Do you think there is a difference between diversity managem

Do you think there is a difference between diversity management and affirmative action? Please provide an explanation for your response.

Solution

Both the terms are a bit dirfferent from each other and some what identical issue realted, as given in these few points.

DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT:

1. As one of many interventions in the organizational development (OD) family, managing diversity is primarily concerned with improving interpersonal and inter-group communication and relationships in the workplace.

2.The focus is on interactions between managers and the employees they supervise, among peers, and between employees and customers or clients.

3. Managing diversity seeks these objectives primarily through a programme that promotes awareness of difference, empathy for those who are “different”, and attitude change – often involving efforts to assist employees to identify and confront their stereotypes about persons whose characteristics differ from their own.

4. As is true of other human relations approaches, managing diversity is concerned with changing the attitudes of individuals and perhaps to some degree with attempting to persuade individual employees to change their behaviour, but it does not generally seek to ensure behavioural change by altering organizational structures or processes

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION:

1. Affirmative action policy represents a commitment to end discrimination as a primary value which is not subordinated to other values.

2. However, affirmative action was not designed to address the issue of integrating and retaining the racial minorities, women and other groups hired under its requirements.

3. Focusing as it did on numerical representation, affirmative action compliance did not emphasize changing organizational policies, practices and climate in order to ensure that, once hired, members of the designated groups would be full and equal participants in the workplace, enjoying equitable career development opportunities and rewards for their contributions.