Diversity Management And Policies At Woolworths Group

Importance of Diversity in the Workplace

Diversity is a very important concept in today’s world and firms operating both in the private and the public sector are increasingly focussing on these concepts to increase the stability of the operations (Ashikali & Groeneveld, 2015). It also helps in removing potential barriers for the employees and helps to better the outcomes in terms of productivity. Diversity in the workplace helps to remove anti-discriminatory practices and helps to nurture better values for the organisation. To help the organisations have better understand their responsibilities in the field of diversity upholding, the government of Australia has prescribed some codes and rules. These are studied in detail and then the diversity policies used and implemented by Woolworths Group are also studied. This helps in analysing the patterns of diversity management at the workplace and understanding if the same fit any best practice model (Benschop, 2016). This further helps in formulating recommendations for better diversity management in the firm.

According to D&I planning (2018), while diversity is concept of having a variety of people of different cultural origin, sexual orientation, social and economic backgrounds and even job experiences in the firm, inclusion is the quality of making them work together to reach maximum productivity and utilise potential to the maximum possible extent. Inclusion helps in connecting the people of different origins together in such a way that they unite to reach the overall goals of the firm in both the short and long run.

The diversity policies in place in Australia primarily aim at firms’ compliance to the diversity requirements in the sense that:

• Employers take all the responsibilities and steps to ensure that there is no discrimination in terms of employees facing any kind of harassment, bullying or even victimisation.
• Employers are also effectively liable for non-adherence to diversity policies by their colleagues, partners, agents or even workers. The same also applies for the contract workers or the agents of the employers.
• Further, it also the sole responsibility of the employers to ensure that the employees involved with any complaint of any kind related to diversity issues are not victimised or have to face issues or problems at work because of the same.
• The “reasonable steps” that the firm or the management should take will depend on a lot of reasons and variables including the size of the firm and the type of firm (D&I planning, 2018).  
• Further, formulation of the entire process to be followed in case of discrimination complaints should also be formulated by the employer.

The retailing industry in Australia majorly focuses on cultural integrity in the context of diversity management. It helps in combining the entire set of preferences, wants and expectations of the various employees to achieve the common goal of the firm and the industry in the long run (Institute, 2018). In the retail industry, in Australia, the following are the major characteristics of diversity management:

• Making decisions that are well informed based on equality in terms of rights and options available to the employees
• Treating every one with equal respect and respecting the value of diversity by understanding the worth
• Incorporating changes within a flexible structure of operations of the firm to accommodate the preferences of the entire cohort of employees and adapting to the changes introduced
• Formulating and taking the necessary steps to work for the issues and complaints made in the field of diversity
• Ensuring a safe and sound working environment for all the employees with different backgrounds working together
• Doing away with the stereotypes that go against the values of diversity
• Breaking barriers in the context of communication
• Making efforts to know and work with people who are of a different origin
• Following rules of courtesy and etiquettes

Inside the Woolworths Group, the diversity management aspect of the firm forms a very important part of corporate governance. The vision of the firm in the aspect of diversity management involves respecting the different types and intensity of contribution of the different employees (Woolworthsgroup. 2018). Further, diversity management within this organisation also involves setting of new policies and principles that will regulate the amount of diversity in the organization as well as help in monitoring of the old policies already in place. The people in charge of this aspect of corporate social responsibility are primarily the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief People’s Officer who help in monitoring adherence to the objectives and the policies in place.

The major principles of diversity management followed at the Woolworths Group include the following principles:

Working with people of all ages and from different backgrounds of cultural origin, slowly growing the diversity of the organisation which can be channelized it in such a way that the workforce of Woolworths Group represents the Australian diversity (Woolworthsgroup.com.au. 2018).

Diversity Policies in Australia

Giving importance to the number of existing opportunities for the women employees in the organisation and increasing the female participation in the management levels as an aspect of increasing equality in employment opportunities (Woolworthsgroup.com.au. 2018).

Increasing the number of reconciliation programs so that there is an increase in the number of indigenous Australians employed at the firm (Woolworthsgroup.com.au. 2018). Along with this the firm also aims at increasing the number of opportunities available to the disabled population of Australia so that their career advances with the help of extensive programs provided by the firm.

The diversity policies and regulations in place at Woolworths Group aim at increasing the equality of opportunities provided to all workers at the firm including equality of opportunities and payments to women. Gender balance at Woolworths has always been extremely important and has been taken good care of.  More than half of the total number of employees working with Woolworths Group are women (Woolworthsgroup. 2018). In the year 2014, the total number of women workers was 54% with around 38% of women holding management positions as compared to 37% in the year 2013 (Woolworthsgroup.com.au. 2018). In the year 2016 this percentage increased to almost 40% followed by 50% in 2018.

The company also tries to ensure that it provides equal opportunities to both indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. It regulates this by providing pre-employment programs and workshops all across Australia. In the year 2018, around 1,875 indigenous Australians have been hired and studies assert that their retention rates will be as high as 74% (Woolworthsgroup. 2018). This was following the number of already working indigenous employees at the firm which was at a level of more than 2200 employees in the year 2016. Further, the firm also provides equal opportunities to individuals with disabilities (Woolworthsgroup. 2018). In the year 2014, the firm employed as many as 3,615 people with disabilities, which was 554 more than the total number of people employed with disabilities in 2013 (Woolworthsgroup. 2018). It is responsible for providing employment opportunities to displaced people from Syria and the Middle East using a program called The Woolworths Refugee Employment Program.

As a matter of fact, in the last few years the firm has also managed to take up extensive responsibilities in the form educational programs and campaigns for LGBT events (Woolworthsgroup. 2018). The firm has been reviewing the existing set of policies and regulations to involve greater amounts of participation from such employees and holding educational campaigns for educating the other employees and training them so that all the employees are well connected and are able to work together for reaching the desired levels of productivity.

On careful evaluation and analysis of the available figures of management of diversity and greater inclusion, a few patterns are noticed that are discussed in detail as follows:

• Firstly, it is observed that the percentage of women participation in the firm who were holding management positions has increased at a growth rate of 1% from the year 2013 to 2014. This growth rate was reported to be at a percentage of 2% from 2014 to 2016 with the growth rate increasing to 10% in between the years 2016 and 2018. This progression in the growth rate gradually in between the years 2013 and 2016 and then a huge leap in the growth to about 10% represents the growing levels of improvement in the amount of inclusion in terms of equal employment opportunities created for both men and women.
• Secondly, the number of indigenous Australian employees has alo increased substantially as per the reports published by firm. The number of indigenous Australian employees from the year 2016 being at 2200 has increased to a total of 4075 in the year 2018 representing a growth rate in this variable of inclusion by about 85%. This again portrays the exclusively large amount of opportunities provided by the firm which only shows the increased initiatives and the success of the firm in complying to the needs of diversity in the workforce.
• Lastly, considering the total number of disabled people employed has also increased substantially over the last few years, which is another aspect of diversity management.
• Finally, in the last few years, extensive attempts have been made to frame policies for greater LGBTI inclusion. This has led the firm to receive recognition as AWEI Gold Tier Employer for LGBTI inclusion. Woolworths Group is the first firm and organisation in the retail sector to have received such a recognition.

The Inclusive Workplace Model is one of the most important models that help firms in directing their management decisions towards diversity and equality in employment opportunities (Barak, 2016). This model does not only focus on the concepts of providing equal opportunities to people from different cultural backgrounds, origins and genders but also from different strata of the economy in the community where the firm operates. It essentially refers to the relationship that the organisation or firm builds with its own employees functioning at different levels, in different departments and from different origins (Wrench, 2016). The model helps in catering to the needs and requirements of different employees who are different physically as well. According to this model, it is very important to include the disadvantaged groups of employees and treat them equal to other employees (Mackelprang, Salsgiver & Salsgiver, 2016). These employees are treated as assets instead of liability in case of the firm following the Inclusive Workplace Model.

Diversity Management at Woolworths Group

Woolworths as a firm that follows almost all core principles of Corporate Governance also ensures that it strictly follows this particular model of diversity management. As is evaluated from the figures of women participation, indigenous Australian employee count and disabled employee count, the entire organisation follows the model of inclusion. It is very important to note that an increase in the women employee in the management is a good representation of the fact that the amount and intensity of equal employment opportunity is also increasing in the firm. Moreover, the statistical figures related to an increase in the number of disabled employees and indigenous employment opportunities help in estimating that the firm’s operations and attempts to increase the amount of inclusion will keep on increasing in the years to come.

Woolworths Group as a firm has also been able to adhere to the policies of diversity that demand of the firm’s agents, partners and even colleagues to equally adhere to the principles of diversity management followed by the firm. The firm also formulates effective mechanisms to follow in case of any grievances or complaints from either of the partnerships, collaborations, agents or groups that work with Woolworths Group together.

In the context of demographic diversity too, the firm has been able to steer well in terms of demographic diversity management as well. The firm hence has taken the step of introducing new sets of policies and regulations in combination with the already existing set of rules and regulations so that it does not become too difficult for the already working employees who have been employed for a long time to cope up to too many changes.

According to the Industrial Relations Reform Act 1993, the disputes arising at any working organisation should be settled within the workplace itself between the employer and the unions in the workplace.  In case, the dispute is not resolved in this manner, it will have to be resolved by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. In this particular aspect Woolworths Group takes care of the grievances and the complaints of the employees (if any) in such a way that the dispute is most definitely resolved within the firm itself without involving any other Commission, that is, the Industrial Relations Landscape existing in the firm is such that the firm, the employees and the government are involved in it. The firm already has a Business Resilience Framework in place to ensure that all business processes run smoothly and all disputes are resolved in an effective manner. The competitive landscape is also handled by the firm’s policies and regulations.

As is observed through the study of the prescribed policies in Australia for maintaining diversity across the private firms and the public sector as well, Woolworths Group performs well up to a large extent. The firm has been able to cater to the needs of equal employment opportunities by increasing the amount of options and positions for women employees at all levels of the organisation. The firm has also been able to cater to the needs of indigenous Australians and disabled individuals. In fact, the firm has received recognition for the attempts of preserving LGBT diversity as well. However, the diversity management of the complaints and the framework followed to settle complaints and disputes if any are not mentioned clearly in the reports published by the firm in the last few years. Further, the steps and policies taken to preserve the diversity in terms of different cultural origins are also not well mentioned or described.  In addition to this, there is no mention of a structure that is flexible and caters to the needs of the employees in terms of increased communication and sharing of ideas.

Based on the gaps observed in the initiatives taken by the Woolworths Group to preserve and promote diversity across the organisation the following recommendations can be formulated:

• Firstly, the firm should build a proper structure for solving disputes and complaints from the employees if any. The same structure should be used and changes should be incorporated in such a way that the diversity management at the firm is improved
• Secondly, the firm should also focus on reduction of communication  gaps and increase the preservation of cross cultural ethnicity. The attempts made to preserve the same should also be mentioned in the reports so that the amounts of improvement is clearly understood.

Conclusion

In order to conclude, it can be asserted that diversity management is increasingly becoming a very important pillar of corporate governance at private firms. In Australia, the government is requiring private firms as well as public organisations to introduce measures to preserve diversity. Woolworths Group being one of the largest and oldest retailer chains across the country follows the concept of diversity ardently and has improved drastically over the last few years in preserving diversity. However, there are some small gaps in the measures and steps taken by the firm to improve the situation of diversity management in the firm. Thus, the firm should undertake measures of building a flexible framework to improve the level of intercultural diversity. However, on all other grounds the firm has been able to achieve substantial success in maintaining and managing diversity across the organisation.

References

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Barak, M. E. M. (2016). Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage Publications.

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D&I planning. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.dca.org.au/di-planning

Institute, A. (2018). Diversity in the Workplace. Retrieved from https://blog.retail.org.au/newsandinsights/diversity-in-the-workplace

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