Category Archives: Banking

A Case Study for Managing Diversity in the Netherlands: Rabobank

Abstract: Managing diversity is a relatively new domain within HRM. Theoretical debates around the issue have not matured yet. This case study examines in detail the diversity management practices of Rabobank, a major bank in the Netherlands, which has applied diversity concepts in its management practices. Through interviews with managers and employees of the bank we contrast theoretical premises on diversity management with praxis at Rabobank. Findings show that diversity management has been used primarily to attract ethnic customers to the bank, rather than to advance the quality of working life and career prospects of ethnic minority employees. The latter remain segregated in lower positions and not allowed openly to express their culture and religion.

Introduction: AA and EEO programmes have made organizations more diverse in terms of race, gender and national origin. They have also increased overall awareness and encouraged studies on issues such as discrimination, ethnic and racial diversity and the changing composition of the labour force. In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, a new demographic shift in Western societies is taking place: women, immigrants and people of colour are represented in higher proportions in the labour force (Bellard and Ru¨ling, 2001). Workforce diversity is a social and organizational certainty, continually reinforced by the internationalization of the economy. The reality of the changing composition of the labour force has led to a radical shift in the argument that the management of diversity is demanded because of injustices committed in the past; rather, it is demanded now because of changes in the global economy, the globalization of markets, worldwide mergers and alliances and ongoing demographic change. Keep reading…