1. Running head: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO INCREASING DIVERSITY 1
An Interdisciplinary Approach to Increasing Workforce Diversity
Utilizing Approaches from Human Resources Development and Public Relations
Kali A. Morrison
Texas Tech University

2. AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO INCREASING DIVERSITY 2
Abstract
This paper takes an interdisciplinary approach to how organizations can increase their workforce
diversity. By looking at the contributions that the fields of Human Resources Development and
Public Relations have made in relation to diversity it is possible to gain greater insight into this
complex problem. Once insight is gained common ground is then developed. This allows for the
insights to be integrated resulting in an increase in understanding of diversity and how it relates
to an organization’s workforce. An interdisciplinary approach was utilized because to date one
discipline has not adequately addressed the problem of increasing workforce diversity.
Keywords: diversity, workforce, human resources, public relations

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An Interdisciplinary Approach to Increasing Workforce Diversity
Utilizing Approaches from Human Resources Development and Public Relations
Introduction
In today’s increasingly global economy all organizations, public; private; for-profit; and
not-for-profit, can benefit from having a diverse workforce. Having a diverse workforce allows
for organizations to better serve their stakeholders, can increase profits, and can help keep
groupthink from occurring. Increasing diversity has been looked at from many different
disciplines. I will focus on the disciplines of Human Resource Development and Public
Relations. These disciplines are two that have independently looked at how diversity can benefit
an organization and have valuable insight to offer. One of the major functions of Human
Resource practitioners is talent procurement. Public Relations focuses on the conversation
between and organization and its stakeholders. For these reasons I think that both disciplines will
provide information and insight into how organizations can better recruit under represented
demographic groups to increase organizational diversity.
The Interdisciplinary Approach
Step 1 Define the Problem and Step 2 Justify an Interdisciplinary Approach
Increasing the demographic makeup of a workforce can bring about many benefits to an
organization. However, even though these benefits are known, many organizations still struggle
with the recruitment that would lead to a diverse workforce. In looking at this problem, it is clear
that previous attempts to assist organizations in relation to increasing diversity have not been
adequate. This is because those previous attempts have only been focused on by a single
discipline that can only develop one part of the answer. By looking for insight from both Human
Resources Development and Public Relations it will be possible to integrate effective recruitment

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practices, an approach that Human Resources focuses on, with the focus of best communication
practices to stakeholders, a focus of Public Relations, and create new insight that offers better
insights into the difficulties of diversification.
Step 3 Identify Relevant Disciplines
Many different disciplines approach diversity and its various impacts. I chose to focus my
research on the insights from Human Resources Development and Public Relations. I selected
these two fields because I think that they have the most relevant research and insights to offer on
diversity as it relates to organizational recruitment.
One of the main functions of a Human Resources department is talent procurement. The
HR Manager might not have final say over who is hired, but they are tasked with recruitment. To
be able to see the benefit of a diverse workforce is one thing, but the actual intentional
recruitment from underrepresented demographic groups is quite another. Traditional practices
tend to lead to traditional candidates. This is where the discipline can use the insight from other
areas.
Public Relations is not a discipline that is traditionally seen as having a role in the
recruitment of candidates. The field is dedicated to creating a dialog between an organization and
its stakeholders. Because Public Relations has already found the best way to communicate to
target stakeholders it makes sense to expand that already happening conversation to include
employment opportunities.
Step 4 Conduct a Literature Search
A review of the literature available shows that there is a lot of information available from
both the Human Resources Development perspective and the Public Relations perspective. Both

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disciplines have valuable insights to offer and at times, while they are addressing their specific
discipline, those insights can easily be applied to the other one.
The literature review showed that while each discipline has valuable insight there is not a
common vocabulary that is used between the disciplines of Human Resources Development and
Public Relations. Also, as to be expected the different insights were only applied to the specific
field that they came from.
Step 5 DevelopAdequacy in each Relevant Discipline
The role of human resources has a long history, but Human Resources Development as a
field is still a fairly young discipline. Methods and theories in in Human Resources Development
are still just coming into their own. Because of its early stage of development, there are not many
stated theories. Research is currently being devoted to creating possible theories.
One approach that I have found is a multilevel approach. This approach is concerned with
how “policies and practices influence individual-level outcomes such as attitudes and behaviors,
and these in turn affect firm-level performance outcomes” (Renkema). It seems that this
approach is more for examining performance of employees of an organization not their
recruitment. I do think that with more research this approach could lend valuable information on
effective recruitment, but that is beyond the scope of this paper. As the field develops and grows
theories will emerge and will assist this discipline in further research on the topic of increased
recruitment of underrepresented demographic groups. Both quantitative and qualitative data
collection practices are used. The practice used seems to be more a preference of the researcher
and the problem being addressed.
For many Public Relations is a different name to call Marketing. It is a separate and
distinct field. Marketing is focused with one-way communication. Public Relations focuses on

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having an ongoing conversation with stakeholders and each message is carefully created to apply
specifically to a targeted stakeholder.
Public Relations research can take many forms. It collects data through various ways
including qualitative, correlational, exploratory and qualitative analysis. The method used is
determined by the researcher and they select the method based on if it will yield quality results
that can be used.
There are a few theories that Public Relations uses. They include stigma theory and social
cognitive theory. Public Relations borrows theories, such as these, and applies them to the field
and research being done.
Step 6 Analyze the Problem and Evaluate each Insight into it
Public Relations as a discipline has a lot of insight to offer on the recruitment of
underrepresented groups. It is concerned with how organizations communicate or have an
ongoing conversation with relevant stakeholders. Louis Capozzi in his article acknowledged a
lack of diversity in PR practitioners and just like for any other organization it can be problematic
(2014). Without having a diverse group of practitioners, the field is not a representation of the
general public or the clients that they represent. Capozzi, gave reasons for why the field is not as
diverse as other similar fields and offered suggestions for how the field can increase its diversity
(2014). For an organization to be able to recruit diverse talent it must be able to effectively
communicate with a targeted demographic group. By understanding what constitutes effective
communication and tailoring messages to reach targeted demographic groups organizations are
better able to recruit with creating diversity as a goal.
Vickie Edmonson, Gouri Gupte, Rexford Draman, and Nathan Oliver focus on how the
language an organization uses can negatively impact its employees, specifically minority

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employees. Often the communication is not meant to be inflammatory, in fact the words used
were meant to be encouraging or supportive, but those receiving the message see it as
inflammatory (Edmonson, et al., 2009). There is external and internal communication. The
external communication an organization uses in relation to diversity usually includes statements
about its commitment and values (Edmonson, et al., 2009). Effective communication can break
down barriers both internally and externally. It is important for an organization to be able to
effectively communicate to its stakeholders and that those stakeholders receive the intended
message. The article explains why word choice matters and why the word minority should be
avoided. The final conclusion that the authors came up with was that the companies that they
used in their sample were committed to a diverse workforce, but when communicating with
stakeholders the word “minority” should be avoided and replaced with a more specific term that
that identifies the demographic group being referenced (Edmonson, et al., 2009).
Human Resources Development also has a lot of insight to offer on the recruitment of
underrepresented demographic groups. Because one of its main functions is talent procurement
there is not a lack in research that can be referenced. Much of the research on diversity falls short
on how to actively recruit from underrepresented demographic groups. Instead it is focused on
how to avoid potential legal issues in relation to diversity. In the same vein, research on
recruitment fails to adequately address specifically the hiring of underrepresented demographic
groups.
There are some quality sources, but without a solid body of work that combines these two
focuses the discipline has left a void in the research. Dr. Madera, in his article published in
Cornell Hospitality Quarterly explains what a good diversity management strategy includes and
how it is beneficial to an organization; he also reviews common diversity management programs

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and their benefit, specifically the recruitment of minorities (2013). But even he recognizes the
lack of research available.
Step 7 and Step 8 Identify Conflicts and Create Common Ground
There are not many conflicts between Human Resources Development and Public
Relations in their approach to the recruitment of underrepresented demographic groups. The
main conflict stems from vocabulary. Human Resources looks at, “minorities.” This approach is
limited because according to Human Resources women are a minority. However, in a group of
50 women and 10 men, they are clearly not a minority. Public Relations looks at the ongoing
conversation between an organization and its stakeholders. For Public Relations they would see
the minority in the above mentioned group to be men.
Another source of conflict is how the two disciplines approach the problem question of
how to recruit more underrepresented demographic groups. Human Resources tends to take the
approach that in job postings they advertise that they subscribe to the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC). For many organizations this is as far as their targeted
recruitment of minorities (as the Human Resources field refers to them) goes. For the discipline
of Public Relations, they are concerned with the overall message a company sends – do they
actively seek to do business with underrepresented demographic groups, how the workforce is
divided among different demographic groups, what benefits are offered that are appealing to
different demographic groups.
To overcome the conflicts between these two fields, I think the first step is to redefine
minority. For an organization that is predominately women, if they want to diversify, hiring more
women will not meet this goal. But according to Human Resource, they are targeting a minority.

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By shifting the focus from the standard definition of minority to who qualifies as a minority in
specific organization, hiring managers can target their recruitment to increase diversity.
Public Relations can also benefit from this shift in definition because as they seek to
communicate the benefits of an organization they can more accurately tailor their message to a
specific demographic. If a company wants to increase their appeal to men, for example, an
approach targeted at “minorities” might miss this demographic because men are not generally
considered to be a “minority.”
To create common ground between the approaches of these two fields take each
discipline needs to borrow from the other. Human Resources needs to do more than advertise
“EEOC” on job announcements and Public Relations needs to do more than talk about how an
organization is “minority” friendly. Human Resources can borrow from Public Relations by
examining how the field targets a demographic and use similar methods for announcing
positions. By using the Public Relations approach of target communication organizations are
able to specifically select the demographic they wish to hire by announcing positions in ways
that the target demographic is open to receiving. Public Relations can borrow from Human
Resources by acknowledging that while any demographic can in certain contexts be considered a
“minority” there are certain demographics of people that overall are underrepresented in
particular fields.
Step 9 and Step 10 Integrate Insights and Produce Interdisciplinary Understanding
The insights from Human Resources Development and Public Relations are not very
different; they run parallel to each other. By taking the research that both fields have done and
combining it together a bigger picture emerges of how both groups have actively contributed to
recruitment of underrepresented demographic groups. Human Resources Development has

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shown methods that are effective for recruitment. Public Relations has shown methods for
effective communication.
By altering the terminology used both disciplines are better able to communicate their
needs to each other. Human Resources Development can borrow the effective targeted
communication methods that Public Relations has developed, and Public Relations can
communicate to desired demographic groups the availability of positions in an organization.
Conclusions and Future Study
While researching the problem of how organizations can increase the recruitment of
underrepresented demographic groups one of the key challenges to overcome is the terminology
used – the definition of these words – can greatly affect the understanding of this problem. By
creating a common vocabulary that Human Resource Managers and Public Relations
Practitioners can use, the message to these demographic groups that is organized by the Public
Relations practitioner and what the HR managers are looking to accomplish can be realized.
Both groups are committed to the mission of the organization. Getting them on the same page so
that they understand that they are working towards the same goal can greatly benefit an
organization.
To address this problem, better communication between these two separate departments
is critical. By having key players on board, those creating the message and those doing the
recruitment, an organization’s goal to increase its diversity can be met. By having a team
approach to recruitment that includes all those who have a stake in hiring decisions can result in
concerns being addressed while presenting a unified front.
Further research is needed to better address how organizations can better recruit from a
diverse candidate pool. I looked at how two fields approach their stakeholders. There are many

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different parts of an organization involved in increasing diversity. By taking a critical look at
how these different departments work and what they can contribute, the body of knowledge will
be increased. By increasing the knowledge available it will then be easier for it to be applied in a
practical manner.

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References
Capozzi, L. (2014). Building a diverse workforce. Public Relations Tactics. Retrieved from:
http://www.prsa.org/intelligence/tactics/articles/view/10518/1089/building_a_diverse_wo
rkforce#.V5mKoTWE42w
Edmondson, V. C., Gupte, G, Draman, R.H., & Oliver, N. (2009). Focusing on communication
strategy to enhance diversity climates. Journal of Communication Management, 13(1), 6-
22. Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13632540910931364
Kulik, C., Roberson, L., & Perry, E. (2007). The Multiple-Category Problem: Category
Activation and Inhibition in the Hiring Process. The Academy of Management Review,
32(2), 529-548. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20159314
Madera, J. M. (2013). Best practices in diversity management in customer service organizations
an investigation of top companies cited by Diversity Inc. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly,
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Renkema, M., Meijerink, J. G., & Bondarouk, T. V. (2015). Multilevel theory building in HRM
research: Critical reflection and guidelines.
Repko, A. F. (2012). Interdisciplinary research: Process and theory (2nd ed.). Los Angeles:
SAGE.
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development. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 15(2). 171–188.