Good Diversity Issues At Toyota, Asean Region Essay Example

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Introduction
Diversity management refers to a set of practices observed in a firm to maintain and create a positive work environment. The core aim of promoting diversity is to respect, recognize, reduce prejudices and value differences amongst people, so as to enable them realize the full potential (Robbins & Judge, 2013).

Theories and practices

Level of diversity
Toyota adopts ‘deep level’ diversity that is diversity goes beyond demographic differences alone. Surface level similarities alone will not result in good cooperation between employees. As Toyota is a global firm apart from demographic differences amongst employees, there exist differences in terms of personality, work preferences, and values (Robbins & Judge, 2013). Thus, it becomes essential to understand the similarities between people to ensure they work well with each other.

Demographics

Toyota Motor Asian division mostly employs people from Singapore, China, and Thailand. As shown in Appendix A they strive to include a diverse range of individuals in their workforce (Toyota employees, 2015).

Biographical characteristics and others

Biographical characteristics refer to objective characteristics like age, race, length of tenure, and gender. Over one billion dollar worth of business is conducted with women-owned suppliers, and minority people each year. Its workforce comprises of people from all age groups over eighteen years of age, and there is nearly equal participation from both genders.

Solution and recommendations

Toyota is committed to diversity which is evident from every aspect of its business operations, given its global spread. The firm is rooted in two fundamental principles namely continuous improvement and respect for people. To further improve its inclusion and diversity strategy Toyota will benefit from following the below strategies.

Implementing diversity management strategies

At Toyota employees are offered mandatory training programs. To promote team work in a bid to move towards continuous improvement, people are trained in the ‘Toyota way’. The Toyota way refers to a set of production and managerial principles that have evolved over time, and proven successful across all governing bodies in the firm. This serves to unify the diverse workforce. To support the growth of inclusion and diversity, Toyota has an advisory committee. This enables employees to share their characteristics and experiences, so common interests can be identified and means through which differences can be overcome can be strategically decided upon.

Attracting, Selecting developing and retaining diverse employees

People from different ethnic, gender, and cultural backgrounds must be pooled in and the only criteria for selection must be their performance. The only focus of an interview has to be on an individuals’ productive potential. Diversity must be highly valued and Toyota has to portray it highly values diversity. The work climate has to be supportive to diverse workers to ensure turnover is low and work commitment is high, to retain the diverse workforce (Williams, 2011; Robins & Judge, 2013).

Designing diversity programs

Designing effective diversity programs will help reduce operational and personnel costs to a firm, as the quality of the workforce is improved and there is a high level of job satisfaction resulting in increased individual employees’ performance. A formal commitment must be in place to imbibe diversity. At Toyota, the success of the firm is recognized to have arisen from diversity as the firm is built on diversity and inclusion. Senior leaders at Toyota have made diversity a high priority for the firm as is evident from their sustainability report. Employees and managers are trained on diversity management mandatorily. Diversity newsletters, seminars, and opportunities to promote communication will help improve the diversity climate at my sales office.
Proper mentoring and support must be offered for employees from minority groups in particular, so they can be given feedback for their performance, and opportunities for career advancement can be elaborated upon. Managers must be trained on the ways in which cross-cultural conflicts must be handled, so potential conflicts could be minimized. One shot, for instance training during the introductory stage alone will not suffice. Formal career development and diversity management programs must be introduced at Toyota, to ensure the company achieves success in its diversity efforts.

Conclusion

Employing a diverse workforce is a source for competitive advantage. At Toyota, people from a broad range of nationalities, different age groups, race, gender and ethnicity work together. The firm is rooted on the policy of inclusion and diversity. Diversity is deeply imbibed in the firm, especially in the ASEAN region. A diverse workforce presents challenges for Toyota, as effective diversity management is essential for good performance from its employees. By adopting effective diversity management strategies, retaining its diverse workforce, and designing programs aimed at promoting a diverse workforce Toyota can further improve its firm level performance. Toyota can deal with the challenges diversity brings about and at the same time bring in a wide range of strengths for the firm.

References

Knippenberg D. V., Dreu C. K. W., & Homan A. C. 2004. “Work group diversity and group performance: An integrative model and research agenda”, Journal of Applied Psychology, 89: 1008-1022.
Kreitz, P. 2007. “Best practices for managing organizational diversity”, Graduate College: Simmons.
Williams, C. 2011. Management. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
Robbins, S., & Judge, T. 2013. Organizational Behaviour. New York, NY: Pearson Education.
Toyota. 2013. Sustainability report. Toyota Motor Corporation.
Toyota Employees. 2015. Basic Philosophy regarding employees. Retrieved from http://www.toyota-global.com/sustainability/society/employees/
Appendix A