The perceptions of diversity management and employee performance: UAE perspectives
| Date | 26 September 2023 |
| Pages | 1476-1491 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-11-2022-0523 |
| Published date | 26 September 2023 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Mohamed Osman Shereif Mahdi Abaker,Lindsey Kemp,Boo Yun Cho,Louise Patterson |
The perceptions of diversity
management and employee
performance: UAE perspectives
Mohamed Osman Shereif Mahdi Abaker
Department of Management, School of Business,
American University of Ras Al Khaimah, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates
Lindsey Kemp
Department of Management, American University of Ras Al Khaimah,
Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates
Boo Yun Cho
Department of Business Administration, Jeju National University,
Jeju-si, South Korea, and
Louise Patterson
Department of Management, American University of Ras Al Khaimah,
Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this article was to investigate the employee perceptions of diversity management
and employee performance. To achieve this, employee respondents’perceptions and perspectives have been
tested, and findings are discussed.
Design/methodology/approach –To address this study’s purpose, survey data were collected from 250
employees of two organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Data were analyzed by age, gender and
nationality for two variables: diversity management and employee performance.
Findings –Results showed that respondents perceived an improvement in employee performance when
diversity was managed for employees of different age groups, females/males working together and a
workplace composed of employees from various nationalities.
Research limitations/implications –The implication of this limited study is that further studies on the
perception of diversity management for employee performance in the Middle East region needs to be
conducted. The social implication is that organizational leaders can initiate diversity management to improve
employee performance. The research is limited by the geographical context and access to the collection of data
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Social implications –The implication of this limited study is that further studies on the perception of
diversity management for employee performance in the Middle East region needs to be conducted. The social
implication is that organizationalleaders can initiate diversity management to improve employee performance.
Originality/value –The contribution to academic knowledge from this research is two-fold: findings from a
novel study conducted in the Middle East evidenced diversity management improved perceptions of employee
performance. The value of the study for praxis is to incorporate employees’beliefin diversity management for
its potential to improve employee performance.
Keywords Age, Gender and nationality, Diversity management perceptions, Employee performance,
Middle East, United Arab Emirates
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The thematic focus of this study is diversity management as a topic that needs to be
addressed because, according to Cho et al. (2017), a workplace comprised of diverse
employees increased their performance, which was a competitive advantage for a firm.
Workplace diversity resulted in a positive effect on employee performance because it
ER
45,6
1476
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 22 November 2022
Revised 12 June 2023
2 September 2023
Accepted 4 September 2023
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 45 No. 6, 2023
pp. 1476-1491
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-11-2022-0523
improved team cohesion and cooperation, according to Bassett-Jones (2005), and, in terms of
business advantage, a diverse workforce was better able to serve diverse markets (Abaker
et al., 2019). As such, this topic is significant because diversity management and employee
performance are two components of a successful business framework. The scholarship of
diversity management is thus, worthy of study to examine relationships between workplace
diversity and employee performance (Abaker et al., 2019).
It was intrinsically interesting to conduct this study in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as
a gap was identified in current knowledge because of the nascent state of research into
diversity management and workplace performance in the Arab region. Thus, theory relating
to the impact of diversity on employee performance, as construed from studies conducted in
“the West”, also needs to be tested in the Middle-East region to consider contextual
appropriateness. As well, this study is timely because of the changing profile of organizations
due to increasing numbers of younger workers, female employees and a cross-cultural labor
market. Within the Arab population, a third are of the “Millennial”generation (Cole, 2014), so
research is needed on this age group, particularly in a country where there have been few
studies on that particular demographic variable (Lim, 2012). The country also has a
multicultural population predominantly composed of expatriates, whereas citizens form a
small minority group in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Furthermore, women are
increasingly becoming participants in the Middle-East labor market and, in particular, in the
workforces of UAE companies (see, for instance, Kemp (2020);Kemp et al. (2020);Patterson
et al. (2020)).
The purpose of this study was, therefore, to investigate employees’perceptions of the
influence of diversity management on employee performance. The research question that
was formed to address this knowledge gap was: “What is the perception of diversity
management held by employees of UAE companies?”Hypotheses were formed to analyze
diversity variables, age, gender and nationality, for effect on employee performance.
This article is structured as follows: Literature on diversity management is reviewed
firstly, for findings about influences on employee performance and, in particular, of extant
studies that have been conducted in the Middle East region. Next, is the justification of
methodology used for this research design, data collection and research analysis. Study
results are then offered before moving to a discussion on the implications of these findings for
academic knowledge and management praxis. The final section indicates conclusions drawn
from this study.
Literature review
This review encompasses international literature, taking into account that a majority of
studies have been conducted in the Western world. Extant literature is reviewed in this
section to acknowledge findings from studies of diversity variables’impact on perceptions of
diversity management, effective diversity management strategies and benefits to
organizations of a policy for diversity management. It is important to study diversity
management for potential in that strategy to increase employee performance, create a
competitive advantage for companies and to increase economic prospects within a country.
Diversity –impact on employee performance
Diversity relates to the characteristics of people within a society and is usually categorized
through demographic factors (Laura and Conrad, 2018). Likewise, workplace diversity
encompasses employees’demographic variables. Stereotype and prejudice theory recognizes
meaning to demographic variables through which people are categorized, and discrimination,
prejudice and stereotyping arise in the workplace (Isen et al., 1992). Consequently,
Diversity
management
and employee
performance
1477
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