24 IMPACT OF THE WORKPLACE DIVERSITY ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE OF MIDDLE-LEVEL EMPLOYEES IN SELECTED CONSTRUCTION COMPANY IN SRI LANKA

Abstract

In today’s business world, workplace diversity is considered as one of the much-debated topics. Diversity is viewed as an all-inclusive strategy to enhance employee performance and improve an organization’s reputation. Workplace diversity is a multi-faceted concept that will continue to evolve as more industries move toward a global marketplace. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to study the impact of the workplace diversity on employee performance, conducted in a selected construction company in Sri Lanka. The construction sector is recognized as an emerging sector in Sri Lanka, and this sector is well known as an under-researched area. This study is significant as such research projects have been sparse in the Sri Lankan context and this research aims to fill that gap. The analysis was mainly based on 103 middle level employees from the company selected through convenience sampling. Primary data were collected using a self-administrated questionnaire and analyzed through a deductive approach. The results obtained through regression analysis indicated that workplace diversity has a positive impact on employee performance. The researcher identified few limitations of this research. Time constraint was one of the problems. Respondents tend to be biased in answering the questionnaire provided by the researcher because the respondents were chosen from a single company. In conclusion, when management in the construction sector makes decisions regarding employee performance, they should consider not only the workplace diversity but also, other factors that can affect employees.