Diversity in the Workplace

Diversity in workplace is a key factor for determining the success of any organization as it ensures manifestation of itself in determining a great reputation for any organization thereby resulting in the enhanced opportunities and profitability for the workers. As put forward by Hunt, Layton & Prince (2015), diversity within a workplace encompasses race, age, gender, religion, ethnicity, citizenship status, socioeconomic background, sexual orientation, education, socioeconomic background and the mental or physical disabilities of the people. Diversity in workplace is more prominent in the multinational companies. This particular research study will help in exploring the aspect of workplace diversity and its impact on the employee performance. The study will however be conducted in context of Thai Airways, one of the flag carriers of Thailand. It is a multinational organization that comprises of employees belonging to the different cultures and the countries that brings in diversity at the workplace. Since the first day of joining the company it emphasizes on the development of the workforce capacity through recruiting diverse employees for enhancing work and expertise. Hence, Thai Airways acts as suitable choice for conduction of study based on impact of the workplace diversity on the employee performance.

Companies are becoming increasingly employee centric and so diversity has become one of the key aspects within the organization. Employees acts as the ultimate asset within any organization with proven facts that the companies’ practices effective diversity management that gave rise to the positive results both in terms of the employee performance and the organizational profits. Most companies have experienced a changing trend in the form of diverse employee pool that that works together with every passing day. Thus, workforce diversity has become the buzzword in the present times with increasing number of organizations keen on recruiting and having diverse workforce on board. Dora and Kieth (1998) mentioned that the organizations have led to the discovery that diversity does not act as absolute phenomenon but a constant process. On the other hand, Saxena (2014) puts forward a discussion that the workforce diversity acts as one of the crucial necessities in the current changing environment of today while managing it acts as challenge. Therefore, having invested on the workforce diversity organizations often tries and finds out the influence of the workplace diversity on the performance of the employees. Having diverse workforce however has its own challenges and benefits have. It has therefore been found from the various researches that when a diverse workforce is recruited as well as managed in the most effective and efficient manner and the issues arising from them handled smoothly then it results in a positive impact on the performance of the employees.

Importance of Workplace Diversity

The Thai Airways referred to state owned enterprise under administration of Ministry of Transport and is one of the flagship carriers of Thailand that operated commercial flights not only internationally but also domestically along with providing  air related transport service. The operation of the company comprises of the business unit related to core airline and the business units supporting the airline business. The key business of the Thai Airways is air transport that included the transport of the cargo, passengers on the chartered and the scheduled flights for the domestic and the international destinations. The business units of the company remain at the crux of ensuring smoother operations of the business related to air transport that works in sync for delivering highest level of comfort, safe and punctual operations that result in enhancing the overall confidence of the customers.

This particular study holds significance in two different ways.  Firstly, the research paper exploring effectiveness of the workplace will try in finding the factors that will influence the employee performance of the organizations and how the diversity can lead to the establishment of a supportive and positive work ambience that will enable employees in improving productivity. Practice that leads to the promotion of diversity within workplace might also have influence on work culture of the organization that contributes to the academic world through addressing the factors that would influence the employee productivity through imposition of a biased behavior. Secondly, the study holds practical implications for the Thai Airways. The organization have also faced various controversies regarding the work culture and this particular study will put across useful insights into work place diversity and its impact on production, motivation and job satisfaction.

The problem with workplace diversity has been mutual respect among the team members and the conflict amongst the employees. Presence of racism, prejudice, discrimination and the lack of respect within the work environment results in conflict amongst the employees instead of making them productive. This kind of animosity can give rise to a conflicting environment.   

The aim of the research study lies in exploring the diversity factors within the workplace of the Thai Airways. This involves the evaluation of the factors based on the productivity and efficiency of employees. The research also involves putting across recommendation for mitigating negative influence of the diversity practice within the organization.

The objectives of study include:

• Exploration of  the factors that leads to the workplace diversity in Thai Airways
• Evaluation of the impact of the workplace diversity on the job satisfaction of the employees in the Thai Airways
• Accessing the diversity practice of the Thai Airways and their  influence on the work environment and employees
• Recommending ways for improving the workplace diversity within organization for better work ambience.

1. What are the factors of the workplace diversity that might impact the employee performance in Thai Airways?
2. What are the issues with each of the factors in workplace diversity in Thai Airways?
3. What practices are adopted by the Thai Airways for mitigating the issues of workplace diversity?
4. What measures can be adopted by the Thai Airways in reducing  the diversity incidences and in improving the employee productivity?

H0: Workplace diversity policies do not have any impact on employee job satisfaction in Thai Airways

Thai Airways: A Case Study

H1: Workplace diversity policies have a significant impact on the job satisfaction of employees of Thai Airways  

This study will enable the company as well the employees in understanding importance of the workplace diversity and its impact on employee motivation and performance. The study portrays how the company can implement a diverse workforce in creating a positive influence resulting in productivity. There has been a number of research studies conducted on the impact of the factors of the workforce diversity like the gender, age, caste, race, color, religion, disability, culture and personality traits on the employee performance. This research would further put forward a pathway for the organizations in considering the future research related to workplace diversity.

This represents the second chapter of dissertation paper. The chapter focuses on the in depth study of various approaches to diversity management that ensures in enhancing the performance of the employees. The chapter puts across a detailed theoretical concept related to the topic of the dissertation.

According to Okoro & Washington (2012), in present times, workplaces are becoming increasingly diverse due to internationalization, globalization and the changing demographics. Therefore, a common global phenomenon has been the diversity of the manpower that is characterized by the gender, age, nationality, religion, tribal, political and logical affiliations. Incorporation of workforce diversity allows the administration and manager in building organizational culture of acceptance, tolerance and the respect for the privacy. In some of the advanced countries like the United States of America massive number of employees migrates across the world for annual recruitment. The differences amongst the employees are reflected on the behavior that contributes in building their personalities. The way of thinking of each individual should be considered and applied for the company benefit. There exists no workplace or company that only employs the workers belonging to the same age. Companies employs women and men, white or colored people, Non Arabs or Arabs and Muslim or non Muslim and people with various ideologies and beliefs. This diversity ensures the conscious management of each of the category for developing an integrated frame that would increase effectiveness and help in gaining competitive advantage. Workforce diversity can lead to the functional stability and hence reduce the cost. Workforce diversity can lead to the increase in productivity at the departmental and the individual level.

Barak (2016) stated that diversity refers to the understanding that each of the individuals is unique and ensures the recognition of the individual differences. These might include dimensions of the ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, physical abilities, and age, religious and political beliefs along with the other ideologies.

Objectives of the Study

Kyalo and Gachunga (2015) stated that diversity management is necessary within organizations so that it not only turns out to be the best and is the most capable of competing. The management of diversity makes it responsive towards technical moves depending on which a set of approaches have been addresses that not only relates to diversity but the concept of management of diversity.

According to Cascio (2015), one of key principles of diversity management within the work environment lies in looking for the opportunities of diversity and achieving innovation, growth and improvement. Another principle lies in imagining comprehensive futuristic strategy through workplace diversity and thereby bringing in group of individuals having common vision through the integration of hopes and values. The diversity management thus acts as the key of strengthening the state of respect and dignity within workplace that also acts as vital factor for determining the organizational success.

1. Consultant/Practitioner Approach:

According to Lauring (2013), the approach focuses on positive aspect of how to make the workplace diverse for increasing productivity. In this particular approach the organization focus on how the diversity benefits the business. According to Madera (2013), organizations should apply all possible means for finding since they find it difficult in finding qualified worker possessing the required abilities and talent so they the suitable employees. The proponents of the consultant approach of managing diversity believe that business can benefit in making the workplaces increasingly divers in the following manner:

• Improves the utilization of competencies of all the employees
• Strengthens commitment between employee and organization and decreases the turnover of the employees
• Enhances the image of the organization amongst the shareholders
• Allows for greater flexibility and adaptability in the fast paced and the changes marketplace
• Retain and attract the talented employees
• Reduce cost associated  with absenteeism, turnover and lower productivity
• Ensure the return on the investment from the various initiatives, practices and policies

1. The Mainstream Approach:

According to Collings, Wood & Szamosi (2018), the mainstream approach remains supported by the self categorization and social identity theory. The social identity theory describes the group behavior and membership within a specific group.  On the other hand, the self categorization theory exists when the people stereotypes them through attribution of the behavior, attitude and the other attributes often associated through membership of a specific group. The theories also help in explaining how diversity requires to be managed both at the macro and the micro level within the organization.

Thai Airways can adopt either of the approaches in determining the impact of workplace diversity on employee performance.  

Kolb (2014) stated that at macro level or the organizational level of business, the goal of the diversity management lies in moderating and observing relationship between the diversity within workforce and performance. There are however, various macro level models for the management of diversity. The model put across by Thomas and Ely focus mostly on relationship that the workplace diversity have on the organizational outcomes.

Theoretical Concept of Diversity Management

Thomas and Ely Model: According to Sessler & Bilimoria (2013), it puts forward three types of perspective have been put forward by the model for management of diversity at organizational level. The perspectives include: access and legitimacy, learning and integration and discrimination and fairness. Out of the three perspectives, it was found that the workgroup functions best under leaning and integration perspective as it focused  on generation of inter group relation, thoughts of being  respected and valued and making the employees feel positively regarding racial identity within workplace.

On the other hand, Janssens & Zanoni (2014) stated that the proponents of the management of the workplace diversity at micro level believe that the stereotypes and prejudices represent immediate precursors of discrimination within the work place. The decimation is either totally eliminated or controlled through the control of stereotypes and prejudices.

According to Singh, Winkel & Selvarajan (2013), however some of the other theories of managing diversity include:

Contingency theory: This theory puts across that management of diversity and the success of the organization depends in the organizational attitude in various areas that includes multiple areas such as the organization and the culture strategies, organizational environment and the individual employees.

Goals theory: This theory puts forward across that conflict with organizations goals and lack of clarity results in the difficulty of the acceptance by the individuals that leads to the lower level of the organizational performance and thus requires the management in clarifying the goals through the effective diversity management of diversity.

Learning theory: This theory states that the programs of diversity management acts as the essential means of  rethinking process and the basic task of  organization through the elimination of the unnecessary task thereby contributing to the improvement of performance within the organization.

Psychology Organization theory: The theory puts forward practices that better suits the employees looking for the simplified rules and procedures. This particular theory can be applied to all positions within an organization.

These theories will help Thai Airways in better understanding workplace diversity and its contribution towards improvement in employee performance. 

According to Atyah (2016), there exist varied dimensions of diversity amongst employees within organizations like Thai Airways that can be classified in two groups, the first group is known as the virtual level and the second group is known as deep level. The virtual level comprises of the following:

Gender: It has been found from various researches that there exists a difference between the men and the women that influence the work performance. The researches have also put across that men and women differ in their ability of solving problems, possession of analytical skills, learning ability, social adjustment and motivation. It has also been found that there has been increased rate of absenteeism amongst the women employees compared to men and so to ensure enhanced productivity company requires development of the initiatives through implementation of the flexible working hours.

Benefits of Workplace Diversity

Age: The challenges of older employees remain in the unwillingness and the inflexibility of experimenting with different means of work. This can be overcome by paying them a little appreciation and importance.

Ethnic Diversity: This refers to the kind of diversity that indicates the ethnic group that the individual has been part of. To ensure this, it is necessary for organization to develop the programs where minorities could progress and open the professional opportunities.

Cultural Diversity: This refers to the social and the cultural values within workforce. It has been found from the various research that there indicates various differences between the social and the cultural level.

Educational Diversity: It has been found that lack of suitable vacancies has left unemployed in spite of higher education and higher level of skills. This leaves them dissatisfied leading to psychological disorders.

The deep level comprises of:

Values: They reflect preferences and the results get reflected in the person’s sense of right or the wrong behaviors. This indicates the treatment of the people with integrity, respect and the equal rights for everyone.  This influences the trends and behavior and finally the performance of an individual.

Trends: There exist a strong relationship between the behavior and attitude at work. Thus, non positive trends carried by the workers leads to reduction in their satisfaction level amongst employees thereby having a direct impact on the employee performance. It is therefore important for the managers to understand the direction of the multidirectional trends for reducing the negative impact.  

Personal Features:  The personal characteristics of individuals are flexibility, motivation, cooperation, behavior and action at the work. The diverse labor force symbolizes various personality traits so the managers need to employ features that serve organizations. This is necessary since satisfied individuals would deliver better performance. 

According to Guillaume et al. (2014), workforce diversity helps a company in expanding to newer markets and at same time contributes in creation of differing viewpoints that helped the company in devising creative solutions thereby leading to increased productivity. Some of the causes of the workforce diversity in Thai Airways are as follows:

Influence of Policies: The policies and laws implemented for elimination of discrimination at the work place can result in work force diversity. Policies leads to the creation of workplace atmosphere more open to the older workers and minorities thereby leading to the development of diverse workforce.

Impact of Geography: An organization usually recruits the local workforce for satisfying needs of the employees for maintaining production. When the population within the area comprises of the diverse demographic, the company is forced to create workforce based on population draw.

Approaches to Diversity Management

Impact of Globalization: A global economy is represented by people moving across different parts of the world for finding work. Sometimes, the expertise required by a company appeals to a global workforce thereby creating diversity.

Impact of Size: Diverse workforce has been the result company locations across different parts of the world. Companies with the global locations might have the preference for using the internal resources for helping the employees thereby leading to the creation of diverse workforce.   

According to Podsiadlowski et al. (2013), the benefits of diverse workforce can be compiled as follows:

• Leads to lower cost due to lower turnover rate of employee
• Involves acquisition of the resources across multi-channel backgrounds
• Involves marketing the organizational trade mark thereby improving the image of the community
• Increases the creativity amongst the  employees
• Increases the effectiveness of the employees in solving business related to  problems
• Enhance flexibility of organization thereby helping in adapting faster to environment

Saxena (2014) put across that workforce diversity in addition to performance improvement also helps a company like Thai Airways in entering global markets and helps the organization in responding to the rapid changes. Some of the additional benefits of work place diversity for the organization include:

• The ability of attracting  the best skills in labor market
• The ability of understanding  the customer needs and improving the marketing ability of  organization
• Leads to an improved decision making
• Puts forward the ability of achieving higher performance within the organization. 

According to Knights & Omanovi? (2016), management of diversity have certain drawbacks, important amongst them are the lower levels of employee satisfaction, lower cohesion between the  teams, communication difficulty  and emergence  of various kinds of tensions and conflicts. It was however found by the other researchers that managing diversity can give rise to negative aspects like the feeling of uneasiness at the work thereby resulting in the lack of agreement between the work teams thereby leading to a negative influence   on the performance or giving rise to the difficulty in communication between the workers due to the barriers in language.

As put forward Podsiadlowski et al. (2013), some of the disadvantages of the diversity management include:

• Workplace diversity often results in complexity, ambiguity and confusion in the work
• It also leads to the difficulties  due to the inability of organization in fulfilling needs of the  individual employees
• It also leads to the inability of organization in formulating policies, procedures and strategies.

In contrast to this, Ewoh (2013), stated that there are various challenges faced by Thai Airways in trying to maintain workplace diversity. These are as follows:

• Inaccurate judgment related to diversity: It has been identified by the variousresearchers that the workplace diversity acts as the weak point at the organizational level. The diversity programs of the management in such cases should have the purpose of reducing the negative outlook.
• Leads to ethnic superiority: Sometimes the individuals have superior opinions and they believe that they have the best habit.
• Results in poor planning of career: There are certain cases when renowned companies fail in providing career opportunities for employees with the diverse backgrounds. This is particularly holds significance for the positions of senior leadership.  
• Leads to hostility in the work ambience: There are times when the work ambience acts non supportive to the employees with the diverse backgrounds such as gender, age or racial differences.
• Political safety for the workers with the diverse background:At times, the people belonging to the diverse background are often discouraged for aspiring to the advance positions due to the lack of the knowledge for the rules of the work thereby making them incapable of protecting themselves.

Thus, It is to be noted that an organization must consider a basic plan in positive manner and effective manner for meeting the challenges and for ensuring the effective diversity management that will reflect positively on the performance of the organization for all employees.

Guillaume et al. (2017) focused on the demographic differences in the organizations and the factors that moderate the impacts of workplace diversity. The authors addressed the aspects of relational demography, organizational diversity and work group diversity as significant factors that affect the social integration, well being and performance of the employees in an organization. Through the study, the authors found that some factors on which the management of the organization has control over, such as, unit designs, strategies, human resource management, leadership, individual and cultural differences, are the moderating factors that mitigate the impact of workplace diversity. At the same time, the authors also highlighted that there are some positive impacts of workplace diversity and when that works, there are benefits for the organizations through better decision making, innovations, larger talent pool, and wider consumer base, which can outweigh the negative impacts such as lower employee morale, poor job performance and more conflicts, with some moderating factors in effect.

Conclusion

Lindsey et al. (2015) highlighted the aspect of effectiveness of the diversity training on the employees of an organization. The authors explored the effects of methods, empathy and motivation on the training on diversity methods, namely, perspective taking, goal setting and stereotype discrediting. The study was conducted by applying an experimental research design and the authors found that the diversity training effectiveness could be increased by increasing the motivational factors for the employees. The authors specified that perspective taking behavior affect the attitude of the employees towards the LGB individuals and by inflicting the sense of empathy and removal of the prejudices through the diversity training programs can bring positive outcome in establishing a more sensitive and supportive work environment, in which the employees would feel comfortable and increase their productivity. Thus, diversity training programs are highly necessary in the organizations, especially for those that work as multinationals.

Phillips et al. (2016) addressed the issue of diversity training on disability. This is another important aspect due to the reason that almost in every nation, there is employment and labor protection laws that state that every organization should have provision for the recruitment of disabled employees and provide them support to help them. The authors highlighted that the rate of unemployment is high among the disabled people as there is negative attitude towards disability and purposeful misinformation due to prejudices. Thus, diversity training on the disabilities of individuals can help to reduce the prejudices about disabilities and also help to improve the intergroup relations. The authors suggested that the organizations should impart training for increasing the awareness about facilities for the disabled employees and to improve the attitudes of the existing employees towards the disables employees through empathy and thus, it would help the organization to design effective diversity training programs for including the diversity of disability.

According to Ng & Sears (2012), CEO social values and age are important moderating factors that play a major role in the leadership styles and implementation of the organizational diversity practices. The authors evaluated the effects of transformational and transactional leadership styles of CEOs on the diversity policies and practices in an organization. The authors found that transformational leadership were more strongly related to the diversity practices in an organization and the transactional leadership was more effective in the cases where the level of CEO social values or age was relatively higher. Hence, following from the study, it can be inferred that organizations should focus on implementing transformational leadership for having effective diversity practices. The employees should be motivated to implement the diversity inclusion practices.

Alexander, Havercome & Mujtaba (2015) explored a diverse organization, such as, American Express, to address the workplace diversity in the modern world. The authors stated that diversity is also required to gain competitive advantage in the market, although if the organization has inefficient management, then the diversity will have a negative impact. Long term competitive advantage comes for individual growth and success, and only diversity inclusion and effective management of diversity can motivate the employees to enhance their different skills and come together to bring success to the organization. In this context, it can be said that there are instances of resistance to the diversity inclusion practices, that is, as there are inclusion practices, there are resistances also. As highlighted by Thomas (2012), it is a human nature to resist the change in the initial period. Due to the prejudices of the society, the initiatives towards diversity inclusion also face resistance from the employees, especially for the diversity trainings. It occurs mainly at the individual level or interpersonal level and on a cumulative level, it affects the organizational culture and diversity inclusion programs. Thereby effective management is required to handle the challenges of diversity resistance. 

There have been several studies conducted on the workplace diversity and its influence on the employee performance. From the analysis of this particular chapter, the researcher derived in depth information on the impact of workplace diversity on the performance of employees in Thai Airways. The approaches and theories analyzed in this chapter aided the researcher in reaching better conclusion to findings. The concept, factors and benefits, disadvantages and challenges have enabled the researcher in developing better understanding of the impact of workplace diversity on employee performance. This chapter is followed by research methodology.

Research methodology refers to the particular methods and techniques used for identifying, collecting, processing and analyzing the information about the research topic (Mackey & Gass, 2015). In other words, research methodology encompasses the steps of identifying the relevant information type, collecting and processing the data and getting the relevant findings. In this chapter, the researcher presents the strategies and steps of collecting, and analyzing the data to address the research questions. Research methodology comprises of research philosophy, research purpose, research approach, design, strategy, data collection method, sampling, data analysis process and ethical considerations. This gives an idea about the thought process of the researcher regarding how to carry out the study.

According to the research onion described by Saunders et al. (2015), research philosophy is the first step of any research study and methodology. This represents a set of beliefs of assumptions in regards to the identification, collection and analysis of the data that is required for addressing the research questions (Knobe & Nichols, 2013). Research philosophy is determined by the nature and source of the knowledge. Interpretivism, positivism, realism and pragmatism are most commonly used research philosophies. Under interpretivism, the researcher applies analytical as well as interpretation skills to conduct a subjective study, while under positivism, the researcher applies scientific functions and statistical tools on numeric data to conduct an objective study (Hughes & Sharrock, 2016). Realism deals with perceived reality. And under pragmatism, the researcher applies both the quantitative and qualitative methods of research (Morgan, 2014). In the given study, the researcher applied pragmatism research philosophy. It allowed the researcher to apply both the qualitative and quantitative research process and get a more in-depth insight about the research topic, that is, the impact of workplace diversity on the employee performance in Thai Airways, by exploring both the scientific and social and humanitarian aspect.

As stated by Lewis (2015), research purpose states the reason or objective and goal of conducting the study.  The goal of the research can be either to explore a new aspect to the research topic or to describe or explain the events leading to the cause and effect of the phenomenon. Thus, there are two types of research purposes, exploratory and explanatory. As highlighted by Bell, Bryman & Harley (2018), exploratory research allows the researcher to investigate a research topic in a new perspective, while in the explanatory research, the researcher explains the cause and effect relationship between the variables of research for addressing the research phenomenon and the events. In this study, the explanatory research purpose was adopted, as the researcher investigated the impact of workplace diversity on the work performance of the employees by applying hypothesis testing method.

The direction of the study to be conducted is represented through research approach. It is selected on the basis of the research objectives and research purpose. Inductive and deductive are two types of research approaches. As highlighted by Singh (2015), inductive research approach allows the researcher to generate new theory or perspective from the observations. On the other hand, deductive approach allows the researcher to examine the research phenomenon through the hypothesis testing on the basis of established theories.

In this study, the deductive research approach was adopted as the researcher evaluated the research topic on the basis of existing theories. In other words, research hypothesis was created with independent and dependent variables that incorporated the aspects of workplace diversity and performance of the employees in Thai Airways. The direction of the study was maintained to explain the causal relationship between the variables through testing of the hypothesis and hence, inductive approach was not chosen as new aspects was not explored or generated.

As stated by Creswell & Poth (2017), research design represents the strategies and actions taken by the researcher for collecting the data and analyzing those by applying suitable process. There are various types of research designs, such as, correlational, descriptive, experimental and quasi-experimental. In this study, the correlational research design was chosen. For the explanatory research purpose, correlational design is suitable as it allows the researcher to explain the cause and effect relationship between the variables through statistical calculations and describe the findings on a humanitarian or social aspect. As opined by Curtis, Comiskey & Dempsey (2016), correlational research design is helpful in understanding the type or nature of relationships occurring between the variables, that is, it is appropriate to figure out if two variables are related with each other and if yes, then in what manner. Thus, by applying correlational research study, the researcher evaluated the relationship between workplace diversity and employee performance in the context of Thai Airways.

Brannen (2017) highlighted that research strategy represents the fundamental actions of data collection and analyzing those for answering the research questions in the most rational manner. Most commonly used research strategies are survey, case study, action research, interview, archival research, grounded theory, and narrative inquiry. In this study, the researcher selected the case study research strategy. This helps in assessing the research phenomenon in the context of real world scenario and getting feasible solutions for the research issue (Meyer, 2015). It also helps in narrowing down the scope of data collection to a particular context to assess the research issue. Thus, Thai Airways was chosen as the case study organization. The data on workplace diversity was collected from the employees of Thai Airways to examine the impact on employee performance. 

Primary and secondary are two types of data that are used in studies. Primary data is the one that is collected directly from the field of study through interview, survey, observation, focus group, feedback etc.; and secondary data is the one that is collected from secondary sources, such as, journals, books, annual reports of companies, websites, government publications and reports (Hancock & Algozzine 2016). In this study, primary data was collected by the researcher. The data was collected through a survey process.

The survey questionnaire contained 14 close ended questions with replicable scale. The questionnaire contained two parts, demographic and non-demographic questions on the research topic. A 5-point rating scale was used to collect the responses.

For primary data collection, sampling is necessary. Population for a survey is usually quite large and it is not possible to study the entire population. Hence, a sample is drawn by applying appropriate sampling technique. A sample is a subset of a larger population with the same characteristics. Sampling is done to narrow down the scope of data collection to get a more specific outcome. Sampling is of two types, probability and non-probability. In the probability sampling, each of the samples has equal and random probability of being selected, while in the non-probability sampling, the samples do not have equal and random chance of selected, rather the choice of sample depends on the judgment of the researcher (Levy & Lemeshow, 2013). Some of the probability sampling techniques are simple random sampling, cluster sampling, stratified sampling, etc. and some non-probability sampling techniques are convenience sampling, purposive sampling, snow ball sampling etc. (Uprichard, 2013). In this study, the researcher applied simple random sampling and chose 50 employees of Thai Airways to conduct the survey. This technique is chosen as it helps in reducing the sampling biasness of the data and produces a more precise outcome (Acharya et al., 2013).

Quantitative data analysis method was applied by the researcher to conduct the data analysis process. The survey responses were presented in an MS Excel workbook and the data was converted into numeric values using 5 point rating scale, where 1 represents least favorable and 5 represents most favorable. After the conversion, the researcher applied statistical tools and performed statistical functions to get the findings. The pattern of the responses was presented through visual representation tools, such as, bar charts. For the quantitative analysis, reliability test, correlation and regression analysis were used using SPSS version 20.

Time and budget are two major limitations for this study. Due to these constraints, the sample size has been kept limited to 50 and only primary data is collected. Moreover, secondary data on the research topic, that is, workplace diversity and its impact on the workforce, is not easily available from any authentic data source or any Thai Airways report. Thus, only primary data was considered.

As the study involves individuals, some ethical considerations were addressed. Firstly, an informed consent was taken from the participants as well as from the organization regarding participating in the survey. The respondents were informed about the purpose and objective of the research in details. Secondly, the participants were given the right for voluntary participation. No one was forced to participate in the data collection process. Thirdly, the conditions of data confidentiality and anonymity were strictly maintained. No personal information of the participants was collected. Lastly, originality of the paper was strictly maintained and no violation of the copyright act was done. All the information is correctly referenced to avoid the issue of plagiarism.

Chapter 4 comprises of the methods of data analysis and the findings from the analysis. The researcher collected primary data through a survey conducted on 50 selected employees of Thai Airways to get an insight about the current practices and attitude of the company towards workplace diversity and its impact on the employee performance. The survey was conducted using Google form and the data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Quantitative methods were applied on the data to get a statistical inference on the data and on the research topic. The findings are presented below.

This section presents an overview of the social aspects of the sample for the survey. The survey contained questions on gender, age group, tenure in Thai Airways and nationality of the participants to get an overview of the perception of the respondents on the aspect of workplace diversity in the company and how those practices or policies affect their performances. 

The researcher created 4 age groups for the participants to address the working age in a precise manner. It is seen that majority of the participants (40%) belonged to the age group of 31 to 40 years, followed by 36% in the group of 41 to 50 years, 14% in 51 to 60 years and only 10% belonged to the age group of 21 to 30 years. Thus, maximum employees surveyed can be considered as senior employees, who would have a better knowledge about the company practices regarding workplace diversity.

44% of the respondents were associated with Thai Airways for 6 to 10 years and 28% were working for 1 to 5 years. 18% were working for more than 10 years and 10% were with the company for less than 1 year.

The nationality of the participants was asked to get an overview of the different countries that they belong to. Thai Airways has its headquarter in Thailand and it is expected that majority of the employees would be the citizens of Thailand. However, the company also operates in other countries and many expatriates work in the Thailand location of the company. Thus, people from different nations works in Thai Airways. It is seen that maximum number of respondents, that is, 58% are citizens of Thailand, 20% are from China, 8% each from Singapore and South Korea and 6% are from Vietnam. Thus, it can be said that there is diversity in terms of nationality among the employees.

This is the second part of the questionnaire, in which different aspects of diversity policy and practices of the company were addressed. 8 questions were framed accordingly, which helped to get an overview about the employees’ perceptions about the company policies, their satisfaction level, which in turn affects their performances. The findings and the analysis are presented below.

Regarding the question on whether the employees are satisfied with the diversity policies in Thai Airways, it is seen that majority, that is, 40% of the employees said that they are dissatisfied, with 22% strongly disagreed. 14% answered neutral while 16% agreed and 8% strongly agreed that they are satisfied. However, the general perception is that majority of the respondents are not satisfied with the diversity policies of Thai Airways.

The respondents were asked about their perception on whether the unfair diversity policies and practices do not impact their performance. It is seen that 36% disagreed, and 22% strongly disagreed, that is, more than half of the respondents think that unfair diversity practices in the company affect their performances. However, 20% answered neutral, 14% agreed and 8% strongly agreed.

Maximum number of employees have disagreed and strongly disagreed to the question of whether there are diversity inclusion practices in Thai Airways. These practices generally include creating an environment for establishing a sense of belongingness among the employees, empathetic leadership, equal opportunity for all etc. It can be inferred from the responses that Thai Airways do not have much established practices for diversity inclusion.

On the matter of whether Thai Airways has the practice of respecting individuals from different background, 38% disagreed and 24% strongly disagreed. Although, few participants has agreed but the percentage of agreement is quite small.

Valuing the differences of the individuals is an important factor that has to be addressed under diversity inclusion. It is seen that more than half of the respondents have disagreed to the notion that there is practice of valuing the differences of the individuals in Thai Airways.

Regarding the fair treatment to all the people coming from different nations, it is seen that 38% disagreed and 22% strongly disagreed, while 18% answered neutral, 14% agreed and only 8% strongly agreed. However, as the majority of the participants disagreed, it can be said that there the employees from different backgrounds are not treated fairly in the company.

As per the labor laws of the country, employees with disabilities should not be discriminated. They should be treated equally and the companies should provide them facilities so that they do not feel neglected. However, it is seen that more than half of the survey participants disagreed (40%) and strongly disagreed (22%) to the question of whether the company demonstrate any commitment to meet the needs of the employees with physical disabilities. On the other hand, 18% responded neutral, 12% agreed and 8% strongly agreed to this. Hence, the general perception is that Thai Airways do not pay attention to the needs of the employees with disabilities. 

It is important to have a platform in any organization where the employees can put forward their ideas, beliefs and opinions and if the company recognizes those, that motivates the employees as they feel valued. However, from the survey responses, it is found that 34% disagreed and 22% have strongly disagreed to the question of having such an open platform in Thai Airways, where they can put forward their ideas or suggestions. This is a demotivational aspect for the employees and they do not feel connected with the organization.

Discrimination against the employees within an organization can come in any form and among those, the most common harassments are racial, gender biased, and ethnicity biased. Every organization should ensure that there is zero tolerance policy for these types of biasness as these types of behavior create harassment and demotivation for the employees. Thus, when the employees of Thai Airways were asked that while discriminatory jokes or behavior were not tolerated in the organization, it is found that 30% of the respondents have strongly disagreed and disagreed regarding this aspect. This is a serious issue that affects the diversity inclusion in the company and should be paid significant attention by Thai Airways.

To have an effective diversity inclusive policy in the workplace, it is important for the employees as well as management to have an understanding about the cultural and other differences among the employees due to different backgrounds. This would help to create a supportive and positive work environment and would motivate the employees to enhance their strengths with the support of the fellow colleagues. Thus, the organizations must conduct training or sessions for the employees to enhance their understanding about the cultural differences and to respect them. However, in this aspect also, it is seen 36% of the respondents disagreed and 22% strongly disagreed, that is, the company has not done a good job in providing training programs that promote multicultural understanding.

From all the above response charts, it is seen that, for all the aspects of the diversity inclusion policies and practices in Thai Airways, more than half of the respondents have voted for disagreement and very few responded with agreements. Thus, it can be inferred that the workplace diversity is quite prevalent in this organization and people perceive that the lack of proper inclusive policy leads to unfair treatment, which in turn affects their job satisfaction and hence, performance.

The internal consistency of the data is evaluated through the reliability test. In other words, the efficiency of the research instrument to produce consistent outcome in different situation is examined by the reliability test. The score is measured in terms of Cronbach’s alpha, in which the score of 0.7 or more is considered as a good and acceptable score of internal consistency of the data (Heale & Twycross, 2015). 

Table 1: Reliability statistics

It is seen that in the given case, the Cronbach’s alpha value is 0.994, which is an excellent score. Thus, it can be inferred that the questionnaire is very much reliable and it would produce consistent data for all types of situation for other industries as well. Thus, the survey outcomes are reliable and valid.

Regression analysis is conducted to evaluate the impact of workplace diversity on the performance of the employees of Thai Airways. Hence, aspects of workplace diversity are combined together to make one single independent variable and the satisfaction with the diversity policies and the aspect or perception of unfair policy affecting the work performance is considered as the independent variable.

In this context it can be said that satisfaction from jobs is dependent on many factors and one of those is motivation. According to the hierarchy of motivation theory by Maslow, the needs or desires of individuals are placed in a pyramidal structure, and the third layer contains the belongingness. This factor can describe the importance of diversity inclusion in the workplace (). To keep an employee motivated, an organization should address all types of needs, such as, physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem and self-actualization in a hierarchical manner and by implementing the policy of diversity inclusion, the organization can instill a sense of belongingness among the employees. If the employees are motivated with the diversity policies of the company, their job satisfaction would increase and that would enhance their performance ().

Thus, in the given study, the researcher included various factors addressing different aspects of the diversity policies. Those are, whether the company gives respect to individuals belonging to different backgrounds, differences of the individuals, gives fair treatment to people with different nationality, if it respects and addresses the needs of employees with disabilities, creates an environment for the free and open expression of ideas, opinions and beliefs, whether Thai Airways have zero tolerance policies for racial, ethnic and gender biased jokes against any employee, and if it provides a training to the employees to enhance their multicultural understanding and improve their attitude towards workplace diversity.

To evaluate the impact of these independent factors on the performance of the employees of Thai Airways, a regression analysis was conducted. 6 factors were consolidated into one factor to assess the combined effect on the dependent factor, that is, whether they were satisfied with the diversity policies of Thai Airways. These 6 factors are “Thai Airways respects individuals from different backgrounds”, “Thai Airways values the differences of the individuals”, “People from different background is treated fairly in the company”, “Company demonstrates commitment to meet the needs of employees with disabilities”, “Company provides an environment for the free and open expression of ideas, opinions and beliefs”, “Racial, ethnic, and gender-based jokes are not tolerated at Thai Airways”, and “Thai Airways has done a good job providing training programs that promote multicultural understanding”. These factors addressed various aspects of workplace diversity policies of the company and hence, were combined into one factor, namely, Independent factors, which affect the satisfaction level of the employees and in turn affect the motivation and performance of the employees. The result of the regression analysis is shown below.

From the above table, it can be seen that, R-square value is 0.883, that is, the model can explain 88% variation in the data around its mean. The significance value is 0.000, which is significantly less than the critical p-value 0.05. Thus, it infers that null hypothesis is rejected, that is, workplace diversity policies have a significant impact on the job satisfaction of the employees in Thai Airways, which in turn affects their performances.

Thus, from the data analysis, it can be derived that there are quite a few issues in Thai Airways regarding the workplace diversity policies. It is also seen from the survey responses that majority of the survey participants were not satisfied with the diversity policies of the company and they also said that unfair practices have a negative impact on their job satisfaction and performances. Hence, Thai Airways must put focus on these issues to ensure a more satisfied and hence productive workforce.

Conclusion and recommendations 

This chapter presents the concluding remarks on this study. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of workplace diversity policies and practices on the work performance of the employees, which is dependent on motivation and job satisfaction. To conduct the study, Thai Airways was chosen as the case study company. By applying the simple random sampling technique, 50 employees of Thai Airways were chosen for the survey. The data was analyzed using quantitative methods. It has been found that there are quite a few issues regarding diversity in the workplace of Thai Airways and that need to be addressed by the company to keep the employees satisfied and productive. In this chapter, the researcher establishes a connection of the objectives with the research findings and also presents some recommendations for the company to address those issues.

The first objective of the study was to explore the factors that lead to workplace diversity in any organization, especially in the case study company, that is, Thai Airways. From the literature review of the previous research works, the researcher explored various factors that affect the workplace diversity of any organization and that in turn affect the performance and productivity of the employees. Based on the findings, the survey questionnaire was developed. It addressed aspects like nationality of the respondents, their overall satisfaction level regarding the diversity policies and practices, their perception on whether the unfair practices affect job satisfaction, whether there are proper diversity inclusion practices in the company, if there is respect for individuals from different backgrounds and nationalities, disabilities, and if the company provides platform for expressing ideas and gives training to improve multicultural understanding to establish a supportive work environment. Thus, it can be said that the above mentioned factors are some common and prevalent aspects that can affect the workplace diversity. If there is high level of workplace diversity, then it can hamper the need for belongingness of the employees, which also affects the motivation and satisfaction of the employees. Thus, it can be said that the first objective of the study is fulfilled.

The second objective of the study was to evaluate the impact of workplace diversity practices on the job satisfaction of the employees of Thai Airways. The findings from the survey revealed that the employees perceive unfair diversity treatment has a negative impact on the job satisfaction of the employees. The productivity and performance of the employees depend on the motivation and job satisfaction of the employees. Hence, organizations are responsible for ensuring a supportive work environment and must address the need for belongingness for the employees. When the employees feel included in the business operations and receive fair treatment, they would feel motivated to perform better. From the survey responses, it is found that majority of the employees are not satisfied with the diversity inclusion practices of the company and there is lack of fair treatment, which affects their performances. When the organization does not value the differences of the individuals and respect people from different nationalities, the employees do not feel attached to the organization and thus, their performances suffer, which can be inferred from the survey responses. Hence, it can be said that the second objective of the study is fulfilled.

Assessment of the workplace diversity practices of Thai Airways and their impact on the employees was the third objective of the study. The survey questionnaire addressed multiple aspects of workplace diversity which could exist in the company and the responses were collected on a 5 point rating scale, options varying from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Those aspects include the presence of proper diversity policies in the company, treatment of the company towards people with disabilities, belonging to different nationalities and cultural backgrounds, scope for providing an environment for expressing opinions, ideas and beliefs, zero tolerance for gender biased, ethnicity, racial, color, age, economical background biased jokes, providing training to all the employees to promote the multicultural understanding and tolerance in the workplace, and respects and values for the differences of the individuals. It has been found from the study that more than half of the participants have disagreed to all these aspects. In other words, majority of the employees have reported that Thai Airways lack all these measures and practices, which are essential for establishing a supportive inclusive workforce. Thus, as the employees have reported that unfair practices affect their job satisfaction and work performance consequently, it can also be inferred that as the company does not provide these measures for ensuring workplace diversity inclusion, that demotivates the employees and affect their job satisfaction and hence, hamper their job performance.

Based on the findings from the primary data, the researcher has identified the aspects which should be addressed by Thai Airways to implement the workplace diversity in the company and ensure a better performance from the employees. To address those aspects, following recommendations are drawn.

• Firstly, as the findings from the survey responses show that there is no proper diversity inclusion policy in the company, hence, it is important for Thai Airways to develop diversity inclusion policy guidelines. Being a multinational company, the company has employees from different nationalities, who have a different cultural background. Thus, their interests should be paid attention by Thai Airways. The company should formulate a proper workplace diversity policy and include various aspects to ensure a supportive work environment for all the employees coming from different backgrounds. It should be formal procedure and all the employees should be asked for their feedback regarding the policies so that their perspectives can be known and addressed accordingly. The employees should also be notified about the policies and transparency in the communication should be maintained, so that they feel connected with the organization.
• Secondly, the company should implement policies to address the needs of the people with disabilities. It is a necessary measure, and facilities should be provided, starting from the parking lot to walking ramp and desks and chairs. Employees should not be discriminated on the basis of their physical disabilities and they should be assigned job roles, for which their physical disabilities do not create any obstacle.
• Thirdly, Thai Airways should impart training for all the employees to have an understanding and tolerance for fellow colleagues belonging to different nationality, ethnicity, race, color, gender, age, sexual orientation, educational and economic background etc. There should be zero tolerance policy for all type of discriminations and harassments and there should be strict penalties for any rule violations.
• Thai Airways should take measures to increase the motivation of the employees by giving all a fair and equal treatment for all coming from different backgrounds. There should be practices like involving the employees in welfare decision making, arranging recreational activities so that everyone can participate, team management, motivational sessions etc. This way the employees can spend more time together and get to know each other. They should also be encouraged to value the differences and respect each other. The sense of belongingness should be improved for the employees and this way the employees can be motivated. Getting involved in the decision making process and welfare activities will also enhance the job satisfaction of the employees. Thus, it is a necessary step for Thai Airways to improve the job satisfaction of the employees as the job performance and productivity of the employees depend on motivation and job satisfaction of the employees.
• Thai Airways should also make policies to create a platform for the employees to express their opinions, beliefs and ideas. This should make the employees confident about their positions in the company and they would feel more connected. This way the management of the company can understand the specific needs of the employees and get new ideas for the growth of the business. As the employees come from different nations, it will be helpful for the company to assess the cultural differences in different countries and thus, take business decisions accordingly. This will also increase motivations for the employees and thus, that will improve their performances.

The two major limitations for the study are the time and budget. Due to these limitations, the researcher collected only primary data from a small sample size. Collecting secondary data would have been more time consuming and costly, as many of the secondary sources containing data on workplace diversity in the organization and its impact on the employee performances so not have free access and requires a substantial payment for access. The sample size is also small, which can lead to a biased outcome of the survey. The size is considered only 50 as collecting survey responses from more people would be more time consuming and would have made the study more robust. Thus, the future researchers can focus on these areas. They can collect primary data from a larger sample set and can also collect secondary data to validate the findings from the primary data. Furthermore, they can also focus on particular aspects on this research subject and explore more to contribute in the academic world. 

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