Policy and literature review
Workforce cohesion and how this fits into current policy and legislation
The world of work has changed dramatically in the last 30 years, providing challenges and opportunities for employers and employees alike to respond to. Globalisation, demographic changes, the rise of new industries and the decline of others have all impacted on the way work is carried out, and, until recently, economic success has also helped to change attitudes to work and how it relates to people's lives.
There has been a plethora of literature on the importance of diversity and equality within the workplace, but little has been done on the importance of the actual interactions between people and what this means to relationships formed within and outside the workplace. Cynthia L. Estund, an American Professor, is one of the few authors who recognises the importance of such relationships and how this can help civil society.
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"The burgeoning literature on democratic civil society, civic engagement and associational life has focused largely on voluntary civic organizations in which citizens choose to associate on the basis of what they already share. Those groups serve important functions in a democratic society. But those groups, by definition voluntary and largely beyond the scope of antidiscrimination law, cannot be relied upon to bring individuals together across social cleavages of ethnicity and identity. In a diverse but still-too-divided society, that is an important mediating function, and it is one that the workplace is uniquely situated to serve. The antidiscrimination laws have had a significant impact on the workplace; for most adults, it is likely to be the most racially diverse place in which they spend much time. At work, individuals cooperate and converse day after day, and form ties of familiarity and empathy with individuals from different groups. Social science research confirms the tendency of this kind of cooperative interaction to foster more positive intergroup attitudes and relations. The workplace is thus a uniquely important locus of associational life in a diverse democratic society." [1] |
It is vital that this toolkit is placed within the current context of the economy and how equality and diversity practices have impacted the workplace. It must also look forward and recognise that society and the workplace is changing quite rapidly, and these changes are having an impact upon the interaction and relationships between different groups of people within and outside the working environment.
