Case Analysis: Northern Sigma

Northern Sigma, a high technology firm with over 22,000 employees nationwide and 3,000 employees at the Chicago site has identified a retention issue with minorities and women. The site manager recently had an outside consulting firm to interview minorities and women and try and discover the cause of the high turnover rates for these groups. The results of the interview reveal there is n apparent lack of diversity awareness among the employees and managers. Without intervention there will likely be continued unwanted outcomes that could lead to legal issues for the company and the general manager. The discussion questions are answered within the text of this paper.
The general manager was recently criticized in his performance evaluation for the high turnover rates in women and minorities. This criticism is what led to the workplace diversity evaluation that identified potential issues with diversity. Numbers alone do not define a successful diverse workforce. The creation of a diverse workforce actually introduces new issues that require training and skilled management to ensure success. In this case, the manager assumed that hiring minorities and women would ensure a successful diverse workforce. He neglected to realize that this diverse workforce would need training on cultural awareness to learn how to integrate individual personalities.
If Mr. Wagner does not do anything, the consequences could be more than high turnover rates. It is clear from the interviews that there is a lack of diversity awareness among his managers. Without intervention, the high turnover rates will increase and resentment among minorities and women will increase. Eventually the resentment will progress to additional legal complaints. Employees will eventually get frustrated and start filing more complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC could find that his organization and him as the management official of the Chicago site has