A Social Marketing Based Strategy For Planning Diversity Events

Abstract

Organizations are both enriched and challenged by diversity. Organizational diversity management is based on several factors such as strategy, competitive positioning and internal culture. Most organizations hold events of various kinds as part of their diversity strategy. Although participation in events is often mandated, such as in training programs, providing opportunities for voluntary participation is also important. In particular, organizing events in which participation is voluntary signals that management is willing to be responsive and flexible. Events, in general, are a highly visible aspect of diversity programs and serve many purposes, such as providing information, building awareness and creating social capital. On the other hand, there are associated costs. Consequently, organizations need to plan events carefully in order to obtain their full benefit. This paper presents a comprehensive strategy for planning, publicising and organizing diversity related events. The strategy addresses the interests and needs of all individuals in the organization with a goal of maximizing voluntary participation. A simple yet powerful method from (social) marketing is used in constructing the comprehensive strategy: that of market segmentation. In this paper, individuals in an organization are classified into four segments. Events, too, are classified into four types – support, celebratory, educational and training. Each segment responds best to a specific type of event. This link between segments and events is used to formulate the strategy that recommends organizing all four types of events, during a planning period, as part of the diversity management effort.