WHAT IMPACT DIVERSITY CAN HAVE IN HRM (HUMAN

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT) IN HEALTHCARE SECTOR?

ASSIGNMENT
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 INTRODUCTION
In simple words, Diversity is the practice of involving all participants from different backgrounds and
identities in an Organization. Organization that recognize people with different backgrounds, beliefs,
attitudes, and experiences can bring new ideas and perceptions to the Group and those Organizations
are Diverse Organizations.

Who ever an individual whether staff or doctor enter Hospital everyday for work, those individuals are
from different Race, Gender, Age and etc. This diversity is the part of Humanity showed in Hospital. With
this diverse Workforce the diverse Patients are satisfied and comfortable and trust on HealthCare
Providers. There can be easy communication between Doctor and Patients. Patients can freely tell their
Condition and understand and follow the Doctor Prescribed Treatment. Healthcare Diversity represent
variety of Backgrounds and Experiences. It can represent number of different Qualities i.e. Race, Age,
Gender, Ethnicity, Religion, Socio Economic, Political Beliefs, Physical Abilities, Language, Culture and
etc. Carrying Diversity in Healthcare Workplace can lead to Culture Competency and the ability of
Healthcare Providers to offer services that meet the needs of Patient and needs of staffs.

Diversity has its impact on HRM of Healthcare Sector. The following impacts are:

1. Higher Employee Morale

Diversity creates better feeling inclusion for Healthcare workers i.e. Doctors, Staffs and etc. This feeling
of inclusion as they get equal Opportunities and resources secure Doctor and other staffs job and give
comfortable place to work there.

2. Higher Employee Retention

Diversity creates a neutral workplace which give a safe feeling to an employee. Through Diversity
workers feel safer in workplace which increases retention means Doctors and Other staffs will continue
their work long and will stay in same workplace by showing loyalty.

3. Better Recruitment

Diversity helps to hire from new cast, new identity from other background to find new talent. In
Healthcare sector Diversity helps to hire administrative staffs and doctors with new treatment and work.
Its allows strong proposition for candidates to work at healthcare sector i.e. Hospital and etc.

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 4. Better Results

Every person has its own Thinking, Experience, and etc. The teamwork bring better Results. This can
bring new and improved treatments as Diverse Group or team merge their different opinions to bring
better Treatment for a Patient.

5. Better Problem Solving

A wide range of Different Opinions can bring a solution for a problem during an emergency or routine
Check-up of patient. Allowing for new Ideas and Experiences innovate new Treatment Ways.

6. Better Individual Motivation

A lack of diversity may create uncomfortable for Healthcare Staffs those are unable to express their
Unique and Innovative Talents and Experiences. Diversity Work Environment motivate staff that their
experiences will be respected.

7. Improve Pay Equity

Diversity creates equal Opportunities for Doctors and Other Staffs. Diversity Work Environment make
sure that Doctor of Same Grade gets equal Pay. There will be no difference due to race, gender or age.

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 LITERATURE REVIEW
According to Vanderbroeck and Wasserfallen (2017) Gender Diversity is growing in health Sector at the
level of the Organization. They discovers the challenges or issues that Managers, Leaders or Supervisors
of Healthcare faces during managing Diversity. They believe that More Diversity can lead to resolve
these challenges and make it Productive. They studied their research based on previous published
research. They first describes the positive and negative impacts then also they describes the challenges
that HRM faces in Hospital in Switzerland. They discussed the effects of “leaking pipelines”, “glass wall”
and “glass ceiling”. Leaking pipeline means women are busy in family and personal work or they work in
a hospital as part time job as a result Hospital risks an increasingly smaller return on investment in
Female talent. Glass Ceiling means to progress Females in Senior Leadership and Glass Wall means the
tendency of women to favor certain Specializations. As a Result, the effects of Glass Ceiling and Glass
Wall, hospitals are unable to leverage the full talent pool for their most senior roles. Therefore, they
examines the causes of Gender Diversity, and how to balance Gender Diversity to get maximum benefits
from available talent.

The study was aimed to investigate to which extent Diversity bring opportunities and barriers in
Hospital. How Diversity Dimensions are implemented in Healthcare HRM Practices According to Celik et.,
(2008). Exploratory Study was done based on Qualitative Approach. Nine in-depth, semi-structured
interviews and three focus groups were conducted in three healthcare settings (mental health, hospital,
nursing home care). Therefore, they discovered that Diversity is an Doubtful issue. On the basis of
Interviews several barriers and opportunities were identified or explored. The following barriers were
Lacking of Knowledge, Poor information and communication and Organization Constraints. The
following Opportunities were an emerging sense of urgency, the development of good practices, and the
political climate. (Celik et al., 2008)

According to Lichtenstein (2005) promoting Diversity in Healthcare Management is effective as this

promotion can serve better in Diverse Population. Greater Diversity in Healthcare Training Programs will
positive impact on their Staffs and Doctors or Medical Students. His Research discussed the importance
of Diversity in HRM (Human Resource Management), and to describe the program (SEP) run by
University of Michigan. Therefore, the study findings revealed that the program SEP is successful in
enlarging the pool of Students from different colors. It has very positive effect on Diversity.

Managing Equality and Diversity in Healthcare Workplace is a challenge for Managers or Leaders in
Workplace. This study aim to find the strategies for managing Cultural Diversity in the Healthcare

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Workplace. Hospital HRM recruiting Staffs from overseas mainly from Developing countries due to
shortages. These overseas Staffs have different Diversity Dimensions i.e. language culture and etc.
Hence, they concluded that Managing Racially and Culture Diverse Workplace is complex and
challenging for HRM. There are no tools to show that how to manage. Achieving Effective Management
of Racially and Culturally Diverse workforce comes from internal motivation. (Hunt, 2007)

According to Dreachslin and Hobby (2008) Racial and Ethnical Disparities occurs when Leadership is
ineffective due to not having Diversity that’ s why Diversity Leadership Matters in Healthcare Workplace.
In this study critical differences between Diversity and Disparities were discussed. The study concluded
that Diversity issues such as Language, Religion, Gender, Cultural and Race are not disparities. They are
just differences that impact Patient Treatment or HRM when they are not valued or appreciated by HR.
When they are not valued and give negative impact that becomes disparity. They stated that for
effective full of potential Performance in HealthCare is when there is Diversity Leadership.

Empirical Studies on Diversity suggest that Healthcare Management had been slow in accepting
Diversity Management. Diversity is an important part for Managers and Leadership in the Workplace. In
1999, 28% of US residents were members of Racial minority group and the US Bureau predicted the
percentage will increase to 40% by 2030. Demographics changes are increasing which might affect
health care industry. Managers will have to face different racial staff in healthcare workplace. The study
proposes that sensitivity to diversity at the organization level, and strategic decision making influences
HRM practices such as training and staffing. (Dansky et al., 2003)

According to Jankelova et at., (2020) in today era it is a challenge for Organization HR to deal with
Diversity. Their services are criticized due to unstable management. The aim of Research was to describe
and analyze and evaluate the current state of Diversity Management in details in the context of HRM in
the Healthcare sector. The data was collected through Questionnaire Survey. 181 managers from
various Healthcare center responded to the survey. The data was analyzed in SPSS. Pearson’ s
Coefficient was used to evaluate. They discovered that basic awareness about the Diversity
Management is low in HealthCare Sector. Some tools are used but unsystematically. The strong area
was diversity of working teams. The weak side was Organization Culture and Diversity of HRM.

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 DISCUSSION
In today era, Healthcare Sector Leaders do not used Diversity Management as an effective management
tool to manage HRM. For handling unexpected situation, effective management is necessary. For
Effective use of Diverse Workforce Management Readiness is also associated. The Basic Awareness and
Knowledge of Diversity is low at Organization Level of Healthcare Sector. There are some tools used by
Hospital to manage Diversity but they are used Unsystematically. Previous Multiple Studies also relate
with this Fact. According to Jankelova et al., (2020) Healthcare management does not implement
Diversity Management. Some of tools they used conceptually not systematically.

The strong part of Diversity Management in Healthcare Sector is the diversity of working teams which is
associated to higher Performance as all the Doctors Nurses of different racial, age, culture and language
and etc. work together to treat a patient, which is discussed in multiple studies. According to Guillaume
et al., (2015) Diversity of Working Team lead to high Performance in Healthcare Sector.

The weak part of Diversity Management in Healthcare Sector is Human Resource Management. Multiple
Studies are providing evidence of Diversity Management on Human Resource Management. According
to Jakenlova et., (2020) Diversity Management in the field of HRM is mostly understood to prevent the
discrimination. To avoid the dimensions (age, background, culture, nationality, religion, education, social
class, etc.) that creates differences. To create a tool for creating an equal Opportunities and Gender
Diversity.

For better Recruitment Diversity is implemented in workplace. Diversity education programs are needed
to be implemented. Trainings for leaders on Diversity Management in Healthcare must be provided.
Kundu et al., (2019) explains the Human Resources Diversity Management Framework which describes
human Resources Practices.

Within Diversity Management Plans, Healthcare HRM create cultivate relationship between Different
Groups. Their goal is to create good Relationships to prevent discrimination and to overcome
Differences. This will help to respect for each others. Multiple studies claimed same fact that there must
be plan to execute effective diversity management in HealthCare HRM. (Jakenlova et al., 2020)

From the past study, learned that the highest level of Diversity Management Implementation occurs in
Small Healthcare Facilities which are Private Hospitals as Jakenlova et al., (2020) stated that Private
Organizations Healthcare Sector achieve high level of Implementation of Diversity Management.

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Attitudes towards Diversity means focusing on Diversity increases Size of Organization through
Employee Retention and better recruitment from different groups.

Managing Gender Diversity is difficult for Leader in Healthcare Facilities as there are three terms that are
Leaking Pipelines, Glass Wall and Glass Ceiling that are causes of Gender Divesity. Leaking pipeline
means women are busy in family and personal work or they work in a hospital as part time job as a
result Hospital risks an increasingly smaller return on investment in Female talent. Glass Ceiling means
to progress Females in Senior Leadership and Glass Wall means the tendency of women to favor certain
Specializations. These are major effects in Managing Diversity. If HRM Manager favor Women, then Men
will be discriminated and there will be differences. By having Diversity the Doctor or Staff of same
Position will get same Pay. There will be no difference in Pay due to Racial, class, culture, age or Gender
and etc. Vanderbroeck and Wasserfallen (2017) also discussed on this factor and explored the causes of
Gender Diversity.

Recruiting from local site Area is difficult as there are shortages of nurses due to diseases so Healthcare
Services Human Resource Management hire from overseas due to which they have different language
racial, culture and etc. This become difficulty for HRM leader to deal with it. This issue was also covered
by Hunt (2007) He concluded that it is the complex and challenging for HRM to deal with Candidates
with having different Dimensions.

Diversity Leadership is important in Healthcare Facilities or Hospital as due to Effective Diversity

Leadership there will be no disparity. There is disparity when Leader or HR leader does not value or
Respect or appreciate. According to Dreachslin and Hobby (2008) there is difference between Diversity
and Disparity. The Diversity means different language culture ethnic values and class and etc. And
Disparity means when these dimensions are not valued and appreciate by HR leaders in Healthcare.

In United States there are different Racial Groups with having different language culture values class and
etc. There are so many different groups cones from Other Countries. In U.S there are different
Candidates who have different backgrounds. So it is a challenge for U.S hospital HRM to recruit from
different backgrounds. According to Dansky et al., (2003) the US Bureau predicted the percentage of
minority groups from 28% will increase to 40% by 2030. Which means there will be more outsiders.
Demographics changes are increasing which might affect health care industry. Managers will have to
face different racial staff in healthcare workplace.

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CONCLUSION