The Diversity Excellence Model™

We are told that valuing diversity makes business sense. But what does "valuing diversity" mean and how will we know if we are doing it? Also, what is the difference between managing diversity and equality of opportunity?

The Centre for Management and Policy Studies (National School of Goverment ) has linked diversity to the EFQM Excellence Model by using it specifically to address and therefore measure diversity and its crucial role in the business effectiveness of an organisation.

First, what is the meaning of the term diversity? There is a plethora of definitions of diversity from all sectors of the business community:

• "We are in an era in which the quality of their people is the distinguishing feature of successful organisations. People are the single sustainable source of competitive advantage. The personnel profession has a commitment to improve the contributions people make to business performance. To do this effectively we must address the issue of workforce diversity. This is timely as new legislation on disability, public debate about age discrimination and many equal opportunity initiatives led by employers, government, statutory bodies and voluntary organisations are raising the profile of equal opportunities. The diversity concept expands our horizons beyond equality issues covered by the law and builds on recognised approaches to equal opportunities. It adds new impetus to the development of equal opportunities and the creation of an environment in which enhanced contributions from all employees will work to the advantage of business, people themselves and society more generally."
  Sir Michael Bett, President - IPD. Extract from an IPD position paper on Managing Diversity, 1996.
   

• "The Government wants a public service which values and uses the differences that people bring to it...The public sector must also be a part of the society it serves. It must reflect the full diversity of that society if it is to deliver the policies and services required."
  Modernising Government, Cmnd 4310, 1999
   

• "The move to diversify services to meet different needs has also developed outside local government. Health providers, quangos, the police, and most recently the private sector have all begun to embrace the need for equality in service delivery.....It is now clear that the private sector recognises the advantage of catering for the different needs of different groups of customers and is catching up fast."
  Equality in Service Delivery, Rohan Collier, 1998
   

• "Diversity is the work of building a workforce that reflects the world in which we live and do business, and creating an environment which maximises the contribution of the company's employees around the world. Digital recognises diversity as a critical dimension of our business."
  Digital Equipment Corporation, Equal Opportunities Review No 78, March/April 1998
   

• "Managing diversity is essentially an effort that recognises the increasing presence of people in the society and in workplaces and markets who are of differing cultural, ethnic, racial and gender backgrounds with overlays of differences in religions, nationalities, ages, physical abilities and disabilities et al. Its objectives are to help lower traditional and historical barriers and eliminate the prejudices that tend to alienate people on the basis of such differences so as to maximise corporate and organisational productivity, profitability, and access to new markets in an increasingly diverse society, and in an increasingly competitive and global economy."
  John W Work, The Drucker Foundation, Annual Management and Leadership Conference, 1994.

These definitions illustrate some of the views on diversity from various sections of the community. In summary, the term managing diversity is used to enable people to recognise that the workforce consists of a diverse population and that:

• differences of culture, background, preferences and values are recognised and understood and those differences are valued;

• it is the concern of all employees, not just a management or human resource function

• new norms are created to allow flexibility for employees to do things their way;

• business efficiency is achieved and enhanced by harnessing all the talents rather than suppressing them;

• employees and customers are consulted and listened to;

• the mood of the multi-cultural organisation is one of synergy and interdependence.

Whereas equality of opportunity is the state of being equal especially in status, rights and opportunities applied through a set of strategies designed to:

• eradicate discrimination and discriminatory practices;

• introduce targeted measures (e.g. positive action training, mentoring, bursary schemes) to enable previously disadvantaged groups to compete equally in employment;

• be implemented by everyone and monitored by equal opportunity officers/personnel practitioners.

Diversity is not a replacement for equal opportunity - the two are interdependent. A diversity approach, which does not involve equality practices, will fail to generate measures to combat discrimination against the most vulnerable groups. It will complacently manage the diversity, which exists within an organisation, rather than taking that organisation forward and enabling it to better reflect the real diversity in society at large.

Mainstreaming/Integrating Diversity

In a modern society all groups have a legitimate expectation of fair and equal treatment. Governments and transnational and international institutions/companies need to ensure that the policies they formulate, the services they deliver and the products they make, do not have an adverse impact on any particular group in society. This realisation has moved the agenda for managing diversity from being seen solely as a HR issue to one which is fundamental to the success of an organisation - where diversity is integrated through all policies and strategies.

This means that everybody in the organisation needs to be aware from the outset of the possible different effects of our proposals, to assess them thoroughly, and to take action wherever possible to eliminate or minimise adverse consequences.

The Diversity Excellence Model™ is based on the EFQM Excellence Model®. By bringing together all the factors that need to be considered when taking an holistic approach, the DEM focuses on the expectations and perceptions of all stakeholders. Thus, use of the DEM provides a framework to assess the mainstreaming/integration of diversity through all the business processes and to evaluate its effectiveness, especially on the bottom line.

To achieve true diversity, an organisation may have to make a significant change to its culture. As well as developing a vision of the future in which diversity is valued and thriving, the organisation may need to examine its history and challenge present practice, by looking behind the policy statements to examine the reality experienced by people in their daily work. The Diversity Excellence Model™ has been designed in detail to address and evaluate the processes which the organisation and its people will utilise, in order to move diversity from rhetoric into reality.

The change model at Figure 1 illustrates what an organisation needs to know in its journey towards its vision by illustrating the importance of corporate history linked closely to present reality and the vision for the future.

Figure 1

Future Vision What could the organisation be like at its best? What are people really capable of? What values should underpin it? What type of business could it be engaged in? What sort of customers/markets could they have? How could people be using their differences creatively?
Grounding & Energising	Inspiring & Energising
Present reality Where is the organisation's emphasis in terms of operate/innovate/ anticipate/ create? What are the written/unwritten rules? How is conflict handled? What are the reward systems? How does it treat its customers? How is status indicated? Who are the heroes and heroines? What are the rites and rituals?
Informing & Energising
Past Memories What, if anything, has been inherited from the founders? Have there been major organisational changes (eg takeovers, reorganisations) which have yet to be fully absorbed and accepted? Are there old battles still being fought? Where and how have people performed at their best? What are the bad memories that people need to learn from and relinquish?

'A Consultancy Approach for Trainers' Phillips K; Shaw P (Gower 1989)

By using the Diversity Excellence Model™ organisations will also be able to access the National School of Goverment 's database and benchmark against other organisations and thereby share best practice