Outcomes of diversity in workgroups
As mentioned, existing literature reveals that diversity can simultaneously have both positive and negative effects on workgroup functioning (Van Knippenberg and Schippers 2007; Williams and O’Reilly 1998). The positive outcomes of diversity are often explained through the information-elaboration paradigm (Van Knippenberg et al. 2004): diverse teams are able to draw from a larger pool of available knowledge and experience, which enhances workgroup effectiveness. Expression of diverse opinions may force team members to be more alert and critical in their evaluation of problem solving strategies (Brodbeck and Greitemeyer 2000; Collins and Geutzkow 1964). This, in turn, may result in a reduced risk of groupthink and more effective decision making (De Dreu and West 2001; Nijstad and De Dreu 2002; West 2002). As such, positive diversity outcomes include increased knowledge sharing, flexibility, creativity and, as a result, better team performance. Empirical studies have found evidence for this relationship, in both experimental and organizational settings (De Dreu and West 2001; Kurtzberg and Amabile 2000; Milliken et al. 2003; Nakui et al. 2011).
However, diversity does not automatically lead to information elaboration and increased performance. Research rooted in the social identity/self-categorization paradigm (Self-Categorization Theory, Turner 1985; Social Identity Theory, Tajfel and Turner 1986) reveals that diversity may in fact also lead to negative outcomes in work groups (Van Knippenberg et al. 2004). When individuals identify with a social in-group, this is usually done on the basis of shared characteristics. Individuals who appear different are categorized as belonging to an out-group. This categorization helps individuals to predict and give meaning to their social environment and a positive evaluation of one’s in-group as compared to out-groups can provide a source of self-esteem. The downside of social categorization is that it also leads to the emergence of stereotypes and group representations that tend to favor the in-group over the out-group (Fiske 1998). Studies have shown that in culturally diverse organizations, employees often display a relative preference towards members who belong to the same cultural group (Brewer and Brown 1998; Goldberg 2005), which has a negative impact on interpersonal communication between members of different cultures (Dinsbach et al. 2007) and reduces employees’ sense of inclusion and organizational identification (Jansen et al. 2014; Pless and Maak 2004). As such, categorization into cultural subgroups lies at the heart of many of the negative outcomes of diversity in organizations, including reduced social cohesion, lower organizational commitment, and an increased chance of miscommunication and conflict (Fiske 1998; Milliken and Martins 1996; Pelled et al. 1999).
To summarize, the literature shows that diversity in workgroups leads to positive outcomes in terms of flexibility and creativity—through elaboration—as well as negative outcomes in terms of less fluent social interactions and reduced team cohesion—through categorization (Van Knippenberg et al. 2004). The challenge for modern organizations, therefore, is to find a way to reduce negative outcomes, while still retaining the benefits of diversity. In this regard, one of the most promising constructs which has emerged from the recent literature is the organizational climate with regard to diversity (Groggins and Ryan 2013).
Diversity climate
Traditionally, diversity climate has been defined in terms of the presence of organizational policies and structures that promote the position of designated groups, such as affirmative action and career advancement programs (Chrobot-Mason and Aramovich 2013; Dwertmann et al. 2016; Groggins and Ryan 2013). This type of diversity climate has been related to favorable business outcomes like employee retention, customer satisfaction and sales performance (McKay et al. 2008; McKay et al. 2011). Recently, the definition of diversity climate has shifted to include more subjective constructs, such as employee attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions towards cultural differences (Van Knippenberg et al. 2013). A recent literature review by Dwertmann et al. (2016) reveals increasing use of a ‘synergy perspective’, which incorporates the notion that diversity leads to higher performance into the very definition of diversity climate. In line with this movement, the present research employs a definition based two separate components. Firstly, a strong diversity climate is characterized by the possibility of employees to freely discuss their cultural heritage and display cultural behaviors in the workplace. Secondly, diversity climate encompasses the belief that cultural differences provide added value to the team or organization, and that diversity is actively promoted. Although these components can be measured separately, earlier studies which use this definition show that they correlate strongly and should be viewed as two aspects of one overarching construct of diversity climate (see also Hofhuis et al. 2012; Luijters et al. 2008). This type of diversity climate also appears to relate to favorable outcomes such as satisfaction, inclusion and performance (Boehm et al. 2014; Gonzalez and Denisi 2009; Hofhuis et al. 2012; Schachner et al. 2016).
It must be noted that the way diversity climate is operationalized varies strongly across studies. In some cases, scholars make use of an aggregated score of diversity climate perceptions in groups or organizations, which is in line with the common definition of an organizational climate (Schneider et al. 2013). However, in the majority of studies (see Dwertmann et al. 2016) diversity climate is operationalized on the individual level, by measuring respondents’ individual perceptions of diversity attitudes and practices in their organization (e.g. Hofhuis et al. 2012). In these cases, which also include the studies described in this paper, diversity climate should be seen as a psychological climate variable, and treated as such (cf. Martin et al. 2005; Parker et al. 2003). Therefore, in this paper, when using the term diversity climate, the authors are referring to a construct that could technically be termed the psychological climate towards diversity within the workgroup or organization.
Furthermore, the definition of diversity climate as used in the present research is related to some other types of climate measures commonly mentioned in diversity literature. For example, the diversity climate as defined in this study may be linked to ethical climate (Victor and Cullen 1988), which refers to perceived norms and values in workgroups, and the broader moral climate, as described by Macklin et al. (2014), which also encompasses perceptions/evaluations of just behavior in the workplace. Using the definition as presented above, it follows that diversity climate is strongest when the ethical climate of a workgroup or organization allows for a wider range of acceptable behavior (thus allowing for diverse cultural heritages to be displayed/expressed) as well as providing justice to all groups in the organization, regardless of their cultural background. This is in line with an earlier comparison of diversity climate to a low-prescription climate (Luijters et al. 2008; Cox 1993) which allows for more diverse behavior and a high tolerance for ambiguity, thereby reducing some of the categorization-related problems that occur in diverse groups.
Diversity climate and workgroup outcomes
When examining which types of outcome variables have been linked to diversity climate as defined above, it becomes apparent that most studies have sprung from the social identity/self-categorization paradigm (Dwertmann et al. 2016). For example, a strong diversity climate is reported to enhance workgroup involvement (Hobman et al. 2004) and team identification (Luijters et al. 2008), and reduce interpersonal aggression, miscommunication and diversity-related conflict (Drach-Zahavy and Trogan 2013; Gonzalez and Denisi 2009; Hofhuis et al. 2012). The direct link between diversity climate and information elaboration has not been examined empirically, but some studies report a relationship of positive diversity attitudes with brainstorming success and favorable evaluation of different viewpoints (Hofhuis et al. 2016; Homan et al. 2008; Nakui et al. 2011).
Although the body of evidence for the positive effects of diversity climate is growing, only a handful of studies examine the processes through which these effects come to be. For example, Boehm et al. (2014) show that the relationship between diversity climate and workgroup performance is mediated by a reduction in workplace discrimination. Hofhuis et al. (2012) report similar findings, and provide evidence that a strong diversity climate increases the ability of minority members to identify with the organization, which in turn leads to better job outcomes. A similar rationale is provided by Gonzalez and DeNisi (2009) who argue that diversity climate reduces the impact of categorization into in-groups and out-groups, thus reducing conflict and miscommunication in diverse teams. Based on these results, scholars have suggested that interpersonal processes, and workgroup communication in particular, could be the mediators through which diversity climate enhances workgroup outcomes (Groggins and Ryan 2013; Hofhuis et al. 2012; Luijters et al. 2008; Van Knippenberg et al. 2013), but this premise has not been tested empirically.
Diversity climate and workgroup communication
Studies on interpersonal communication in a diverse workplace are scarce. Examples include research by Dahlin et al. (2005), who find an association between team diversity and greater information use, and by Dinsbach et al. (2007) who report that in the workplace, cultural minority employees communicate less about personal topics, and more about work-related issues than majority employees. A more dynamic view is promoted by Orbe (1998), who argues that minority employees adjust their communication strategies to match their preferred relationship with the (dominant) majority group. Both Dinsbach et al. (2007) and Wanguri (1996) describe that interpersonal communication in diverse organizations is positively affected by perceived equality between groups.
Surprisingly, these processes have rarely been linked to climate variables. In some papers on diversity climate, workgroup communication is suggested as a possible underlying process leading to diversity outcomes (e.g. Hofhuis et al. 2012; Luijters et al. 2008) but not empirically measured as a separate variable. Conversely, communication variables such as openness in leadership communication (e.g. Kearney and Gebert 2009; Sadri and Tran 2002) have been mentioned in combination with positive diversity outcomes, but not with the construct of diversity climate. In sum, very little is known about how diversity climate relates to communication in diverse workgroups, and how this may in turn affect diversity outcomes. The present research aims to fill this knowledge gap.
Reviewing the literature on cultural diversity on the one hand, and on interpersonal communication on the other, two main characteristics of workgroup communication appear to play an important role in both streams of research: trust and openness.
Trust
Trust has proven essential in team-building within any kind of team (Costa et al. 2001). It has been defined as ‘the willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party’ (Mayer et al. 1995). With regard to interpersonal communication, trust has been framed mostly as an affective construct, for example in terms of the relative comfort and psychological safety when communicating with others (Edmondson 1999; Singh et al. 2013), or the ease of information exchange or ‘flow’ in interpersonal contact (Butler 1999; Van Oortmerssen et al. 2014). Trust appears to relate to honesty, integrity and benevolence in communication, and affirms positive relationships between communicating parties (Mayer et al. 1995).
In diversity literature, trust is often mentioned as an outcome variable related to cohesion and team identification in diverse teams. Van der Zee et al. (2009) review the literature on diversity and trust, and state that cultural differences between team members may result in lower trust, due to categorization processes and the psychological effects of dissimilarity (see also Hooghe et al. 2009). They also propose, however, that a group climate which promotes positive diversity attitudes may turn around this relationship. Indeed, diversity climate has been shown to increase psychological safety, a construct which is closely related to trust in communication (Singh et al. 2013). Based on these arguments, we propose that when the climate reflects a positive view on diversity, team members may report more trust when communicating with fellow team members.
Hypothesis 1
Diversity climate is positively related to Trust in workgroup communication.
Openness
Openness in communication has been defined as an organizational norm which promotes free disclosure of information (Eisenberg and Witten 1987). It has been related to a ‘low-prescription’ environment in which ideas are freely discussed and evaluated without judgement (Luijters et al. 2008; Patterson et al. 2005). Openness also appears to encompass the possibility to use different communication styles and channels, depending on the situation, thereby increasing the degree of flexibility in interpersonal communication that is considered appropriate in the workplace (Rogers 1987).
In diversity literature, openness is often defined as the freedom to express one’s cultural heritage in the workplace (e.g. Cox 1993) or the possibility to openly discuss cultural differences between team members, as well as the problems that may arise from them (Luijters et al. 2008). It has been shown that diversity climate opens up the possibility to actively express different viewpoints and display culturally specific behaviors (Hofhuis et al. 2015), which in turn may increase flexibility in communication styles. Putting the two streams of research together, it is logical to assume that a strong diversity climate, in which cultural differences are encouraged and seen as valuable, is also related to more open communication between members of different cultural groups.
Hypothesis 2
Diversity climate is positively related to openness in workgroup communication.
It is important to note that trust and openness, while defined here as separate components of workgroup communication, are not independent constructs per se. A correlation between trust and openness has been reported by several scholars (Butler 1999; Frey and Luethje 2011; Greenhalgh and Chapman 1998), but discussion remains about the direction of a possible causal relationship. Ruppel and Harrington (2000) found support for their hypothesis that a greater level of trust in the organizational subunit leads to more open communication among managers and employees. Conversely, Tjosvold (1999) suggests that open-minded discussion leads to productive collaborative work, which in turn results in trust. Although a reciprocal relationship may exist, the present research views trust and openness as two related yet separate concepts, with trust seen as a more affective, and openness as a more behavioral construct.
Finally, both trust and openness in communication have been related to positive workgroup outcomes in terms of job satisfaction, inclusion and innovation (e.g. Smidts et al. 2001). Considering the existing evidence that diversity climate displays similar effects on outcomes, it is logical to assume that an increase in trust and openness may be (at least partly) responsible for these findings.
Research overview
The abovementioned hypotheses were tested in two studies, which allowed for examining the relationships between diversity climate and workgroup communication in different contexts. Furthermore, the two studies examine the effects of diversity climate on different team outcomes. In Study 1, a survey was distributed among employees in small workgroups within a highly culturally diverse work environment. It examines the effects of diversity climate on job satisfaction and inclusion, and tests the mediating roles of openness and trust. To increase generalizability of our findings, Study 2 aimed to replicate the relationship between diversity climate and workgroup communication among a sample of employees working in a wide variety of different organizations and sectors. Furthermore, it tests the effects of diversity climate on workgroup identification and knowledge sharing, and providing further insight into the mediating roles of openness and trust.