Essay on Promoting Diversity in the Workplace: Annamarie Jamieson's CSR Strategies

Introduction

Promoting Diversity in the workplace is one factor that has been linked with a motivated workforce that pushes the agenda of an organization to meet its objectives. One of the leaders in New Zealand that have been practicing diversify at the workplace is Annamarie Jamieson, the leader of corporate social responsibility(CSR) at Fairfax NZ company (NZ Herald, 2017). One of the ways Annamarie Jamieson has been promoting Diversity at the workplace is by ensuring that cultural events are celebrated in the organization as a way of appreciating the background of employees that come from different cultures.

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Embracing Diversity

The leader has been passionate about ensuring that cultural events such as Diwali, ANZAC Day, language weeks, sign language weeks, and Matariki are celebrated as a way of making employees learn a cultural aspect of their colleagues (Ghauri et al., 2019). The leader collaborates with the human resources department to get funding that can be used to set up this cultural event so that people from different backgrounds celebrate and share their cultural activities with others in the organization (NZ Herald, 2017). The activities promote diversity as they make employees appreciate cultural practices that are different from theirs and hence get along with employees from diverse backgrounds. The promotion of diversity through cultural events is integrated into the holiday calendar for Fairfax NZ, something that has been adopted widely in the organization and other departments.

Diverse work team leaders ensure that employees get to understand and value each other on a personal basis, which helps break down preconceived mentality and cultural misunderstandings ("Managing Diversity in the Workplace | PeopleScout," n.d.). Annamarie Jamieson has been ensuring that the workplace offers opportunities for people to appreciate different perspectives and value others even if they come from different cultures. She has promoted this by making employees understand the importance of treating others how they want to be treated. Employees undergo diversity training once every year, and part of their training involves learning how to be considerate and sensitive to the needs of other employees. Employees are also trained on different culture's perspectives activities such as eye contact and a handshake, so that people understand what to do not to offend other employees (NZ Herald, 2017). If an employee finds out that he or she has offended someone else through, Annamarie Jamieson has always encouraged people to apologize for actions that may be offensive to others from a cultural perspective (Ghauri, Mansi, & Pandey, 2019). Most importantly, during CSR activities, Annamarie Jamieson, always makes sure that employees taking part in the process come from different backgrounds. The strategy makes employees work with others through consideration of their views and appreciating their perspectives on various issues.

The other way Annamarie Jamieson has been promoting Diversity at the company is promoting a culture of people educating themselves on different traditions so that they learn to appreciate the differences that people have in the society (Danowitz et al., 2018). Employees are usually encouraged to take part in travel activities to other branches so that they interact with people coming from different cultures and learn something new about traditions that are different from theirs (Ghauri et al., 2019). Employees are usually encouraged by Annamarie Jamieson to learn how others may approach business issues differently, depending on their cultural background. This prepares employees to learn how to work in a team that has perspectives that may be different from theirs.

Gender Balance

Annamarie Jamieson has also been a champion of Diversity at Fairfax NZ through ensuring that the workforce has a gender balance, and women issues are considered in all aspects of decision making from the top levels to the lower levels. Fairfax NZ, as an organization, has visibility of women in different roles, and Annamarie Jamieson has been the champion of ensuring that there is equality at the workplace (NZ Herald, 2017). More importantly, Annamarie Jamieson being the company's conscience, has always ensured that the company has flexible working hours for everyone, especially women that have families and have to balance between work and matters of a family ("Annamarie Jamieson, Stuff," 2018).

Effective leadership also entails a clear vision and a strategy for ensuring there is change. In the case of gender balance, it means developing a gender mainstreaming strategy with clear goals that will identify gender considerations as cross-cutting and non-negotiable (St-Pierre, 2017). Under Annamarie's leadership, every department has also ensured that there is gender parity on issues dealing with remuneration for men and women that there is Women are given the same opportunities for mentorship in the department just the way men are given the same chances. For instance, during the international women day in 2018, Annamarie Jamieson invited inspirational New Zealand women to address members of her department on matters dealing with mentorship and the need to take advantage of opportunities across the globe (Ghauri et al.,2019). The women also offered lectures on the need for people to network with others from diverse cultures as a way of promoting self-development.

Ethical Practices

Ethical practices are essential for an organization to strive. No matter what services or products you are offering, your company must have a mission. There is always a reason why a leader does things in a certain way because it is not always about money. A good leader ensures that what they stand for is clear and is made clear to the employee who works under you (Emma, 2019). Annamarie Jamieson stands for equality and transparency as a leader. At some point, she hired a deaf graphic artist, which took everyone by surprise in the organization("Annamarie Jamieson, Stuff," 2018). She ensures that coworkers respected each other, making every employee feel safe at the workplace, including the disabled. Respecting an individual's ability to work and giving them an equal opportunity without basing discriminating them based on their disability is what Annamarie shows to the team was in charge. As a result of Annamarie's initiatives, Fairfax NZ was recognized among the companies with recommendable ethical practices.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility ensures that there is accountability in business in regards to various stakeholders, investors and shareholders. The company does away with the mindset of competitiveness and profit-making ("Corporate social responsibility (CSR) | Current issues," n.d.). The key areas of concern include the environment, civil society and the community. As the leaders for the CSR department, Annamarie Jamieson ensures that when people are engaged in activities that promote the public image of the organization, the face of the team is diverse, with no single ethnic group making up a large percentage of a team that takes part in CSR activities. This way, an employee learns from others directly on how they approach different issues and hence making the department to appreciate the different viewpoints of people from different cultural backgrounds (Danowitz et al., 2018). Annamarie Jamieson has always committed herself t make sure that employees have a rich experience of diverse life experiences from people that have cultures that are different from theirs.

References

Annamarie Jamieson, Stuff. Diversityworksnz.org.nz. (2018). Retrieved 4 April 2020, from https://diversityworksnz.org.nz/media/1216/annamarie-jamieson-stuff.pdf.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) | Current issues. Retrieved 4 April 2020, from https://www.iisd.org/business/issues/sr.aspx

Danowitz, M., A., Hanappi-Egger, E., & Mensi-Klarbach, H. (2018). Diversity in Organizations: Concepts and Practices. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Emma, L. (2019). Types of Ethical Practices Employees Adhere to in the Workplace. Retrieved 4 April 2020, from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/types-ethical-practices-employees-adhere-workplace-18098.html

Ghauri, E., Mansi, M., & Pandey, R. (2019). Diversity in totality: A study of diversity disclosures by New Zealand stock exchange-listed companies. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 34 (8), 234-405.

Managing Diversity in the Workplace | PeopleScout. Retrieved 4 April 2020, from https://www.peoplescout.com/insights/managing-diversity-in-workplace/

NZ Herald (2017). Deloitte Top 200: Diversity and Inclusion Leadership - Fonterra. Retrieved from https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11946877

St-Pierre, K. (2017). How leaders can advance gender equality and enhance gender sensitivity. Blog.impactpool.org. Retrieved 4 April 2020, from https://blog.impactpool.org/articles/5-tips-how-leaders-can-advance-gender-equality.