QUESTION :

Evaluate whether Worcestershire County Council is adopting a managing diversity approach to diversity management. Provide TWO reasons for your answer.

61 11:31 fog... * 392 46 69 50 MARKS) MAKING DIVERSITY AN ISSUE IN LEAFY ELGARSHIRE BACKGROUND Worcestershire County Council (WCC) is the local authority responsi and building; and libraries and strategic planning for the 542,000 people who live with these, approximately 15.090 are based in schools. 2.500 in other establishments, the field ( for example home care assistants), other offices or the County Council's headqua Worcestershire are provided by the six district councils of Bromsgrove , Malvern Hills Redditch. Worcester, Wychavon, planning: leisure sports and museum s s and museum services; and refuse collection and street cleaning. Worcestershire is a predominantly rural county located southwest of Birmingham within other large population centres being Redditch, a former new town (77. 400). Kidderminster (55,200), and Bromsgrove (30,900). However, the majority of the population live in small CONFIDENTIAL he composer Edward Elgar. The county is home to over 21,000 companies, of which 85% Census highlights that , in terms of gender and age, Worcestershire is very similar worcestershire's residents are from the ethnic minority background compared to the 7 9% for the UK. Within Worcestershire this pattern differs markedly with over 30% of the and up to 10% of the population in some wards in Redditch and Worcester being from an Asian or Asian-British ethnic background Table 1 Comparative demographic data Employees (2003) Worcestershire UK (2001 Census) Gender Census) % Females 81.4 49.0 51.0 51 Age 75 and over 7.8 7.6 Limiting long term Comparable data 16.7 18.2 neral health ' not Not available 8.0 good Ethnicity White 2.5 sourcesrawaloped from National Statistics (2003); Worcestershire County Council (20048, 200ub) THEY NEED TO MAKE DIVERSITY AN ISSUE wimpy considering the headlines figures in rapes . "mign the county Council need to bother about'. Indeed, this appears to be the perception of many, the much used 'leafy Elgarshire' description of Worcestershire, conjuring images of white rural prosperity is not only the reality of the people within the county. For example, through the Count for some parts of the county there is a marked mismatch between the ethnicity of the highlighted a lack of women in more senior positions within the organisation. The County Council's Chief Officers' Management Board (COMB) was aware that the council was not serving some of the residents of Worcestershire as well as it should. It also recognised that, in order to get the best from all the employ a need to awareness of all the staff to the diversity of needs of those living in Worcestershire and of their employees. In particular it was keen not to be seen as "ticking boxes' to me the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000. Rather. it wanted to be seen to be taking County Council. COMB felt that an approach was needed that forced ample this, challenged widely held perceptions. Through such an app observable changes in the behavior and impacts upon underpinning beliefs a WORCESTERSHIRE'S APPROACH The County Council's approach was outlined in the internal document: fromging Friday required in response to Race Relations (Amendments) Act 2060, it also stressed that the principles of the proposed approach consisting of four interrelated and overlapping phrases embracing all diversity issues: phase 3 - capturing attention (awareness campaign) . Phase 3 - operational briefings for manage hase 4 - embedding the learning The approach was led by the Director of Soc Director of Social Services, Jenny Bashforth, who took personal charge of the project and championed it actively. e 1 was based on the belief that people learn best when they are motivated and treating diversity and equality as special and important issues. and had pens pros Yohere ?) This initiative was called Worcestershire, we a make underage poster campaign (begun in 2002) raised general awareness of the importance of divers aking use of both Commission of Racial Equality materials and Worcestershire specific prints and involved both the leader of the County Council and a wide ran tovoke small was provided through displays in offices and in the employees' newsletter Worcestershire Update. At time of writing. this poster campaign is still continuing. Council services to provide a clearer understanding of users' experiences and identify any barriers that prevent their achieving equal access to good levels of service. The findings of these were used to inform the diversity awareness training which commenced in June Develop general awareness and understanding of equal opportunities in general Define relevant issues and appropriate terms and language; . Identify the main oppressed are . Distinguish between personal and institutional crimination and its impact on Develop a personal action plan to improve service delivery and promote good . Establish their role in unit and directorate plans. As emphasised by these objectives, the training has been designed to engage in relation to ethnicity, as well as providing factual background and clarifying the I's position. Although the training is not compulsory, during the first year of operation 2,000 employees attended. e 2002, employee awareness you an issue has been maintained as a ies of colour posters continuing the theme 'Worcestershire. We all make it unique' ese posters have used a sigrid design style to fracism. pers make it an issue but This poster posed the question, 'Is your ability to see my ability your disability? individual might possessdisabilities', including being male and female, that At the same time, the County Council has incorporated diversity and equality issues into omer training courses com directly and indirectly. For example, within recruitment explicitly. In accition. Scenarios Provided to parti pants to prompt discussions on process they believe is helping to embed the necessary learning more widely (phas feel operational briefings (phase 3) for managers were linked directly to the phase e framework of the Equality Standard for Local Government (Emplo rganisation for Local Government, 2001) who provide support and processes to rward actions relating to the mystery customer surveys and local audits. for each manager's area and were linked to practical team objectives managers (some 200 people) needed to be re-energised and so a half-day as held. This has reclarified the issues and challenges facing and both raised these manager Subsequently (in 2005), these senior managers and those employees reporting directly to them (some 700 people) attended a one-day training course. This focus diversity. As part of this, the County Council's commitme and dignity was re-emphasised along with crucial role played by managers in Diversity appears to be becoming embedded in the County Council through a range of activities and events. Awareness-raising activities, such as those outlined above, are Diversity Officer whose job is entirely concerned with diversity issues. Althou he approach used to raise employees' awareness and diversity issues is work ed. He now emphasises how both race and disability have south ion among employees, being talked about widely. Fewsaunders, M.. Thornhill, A., & Morrow, T. (2007). Strategic Hur QUESTION 1