Diversity Management and Team Climate for Innovation

Abstract

Given the paucity of research addressing the management of diversity in New Zealand, the current study aims to investigate the impact of perceived diversity management practices on employees. Specifically, the study explores the impact of certain diversity management practices such as maintaining a diversity vision, conducting diversity support activities, adopting family-friendly employment practices and other proactive practices that go beyond the EEO guidelines. The relationship between these diversity management practices and perceptions of diversity climate was explored. Further, the impact of diversity management practices and diversity climate on the team climate for innovation was investigated. Finally, the effects of ethnicity and other-group orientation on the relationships between diversity management, diversity climate and team climate for innovation were investigated. Research was conducted using the data collected in a survey conducted in 2010. The original researchers have already reported on certain findings pertaining to the diversity management practices and employee affective commitment, trust in employer and job satisfaction (see Houkamau and Boxall, 2011). It was found that two sets of practices, family-friendly practices and proactive employment practices, have an impact on the perceptions of diversity climate and team climate for innovation, and that diversity climate fully mediates the relationship between these practices and team climate for innovation. Ethnicity was found to be a moderator of the relationship between family-friendly employment practices and diversity climate, such that Maori participants reported more positive perceptions of the diversity climate when they observed higher incidence of family-friendly employment practices. Other-group orientation was found to be a moderator of the relationship between proactive EEO practices and perceptions of diversity climate, such that participants who have higher other-group orientation were more likely to have more positive perceptions of the diversity climate of their organisation when there was a higher occurrence of proactive EEO practices. The implications of these findings for diversity management practitioners and direction for future research are discussed.