Perceived diversity climate and employees’ organizational loyalty

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the impact of a company's diversity strategy on employees’ attitudes and behaviors at the workplace. Specifically, the paper seeks to test the relationship between perceived diversity climate and employee's organizational loyalty with mediating role of perceived organizational support.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on survey based empirical research. Measurements of predictor and criterion variables were temporally separated and the hypothesized relationships were investigated by using a structural equation modelling approach.FindingsThe findings show that perceived organizational support mediates the positive relationship between perceived diversity climate and employee's organizational loyalty, after controlling for the demographic factors.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper relies on self‐report surveys for data collection from a single organization. Future studies should consider multiple organizations for generalizability and collect data through multiple methods to avoid common‐method bias.Practical implicationsThe paper suggests that management should adopt a strategic approach to diversity management for building employees’ organizational loyalty, which will help them counter talent attraction and retention problems.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the diversity management literature by investigating how the company's diversity strategy influences employees’ attitudes and behaviors at the workplace.