Why is workforce diversity both a challenge as well as opportunity to Nepali organizations? Support your answers with suitable evidences (in your own experiences, if possible).

Workplace diversity is a reality. Every organization deals with diversity across age groups, skillset, gender, race and nationality. Depending on where you are in the world, you may see more or less of one or the other. The reality that organizations face is how to create environments, encourage managers and individuals to work together effectively with awareness and respect of each other's backgrounds. Workplace diversity isn't an opportunity or a challenge, it is the reality of the world we live in. Organizations that recognize this and develop understanding and supportive environments where diversity isn't a buzzword will thrive as people work effectively together. Organizations that don't will suffer as they try to understand how to solve the challenges of workplace diversity. I'll get down from my philosophical soap box now. Workforce diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization. Diversity incorporates race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education, background and more. Diversity not only involves how people perceive themselves, but how they perceive others. Those perceptions affect their interactions. An organization’s success and competitiveness depends upon its ability to embrace diversity and realize the benefits.

                                   

Individuals from diverse backgrounds can offer a selection of different talents, skills and experiences that may be of benefit to the organization and their work performance. Though some crossover of skills can be beneficial when it comes to assisting each other, it’s important to hire people with the appropriate skills to fit each of the roles within the organization. A variety of skills and experiences among the team also means that employees can learn from each other. By working along with people of different backgrounds, experiences and working styles, creative concepts can be born whereas one person may be great at generating new ideas, out of the box ideas, another individual may have the necessary experience to execute it; so it is essential to play on each individual’s strengths and collaborate with others in the team.

An organization who holds diversity will attract a wider range of employees. A diversified group of employees consists higher chance of an exceptional candidate. It can also help with employee retention, as people want to work in an environment who are accepting of all backgrounds and promote equality. Employees are more likely to feel comfortable and happy in an environment where inclusivity is a priority. Equality in the workplace is important for encouraging employees from all backgrounds to feel confident in their ability and achieve their best. The higher the team morale, the more productive employees are.

Nepal is a highly diverse country with over 125 different caste and ethnic groups the last national census which recognized separate social groups within the population of 26.6 million people; that is wealth of human diversity. Yet step into any government office or large private company in Kathmandu, and the chances are high that the person sitting behind the desk is a man originating from the hills and belonging to one of three groups: Brahmin, Chhetri, or Newar – the “privileged group”. If there are any staff in the building who belong to the so-called low caste Dalits, they will probably be employed in the most menial positions – especially if they are women. The social structure of the typical office reflects deeply entrenched hierarchies that, though shaken by Nepal’s 11 year civil conflict, are still alive today. Promoting a workforce that is representative of Nepal’s social diversity is seen by many as an essential part of breaking down social inequalities. It is not difficult to see the moral and democratic argument for this. The counter-argument runs that men of the “privileged group” are invariably the most talented and experienced individuals, so why not employ the best? It is added that it will take years of education and training to bring others – including women – to a similar level. There is some truth in this, given the biased opportunities that have prevailed. Yet as any human resource management specialist will point out, there is plenty of evidence to show that a diverse workforce is more innovative, creative and productive than a broadly homogeneous one.

The state bureaucracy comprising civil service and security organs is arguably the single largest employer, offering permanent and secure jobs to over 279,00028 individuals. Women make up now around 20 per cent of the total civil service workforce of about 83,000 employees. The security organs of the state  Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Nepal Army – have 5.7 per cent, 4.9 per cent and 3.2 per cent women in their workforces respectively. Being employed in the bureaucracy means a lot, and more so in the context of Nepal where the private sector is small. Relative to private sectors, employment in the bureaucracy is highly secure and offers more than jobs and salaries. Non-materials benefits are not less significant. Government jobs have long been considered prestigious, and those holding such jobs exercise a great deal of decision-making power in mobilizing state resources and opportunities. More women being responsible for policy making and budget can facilitate more gender sensitive allocations of resources. They being responsible for decision making level can also support for women’s needs and concerns to be addressed within inclusive growth framework of a country. More women at the policy making level is critical for motivating women professionals to enter and work in the bureaucracy. Given this, to promote inclusive policy processes and gender-inclusive state services, women’s representation in the bureaucracy, the state’s permanent institution, is crucial.

Various development partners have institutional mandates to promote gender equality, social inclusion and workforce diversity. They have committed to workforce diversity and inclusion by agreeing on the Basic Operating Guidelines (BOGs). Some agencies (e.g. UN WOMEN, SDC, and USAID) have a specific written policy reflecting affirmative action in the recruitment processes. For instance, through the workforce diversity policy, SDC and its projects recruit people from diverse social backgrounds. It considers gender, caste, ethnicity and region as important criteria in the recruitment process and accords high priority for women from marginalized groups. SDC Nepal follows a targeting approach both in workforce and programmes /projects beneficiaries stating that at least 50 per cent of total beneficiaries should be women. Results are impressive – women make up over 47 per cent workforce of SDC in 2016. Dalits, marginalized ethnic groups and advantaged caste/ethnic groups make up 12, 33 and 56 per cent of the SDC workforce respectively.

However, there are some challenges for women to gain employment in the civil service and nongovernment sector, including private sectors. As discussed earlier, women highly under-represent in public, development partners and INGOs workforce, despite the GoN’s reservation policy and some development partners’ and INGOs’ workforce diversity policy. First, despite the fact that some development partners and INGOs introduced various tools and guidelines for promoting gender equality and social inclusion in Nepal, many of them yet to embrace workforce diversity policy in the first place. And, the commitment to GESI of even those which are applying affirmative action policies is limited as many of them are yet to explicitly set targets for improving women’s representation in the workforce. In this regard, the GoN seems rather progressive which has recently proposed 50 per cent of the reservation seats in civil service jobs for women. An organization can be only diverse and inclusive when it formalizes and implements a policy that supports workforce diversity and women’s inclusion at all levels organizational hierarchy.  Second, men and people from already privileged social groups over-represent in the public and development agencies in general and in senior management level positions in particular. In such a situation, the political commitment in the leadership position is critical to develop and implement workforce diversity and affirmative action policy . Third, while there has been public awareness on the need to promote gender and social inclusion in programming and institutional arrangements, policy makers and decision makers still have concerns over the implications of affirmative action in the public, private and development agencies sectors. This is in part linked to a gap in knowledge and policy understandings about the implications of affirmative action policy on inclusive and sustainable development and policy making.

Workforce Diversity: As an opportunity for Nepal

Workplace diversity is the issue of people, focus on the differences and similarities that people bring to an organization. We are live in an increasingly multicultural society. It is a melting pot or a stew. Successful organizations recognize the need for immediate action and are ready and willing to spend resources on managing diversity in the work place. Similar to globalization, diversity and social issues have had a dramatic effect on the study and application of management and organizational behavior. In the past, diversity was treated as a legal issue; that is for well over 45 years it has been directly against the law to discriminate against any one, on any basis. Now organizations are becoming to realize that diversity is not just something to deal with, but instead a reality to build onto make a stronger more competitive enterprise.

Workers with diverse cultural backgrounds bring unique experiences and perceptions to the table. Pooling this wealth of knowledge and skills can benefit organizations by allowing the organization to adapt quicker to changing market conditions. A diverse workforce that feels comfortable communicating varying points of view provides a larger pool of ideas and innovative solutions.

Job seekers are drawn to organizations with diverse workforces because it is evident that the companies do not practice employment discrimination. Potential employees want to know that employers treat their staff fairly. Not only are such firms able to attract new talent but they can also retain existing talent because of high employee morale resulting from workforce diversity.

A diverse collection of skills e.g. language and cultural understanding allows a company to provide service to customers on a global basis.

Spending time with culturally diverse co-workers can slowly break down the subconscious barriers of ethnocentrism and xenophobia.

Workforce diversity strengthen cultural value within the organization, enhances corporate reputation, helps to attract/retain highly talented people, improves motivation and efficiency/creativity of existing employees and enhance consumer satisfactions.

Workforce diversity: As Challenge for Nepal

Effective communication can be a challenge between employees of diverse cultures, which can directly reduce productivity and the cohesiveness of small groups. Social integration at work can only be influenced to a small degree. The formation of cliques and exclusive social groups is a natural process that is impossible to control. There are always employees who will refuse to accept the fact that the social and cultural makeup of their workplace is changing. The “we’ve always done it this way” mentality silences new ideas and inhibits progress.

As the economy becomes increasingly global, our workforce becomes increasingly diverse. Organizational success and competitiveness will depend on the ability to manage diversity in the workplace effectively.

The last national census of Nepal recognized 125 separate social groups within the population of 26.6 million people; that is wealth of human diversity. Yet step into any government office or large private company in Kathmandu, and the chances are high that the person sitting behind the desk is a man originating from the hills and belonging to one of three groups: Brahmin, Chhetri, or Newar – the “privileged group”. If there are any staff in the building who belong to the so-called low caste Dalits, they will probably be employed in the most menial positions – especially if they are women.

The social structure of the typical office reflects deeply entrenched hierarchies that, though shaken by Nepal’s 10 year civil conflict, are still alive today. Promoting a workforce that is representative of Nepal’s social diversity is seen by many as an essential part of breaking down social inequalities. It is not difficult to see the moral and democratic argument for this. The counter-argument runs that men of the “privileged group” are invariably the most talented and experienced individuals, so why not employ the best? It is added that it will take years of education and training to bring others – including women – to a similar level. There is some truth in this, given the biased opportunities that have prevailed. Yet as any human resource management specialist will point out, there is plenty of evidence to show that a diverse workforce is more innovative, creative and productive than a broadly homogeneous one.

The senior leaders indicated that they would love to have many training programs for their employees but there is limited funding for training programs. In addition, the senior leaders pointed out that it is beneficial for employees to be culturally aware and knowledgeable in communicating sensitive information about co-workers or the youths served. In other words, appropriateness of communication and confidentiality is very important to this organization. For example, employees need to exercise confidentiality when dealing with specific communication about ongoing projects and the contents of e-mails. The senior leaders also acknowledged that they as leaders need to play a key role in making a workplace training program a success. The senior leaders said that leaders should be good.