity as culturally divergent values

7

4. Diversity as broadly inclusive (cultural, sub cultural and individual).

As diversity is considered as source of competitive advantage to organizations, HR practices

such as recruitment and selective, promotion rewards and performance management systems

etc, can be reinforce to get desired behaviour, which aim at equality and fairness at workplace

to enhance diversity inclusion and utilize it efficiently to attain the business objectives.

The theory suggests that although individuals may have different sets of goals, they can be

motivated if they believe that there is a positive correlation between efforts and performance.

Favourable performance will result in a desirable reward, the reward will satisfy an important

need, the desire to satisfy the need is strong enough to make the effort worthwhile.

3. Research Methodology

The process for this study will involve a combination of research, synthesis and analysis. The

research work will be predicated on primary and secondary source of information. The

research method will be based on a quantitative online survey questionnaire. With the

primary source, a questionnaire survey will be conducted with the employees and managers

of HCL Technologies in Delhi/NCR region. Survey method will be used to collect data from

the employees in HCL, regarding their experience and view on working with a multi-cultural

workforce. Random sampling technique will be used to select the companies as well as the

respondents. Sample size of the study will be around 200 employees of this organization. The

secondary research method will be conducted through surfing the Internet, books and other

relevant academic reports to acquire relevant information for this thesis work. The collected

data will be analyzed and the results will be presented through percentage method in the form

of tables and graphs or charts.

8

References

Adler, N. J. (1980). Cultural Synergy: The Management of Cross Cultural Organizations, in

W.W. Burke and L.D. Goodstein, eds., Trends and Issues in OD: Current Theory and

Practice, Karnataka, Bangalore: University Associates, 163-184.

Barak, M. E. (2005). Managing Diversity towards a Globally Inclusive Workplace, Sage

Publications, Kolkata,

Berry, J. W. (1980). Acculturation as Varieties of Adaptation. In A.M. Padilla (ed.),

Acculturation: Theory, Models, and Some New Findings, Mumbai: Maharashtra, 9-25.

Business Standard. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-

ians/hcl-to-take-care-of-us-energy-firm-care-of-us-energy-firm-customers-

113090400790_1.html/

Company History – HCL Technologies Ltd. The Economic Times. Retrieved from

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

Connolly, M., & Burnett, S. (2003). Hewlett-Packard Takes the Waste Out of Leadership,

Journal of Organizational Excellence / Autumn 2003.

Cox, Jr. T. (2001).Creating the Multicultural Organization: A strategy for Capturing the

Power of Diversity, Chennai, 3-16.

Cox, T. H. Jr., and Blake, S. (1991). Managing cultural diversity: Implications for

organizational competitiveness. Academy of Management Executive. 5, 3, 45-56.

Ely, R. J., and Roberts, L. M. (2008). Shifting frames in team – diversity research: From

difference to relationships. Madras University Press, Madras, 265-317.

9

Ely, R. J., and Thomas, D. A. (2001). Cultural Diversity at work: The effects of diversity

perspectives on work group processes and outcomes, Administrative Science Quarterly, 46,

229-273.

Fiske, S. T. and Lee, T. L. (2008). Stereotypes and prejudice create workplace discrimination.

In A. P. Brief (ed.), Diversity at Work, Madras University Press, Madras, 13-52.

Forbes, G. (2000). The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Retrieved from

https://www.forbes.com/global2000/list/.html/

Fredrickson, G. M. and Miller, D.T. (1999). Models of American ethnic relations: A

historical perspective. Karnataka: Bangalore Sage Foundation, 23-34

Groeger, M. (2008). The HP Way - an example of corporate culture for a whole industry

Retrieved from http://www.silicon-valley-story.de/sv/hp_way.html/

Hayles and Robert (1982). Costs and Benefits of Integrating Persons from Diverse Cultures

in Organization, Conference paper presented on 20th International Congress of Applied

Psychology, Karnataka: Bangalore.

Johnson, W. B., and Packer, A. E. (1987). Workforce 2000: Work and Workers for the 21st

Century. Mumbai: Maharashtra Institute.

Konrad, A. M. (2003). Defining the domain of workplace diversity scholarship. Group and

Organizational Management, 28, 4-17

Kulik, C. T., and Roberson, L. (2008). Diversity initiative effectiveness: what organizations

can (and cannot) expect from diversity recruitment, diversity training, and formal mentoring

program. Madras University Press, Madras, 265-317.

10

Rijamampianina, R. and Carmichael, T. (2005). General Issues in Management; A Pragmatic

and Holistic Approach to Managing Diversity, Problems and Perspectives in Management,

Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.unimelb.edu.au/ehost/pdf/

Williams, K., and O’ Reilly, C. A. (1998). Demography and diversity in organizations, a

review of 40 years of research. In B. Staw and L.L. Cummings (eds.), Research in

Organizational Behaviour, 20, Pune, Maharashtra: Elsevier Science Inc., 77-140.

.

11