Introduction
The report gives a detailed description of the reasons why a particular organisation was selected, an overview of the organisation, a brief explanation about diversity and why it is important from an organisation’s perspective to actualise such concept and at the end it focuses on a mission statement regarding the achievement of diversity. As part of this assessment task 2 the author has written the diversity mission statement for Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts.
The author strongly believes that this organisation has competitive advantage over its competitors in terms of the location, quality of service and unique design. The quality of service at Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts is achieved through diligent recruitment, training programmes and motivational rewards for the employee’s achievements. Such an organisation believes in creating an environment which endorses equal employment opportunities, exhibit honesty, care and integrity towards colleagues and guests. Crowne Plaza in Canberra care for people by working with local Australian charities to help fund financially challenged families and nurture their children’s education are some of the reasons the author has selected such an organisation.
Overview of the organisation
The organisation is located in Canberra as Crowne Plaza Hotel where the author is currently employed. The author is working in the Front Office Department in a supervisory role for more than 5 months. The hotel is known for providing seamless customer service at all times throughout other respective departments. It therefore will always stay the first preference for guests, stakeholders, colleagues and business partners. Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts strive by taking care of the guests via the upmost level of service provided by the staff members and providing satisfaction through the hotel design, food and beverage and other facilities on offer.
The property is not only deeply committed towards diversity but is also committed to corporate social responsibility by making a positive contribution towards community, stakeholders, sub-ordinates, environment etc. Crowne Plaza Hotel in Canberra is a 4.5 star hotel which offers facilities such as 24*7 business centre, events and conference rooms, express check-in and check-out services, laundry, valet service. The reception, room service is 24*7, has one main restaurant, one bar, foreign exchange services.
Theory and Practice
Diversity – Diversity means the various differences in people as well as resemblance which prevails among them. (Kreitner, R., ; Cassidy, C, 2011, p. 37). In other words diversity is seen as associating the sub-ordinates from a different variety of backgrounds which means acquiring individuals from a variety of race, caste, religion, ethnicity etc. Diversity therefore constitutes for equal employment opportunities. It basically endorses mutual respect between the sub-ordinates. It can be further characterised by different type of layers which consists of personality, internal dimension, external dimensions and organisational dimensions. (Kreitner, R., ; Cassidy, C, 2011, p. 38). Personality can be characterised as attributes which are represented by an individual. In other words it could be an individual’s action or an individual behaviour. Personality is therefore divided in 2 aspects which are positive and negative. An example of personality traits can be seen below:
Positive Traits Negative Traits
Patience, Honesty, Dependability and Trust Disrespectful, Self-Centred, Unpleasant
Internal dimensions another layer of diversity consists of factors such as age, gender, ethnicity etc. External Dimensions the third layer of diversity comprises of different aspects such as marital status, religion, experience and the last layer that is organisational dimensions incorporates factors such as the status of the management and seniority. Diversity is built on a certain set of principles that observes the differences among people are probably considered to be a strength for the organisation; such a mechanism of management establishes an environment that therefore acknowledges all the employees to contribute towards the goals and objectives of an organisation and also experience personal growth. (Kramar, R., Bartram, T., De Cieri, H., & Noe, R, 2013, p. 496).
Diversity means having co-workers from a different range of backgrounds such as acquiring people from different race, caste, culture, religion, ethnicity etc. Diversity involves creating a cohesive environment that would lead to the development of employees as well as the organisation. It focuses on how an organisation can effectively manage employees from different sections of the society, and how it can use them productively.
When it comes to Crowne Plaza Hotel, Canberra the hotel has created an all-embracing environment that fully accepts each and every individual’s differences. Therefore this hotel doesn’t end with just having a pool of employees from different culture or religion but also lays a great understanding on how they can embrace their talents, their differences of opinion, and their values and culture. Organisations these days are carrying out critical resources in order to initiate a productive workforce and are also consolidating diversity management into Human Resource Management policies and procedures. (Stones, 2016, p. 782). Therefore managing diversity classifies the differences among people are sources of stability and influences a competitive advantage for organisations in the service and product industry. (Kramar, R., Bartram, T., De Cieri, H., & Noe, R, 2013, p. 497).
From Crowne Plaza’s and also from other organisation’s perspective it is very important to actualise the concept of diversity because of the following reasons:
1) Diversity if managed well offers a marketing advantage – For instance, by having a marketing advantage, many individuals from culturally diverse groups will choose to buy products or services from an organisation which has an excellent prestige for managing diversity. (Dubrin, 2014, p. 451).
2) Having diversity within a workplace is more likely to expand the business growth.
3) Diversity eventually strengthens team performances because people with diverse backgrounds are frequently associated with diverse information, knowledge which therefore can be adequately used for providing solutions within an organisation.
4) Organisations are promoting diversity and it also helps them in recruitment as they are considered to have a large amount of talent in which it becomes very easy to seek for potentially qualified candidates and therefore on the other hand organisations who aren’t in favour of a diverse workforce are more likely to diminish for supply of promising applicants. (Dubrin, 2014, p. 452)
5) Diversity within the workplace enhances the confidence, self-esteem of the team members, they will perform more efficiently, the organisation’s productivity will rise and will eventually start off to deliver better results, diversity can help the organisations in order to accomplish their organisational goals.
6) It also conceives a positive reputation for an organisation and buyers feel such organisations are socially responsible. As a diversified environment encourages personal growth and development.
Diversity is inevitable in any corporate structure these days. Crowne Plaza Hotel believes in diversity and endorses a work environment where everyone within the organisation is treated with respect and dignity. Social media giant Facebook has appointed Kenneth Chenault to its board, making him the first African on board, Oscars 2017 showed great diversity as most of the awards were presented to African American Stars are some of the examples for diversity in different organisations.
Mission Statement – “We believe in supporting a group of people that come from various backgrounds with different goals and objectives”. “We endorse on influencing a diverse workforce therefore by building leadership effectiveness. In other words it can be said that the people here from different backgrounds create a memorable, unique and great hospitality for guests, stakeholders, community and environment. The hotel always strive in order to provide unique and enjoyable experiences for guests and staff at all times. The focus here is on authentic hospitality, innovation and providing a rewarding experience to guests and also the sub-ordinates which therefore leads to superior results”.
The management here acquires diversity by offering a diverse as well as a committed workforce. By offering a diverse as well as a committed workforce employees here are willing to go an extra mile. At Crowne Plaza colleagues are treated with respect as well as dignity, therefore the management effectively listens to other colleagues’ viewpoints, thoughts and opinions. The main focus here is to become better by representing women, minorities, and people with disabilities by a certain number of policies and practices that are being followed within the organisation.
At Crowne Plaza Canberra “Diversity” is therefore considered to be at the core of the mission statement, vision statement and core values. Crowne Plaza has therefore created an environment which endorses different culture, different backgrounds and different opinions. In this hotel diversity is promoted through variety of frameworks which consists of culture, talent in order to support diversity and to create a competitive business. Crowne Plaza doesn’t accept discrimination on any of the grounds such as race, colour, gender, ethnicity, marital status etc. The workplace here completely endorses the local communities in which the hotel operates.
Crowne Plaza focuses on making sure that in order to promote diversity women are taking part in leadership development and mentoring programmes. Women are expanding their productivity by suggesting about the direction of their position in this organisation as it eventually drives teams to be more productive. Such an organisation makes sure that they are taking necessary steps to empower women to ensure they can work cohesively with male counterparts for the most beneficial outcome for the company. They are providing opportunities to women in order to achieve their goals. An example can be seen where the chief executive officer of Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts has joined other hotel executive officers to make sure that 40% of the senior leadership position will be taken by women by the end of 2020.
• In the above mentioned figure it can be clearly seen that in the December 2016, out of 10 directors in the board at Crowne Plaza 4 were appointed as women directors which is equivalent to 40%
• In January 2017, out of 128 senior managers 34 were appointed as females which is equivalent to 27%.
An example can be seen where Crowne Plaza Hotel has designed an Indigenous Australian Employment Program. The hotel is therefore not only responsible to its guests, stakeholders but they are also responsible to its sub-ordinates, community and environment. Therefore, the management has recognised that they also have responsibility in order to create jobs, opportunities to help Aborigines and Torres Strait Islander so that they can also help them in order to step up in the hotel industry. Such a programme is designed in a way where the Aborigines and Torres Strait Islander candidates will be given ample amount of opportunities where they can demonstrate their skills regardless of their experience. The hotel is currently focusing on creating more employment opportunities for the community, positive steps are being taken in terms of recruitment and then training of Aborigines.
Therefore, Crowne Plaza is seen as socially as well as ethically responsible by having a diverse workforce, as they give equal opportunities to everyone and refrain from having any type of discrimination. By promoting to diversity in the workplace this organisation is leading to better outcomes, diversity in the workplace allows the people where they can see themselves to be represented within the hotel. It is leading towards a safer and friendly working environment where the employees feel accepted, valued and recognised. In order to attract and retain the best talent Crowne Plaza invests heavily in people. Employees are involved within the hotel operations, rewarded and recognised for all their hard work, for their contributions. Therefore by promoting diversity here it not only helps the business to distribute and associate with different customers but also plays a very critical role where the sub-ordinates work with each other to bring out creative ideas, opinions, and suggestions at the workplace. A diverse workforce at Crowne Plaza provides more exposure for people coming from variety of backgrounds and cultures and also the sub-ordinates learn from each other. Crowne Plaza focuses on promoting both men and women that come from different backgrounds (racial and ethnic), religions. The hotel takes a proactive approach when it comes to diversity related matters. Diversity is driven here from top to bottom.
Conclusion
The author would like to conclude by saying that these days organisations have realised that in order to be successful they need to tap talent from different backgrounds. It further helps to strengthen an organisation’s cultural values, its reputation, improved client relations, helps in increasing productivity, maximising brand value and most importantly fosters a safer as well as a friendly working environment for the employees. It therefore gives rise to overall development of an economy as all the sections are equally valued and benefitted. By bringing diversity organisations have also realised the importance of having women in their workforce. From the examples and statistics mentioned above it can be seen that organisations have started giving additional roles, responsibilities to women by giving them major roles in the company’s board. Many of the organisations now have different policies and procedures for female employees to ensure that they feel secure, respected and their emotional wants are met. “Diversity within an organisation leads to better productivity and also leads to an overall development of an organisation”.
