Conferences:  Workplace diversity is one of the key drivers of the changes now affecting the Irish workplace.

Managers must develop a new skill set focused on coping with, and benefiting from, this diversity if they are to grow, a conference has heard.

The Irish Property & Facility Management Association's (IPFMA) annual conference last week featured a range of noted speakers addressing the issue of societal change in Ireland. The conference, held last Wednesday in Dublin, included contributions from Richard Fallon, head of development at the Equality Authority, and Finbarr Flood, former Labour Court chairman and former managing director of Guinness Ireland.

"Ireland has become a destination for workers and their families not only from Europe but also from other countries worldwide," said IPFMA chairman, Patricia Crisp. "We have literally become a multicultural society overnight. So how do you show leadership in motivating and at the same time fulfil the aspirations of a multicultural workforce?"

Workplace diversity is now one of the main drivers of change in the Irish workplace, and equality and diversity management initiatives were best seen as integrated approaches to planned change, said the Equality Authority's Richard Fallon. "We live in an era of globalisation and unprecedented freedom on movement of people, labour, capital and investment. But while we were busy watching out for diversification in the banking sector, the food sector, the services sector, etc, we have had an emerging diversification of the workforce."

This change challenged managers to be more flexible in forming perspectives and more willing to change workplace and cultural horizons, he stated. It was essential that people manage, not control, the diversity of cultural and working backgrounds from which employees and customers were now being drawn.

"Equality is about merging and broadening horizons, And so too is good business," said Fallon.

He quoted recent figures, including the fact that the Irish workforce had surpassed the 2 million mark. Foreign nationals now make up 10 per cent of this total. "Half of the 20,000 new jobs in construction and one-third of the 17,500 jobs in the retail sector represent workers from other countries," said Fallon.

There direct benefits from managing this change, he argued. Studies had found that the effective management of diversity in the workplace helped address more traditional problems of staff retention, labour turnover and absenteeism. It allows companies to tap a wider pool of skills and abilities. "Proactively addressing equality and diversity supports the wider capacity for organisational flexibility and adaptability," said Fallon.

Finbarr Flood pointed to the change of vision management needed to accommodate workplace diversity. He discussed the management of change, the current business environment and highlighted the importance of personal development. The human resources director of Noonan Services Group, John O'Donoghue, talked of the challenges of managing a multicultural workforce.

Sean Boylan discussed the importance of leadership. Boylan managed the Meath football team to four All-Ireland titles, three league victories and eight Leinster crowns in 23 years.

Personal and business objectives were influenced by new circumstances in the changing Ireland, said Crisp. "Management professionals now need to have a greater range of management and financial skills," she said.