Exploring the experiences of team diversity in the South African financial industry

Abstract

Diversity in the workplace is increasing globally. For South Africa, diversity in the workplace has increased since the first democratic election and continues to grow. Due to the impact of globalisation, South African organisations need to learn how to embrace and manage diversity in order to remain competitive and relevant. This study aims to explore the lived experiences of employees who work in diverse and homogeneous teams in the South African financial industry. A qualitative research design, together with a social constructive paradigm and qualitative descriptive method, was used in order to achieve the objectives of this study. A purposive sampling method was used; the sample size consisted of 75 participants (N = 75), who work in one company in the financial industry, with a head office based in Gauteng. The participants’ responses were obtained using an online qualitative survey that consisted of open-ended and non-directive questions. The responses were then transcribed using a content analysis method. The findings in this study clearly indicate that the benefits of diversity outweigh their limitations. Participants provided practical recommendations in addressing the limitations of both diverse and homogeneous teams. This study’s findings also shift one’s perspective by providing a fundamental highlight of forming teams by looking at aligning compositional characteristics that include both diverse and homogeneous characteristics to specific task requirements in order to achieve team and organisational goals Finally, recommendations based on the findings of this research study and literature are provided for organisations and for future research.