Employees’ perceptions towards workplace diversity in a financial institution operating in the Western Cape

Abstract

Although South Africa is 18 years into creating a unique diversity management strategy, individuals - directly affected by diversity in organisation will differ completely from those individuals that have not been affected by diversity in organisations at all. The subject of diversity management has become a contentious issue causing disagreement and argument is in the last couple of years. Many organisations find it difficult to grasp the concept of diversity, thus creating an opportunity for organisational development consultants and management to make substantial profit (Dombai & Verwey, 1999). In the current working environment and the continuous change of the organisation‟s employees, the workforce has become more diverse. This resulted in wider employee knowledge, skills, experience and attitude which will allow the organisation to become more competitive globally. It is of utmost importance for organisations attract and retain staff from different cultural and diverse group of order to improve the employee performance and the competitive advantage of the organisation (Ferreira & Coetzee, 2010). Cumming and Worley (2009, p. 506-509) postulate that “organisational transformation – and more specifically diversity management - is impacting on the bottom line results of the organisation”. Organisational transformation implies radical changes in how members perceive, think, and behave at work. They are concerned with fundamentality altering the prevailing assumptions about how the organisation function and relates to its environment. The study aimed at determining the employees‟ perception towards workplace diversity in a financial institution operating in the Western Cape.