Skip to content

ACCA Strategic Professional · Strategic Business Leader · Enabling success: talent management

Brightwell Tech has set a target that 40% of its managers be women within three years and has introduced mentoring, flexible working and structured interviews. Critics claim it will lower merit standards. Which response best reflects a sound approach to managing diversity as opposed to a quota-based approach?

The sound approach is to widen the candidate pool and remove barriers, such as through mentoring, flexibility and structured interviews, while still appointing on merit. This improves diversity without lowering standards, unlike a pure quota approach that ignores capability or abandoning the initiatives altogether.

  1. AAppoint women to reach the target regardless of capability
  2. BRemove the target and stop mentoring to avoid criticism
  3. CWiden the pool of candidates and remove barriers while appointing on merit, so that diversity improves without lowering standardsCorrect
  4. DAsk existing male managers to resign to make room

Explanation

Managing diversity focuses on removing barriers and drawing from a wider talent pool while still selecting on merit. Mentoring, flexible working and structured interviews do this. Appointing regardless of capability is a quota approach that confirms the critics' concern.

Did you get it right without looking?

One question tells you little. A timed set on Enabling success: talent management shows your real accuracy, how long you take and where you lose marks.

Practise Enabling success: talent managementFree diagnostic mock

More Enabling success: talent management questions