Diversity Management Practices and Ethnic Minorities’ Well-Being: An Explorative Study

Abstract

This explorative study aims to investigate organizational practices deployed to manage diversity and their effects on ethnic minority employees' well-being. Drawing on a qualitative, multiple-case study in three small and medium enterprises (SMEs), we inductively identify practices that manage diversity by fundamentally shaping the organizational culture and work system. We then show how they foster specific dimensions of ethnic minority employees' well-being yet curbing other ones. The study contributes to the existing literature by documenting diversity management (DM) practices that are more mainstreamed than 'classical' DM practices (i.e. bias-screened HR practices, diversity training, networking and mentoring programs). It further shows that, although specific combinations of such practices effectively manage diversity, they present trade-offs for their well-being.