Diversity and inclusion in an emerging market context

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The extreme demographic misrepresentation of organisations is a key business and societal issue in South Africa (SA). The purpose of this paper is to provide organisations that are committed to the creation of a diverse and inclusive environment with key considerations that need to be managed in order to create more diverse drive transformation. Design/methodology/approach -This research uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques to gain an understanding of the elements that need to be managed to enhance perception of inclusion in the SA workplace. Findings -The study finds that key inclusion elements that need to be transformed at an organisational level include "senior leadership", "organisation climate", "organisational belonging", "communication" and "transparent recruitment, promotion and development". At an interpersonal level or relational level, inclusion components include respect and acceptance, the "line manager/subordinate relationship" (which includes the subordinates experience of dignity, trust and recognition), "engagement" which includes decision-making authority and access to information, and finally the "individual's relationship with the organisation's vision and values". Finally, at an individual level, factors which influenced inclusion, and therefore required attention in recruitment or management were "personality", "locus of control", self-confidence which includes self-esteem and "power". Research limitations/implications -While this research facilitated "deep" insight into the diversity and inclusion components, this study could have been enriched through exploring diversity and inclusion in other organisational contexts. Second, while the InclusionIndext survey provided a useful base measure of inclusion for this research, the use of a survey as the primary research tool might have been leading to the respondents. Third, because the InclusionIndext survey was used as the exploratory tool, and was the respondents' first exposure to the diversity and inclusion terminology, the survey became the informal frame of reference for diversity and inclusion, and thus might have influenced the focus group discussion and semi-structur...

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