Workforce Diversity in Relation to the Attainment of the Organizational Development Goals of Medical Colleges of Northern Philippines and the International School of Asia and the Pacific

Workforce Diversity in Relation to the Attainment of the Organizational Development Goals of Medical Colleges of Northern Philippines and the International School of Asia and the Pacific

Piga, Romar A., Sugarol, Ronie E.

College of Business Education and Management

DOI: https://doi.org/10.51584/IJRIAS.2024.90401

Received: 10 March 2024; Revised: 21 March 2024; Accepted: 26 March 2024; Published: 26 April 2024

ABSTRACT

Workforce Diversity plays an important role in the workplace. Work life balance is categorically part of it. Diversity exists due to human differences on the basis of color, race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, status of employment and performance rating. Companies need to focus on diversity and look for ways to become totally inclusive organizations because diversity has the potential for unyielding greater productivity and competitive advantage. Managing and valuing diversity is a key component of effective people management, which can improve workplace productivity. Unmanaged diversity in the workplace might become an obstacle to achieving organizational goals. Therefore, diversity can be perceived as a “double-edged sword”. Organizational development goals emanate from a progressive result of all the current situations at the organizational level. The profile of the respondents to the organizational development goals of the Medical Colleges of Northern Philippines and the International School of Asia and the Pacific. It can be noted that the p- value of all the variables is higher than the set alpha value. Hence, the null hypothesis is accepted, which implies that the organizational development goal of the employee is independent of their profile variables.

Key words: workforce, diversity, organizational development goals

INTRODUCTION

Workforce is the invisible capital in every organization. It is always defined as the most crucial part of an organization that plays an important role in achieving the organization’s goals and objectives. They are the responsible ones in working out the organization’s goals towards the fulfillment of them. The organizational workforce must concentrate on the various acts performed for the organization. Without their prompt response as to how they will deal with it, it will be detrimental to the organization’s objectives. The workforce will always carry the organization’s policies and guidelines and will imbibe themselves to be committed to their respective tasks.

The concept of workforce diversity and organizational performance has been much debated in the last five decades. Workforce diversity and organizational culture have been frequently said to be responsible for all manner of positive and negative ills (Sliani and Lau, (2005a). A better understanding of the concept would allow employees in organizations to solve problems and improve performance. Diversity issues are now considered important and are projected to become even more important in the future due to increasing differences in the population of many countries. Companies need to focus on diversity and look for ways to become totally inclusive organizations because diversity has the potential for unyielding greater productivity and competitive advantage. Managing and valuing diversity is a key component of effective people management, which can improve workplace productivity. Unmanaged diversity in the workplace might become an obstacle to achieving organizational goals. Therefore, diversity can be perceived as a “double-edged sword”.

Harold and Kumar (2012) point out that in the organizational performance index, diversity should capture practices that involve understanding and appreciating the interdependence of humanity, culture, and the natural environment; practicing mutual respect for qualities and experiences that are different from our own; understanding that diversity includes not only ways of being but also ways of knowing; recognizing that personal, cultural, and institutionalized building alliances across differences are essential for people to work together to eradicate all forms of discrimination”.

Diversity is increasingly recognized and utilized as an important organizational resource about whether the goal is to be an employer of choice, to provide excellent customer service, or to maintain a competitive edge. Workplace diversity is a multi-faceted concept that will continue to evolve as more industries move toward a global marketplace. It has also been proven to have led to a perception of being fundamental for employee performance. This fundamental belief forces managers to embrace and comprehend the concept of workplace diversity, its barriers, and benefits (Weiliang, et al., 2011).

Forbes Magazine (August 22, 2008) highlighted that diversity gives you access to a greater range of talent, not just the talent that belongs to a particular worldview or ethnicity or some other restricting definition. It helps provide insight into the needs and motivations of all your clients or customer base, rather than just a small part of it. And, potentially, as McKinsey & Co. and a host of other highly credible researchers have shown, it makes your organization more effective, more successful, and more profitable.

In an academic context, diversity encompasses different dimensions, including origin, race, gender, ethnic group, language, color, attitude, values, beliefs, and religion (Rau and Hyland, 2003). A similar list provided by Kearney et al. (2009) relates diversity to minorities, including women, people with disabilities, and aged people.

According to Hasan, Muhammad, and Imran’s (2009) study, conflict is a state in which two or more parties have incompatible objectives and in which their perception and behavior are appropriate with that incompatibility (Mack, 1965). Conflict is a foreseeable event. It may not fade away or be ignored (Michael and Wayne, 2001; Medina, Munduate, Dorado, Martinez, and Guerra, 2005). It is found in personal, group, or organizational interaction. It was further elaborated by Hasan, Muhammad and Imran that conflict is either “good or bad” and “sinful or immoral”. It assumes significance once it is handled intelligently. When conflict is handled unskillfully and badly, it becomes detrimental; when it is handled morally and creatively, it ceases to be frightening and incapacitating, and results in growth, maturity, and empowerment for the individual, group, and organization.

Conflict occurs due to differences in perception, ideas, behaviors, interests, attitudes, religious differences, political differences, and the unjustified distribution of national resources. Conflict is not always negative. It depends on how the conflict is handled. If handled properly, it can become a source of development; otherwise, it creates hostilities (Kigali, 2006). So, it affects the quality, performance, and profit of the organization. Conflict is a necessary part of life and a dynamic in team performance (Medina et al., 2005). When managers ignore the clashes between co-workers, those clashes will be converted into personal and emotional conflict in the long run, which damages the organizational culture, worker morale, and overall chap reduction of organizational performance. And Cox (2008) stressed that failure to manage the special challenges that it presents may lead to higher cost structures for firms by contributing to higher employee turnover, higher interpersonal conflict, and more miscommunication.

A different aspect of diversity relating to task is cited as an important consideration by Horwitz and Horwitz (2007). After reviewing 35 studies of team diversity conducted between 1985 and 2006, the authors conclude that “task-related” diversity (e.g. function or education) positively impacts team performance, whereas “bio-demographic” diversity (e.g. gender or ethnicity) does not. The measures of team performance included both the quality and quantity of work.

Every organization has been established with certain objectives to achieve. These objectives can be achieved by utilizing resources like men, machines, materials, and money. All these resources are important, but out of these, manpower is the most important. It plays an important role in performing tasks for accomplishing goals. The question arises as to how these resources are utilized by manpower (Amaeshi, U.F.; Benedict, A. 2020).

There is a general understanding among researchers that employee performance is an important variable in work organizations (Suliman, 2001) and has become a significant indicator in measuring organizational performance in many studies (Wall et al., 2004). Employee performance can also be measured through a combination of expected behavior, demographic profile, and task-related aspects (Motowildo, 2003), even though performance is often determined by financial figures. In reality, performance that is based on absolute value or relative judgement may reflect overall organizational performance (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin and Cardy, 2007; Wall et al., 2004).

This study was undertaken to examine the underlining concept of workforce diversity and how it relates to organizational performance. This is important to establish the underpinning variables that give rise to underachieving or overachieving employee performance. An examination of literature shows little known facts about the relationship between workforce diversity, their needs, motivation, and reservations concerning organizational performance.

METHODS

Research Design

This research study used a descriptive survey research design. Analyzing the data has involved the description of data in the form of tables so that the reader will better understand the distribution of the data. This research design was used to answer a particular question or set of questions. The data gathered through Google form by sending it through their respective messengers was used, while the results from it will be in the form of Likert-scale generated data for quantitative analysis. This helped the research discover the relationship among the variables.

Respondents of the Study

The respondents of the study were the employees of the Medical Colleges of Northern Philippines and the International School of Asia and the Pacific. The study used purposive sampling technique based on the people who entered the institutions. The respondents served as the foundation of the study and provided the relevant answers to the research questions.

Instrumentation

The research instrument used in the data gathered was a descriptive survey questionnaire and consisted of four (4) parts. Part I dealt with the profile of the respondents in terms of age, gender, marital status, highest educational attainment, highest educational attainment, number of years in service, status of employment and performance rating. Part II measured the effects on the employees’ performance. Part III elicited the relationships of the respondent’s response to the organizational development goals of the Medical Colleges of Northern Philippines and the International School of Asia and the Pacific, while Part IV proposed management measures were developed and attained the school’s goals.

Data Gathering Procedures

A letter permissioned to conduct the study was addressed to the Office of the President of the Medical Colleges of Northern Philippines and the International School of Asia and the Pacific. With the approved letter, the researcher distributed a copy of the questionnaire and emailed to the respondents in the formed of Google Form due to IATF Health Protocols implemented. The survey questionnaire provided directions on how they answered it, and directions to make sure that the questionnaire was completely answered, and the researcher retrieved thereafter.

Questionnaire

The questionnaire has a list of questions asked and spaces in which the respondents record the answers. It was either printed or typed in a definite order on a form or set of forms. Each question was worded exactly as it was to be asked; furthermore, the questions were listed in an established sequence.

Generally, it was sent through messenger to respondents who were expected to reply in the space provided or may be approached personally to explain the purpose and meaning of questions in the questionnaire. They were conducted by enumerators.

Data Analysis

Part I results were analyzed using the frequency count and percentage distribution. For Part II, the researcher used the frequency count when gathering responses from the respondents. The relationship between the profile of the respondents and the organizational development goals of MCNP-ISAP was tested using the Chi-Square when analyzing data for Part III and Part IV.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

The following are the result based on the gathered data:

For the employee-respondents, the majority of them are 23-32 years old, which is supported by 80.0%; male, with a percentage of 52.5%; and single employees, with a percentage of 67.5%; and bachelor’s degree holders, with 72.5% total employees responded at MCNP-ISAP; and 1 to 5 years in the organization has the highest level of percentage of 77.5%; and, the status of employment probationary has the highest percentage of 52.5%; and, the performance rating percentage is 37.5 with the variable of excellent.

The respondents strongly agree with the employees’ values on the effects of workforce demographic profile diversity on the organizational development goals of the Medical Colleges of Northern Philippines and International School of Asia and the Pacific on the domain of how they feel included and respected within the organization compared to how employees who are different from most others are treated fairly in the organization. On discrimination issues, the respondents strongly agree on the domains rated by the respondents. The Supervisor’s Support has a categorical meaning of strongly agreeing. While the employee’s impression has a description of “agree” and the evaluation and promotion scheme have a description of “agree” too.

Table 01. Test of Relationship between the profile and the Organizational Development Goals of the Medical Colleges of Northern Philippines-International School of Asia and the Pacific

Gleaned on the table above was the test of relationship between the profile of the respondents to the organizational development goals of the Medical Colleges of Northern Philippines and the International School of Asia and the Pacific. It can be noted that the p- value of all the variables were higher than the set alpha value thus the null hypothesis was accepted which implies that the organizational development goal of the employee was independent to their profile variables.

Table 02. Proposed Management Measures will be Developed to Attain the Medical Colleges of Northern Philippines and the International School of Asia and the Pacific goals towards the Workforce Demographic Profile Diversity-Action Plan

In this table it shows the action plan of the researcher to process and develop the gap identified based from the output gathered. The key result areas served as guide in realizing the needs of the employees in working out the gap that needs to fill-in. This was reflected in www.forbes.com that personal and professional work life balance will always identified and be properly identified and it would be stay on the top of your schedule, don’t let one creep too far into the other, know the schedules of those around you, analyze your time, and just about time. The literature suggests that expectation were not only essential for employees to have for their management, but also required by law that boils down into proper training, support and leadership; timely and accurate payment of wages; safe and healthy working environments; full disclosure and explanation of the job responsibilities, company policies and procedures; and regular feedback on performance from supervisors or managers as suggested by Isaiah Atkins (2023) (“Setting Clear Expectations for Employees” from business news daily). Www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development suggests that workplace collaboration requires interpersonal skills, communication skills, knowledge sharing and strategy, and can occur in a traditional office or between members of a virtual team. Working as a team not only drives greater productivity, but it also fosters healthy relationships between employees. Measurable career development goals will help to get to the next level in a career. Creating and implementing an employee career development plan allows you to feel motivated at work. Remuneration plans must be understandable, workable, and acceptable. The persons responsible for determining a remuneration plan are guided to employ sequential steps in working out the remuneration plan according to managementstudyhq.com/renumeration-plan.

CONCLUSION

This study investigated the workforce of the profile diversity of the employee of the Medical Colleges of Northern Philippines and International School of Asia and the Pacific to their organizational development goals. The study supports the idea that the profile diversity of the employee does not affect the organizational development goals of the employee and the institution. Furthermore, this study specify that the employees strongly agree to value and discrimination and supervisors support as a factor to consider in attaining the organizational development goal while employee’s impression and evaluation scheme as agreed.

RECOMMENDATIONS

In light with the foregoing findings above, the following are the recommendations offered by this research.

1. To the HRMO, to make a scheme to holistically evaluate the employee and to make necessary actions towards the result of the evaluation.
2. To the administration, to have a holistic plan and activities to promote wellness and well-being of the employee to be more effective and efficient in their work to sustain high productivity in their field of specialization of works.
3. To the employee, to seek more advanced studies and trainings to support the institutions goals and objectives, to align the personal objectives and goals and institutional goal for a more meaningful work and working environment.
4. To the future researchers, to widen the scope of coverage of this research for them to broaden the number of the respondents in the higher education institutions.

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