DIVERSITY COMPETENCY

Diversity Competency

Diversity Competency

Outline

This paper will first discuss and evaluate why Allstate's goal setting is effective in its workplace and how it is vital in any organization. Secondly, it will discuss why Allstate diversity index program gives them a competitive advantage over other companies. Thirdly, I will list types of high-performance reward system that Allstate uses to motivate its employees to reach its diversity goals. Finally, I will discuss why I support Allstate's Diversity index and quality leader management system to motivate their employees.

Introduction

Allstate Corporation managers viewed diversity, not as a goal but as a process that is integrated in the daily life of the company. Allstate launched its first affirmative action program back in 1969, which at the time their commitment to diversity was not linked to recruitment, development and retention strategies toward business performance. As the book describes, although these initiatives were considered innovative in their day, they were not linked to Allstate's business strategy. It has been Allstate's position that diversity is not about political mandates nor legal obligation, but focused on internal and external strategy. The internal diversity focus is about “unlocking the potential for excellence in all workers by providing them the tools, resources, and opportunities to succeed.” The external focus of diversity is about making certain that the workforce matches the experiences, backgrounds, and sensitivities of the markets it serves (Hellriegel/Slocum, 2011, pg. 215).

Question # 1

Allstate clearly demonstrates an effective goal setting program as well as understands that a goal serves as a motivator for its employees, to help them compare their present performance with that is required to achieve their goals. Successful people are goal oriented. When goals are clearly defined the greater the employee's perceived ability to perform the task-Self-efficacy. Self efficacy influences people's choices of tasks and how long they will spend trying to reach their goals. At Allstate, through the use of Management by Objectives (MBO) they understand that clear and challenging goals lead to higher performance than do vague or no goals.

This management system uses goal difficulty and goal clarity as its foundation for motivating its employees, along with involving the manager and employees in jointly setting goals for performance and personal development, while periodically evaluating employees' progress toward achieving these goals, and then rewarding employees. Hellriegel/Slocum (2011, pg. 194)(Hellriegel/Slocum, 2011 p.192) also states that to survive in today's competitive global market, setting challenging goals that ...