Cultural Diversity and Diversity Initiatives Essay

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CHANGE MANAGEMENT PLAN
Vernette Nathan
Strayer University
Dr. Vanessa Graham
HRM 560
14 December 2014

Change Management Plan
Introduction: Proposed Initiative
McDonalds is one of the leading global fast-food restaurants that is characterized with a highly diverse workforce and every expansion program into new territories introduces fresh cultural, ethnic, racial and other social stratification challenges (Hill & Jones, 2012). The franchising program has ensured an increasing number of employee workforces that McDonald has a statutory responsibility to oversee their management. This is the main reason why McDonald’s Global Chief Diversity Officer Ms. Pat Harris found it necessary to propose an initiative within the Human Resource Department that is defined by a cultural information network (Hauser, 2013). The network is both physical and virtual with the ultimate goal of encouraging dialogue, compromise and exchange of relevant information based on the diverse cultural backgrounds of its employees. The employee exchange program previously restricted to top management position is now being initiated at lower levels to intensify diversity appreciation efforts. The network also pays special consideration to the diverse customer base across the world.
Changes on Proposed Initiative
The introduction of the diversity program should call for mandatory participation of employees.
The initiative must not interfere with the standards set for hiring and dealing with employee situations including disciplinary actions.
The initiative must welcome opinion and proposed changes in identifying diverse aspects from the employees rather than setting standards assumed and preferred to be common in diversity identification.
Importance of the Proposed Changes Encouraging voluntary participation is the best approach because employees will go out of their way to benefit from the program or reach out to their colleagues. The mandatory aspect develops a culture of compliance and employees hardly internalize aspects of such program. Pressure from government, industry regulators, labor unions and other stakeholders has made many employers succumb to diversity consideration as a routine (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2014). There is lack of employee empowerment and some companies take up diversity initiatives for pure marketing purposes. The act of forcing the employees to accept diversity under all circumstances or risk punishment gives a negative perception of the process. This negates their exposure level or personal experiences that may warrant variance in the speed and time taken to absolutely embrace diversity initiatives. Punished employees may develop worse behavior and reaction to their diverse colleagues as well as customers which compromises the company’s image. Previous experiences in McDonald’s have seen managers embrace diversity initiatives to benefit from the organizational reward systems for high standards of diversity considerations in their branches. Some companies compromise their standards so as not to be penalized by industry stakeholders who may influence the tendering processes, procurement and other important services. Managers should not under any circumstances leave out highly qualified candidates and settle for less qualified candidates in their recruitment programs citing diversity.

Establishing networking initiatives on diversity should not be meant to just highlight and reflect on diversity issues. The network must dictate elements in other diversity programs implemented in the company thus validating the sharing aspect for employees benefit (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2014). Employees may feel relieved to have a platform to share their work experiences without fear of victimization but that should not warrant opportunities to get back at their superiors.
Recommended Change Description This change is made in recognition of the shortfall in the Equal Opportunity Laws (EOL) with regards to
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