Managing Workforce Diversity: Qantas Airline

Managing Workforce Diversity: Qantas Airline

Numerous organizations in Australia encounter inevitable challenges which are branded and subjective by cultural diversity. Australian enterprises not only have to meet their compliance responsibility under a series of anti-discrimination acts, but they also need to contend for talent, overwhelmed skills inadequacies, and maintain aptitude by surpassing escalated employee anticipations concerning workplace opportunities and conditions. As a result, organizations in Australia must be keen to adapt to the certainties surrounding workforce and customer diversity to be able to compete in both culturally diverse international and domestic business environments. Notably, managing workforce diversity has become a topic of interest owing to the enormous challenge enterprises face achieving their goals as a result of increased workforce diversity in the current global economy. Precisely, this essay aims to address the significance of workforce diversity policy in Qantas Airline and what can managers implement to improve workforce diversity management.

Consequently, workforce diversity is a set of individuals originating from different racial, cultural, social and national backgrounds. According to Martin (2014), workforce diversity is a group of individuals possessing a culturally multiethnic and socially differentiated contextual. The amalgamation of such people employed in a firm builds an atmosphere of multiculturalism (Martin, 2014). The vital aspect is to incorporate this diversified individual’s personality in expediting the enterprise for the determination of creating an even environment for all employees. Such a relationship could help organizations achieve their united goals with their diverse basis and socio-cultural varied diversity (Martin, 2014). Essential to note managing and operating with variety is necessary expertise. Therefore, it is evident that most enterprises in Australia tend to manage workforce diversity in different ways. Unfortunately, significant organizations and managers te to counter-cultural differences issues when they arise, but those that aggressively manage them are the ones who are more competitive.

Numerous organizations currently embrace workforce diversity programs, as others carry out cultural audits to have an assurance that diversity is prevalent in the enterprise. However, managing cultural diversity is always accompanied by some benefits and losses. For instance, cultural diversity management has merits such as enticing marginal innovation and expertise, but also has negative comebacks such as augmented skirmish, escalated training expenses and communication problems (Green, López, Wysocki, and Kepner, 2002). Likewise, Berry (2016) articulates that the adoption of cultural diversity can augment inventiveness and result in competitive advantages in for establishments. Still, it can also result in disadvantages such as lower production and lessened interrelation. Eddy and Greg (2010) pointed out that workforce diversity can play a significant role in improving a company’s sustainability and competitiveness. Moreover, managing diversity is an imperative basis for corporate accomplishment because it mixes diverse expertise that facilitates companies to be more proficient with environmental complications.

Qantas employs a large and diverse workforce that includes employees from different backgrounds and cultures. Thus, through this, Qantas Company has created a multiculturalism working environment in the organization (Qantas Group, 2019). Fortunately, although managing a diverse working population is challenging, Qantas has revolved the cultural diversity of its work station into a competitive advantage. For instance, at Qantas Flight Catering, the sixty-six different nationalities represented on staff are utilizing their cultural capability to excite international customers. About a third of the meals Qantas Flight Catering produces annually are retailed to different airlines such as Singapore and Japan other than the parent company, Qantas. Specifically, at Qantas Flight Catering Kitchen, many chefs were born or trained in the native nations of these airlines and thus are capable of producing food which meets their client’s preferences. Besides, the chefs also understand religious needs which may supplement the provision of countrywide dishes.

Qantas multicultural workforce is now considered an actual marketing tool for the organization. The competitive advantage displayed by the multicultural workforce stretches beyond the capability to provide realistic food. The workers also contribute through their understanding of their client’s foreign languages. Qantas Flight Catering introduced staff language training in the 1990s to isolate ethnic groups and communication barriers, and it also invests in cross-cultural training with TAFE. This enables the staff to know the acceptable conduct to display when they meet with clients from different parts of the world. Indeed, in the future, this kind of training will comprise programs established in-house, which calls on the cultural skills of the staff. Likewise, chefs have also started to take cooking courses, with international certification, to share their acquaintance of dissimilar nationwide foods. These strategies add up to augmented production for Qantas Flight Catering. Actual management has twisted a theoretically uneven workforce into one that calls a competitive advantage over its cultural diversity.

Nevertheless, the implementation of the above policies encounters several difficulties. There are challenges when it comes to the management of diverse work population in an organization (Green, López, Wysocki, and Kepner, 2002). Managing cultural diversity is more than merely recognizing an individual’s differences. Precisely, management of diversity encompasses acknowledging the importance of differentiation, contesting discrimination, and upholding inclusiveness (Martin, 2014). Qantas Flight Catering managers may face losses in staffs and work productivity owing to prejudice and partiality, and criticisms and lawful actions in contrast to the company (Green, López, Wysocki, and Kepner, 2002). Likewise, undesirable insolences and deeds can be obstacles to organizational diversity in Qantas Flight Catering because of they detriment operational associations and harm self-esteem and work efficiency (Green, López, Wysocki, and Kepner, 2002). The effects of cultural diversity in the workstation can be both positive and negative.

In summary, diversity management necessitates business owners and managers to gain new knowledge and expertise and to nurture cultural competence. Managing and serving individuals from diverse cultures effectively needs a blend of skills and knowledge that can be adapted to establish a cultural competence. Cultural competence, according to Qantas Flight Catering management, can be perceived as the procedures, practices, skills, awareness and knowledge required to operate a culturally diverse environment. The interactions can be both general and inexact with individuals from different cultures. Therefore, organizations need to comprehend the condition of culture and cultural diversity well. And then, they need to obtain and operate with comprehensive perceptions and contexts which will assist them in considering and managing cultural diversity in concrete techniques. However, lack of understanding and attitudes that brings the sense of cultural diversity in organizations will result in challenging working situations. Remarkably, Qantas value diversity of thought and experience. The company believes that its inclusive culture subsidies to their colossal achievement. Besides, Qantas Company has a diverse workforce that mirrors modern, multicultural Australia. Indeed, they rejoice and uphold this diversity as a strength of their business.