This is the manuscript of the 2014 published book. 'Power, Diversity and Public Pelations' published by Routledge. In the book I combine insights from the sociology of professions, critical race theory, post-colonial theory and scholarship on workplace inequalities, to explore how the construction of public relations' professional project acts as an exclusionary system that privileges whiteness over and above other racialised identities. I illustrate how the racialisation of the occupation operates through discourses of the client, archetypal practitioner and occupational territory. I also show how 'othered' practitioners contest the normalised superiority of whiteness by revealing its arbitrary nature, and use a range of strategies to counter the discrimination to which they are subjected.
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This report, commissioned by the NHS Leadership Academy, sets out the evidence base for Building Leadership For Inclusion (BLFI) – an ambitious new programme of work that aims to (1) raise the level of ambition, (2) quicken the pace of change, and (3) ensure that NHS leadership is equipped to achieve and leave an ever-increasing and sustainable legacy in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion. The report has been written by a research team based at the University of the West of England and is informed by an extensive review of relevant literature, interviews with academic experts and preliminary action research with the BLFI team and partners.
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Organisation, Identity & Locality (IV)
In discussing these themes the paper for the meeting (although not necessarily the final essay) will use literature mainly from cultural studies: Chalfen (1987), Langford (2001), Barthes (1977), Keenan (1998), Kracauer (1993) and Lury (1998). Some useful points will be drawn out from this literature to frame the subsequent discussion which will engage with some of the issues involved in constructing oneself as a New Zealander. Family photography is significant to the ways we collect and organize our memories, construct .
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Diversity in Africa: The Coming of Age of a Continent
Foreword Culture is the foundation of society and development and thus integrates the vision, values and customs of a people – not integrative in the sense of “assimilation” and drive to “mono-culturalism”, but integrative in the sense of “inclusion” and “valuing difference”. These are the elements that promote interaction and dialogue amongst diverse people, about their diverse dreams, hopes, fears and insecurities and also the ones that unite them, whether in the community, public life or in organizations. In this regard, one notes the importance of inclusionary culture as a vehicle, and a lens, for social, economic and political advancement, without which no meaningful development can take place on the continent. Equally, culture informs the view that an individual has of life, success and achievement as well as their views on leadership and management. It provides the necessary pillar which Africans have sustainably held on to through unprecedented chaos and turmoil, and always managing to emerge at a different humanistic-level – this chaordic pillar/root, place of solace, has set in place the foundations for personal pathfinding and community-identity formation, the by-product of which has been personal governance. Uncritically applied Anglo-Saxon, Middle-Eastern, and European identity-forming colonial constructs, which often separate individuals and social structures such as organizations, often cut across the grain of an integrative African understanding or inclusionary psyche – because, for an African, there is no separation of the myriad dimensions of life. This book also supports the basic contention that conventional forms of corporate governance, which place too much emphasis on structures, are unlikely to be of great value to corporations operating in an African context. Such forms of governance should be underpinned by the centrality of a human perspective. This dynamic view of governance recognizes therefore that, mastery of “soft” issues which are rooted within an organization’s culture and values, as well as a country’s social and economic development, are likely to be as important as the former “hard” issues of control and traditional, money-oriented-only measurements. Measurement of the effectiveness and efficiency of organizational governance must not be solely limited to the financial bottom-line, but must also incorporate human development, human rights, values that are inclusive, diversity of cultures, encouragement of entrepreneurship and creativity inherent in people. The focus must be on relationships and interactions between people in myriads of social/work webs, as they are emotionally engaged in the transformations within organizations rather than seeing organizations in a mechanistic way. When affirmed in this way, people willingly offer their discretionary effort and “show-up” self-motivated – as opposed to acting out roles designed by previously, and current, dominant social groups. The book makes the point that Africans, ordinary African people, must be the judges of whether the systems are working for them or not. And if not, they, Africans themselves, should confront their challenges, foster and engender appropriate and context-relevant solutions, and leverage local knowledge – not only knowledge from abroad (which has, and still is, so widely practiced across the continent). The danger exists that industries, and therefore development, can be taken away from African countries if they are not continually innovating and using their local capabilities, because things can change very fast in global economies – Africa has to start thinking more regionally, and African countries need to proactively seek to help each other on pathways to context-relevant development. Joint ventures with other countries, outside of Africa, are plausible as long as such ventures are not exploitative in nature and are being aligned with the national goals of host African countries and host African regions. Africans should give licences to partners to operate on their soil, where appropriate, but no longer to the detriment of Africa and its people. The inclusion of gender in this book is to be applauded as leadership and management have gendered dimensions, although most writings do make some linkage to this. Women have long maintained that gender is a social construct and the authors in this book equally assert and unpack that fact, and such constructs play important roles in shaping individual and collective identities. Women managers have been described as either emotional (female traits) or tough (masculine traits) and this has influenced how they are perceived as managers and leaders. It is equally true that women managers have unquestionably accepted and applied dominant concepts of leadership and management. In this regard they too have made decisions and policies that might have been far removed from the cultural context, ignored the gendered nature of the decisions and its intended, and unintended, consequences. In traditional Western human resource parlance, we refer to employees as disloyal, unproductive, having low morale and we seek for solutions through the improvement of technical systems, organi-structural redesign and dressing up externally-focused working conditions. The authors however, urge us to rather look at the fact that we have turned organizations, inhabited by Africans, into alien organizations far removed from their social and cultural realities, and separated their work and personal/social lives. Organizations in Africa, emulative of previous colonial and contemporary Western approaches, put emphasis on individuality and measure success by monitoring financial bottom-lines, rather than as noted in this book, i.e., it should also be measured by the enhancement of “collective personhood” and democratic wealth creation. The question therefore posed in the book is “who” defines and designs the dimensions for leadership and management within organizational life, for “whose” benefit, and “what” do they mean in an African cultural context? Here the various authors cite useful African concepts that could enrich organization life and make it more encompassing, such as consensus-building, collectivism, bi-cultural identity, rituals, spirituality, transformative practices, indigenous pedagogy and knowledge, distributed resource stewardship, networked relationships, collective wisdom and the oral tradition, symbolism and cultural practices, ability to recognize and value the “other” and manage diversity through coordination and communication. African people’s lives are extrinsically linked to social, cultural, political and economic environments and therefore they do not make a separation between community and the workplace. As such, and under girded by the philosophical underpinning of Ubuntu, they expect that the organizations within which they work will have inclusive value systems that take into account the diversity from within, and that it would serve the social purpose of the staff and the organization. As noted in this book: Though he may work in industry, the African lives in a wider society – and it is from this society, outside of the workplace, that the elements which constitute the framework which the African indigenous thought system operates derive. Culture as one important human attribute, sets a people apart – or keeps them together – their ways of doing things, their norms, values and traditions that cement and define their relations with each other. But at the same time, cultures influence and are influenced by other cultures as people must interact with other cultures, change and yet maintain their own unique characteristics. The authors refer to the complimentarity between different cultures rather than submerging, or assimilating, them into one. In this regard, it might be possible to learn from the African value system as much as from Western, Northern, and Eastern business principles without the one becoming subordinated to the other. As Africans we can learn from the experience of the West, North, and East in that their moral philosophies were combined in devising management and leadership principles that could be applied in multicultural environments (unfortunately, in the West, the shift from humanistic approaches to scientism has engendered non-sustainable practices – but, many of which, are under re-design in the West). It is my belief that only when we acknowledge and emphasize the centrality of cultural beliefs and values, combined with the centrality of human rights in governance or organizational discourse, that the true contribution of African culture, values, perspectives and knowledge can be realized in appropriately multicultural and positive diverse ways. This is put thus in the book: the opportunity exist for Africans to extract the useful (and discard the dysfunctional) Western insights and knowledge to raise up (in relevance and in training and development) its context-appropriate native insights and knowledge, thereby creating something unique, a hybrid, a gift to the world. I therefore believe that African leaders and managers, as well as scholars of Africa and those who live in Africa, will find this book of interest as Africa moves towards a new African consciousness and a humanist vision. We will gain a better understanding of, and afford a new meaning to the concepts of, leadership and management that do not alienate people but are relevant to the social purpose of all people. Advocate Bience Gawanas
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Report for the Centre for Ageing Better
The report details the mixed methods research that we conducted for the Centre for Ageing Better on age-friendly workplaces. Key issues of focus are: reducing age bias is recruitment; promoting good quality flexible work; and maximising the benefits of age diversity at work. Examples of good practice around these issues are discussed. A companion to the report is the employer report: Becoming an age-friendly employer, a good practice guide published in collaboration with Business in the Community.
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Steward Leadership: A Maturational Perspective
Steward leadership is a form of leadership that focuses on others, the community, and society at large rather than the self, and this book creates a framework for stewardship and the requisite behavior to develop steward leaders at a younger age. Many senior leaders and executives across the globe appear to move into a stewardship mindset at a ripe age or when their careers have matured, whereas executives of around 30 years old, on average, are typically focused on self-interest. The book's extensive research and interviews provide the theoretical as well as consulting tools with which organizations can develop stewards, whether through training programs, mentoring programs, coaching initiatives, and personal development practices.
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South African Board for People Practices Women's Report 2013
It is my pleasure to bring you the SABPP Women’s Report for the third time. The 2013 edition of the report contains chapters aimed at encouraging concerted action and creating political awareness. The focal chapter of the 2013 Women’s Report presents the theme of politics, providing a poignant analysis of South African female politicians and their impact, or lack thereof, on advancing the gender cause. Lindiwe Makhunga provides insight into the history and background of women in South African politics, and critically evaluates the low levels of influence and effect demonstrated by presentday female politicians. Continuing with the theme of leadership and organisational politics, two chapters provide actionable information, contributed by experienced coaches of female leaders. Leanne Meyer, who is based in the USA, reveals femaleleadership insights gained in the United States. Leanne reflects on issues such as the power of 360° feedback andhow authenticity and leadership development lead to identity development, and shares invaluable coaching themes for the benefit of female leaders. As female leaders in the USA and South Africa seemingly have many issues incommon in understanding their corporate careers and in their levels of political astuteness, the chapter dovetails with Renate Volpe’s experience of fostering political intelligence amongst South African women. She presents a number of viewpoints on how women can go about increasing their awareness of organisational politics and learn to play the political game with greater effect. Jenni Gobind looks at how the well-intended Employment Equity Act has, in effect, failed South African women, especially those in senior and executive roles. She also explains the forthcoming proposed amendments to the Act, crystallising the difference between employment equity and affirmative action. The topic of workplace bullying, together with the fact that women are often the preferred targets, is expanded on by Leigh Leo and Robyn Reid, in hopes of stimulating thought around this destructive phenomenon. The report would not be complete without an update of the statistics of women and men in the South African workplace. Madelyn Geldenhuys provides us with these figures, drawn from various sources and databases. This chapter provides benchmark figures for HR practitioners to bear in mind when styling their gender mainstreaming plans. The intention of the 2013 Women’s Report is to bring topics of a political and leadership nature to the attention of HR practitioners. As always, the report combines evidence-based practice with solid practical experience and suggestions, enabling HR practitioners to deal with women in the workplace in an informed manner, and offers alternative ways of viewing gender at work.
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What is commonly termed as 'business case for equality and diversity' among professionals of diversity management is a set of stories of variable sophistication that are constructed in order to engender and negotiate organisational change. The research project that we report here draws on three independent field studies which generated over 90 interviews and 285 completed questionnaires with members from wide range of organisations: diversity professionals from public, private and voluntary sector firms and trade unions, providers of diversity management tools as well as public servants from government agencies with specific remit for diversity and equality in the UK. In this paper, we explore the story of 'the business case for diversity' and how this is used to negotiate organisational change initiatives and achieve support and recognition from within and without the organisations. We argue that the sophistication of the story of the diversity case is correlated with the success of the diversity management initiative in the organisation. Our study reveals the significance of tacit learning through networks and communities of practice for the development of sophisticated business case stories. However, this is set against a context of porous professional boundaries for diversity and equality officers. We argue that the absence of formal means of professionalisation increases the reliance on networks for development of business case arguments. However, the evidence suggests that the networks for diversity professionals are rare and under-resourced in the UK. We also elaborate on the current status of equality and diversity officers in their organisations. As their relative power is not only associated with the content of the stories that they tell but also with the terminology that they use and the prestige and authority of their respective positions. Through these studies, we explore the linkages between organisational status of the diversity professionals with the stories that they develop.
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