IMPACT OF WORKFORCE DIVERSITY ON EMPLOYEES

PERFORMANCE AT CO-OPERATIVES IN JHAPA

Submitted by:

Sanju Sangroula

TU Registration No: 7-2-0002-0284-2018

Symbol No: 21570/18

A Summer Project Report

Submitted to:

Faculty of Management

Tribhuvan University

In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

Bachelor of Business Administration

Mechi Multiple Campus

Bhadrapur

March, 2023
 Student’s Declaration

This is to certify that I have completed summer project entitled " IMPACT OF

WORKFORCE DIVERSITY ON EMPLOYEES PERFORMANCE AT CO-

OPERATIVES IN JHAPA" under the guidance of Mr. Ghanashyam Dhakal in

partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Business

Administration at faculty of management, Tribhuvan University. This is my original

work and I have not submitted it elsewhere.

__________________

Name: Sanju Sangroula

Date: March, 2023

ii
 Certificate from Supervisor

This is to certify that the summer project entitled “IMPACT OF WORKFORCE

DIVERSITY ON EMPLOYEES PERFORMANCE AT CO-OPERATIVES IN

JHAPA” is an academic work done by Sanju Sangroula submitted in the partial

fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Business

Administration at Faculty of Management, Tribhuvan University under my

guidance and supervision. To the best of my knowledge, the information presented

by her in the summer project report has not been submitted earlier.

_____________________
Signature of the Supervisor
Name: Mr. Ghanashyam Dhakal
Designation: Lecturer
Date: March, 2023

iii
 Certificate From Research Head

We hereby endorse the project work report entitled “IMPACT OF WORKFORCE

DIVERSITY ON EMPLOYEES PERFORMANCE AT CO-OPERATIVES IN

JHAPA” submitted by Sanju Sangroula of BBA Program, Mechi Multiple Campus,

Bhadrapur, Jhapa, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for award of the Bachelor

of Business Administration (BBA) for external evaluation.

__________________ _________________

Mr. Harish Luitel Mr. Netra Nepal

Chairperson BBA Director

Management Research Committee

iv
 Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I am deeply grateful to my supervisor Mr. Ghanashyam Dhakal who

guided me, supported and assisted me throughout the entire research period. His

patience, knowledge, useful comments and valuable feedback helped me a lot in

carrying out the study.

I would also like to give special thanks to all my lecturers at the Faculty of Management,

Mechi Multiple Campus for the friendly and incisive lectures which gave me the

necessary conceptual tools for formulating my research project. I owe very special debt

of gratitude to Mr. Sagar Pokhrel whose guidance and encouragement in Research

Methods helped to sharpen both my understanding and thinking of what was involved

in a research project. I stand to appreciate so much the friendship and moral support

that I enjoyed from fellow students, during and after lectures.

Further, I am deeply indebted to all the respondents who spent their precious time and

patience in filling out the questionnaire. It would have been impossible to complete my

research project without their honest contribution.

Most important of all, I want to thank and praise The Almighty God, for giving me

good health and strength all through my studies.

v
 Table of Contents

Student’s Declaration ..................................................................................................... ii

Certificate from Supervisor........................................................................................... iii

Certificate From Research Head ................................................................................... iv

Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ v

Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... vi

List of Tables ..............................................................................................................viii

List of Figures ............................................................................................................... ix

Executive Summary ....................................................................................................... x

Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................. 1

Background of the Study ....................................................................................... 1

Problem Statement ................................................................................................ 6

Objective of the Study ........................................................................................... 7

Significance of the Study ...................................................................................... 7

Literature Survey ................................................................................................... 8

Research Methodology........................................................................................ 17

Limitations .......................................................................................................... 19

Chapter 2: Data Presentation And Analysis................................................................. 20

Respondent’s Profile ........................................................................................... 20

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 Data Presentation and Analysis ........................................................................... 23

Major Findings .................................................................................................... 30

Chapter 3: Conclusion and Action Implications .......................................................... 33

Summary ............................................................................................................. 33

Conclusion........................................................................................................... 34

Action Implications ............................................................................................. 35

References .................................................................................................................... 37

Appendix

vii
 List of Tables

Table 1 Composition of Respondents by Gender ........................................................ 20

Table 2 Composition of Respondents by Age ............................................................. 21

Table 3 Academic Qualification of Respondents ........................................................ 21

Table 4 Composition of respondents by ethnic groups ................................................ 22

Table 5 Composition of respondents by income level ................................................. 23

Table 6 Descriptive analysis of employees on Age diversity ...................................... 24

Table 7 Descriptive Analysis of employees on Gender Diversity ............................... 26

Table 8 Descriptive Analysis of Employees on Ethnic Diversity................................ 28

viii
 List of Figures

Figure 1. Conceptual framework of the study ......................................................... 16

Figure 2. Survey on age diversity ........................................................................... 25

Figure 3. Survey on gender diversity ...................................................................... 27

Figure 4. Survey of employees on the basis of ethnicity ........................................ 29

ix
 Executive Summary

Co-operatives in Nepal are the most competitive sector where organizations can achieve

their targeted goals only through diverse human resources. It is therefore, necessary to

find out the impact of workforce diversity on employees performances in Nepalese co-

operatives. In Nepal most of the public as well as private organizations have failed due

to the inefficient management of diverse workforce. Employees are the human capital

of organizations and their performance is a key indicator for organization to achieve its

goals. This study investigates the factors affecting workforce diversity and its impact.

The study has employed descriptive research design to estimate the relationship

between dependent variable such as employee performance with independent variables

(age, gender, ethnic diversity). The study is based on primary sources of data. The

study concludes that age, gender, level of education and ethnicity are the major factors

affecting employee performance. Hence, co-operatives are recommended to focus more

on diversity management in order to increase employee performance. The study also

concludes that age, gender and ethnic diversity have positive relationship with

employee performance indicating that higher the age, gender and ethnic diversity, better

would be the employee performance. Hence, co-operatives are recommended to focus

more on diversity management in order to increase employee performance. The study

remains enough ground for the future researchers in the same topic. In addition to co-

operatives, the future study may include other financial and non-financial sector such

as development bank, finance companies, hotel and service industries, manufacturing

industries, micro finance, insurance companies, hydro power companies and so on

inorder to make such research work more reliable and valid.

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 1

Chapter 1: Introduction

Background of the Study

A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to

meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a

jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise. Basically, cooperatives are

managed by producers, users or workers which follow democratic, participatory and

transparent decision making processes and organizational structures so that their

members and users are directly responsible for benifiting themselves and the society in

general. According to International Labor Organization, “ A cooperative organization

is an association of persons, usually with limited means, who voluntarily join together

to achieve a common economic end through the formation of a democratically

controlled organizations, making equitable contribution to the capital required and

accepting a fair share of risks and benefits of undertaking” Shrestha (2015) . Every

cooperative organization is a form of business with tiny profit earning objective which

has a basic norm of mutual help and cooperation among the members.

Nepal has a long cultural tradition of informal community-based co-operatives

including savings and credit associations popularly known as Dhikuti, and grain savings

and Labour exchanging systems known as Parma and Dharma Bhakari. Similarly,

Guthi provided a forum to work together for smoothly running different socio-cultural

practices. Many of these traditional systems of cooperation are still functioning in the

rural areas of Nepal. The first Co-operative Act was enacted by the government in 1960,

which was followed by the Agricultural Co-operative Act (Sajha Sahakari). In 1963,

the capital of savings and credit cooperative societies was converted into a Cooperative

Bank and in 1968 it was also converted into the Agricultural Development Bank of
 2

Nepal (ADBN). After 5 years the ADBN returned management back to the government

and in 1975 the Cooperative Act was amended again.

Beginning in the 1980s a new generation of community based savings and credit

groups began to emerge in Nepal. The Cooperative Act was amended for the third time

to give the Government more control. By this time the Savings and Credit movement

had spread throughout the country and the need for an apex coordinating body was

evident. In August 16, 1988, the Nepal Federation of Savings and Credit Cooperative

Unions (NEFSCUN) was formed.

After people’s movement the new democratic government enacted the Co-

operative Act and the Co-operative Regulations in 1992 and 1993 which permitted the

establishment of a three tiered co-operative system, and provides a legal base both for

the establishment of co-operative societies/unions/federations and application of co-

operative values, norms and principles into practice.

Nepalese Cooperative movement has seen a lot of socio-economic as well as

political changes. In 2008, Nepal was declared as a Federal Democratic Republic Of

Nepal. In 2015, constitutional assembly successfully declared the new Constitution of

Nepal which recognized the co-operative sector as one of the three pillars of the

National Economy. In 2018 and 2019 new cooperative act and regulation were enacted.

The new constitution has decentralized and delegated the authority to the Local and

Provincial governments to promulgate the laws and acts that they need. Now provincial

government and local level government bodies can promulgate and implement the

cooperative law.

According to the Department of Cooperative the major types of co-operative

societies operating in Nepal are Saving and Credit, Multipurpose, Dairy, Agriculture,

Fruits and Vegetables, Bee Keeping, Tea, Coffee, Consumers, Science and Technology,
 3

and Energy. It is believed that around 6 million people are the members of 34,512

cooperatives and more than 60,517 people are employed directly in Cooperative

business.

According to Katuwal (2021),"If any cooperative society is established to

perform multiple functions, that is called multipurpose cooperative. Such cooperative

society works in the area like credit, saving, production, housing farming, marketing

environment, education, etc. It provides a variety of services to the members." NMC

was established at Kakarvitta with a registration number 3/1/3(31)2050/51 from the

Department of Cooperative, Government of Nepal on 8 March 1994 with a capital of

NRs. 2,53,000 and 26 founder members with 4 females. From the time of establishment,

it has very clear vision, mission, goal and objectives for smooth operation which helped

for extension, strengthening and growth of the institution. Due to the good and visionary

management, since 29 years, it has spread over three districts Jhapa, Illam and Morang

consisting around 57 branches with around 1098 employees. Thus, NMC is a

multibusiness organization and it operates in five different business sectors namely

saving and credit, dairy industry, unified model agriculture farming (UMAF),

cooperative shops and tea processing industry. For the operation of all five businesses,

it has got its permanent account No. 301563239 from the Inland Revenue Office Jhapa.

NMC (2019).

Members attached to this multipurpose cooperative society are of different

genders, casts, religions, cultures, follow different festivals, and have different

occupations. They have their own lifestyles and habits. Irrespective of all the different

kinds, NMC heartily welcomes every individual for membership. The membership is

open to all local people who are residents of the specified geographical area covered by

the NMC. Members of NMC seem satisfied as their voices are heard. They enjoy
 4

several rights and services provided by the organization. In gist, NMC renders services

like accepting deposits from shareholders, providing remittance payment and

collection facilities, providing loans to entrepreneur members, conducting various

awareness programs in villages, and other functions. The major focus of the cooperative

has been the economically backward section of society to uplift their livelihood and

social recognition.

Diversity is a crucial part that each one employee must cope with at one point

during their careers. There are many positive aspects to diversity within the workplace,

like exchange of ideas due to the various cultures of employees, the event of friendship

without discrimination, workers learn to cope up with the various environment,

stereotyping is eliminated, retention of employees are more likely thanks to healthy

competition. On the opposite side, there's are negative parts which has communication

gaps because of barrier and resistance to vary. Diversity is any dimension which will

be accustomed differentiate groups and folks from each other, during which these

dimensions are often visible or invisible. The existence of workplace diversity, within

a company, indicates that the workplace is heterogeneous in terms of gender, race, and

ethnicity, within which employees possess distinct elements and qualities, differing

from each other. Now a day’s diversity management could be a need of hour and each

organization tries to bring more and more diversity within the organization. When a

corporation brings diversity within the management of the organization then it

encourages the prosperity and offers better ideas to resolve a selected problem within

the organization. Workforce diversity in organizations has become a very important a

part of HRM in today’s time. It is extremely important to support and protect diversity

because by valuing individuals and groups free from prejudice and by fostering a

climate where equity and mutual respect are intrinsic, we'll create a success-oriented,
 5

cooperative, and caring community that pulls intellectual strength and produces

innovative solutions from the synergy of its people.

Diversity includes, therefore, knowing the way to relate to those qualities and

conditions that are different from our own and outdoors the groups to which we belong,

yet are present in other individuals and groups. These include but don't seem to be

limited to age, ethnicity, class, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual

orientation, yet as religious status, gender expression, educational background,

geographical location, income, legal status. Thus, conceptualizing Diversity in a very

broader sense, it tends to advocate inclusiveness and function a reminder that diversity

doesn't only imply the enforcement of social action as prescribed by law, but also entails

other motivation for about to diversity like, benefitting from the worth of various

perspectives within the workplace.

Organizations hire employees from diverse countries, cultures, values and

styles. While employees expect returns from the organization, their effective

performance is significant for its success. It is therefore important to consider the effect

of diversity on employee output. Encouraging a diverse workforce in public

organizations is not just righteous, social or ethical but it also exhibits a virtuous

business-oriented approach Bateman & Snell (2009). Workforce diversity could present

tremendous challenges as well as opportunities to the organization in terms of

employees performance.With increased globalization and competition, the workforce

of developed and developing countries has become increasingly heterogeneous. It has

become a challenging job for modern organizations to manage the diverse workforce

efficiently.

In Nepal very few researches have been conducted in workforce diversity. Like

many other nations in the world, Nepal is ethnically heterogeneous, and is characterized
 6

by number of diversities which are reflective in workplaces. Men are far more likely

than women to be occupying positions within the international agency workforce. The

biggest disparities exist for women from Madhesi Dalit, Muslim and “Other”

communities, who occupy positions in international agencies in the lowest relative

percentages.

This research report sought to investigate the effect of workforce diversity on

organizational performances of employees in NMC, by way of analysis through testing

three dimensions of diversity namely: ethnicity, education and gender. Knowledge of

workforce diversity can help existing managers to assess the impact of age, gender,

ethnicity, level of education and impact of other diversity variables on employee

performance. Hence this study attempts to examine impact of workforce diversity on

employees performances in co-operatives of Jhapa district.

Problem Statement

Research problem is the gap between the actual state and desired state. A

research gap is defined as a topic or area for which missing or insufficient information

limits the ability to reach a conclusion for a question. A research question is an

answerable inquiry into a specific concern or issue. It is an initial step in a research

project after we have an idea of what we want to study. It is the fundamental core of a

research project. It is the ground beneath the foundation. It is what everything in a

research project is built on. It helps to specify the issue or concern of the study and

guides all stages of inquiry, analysis and reporting.

In every organization, if the diverse workforce is managed and utilized well, the

impact on productivity can be positive. Diverse workforce also leads to greater

probability of collaboration and teamwork. The employees’s willingness to think

creatively and share information and ideas among employees will be increased.
 7

Increased morale and improved customer service are positive attitudes of diverse

workforce.

On the contrary, there are some challenges that diversity could present to an

organization; individual versus group fairness, resistance to change, group

cohesiveness and interpersonal conflict, segmented communication networks. Reduced

energy levels and depressive feelings can also result in decreased quality of work

product. It is therefore important to understand the impact of diversity on organizational

outcomes, such as organizational performance, employee’s satisfaction and turnover.

The study therefore deals with the following research questions:

i. What are the factors affecting workforce diversity?

ii. What is the impact of age, gender and ethnic diversity on employee performance

in co-operatives?

Objective of the Study

The major objective of the study are:

i. To determine the factors affecting workforce diversity.

ii. To explore the impact of age, gender and ethnicity on employee performance in

co-operatives of Jhapa.

Significance of the Study

Workforce diversity is a key factor that has impact on employee’s performance

in an organization. Many organizations including banks, co-operatives and other

financial institutions are now focusing on managing the workforce diversity to improve

their employee performance and increase organizational performance. Workforce

diversity is a key factor that has impact on organizational effectiveness. Many

organizations including banks are now focusing on managing the workforce diversity

to improve their employee performance and increase organizational effectiveness. This

 8

study examines the impact of workforce diversity on organizational effectiveness by

observing employee performance in Nepalese commercial banks. The study is also of

significance to the human resource management in banking industry to attract and

recruit the most talented people, from a pool of diverse workforce. Such a diversity-

driven approach towards recruiting a range of qualified candidates is needed not least

because of the country’s diverse population in general. This study improves the

understanding toward culture difference and at the same time promotes to a better

communication with workers from different races. Finally, this study will provide the

new literature in the area of workforce diversity and organizational effectiveness in

Nepalese commercial banks.

i. This study examines the impact of workforce diversity on organizational

performance by observing employee performance in Nepalese cooperatives

(NMC).

ii. This study improves the understanding toward age and gender difference and at

the same time promotes to a better communication with workers from different

races.

iii. This study will provide a new literature in the area of workforce diversity and

employees performances in Nepalese co-operatives society.

Literature Survey

This section presents the thorough review of literature on impact of workforce diversity

on employee performances.

Saxena (2014) conducted a study on “Workforce Diversity: A key to Improve

Productivity” which states that Workforce diversity means similarities and differences

among employees in terms of age, cultural background, physical abilities and

disabilities, race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. No two humans are alike.
 9

People are different in not only gender, culture, race, social and psychological

characteristics but also in their perspectives and prejudices. Society had discriminated

on these aspects for centuries. Diversity makes the work force heterogeneous. In current

scenario, employing diversified workforce is a necessity for every organization but to

manage such diversified workforce is also a big challenge for management. This paper

critically analyses the workforce diversity and its impact on productivity of an

organization. The researcher after examining the literature and various research papers,

concluded that workforce diversity is strength for any organization but people still stick

to their views related to caste, religion etc and so consider diversity as a problem but if

managed properly, can increase the productivity.

Mwatumwa (2016) conducted a research report on “Effect of workforce

diversity on employee work performance: a study of the county government of

Mombasa”. This study sought to find out the effect of workforce diversity on employee

work performance, using the County Government of Mombasa. In the context of this

study the term workforce diversity was defined as the similarities and differences

among employees in terms of ethnic background, gender and education. These

similarities and differences formed the independent variables of this study. Literature

review was done and an attempt was made to link the various published studies with

this study with a view to discovering how each variable impacted on employee work

performance at the CGM. The study described the target population which comprised

of employees of the CGM working in the County Assembly. Judgmental sampling

technique was used to get respondents within the County Assembly. The researcher

targeted 30 out of 59 employees of the County Assembly of the CGM. Data was

collected through self-administered questionnaires and was descriptively analyzed.

 10

Data collected through the questionnaire was analyzed statistically by using the

Software Package for Social Science (SPSS).

Khan et al. (2019) conducted a study on “Effect Of Workforce Diversity On

Employee Performance In Higher Education Sector” with an objective to investigate

relationship and effect between demographic variables especially age, gender and

education. The primary data were collected using questionnaires and simple random

sampling technique from 440 faculty members. SPSS Software was used to analyse the

data. The findings of the study shows that there is positive relationship between

independent variables (Age, gender, education background and ethnic diversity) and

dependent variable (Employee performance). Also, the study shows the

recommendations for further researches and implementation for the individual,

organization and policy makers.

Kundu et al. (2019) conducted a study on “Perceived Workforce Diversity And

Firm Performance: A Study Of An Indian Public Sector Organization” with an

objective to explore the linkage between perception of employs regarding workforce

diversity and firm performance. For the study primary data were collected through

questionnaire survey approach. The collected data were analysed using MS excel. The

results of data analysis indicated that the perceptions of diverse employees towards

workforce diversity were affirmatively and significantly allied to perceived firm

performance. Detailed investigation of the impact of employees’ perceptions pertaining

to workforce diversity on perceived firm performance revealed that promotion of

diversity, access of developmental opportunities, ability and performance of female,

minority, and socially disadvantaged workforce, and organizational support for female

and differently abled workforce positively contributes to perceived firm performance.

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The article examined by Inegbedion (2020) entitled “Managing Diversity For

Organizational Efficiency” sought to find out the extent to which diversity management

influences organizational efficiency through the management of conflict, cultural

diversity, and employees’ perception of marginalization as well as teamwork and

employee work attitude. The survey design was employed. A sample of 178

respondents from nine multinational companies in south-south Nigeria was employed.

Research data were analyzed using structural equation modeling, with diversity

management and organizational efficiency serving as latent variables. The results show

that the management of cultural diversity, employees’ perception of marginalization,

and conflict significantly influences diversity management. Furthermore, diversity

management and teamwork significantly influence organizational efficiency. The need

for managers of diverse workforces to give priority to diversity management, to ensure

its effective implementation, was suggested, among others.

Li (2020) conducted a research report on “ Impact of workforce diversity

management on employee’s outcomes: testing the mediating role of a person’s job

match”. The purpose of this study were (a) investigate the impact of workforce diversity

management on job match, job satisfaction, and job performance; (b) test the

influencing role of job match on job satisfaction and job performance; and (c) examine

the mediating role of a person’s job match on the association between workforce

diversity management and employees’ outcomes (job satisfaction and job

performance). Structured questionnaires were sent to employees working in five-star

hotels in China. In total, 324 valid responses were analyzed through AMOS-SEM to

draw the statistical conclusion. Overall, results revealed that workforce diversity

management is positively related to a person’s job match, job satisfaction, and job

performance. Next, a person’s job match is positively related to job satisfaction and job
 12

performance, in particular a person’s job match mediates the relationship between

workforce diversity management and employees’ outcomes. Most of the studies in the

area of workforce diversity management focused on the management of diversity such

as age, gender, race, and ethnicity from American perspective. This could be among

rare studies which investigate another aspect of workforce diversity management, such

as management of diversity on the basis of skills, knowledge, interest, and preferences

of employees from the Chinese perspective.

De Meulenaere et al. (2021) investigated that Age heterogeneity in Western

workforces is increasing, generating potential informational benefits as well as harmful

age-based social categorizations. When can firms benefit from age heterogeneity?

Building on the categorization-elaboration model, we propose the average age distance

between employees as a fundamental contingency. Using a longitudinal archival

sample of 3,336 Belgian firms (2012–2015), we find that firms with a high level of age

heterogeneity are less productive when employees' average distance is great (Study 1).

Through an online experiment with 260 US participants, we show that employees in

age-heterogeneous workforces are less willing to engage in inter-age cooperative

contact and knowledge exchange under a great level of average age distance (Study 2).

Our findings support that great distances foster age-based social categorizations that

undermine the productive information elaborations between employees of different

ages. This broadens our knowledge on the implications of workforce age diversity and

helps organizations understand when they can(not) reap the productivity benefits of

their age-diverse workforce. Moreover, this study's theory and implications are relevant

to other types of diversity for which both heterogeneity and distance are meaningful

constructs. We also discuss the practical implications of this study.

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Shrestha (2021) conducted a study on “Impact of workforce diversity on

employee performance”. This paper aimed to analyze the relationship of Nepal's

commercial banks between workforce diversity and employee performance. The

diversity of the workforce involves gender, age, education, and ethnic diversity. The

survey was performed via the distribution of a set of structured questionnaires. This

study obtained and used 70.25 percent of useful questionnaires from four commercial

banks of Nepal. A multiregression model was used. The research results showed that

gender diversity and employee performance had a significant positive relationship. It

implies that most of the employees accepted that when it comes to hiring different sexes

in the organization, the organization should not discriminate and there is an equal

opportunity for women to improve their careers. Employees of various ages are

employed by Nepalese banks. The employees, however, said that as this increases their

efficiency, they feel secure working with either older or younger employees of different

ages. Hence, the good predictors of employee success in Nepal are gender diversity and

age diversity. However, the results showed that there is no impact of education and

ethnic diversity on the performance of employees. Companies, therefore, need to pay

more attention to diversity management in their companies so that they can increase

their employee performance, which eventually facilitates the achievement of

organizational goals.

Karwal and Tandon (2022) conducted a study on “Impact of workforce

Diversity on employees performances: A study on IT companies.” This research paper

aimed to analyse the impact of workforce diversity on the employee performance in IT

industries. The range of the workforce involves the subsequent parameters: gender, age,

education, and ethnic diversity. IT industry is rapidly growing Industry in India.

Workforce diversity is that the emerging issue in today’s corporate world as it’s not
 14

only a challenge for the organizations but also a chance, which if not properly managed

can affect the performance of employees and therefore the organization. People are

different in not only in gender, age, education, ethnic diversity but also in their

perspectives and prejudices. The study was carried out by determining the analysis of

the available literature and through interpretation of the data collected through

secondary sources. This study is also of an exploratory nature which further aims at

understanding the decisions of the participants by determining at their opinions and

attitudes. Data has been collected through a well-structured questionnaire from 200

respondents. Correlation analysis and ANOVA were applied to test the impact of age,

gender and education diversity on performance of employees of IT companies. After

literature reviews and analysis it is concluded that workforce diversity is strength for

any organization and if managed properly, will increase the productivity of the

employees and employee’s performance.

Rafaqat et al. (2022) conducted a research report on the topic “The Impact of

Workforce Diversity on Organizational Performance: A Review”. The paper aims to

review the literature on the effect of workforce diversity including, gender, culture/race,

age, and ethnicity, on firm performance. Many empirical papers have been reviewed in

which different statistical models have been applied to data of multiple types of

organizations across the regions and continents to find the association between the

selected variables. The review methodology is selected to survey the literature on the

impact of workforce diversity on organizational performance between the years 2000

and 2021. The reviewed literature shows that workforce diversity is significantly related

to organizational performance. Moreover, this paper concludes that the positive

significant influence of workforce diversity on organizational performance exceeds the

negative significant impact. Also, workforce diversity is productive, if it is in

 15

appropriate balance. Whereas few studies reported no significant influence of

workforce diversity on organizational performance.

Welman (2022) conducted a study on “Workforce Diversity and Organizational

Performance: Theoretical Perspective”. The focus of this paper was on addressing the

relationship between workforce diversity and organizational performance. The

discussion specifically examined diversity forms such as age and ethnic diversity, as

manifested within the context of the organization. The equity theory was adopted as the

theoretical framework in the discussion on the role of diversity in the performance

outcomes of the organization. Notable support from the review of literature was

observed in line with existing theories and views on the importance of diversity

management for effective and efficient organizational processes, relationships and

overall well-being. Through the harnessing and channelling of such variety, companies

may choose to use a much more creative approach toward addressing their challenges

and problems. In conclusion, it was stated that workforce diversity provides a more

elaborate framework enriched with a variety of perspectives, ideas and functional

dispositions that when effectively tapped and harnessed by the organization, impacts

positively on its level of performance – sustaining collaboration between the groups,

enhancing organizational processes and supporting the achievement of the

organization’s objectives and goals.

Conceptual framework. This conceptual framework is extracted from study

conducted by Karwal & Tandon, (2022) on the report entitled “Impact of workforce

Diversity on employees performances: A study on IT companies.” The dependent

variable is the employees performance which is the primary concern of the research.

There are huge quantity of factors affecting workforce diversity which ultimately
 16

influence employees performance which are the independent variables namely, age

diversity, gender diversity, educational diversity, ethnic diversity and level of income.

Independent variable Dependent variable

Gender diversity

Age diversity Employee

performance
Ethnic diversity

Level of education

Figure 1. Conceptual framework of the study

Definition of variables. Various variables are used in this study in the form of

dependent and independent variables. The independent variables are defined below.

Age. Age is the amount of time period of an individual who has come into

existence form the day of his/her birth. Age diversity brings a lot of different and unique

characteristics because it influences the communication, learning and working style

which affects the overall employees performance.

Gender. Gender is the state of being and differentiating male and female

individuals. Gender diversity means workforce consisting of both males and females in

an organization. Women are now taking interest in working in the organizations.

Education. Education is the process of gaining, receiving or acquiring

knowledge, information, skills, ideas, concepts, manners, attitude, and habits. Income

is defined by the amount of money an individual earns against his/her services or from

his/her business.
 17

Ethnicity. Ethnic Diversity implies diversity in races, religions, languages and

cultures. The difference in languages spoken and religions followed are also the factors

affecting employee performances.

Research Methodology

Research method is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It refers to

the various sequential steps that are to be adopted by a researcher during the course of

studying the problem with certain objectives. Research method discussed in this chapter

helps to guide the research study providing different issues and aspects. It

systematically solves the various sequential steps to adopt by a various author in

studying problem with the objectives in view. This chapter is to outline the nature and

sources of data, sample selection and classification of variables, techniques and steps

adopted in interpreting and analyzing the data. It also focuses on how to collect required

data, what are the population and sample, and techniques to be adopted to analyze and

interpret etc.

Research design. This study designs to deal with issue associated with

workforce diversity and employees performance in Nepalese co-operatives society.

This study has adopted descriptive research design for fact finding and identify

information about factors affecting employee performance of Nepal Multipurpose Co-

operative society. This study also used the causal research design to establish the cause-

and-effect relationship of workforce diversity and organizational performance in NMC.

The study focused on investigating and examining factors of workforce diversity

towards employees’ performance in an organization. A questionnaire was used as a tool

to examine those factors of diversity in relation to work performance. The descriptive

design was adopted because it has the advantage of using questionnaires, observations

and interviews without necessarily having to change the environment of the study.
 18

Population and sample. For the study of the research problem regarding how

workforce diversity affects employees performances in Nepalese co-operatives, the two

service centers of NMC was taken as sample organization. As per researchers

convenience, the nearby service center of NMC was taken for data collection.

Birtamode service center and Chandragadi service center was mainly targeted. All

together 60 questionnaires were prepared for data collection, out of which only 56

responded. The reason why the remaining 4 couldnot respond couldbe either due to

their busy schedule or not having interest on filling up the questionnaire.

Nature and source of data. The primary sources was used to extract the

information from employees regarding the impact of workforce diversity on employees

performances. To achieve the purpose of the study, structured questionnaire was

prepared. The survey was carried out by distributing a set of structured questionnaires

to the employees of sample co-operatives, i.e. Birtamode and Chandragadi Branch.

Data collection procedure. To collect the data survey was carried by

distributing a set of structured questionnaire to the employees of sample service centers.

The respondents were asked to fillup questionnaires through social medias and those

who couldnot fill-up were interviewed face to face.

Tools used for data analysis. The data obtained from the questionnaires survey

are analyzed through MS excel. The instruments are descriptive statistics. Frequencies,

percent, weighted value, weighted mean are used in this study to measure the

determinants of employee performance. The questionnaire was formulated out of the

concepts that were raised in the review of the literature.

 19

Limitations

The major limitations of the study are:

i. This study has used small sample size of 60 respondents.

ii. The data has been granted by using a questionnaire method only.

iii. The study is carried out within limited time period.

iv. The study has been conducted among few employees only. Thus, the findings

may not be generalizable for entire employees.

v. Only three factors affecting diversity have been considered in the entire study.
 20

Chapter 2: Data Presentation And Analysis

This chapter provides systematic presentation and analysis of primary data.

Different statistical models described in previous chapter have been used for the study

purpose. This chapter is divided into three sections. The first section deals with the

respondent’s demographic informations. The second section covers the presentation

and analysis of the primary data and presents the results of questionnaire survey. It also

includes analysis of statistical model including mean, weighted value and weighted

mean. The third section of this chapter deals with major findings.

Respondent’s Profile

In the survey questionnaire, the respondents were requested to respond in

various ways: Yes or No option, multiple choice options, and likert scale option. The

respondents profile is extracted from those who participated in the questionnaire survey

on the strata of gender, education level, age group, ethnicity, income level. The

calculations of primary data were made using MS Excel. The sources of tables

presented below are output from excel. The sample of the questionnaire schedule is

presented in Appendix.

Table 1

Composition of Respondents by Gender

Gender No. of respondents Percentage (%)

Male 24 42.85

Female 32 57.14

Total 56 100
 21

Table 1 shows the personal demographic profile of the respondents on the basis of strata

of gender category. Regarding the gender of the respondents, majority of the

respondents are females (57.14%) followed by 42.85% of the male respondents. Out of

total 56 respondents, 32 are female and 24 are male employees working in sample

organizations. The result showed that there were less number of males than females.

Table 2
Composition of Respondents by Age

Age bracket No. of respondents Percentage (%)

21-30 years 26 46.43

31-40 years 28 50

41-50 years 2 3.57

51-60 years 0 0

Total 56 100

The age of the respondents is divided into four groups. Majority of the respondents are

from age group of 31-40 years (50%) followed by age group of 21-30 years (46.43%),

41-50 years ( 3.57% ) and age group 51-60 years (0%). The data shows that the

maximum number of employees working in NMC are from age bracket between 31-40

years. There was not even a single person from age group 51-60 years working in

service center of NMC in Birtamode and Chandragadi branch.

Table 3
Academic Qualification of Respondents

Academic Qualification No. of respondents Percentage (%)

SLC & below 6 10.71

Plus two (+2) 22 39.28

 22

Bachelors 24 42.85

Post Graduation 4 7.14

Above post graduation 0 0

Total 56 100

Table 3 depicts respondents’ profile on the basis of strata of education level category.

In the category of academic qualification, majority of respondents (42.85%) are

Bachelor’s degree holders followed by plus two (39.28%), SLC &below (10.71 %) and

Post graduation (7.14%). Out of 56 respondents, 24 of them were bachelor degree

holders, followed by 22 employees with plus two degree. There were only 4 employees

who had post graduation degree.

Table 4
Composition of respondents by ethnic groups

Ethnicity No. of respondents Percentage (%)

Brahmin/Kshetri 33 58.93

Kiranti 12 21.42

Indegeneous(Adibasi) 8 14.29

Others 3 5.35

Total 56 100

In the category of ethnicity, majority of respondents are Brahmin/Kshetri. More than

half (58.93 percent) of the sample population of the study are Brahmin or Kshetri. The

survey shows out of 56 employees, 12 are kiranti which comprises of 21.42 percent.

The rest category consists of 14.29 percent of Adibasi and 5.35 percent of other ethnic

group.
 23

Table 5
Composition of respondents by income level

Income (monthly) No. of responses Percentage (%)

Below Rs. 20000 12 21.43

Rs. 20000- Rs. 30000 22 39.28

Rs. 30000- Rs. 40000 14 25

Rs. 40000- Rs. 50000 6 10.71

Above Rs. 50000 2 3.57

Total 56 100

The datas from Table 5 showed the respondents salary scale received on monthly basis.

Out of all 56 respondents, 22 of them received monthly salary between the range Rs

20000- Rs 30000. 14 employees receieved salary between the range Rs 30000 – Rs

40000, which comprised of 25 percent. Other 12 employees received salary below Rs

20000, which is 21.43 percent and 6 of them received the salary between the range Rs

40000- Rs 50000 on monthly basis. Only 2 of them received salary above Rs 50000,

which is 3.57 percent of the total respondents.

Data Presentation and Analysis

The descriptive analysis of employees performances on age diversity, gender

diversity and ethnic diversity of nepalese cooperatives is presented in the following

section. The respondents were asked question regarding their view on impact of

workforce diversity on employees performance in Nepal multipurpose cooperative

society of chandragadi and birtamode service centers. The respondents rated the

statements on the basis of their perception and judgement. Measurement of central

tendencies is used to get the mean scores for the five interval-scaled constructs. All of
 24

the items (questions) were asked using 5 point Likert scale with 1 indicating- Strongly

disagree (SD), 2 indicating – disagree (D), 3 indicating- Neutral (N), 4 indicating-

Agree (A) and 5 indicating- Strongly Agree (SA). WV indicates weighted value and

WM indicated weighted mean.

Table 6
Descriptive analysis of Employees on Age Diversity

Statements Level of Agreement Total WV WM

SD D N A SA

Age difference causes F 12 21 13 8 2 56 135 2.41

conflict in my
% 21.42 37.5 23.21 14.28 3.57 100
workplace.

Young employees F 4 4 12 26 10 56 202 3.60

help older employees
to use high tech tools. % 7.1 7.1 21.4 46.4 17.8 100

Our team leader F 4 0 12 26 14 56 214 3.82

includes all members
% 7.1 0 21.4 46.4 25 100
of different age in
problem solving.

Weighted average Mean 3.28

Table 6 shows the responses on the statement “The age difference causes conflict in my

workplace”, majority of respondents (58.92 percent) disgreed to the statement whereas

some respondents (23.21 percent) were neutral on the statement. However, rest of the

respondents (17.85 percent) agreed to the statement. This result represents that

employees from diverse age group work collaborately with lesser issues and conflicts

in an organization.
 25

The majority of the respondents (64.29 percent) agree that the expertise of young

employees with high tech tools helps older employees to improve their knowledge on

latest technologies. (21.43 percent) of the respondents are neutral on the statement. The

rest of the respondents (14.28 percent) disagreed on the statement. This result depicts

that the older employees get help without any hesitation from younger ones while using

high tech tools. This also shows positive result in age diversity.

30

25

20

15

10

0
SD D N A SA

Age difference causes conflict in my workplace.

Young employees help older employees to use high tech tools.
Our team leader includes all members of different age in problem solving.

Figure 2. Survey on age diversity

Likewise, majority (71.4 percent) of the respondents agreed on the statement that “Our

team leader includes all members of different age in problem solving.” (21.43 percent)

are neutral on the statement. However, (7.14 percent) of the respondents disagreed on

the statement. The manager or the team leader doesnot discriminate the employees on

the basis of age groups. This represents positive impact of workforce diversity in

employees performances.

The mean of the age diversity ranges from a minimum value of 2.14 to the maximum

value of 3.82. Among them, the most significant observations of the respondents

regarding the age diversity is “Age difference causes conflict in my workplace.” with
 26

mean value of 2.14 whereas the most insignificant observation is “Our team leader

includes all members of different age in problem solving” with mean value of 3.82.

Weighted average mean value for age diversity is 3.28, which indicates that age

diversity has positive impact on employee performance.

Table 7
Descriptive Analysis of Employees on Gender Diversity

Statements Level of agreements Total WV WM

SD D N A SA

Fair treatment is F 5 3 14 18 16 56 205 3.66

given to all
% 8.92 5.35 25 32.1 28.5 100
employees, i.e.
male and female.

The employees are F 8 6 12 22 8 56 184 3.29

not discriminated
by employer during % 14.3 10.7 21.4 39.3 14.3 100
hiring and
recruitment.

NMC does a good F 0 8 12 30 6 56 202 3.60

job of attracting and
% 0 14.3 21.5 53.6 10.7 100
hiring women.

Weighted Average Mean value 3.52

Table 7 indicates that majority of the respondents (60.6 percent) agreed on the

statement “Fair treatment is given to all employees, whether they are male or female”.

However, some of the respondents (25 percent) were neutral on the statement and the

rest (14.27 percent) disagreed on the statement. Figure 2 also depicts that the employees

are being treated equally irrespective of their gender.

 27

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
SD D N A SA

Fair treatment is given to all employees, i.e. male and female.

The employees are not discriminated by employer during hiring and recruitment.
NMC does a good job of attracting and hiring women.

Figure 3. Survey on gender diversity

The majority of the respondents (53.6 percent) agreed that the employee have not been

discriminated by employer while hiring and recruitment process on gender basis

whereas some respondents (21.4 percent) were neutral on the statement. The rest of the

respondents (25 percent) disagreed on the statement.

Regarding the responses on the statement, “NMC does a good job of attracting and

hiring women” majority of respondents (64.3 percent) agreed with it whereas some

respondents (21.5 percent) neutral to the statement. However, rest of the respondents

(14.3 percent) disagreed on the statement.

The mean of the gender diversity ranges from a minimum value of 3.29 to the maximum

value of 3.60. Among them, the most significant observations of the respondents

regarding the gender diversity is “The employees are not discriminated by employer

during hiring and recruitment.” with mean value of 3.29, whereas the most insignificant

observation is “NMC does a good job of attracting and hiring women.” with mean value
 28

of 3.60. Weighted average mean value for the gender diversity is 3.52, which indicates

that gender diversity affect employee performance positively.

Table 8
Descriptive Analysis of Employees on Ethnic Diversity

Statements Level of Agreement Total WV WM

SD D N A SA
Nepalese co- F 4 4 16 16 16 56 204 3.64
operatives attracts
and hires % 7.1 7.1 28.6 28.6 28.6 100
employees from all
ethnic
backgrounds.
NMC is concerned F 6 6 10 26 8 56 192 3.43
about employees’
customs, culture % 10.7 10.7 17.9 46.4 14.3 100
and values.
I develop low-self F 14 20 12 8 2 56 132 2.35
esteem at work at
NMC. % 25 35.7 21.4 14.3 3.57 100

Weighted Average Mean Value 3.14

Table 8 shows that majority of the respondents (57.2 percent) agreed that Nepalese co-

operatives attracts and hires employees from all ethnic backgrounds. However, some

respondents (28.6 percent) were neutral towards the statement. The rest of the

respondents (14.2 percent) disagreed on the statement. This clearly shows that co-

operatives hires and recruits various kinds of human resource irrespective of their

ethnicity.
 29

30

25

20

15

10

0
SD D N A SA

Nepalese co-operatives attracts and hires employees from all ethnic backgrounds.
NMC is concerned about employees’ customs, culture and values.
I develop low-self esteem at work at NMC.

Figure 4. Survey of employees on the basis of ethnicity

The majority of the respondents (60.7 percent) agreed that their organization concerns

about the employees customs, cultures and values. However, others (17.9 percent) of

the respondents are indifferent on the statement and rest (21.4 percent) disagreed on the

statement.

Table 8 also indicates that majority of the respondents (60.7 percent) disagreed that

they develop low-self esteem at work in NMC. However, some of the respondents (21.4

percent) were neutral on the statement whereas rest of the respondents (17.87percent)

agreed on the statement. This represents that few employees have low self confidence

due to their reigion, races or customs. The organization must create a free working

environment inorder to develop employees self confidences.

The mean of the ethnic diversity ranges from a minimum value of 2.35 to the maximum

value of 3.64. Among them, the most significant observations of the respondents

regarding the ethnic diversity is “I develop low-self esteem at work at NMC”, with

mean value of 2.35 whereas the most insignificant observation is “Nepalese co-

operatives attracts and hires employees from all ethnic backgrounds.”, with mean value
 30

of 3.64. Weighted average mean value for the ethnic diversity is 3.14, which indicates

that the ethnic diversity affects the employee performance.

Major Findings

i. Regarding the gender of the respondents, majority of the respondents (57.14

percent) are females followed by 42.85 percent of the male respondents. This

shows more females work in co-operatives as compared to male employees.

ii. The majority of the respondents are from age group of 31-40 years (50 percent)

followed by age group of 21-30 years (46.43 percent), age category 41-50 years

(3.57 percent) and 51-60 years (0 percent).

iii. The majority of respondents (42.85 percent) are Bachelors degree holders

followed by plus two (39.28 percent), SLC & below (10.7 percent) and post

graduation (7.14 percent). This depicts that employees have good educational

qualification which increases employee performances.

iv. The majority of respondents (39.28 percent) have income level Rs (20000-

30000) followed by below Rs 30000 – Rs 40000 (25 percent), below Rs 20000

(21.43 percent), Rs 40000-50000 (10.71 percent), Rs 50000 and above (3.57

percent).

v. Regarding the ethnicity, (58.93 percent) of the respondents are Brahmin and

kshetri followed by (21.42 percent) kiranti, ( 14.29 percent) Adibasi and ( 5.35

percent ) other ethnic groups.

vi. Regarding the responses on the statement “The age difference causes conflict in

my workplace”, majority of respondents (58.92 percent) disgreed to the

statement whereas some respondents (23.21 percent) were neutral on the

statement. However, rest of the respondents (17.85 percent) agreed to the

 31

statement. This result represents that employees from diverse age group work

collaborately with lesser issues and conflicts in an organization.

vii. The majority of the respondents (64.29 percent) agree that the expertise of

young employees with high tech tools helps older employees to improve their

knowledge on latest technologies. (21.43 percent) of the respondents are neutral

on the statement. The rest of the respondents (14.28 percent) disagreed on the

statement. This result depicts that the older employees get help without any

hesitation from younger ones while using high tech tools. This also shows

positive result in age diversity.

viii. Likewise, majority (71.4 percent) of the respondents agreed on the statement

that “Our team leader includes all members of different age in problem solving.”

(21.43 percent) are neutral on the statement. However, (7.14 percent) of the

respondents disagreed on the statement. The manager or the team leader doesnot

discriminate the employees on the basis of age groups. This represents positive

impact of workforce diversity in employees performances.

ix. The majority of the respondents (53.6 percent) agreed that the employee have

not been discriminated by employer while hiring and recruitment process on

gender basis whereas some respondents (21.4 percent) were neutral on the

statement. The rest of the respondents (25 percent) disagreed on the statement.

x. The study shows that majority of the respondents (60.6 percent) agreed on the

statement “Fair treatment is given to all employees, whether they are male or

female”. However, some of the respondents (25 percent) were neutral on the

statement and the rest (14.27 percent) disagreed on the statement. This also

depicts that the employees are being treated equally irrespective of their gender.
 32

xi. Regarding the responses on the statement, “NMC does a good job of attracting

and hiring women” majority of respondents (64.3 percent) agreed with it

whereas some respondents (21.5 percent) neutral to the statement. However,

rest of the respondents (14.3 percent) disagreed on the statement.

xii. The majority of the respondents (60.7 percent) agreed that their organization

concerns about the employees customs, cultures and values. However, others

(17.9 percent) of the respondents are indifferent on the statement and rest (21.4

percent) disagreed on the statement.

xiii. Similarly, majority of the respondents (57.2 percent)agreed that Nepalese co-

operatives attracts and hires employees from all ethnic backgrounds. However,

some respondents (28.6 percent) were neutral towards the statement. The rest

of the respondents (14.2 percent) disagreed on the statement.

xiv. The study also shows that majority of the respondents (60.7 percent) disagreed

that they develop low-self esteem at work in NMC. However, some of the

respondents (21.4 percent) were neutral on the statement whereas rest of the

respondents (17.87percent) agreed on the statement. This represents that few

employees have low self confidence due to their reigion, races or customs. The

organization must create a free working environment inorder to develop

employees self confidences.

xv. Level of education which is positively related with employee performance

indicates that higher the level of education better would be the employee

performance.
 33

Chapter 3: Conclusion and Action Implications

This chapter presents the brief summary of the study and highlights major

findings of the study. In addition, the major conclusions are discussed in separate

section of this chapter which is followed by some implications and the

recommendations regarding the impact of workforce diversity and employees

performances in co-operatives. Finally, the chapter ends with the scope of the future

research in same field.

Summary

Workforce diversity refers to organizations that are becoming more

heterogeneous with the mix of people in terms of gender, age, race, and education

background. A diverse workforce for instance, includes gender, age, ethnicity,and

education background. Workforce diversity has important implications toward

management practices and policies. Frequently, diversity is viewed in a limited fashion,

primarily addressing issues of race or gender differences, and linked to the laws

providing protected status to certaingroups.

Leaders and managers within organizations are primarily responsible for the

success of diversity policies because they must ensure that the policies are effective.

Instead of treating every employee alike to recognizing and responding to those

differences, it is a way to ensure employee retention and greater productivity. The most

important issues of workforce diversity are to address the problems of discrimination

in terms of gender, age, ethnicity and educationalbackground. When diversity is not

managed properly, there will be a potential for higher turnover, difficult in

communication and interpersonal conflicts. Overall, it will be adversarial to

organization’s performance, profitability and reputation.

 34

The major purpose of this study is to find out the impacts of workforce diversity

and its effectiveness in Nepalese Co-operatives. The objectives of this study are: To

examine the impact of age and gender on employees performance in co-operatives. To

explore the impact of ethnicity on organizational performance in co-operatives.

This study is based on primary source of data. The questionnaire has majority

of question in closed and scaled format. The data was collected through the distribution

of questionnaire. Altogether total of 60 questionnaires were collected out of which only

56 responded. To achieve the purpose of the study structured questionnaire was

prepared.

The questionnaire survey has been conducted to analyze the opinions of

employees regarding the impact of workforce diversity on employee performance. A

set of questionnaire was prepared and distributed to the employees in service centers of

Chandragadi and Birtamode. The questions were designed to get the views, related

information from the respondents. Data were collected using well formulated

questionnaires. The questionnaires were self-adjusted, validated and pre-tested. The

respondents represent employees in NMC and descriptive analysis like percentage,

mean, weighted value, weighted mean and weighted average mean has been applied to

estimate the relationship between dependent variable such as employee performance

with independent variables age diversity, gender diversity and ethnic diversity. The

collected data has been processed with the use of MS excel.

Conclusion

The major conclusion of this study is that higher the (age diversity, gender

diversity and ethnic diversity) higher would be the employee performance. Co-

operatives of Jhapa must have to focus on workforce diversity and they have to improve

the diversity management for the better employee performance and organizational
 35

effectiveness. This study revealed that workforce diversity is significant to the human

resource management in nepalese co-operative organizations to attract and recruit the

most talented people, from a pool of diverse workforce. Finally the study concludes

that all the variables age diversity, gender diversity, ethnic diversity and level of

education have positive relationship with employee performance indicating that

workforce diversity has a positive impact on organizational effectiveness.

The study also concludes that workforce diversity improves the understanding

toward culture difference and at the same time promotes to a better communication with

workers from different races. Finally, this study will provide the new literature in the

area of workforce diversity and employee performance in nepalese co-operatives.

Action Implications

Based on the findings major recommendations to improve employee

performance for organizational effectiveness from various diversity variables: age

diversity, gender diversity and ethnic diversity. The study observed a positive

relationship between age diversity and employee performance. Hence, the expertise of

young employees with high tech tools helps older employees to improve their

knowledge on latest technologies. The study revealed positive relationship between

gender diversity and employee performance. Gender diverse team showed better

problem solving and decision making skills than gender homogeneous team. The study

found positive relationship between ethnic diversity and employee performance.

Hence, the ethnic diversity does not affect the professional relationship with team. The

study observed a positive relationship between level of education and employee

performance. Hence, qualification is a discriminatory factor in the organization. Since,

co-operatives are working competitively in the market; the management should take
 36

initiation to introduce global level practices which are more helpful to create interest

and increase the cultural values among employees at work places.

 37

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 Appendix

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am undertaking a study on “Impact Of Workforce Diversity On Employees

Performance at co-operatives in Jhapa”, in partial fulfilment of the course. The

information every respondent provides shall be treated entirely for academic purpose

and not for any commercial activity. I will be grateful if you provide me just few

minutes to answer my questions appearing in the enclosed questionnaire. Your ideas

and information will be of great importance for my research. I do assure you that your

information will be kept confidential.

Your co-operation is highly appreciated.

SECTION I

This section involves respondent’s general demographic informations.

1. Gender

Male ( )

Female ( )

2. Age Bracket

21-30 years ( )

31-40 years ( )

41-50 years ( )

51-60 years ( )

3. Academic Qualification
 SLC & below ( )

Plus two ( )

Bachelors ( )

Post Graduation ( )

Above PG ( )

4. Ethnicity

Brahmin/Kshetri ( )

Indegeneous (Adibasi) ( )

Kiranti ( )

Schedule Caste (Dalit) ( )

Others ( )

5. Income (monthly)

Below Rs. 20000 ( )

Rs. 20000 – Rs. 30000 ( )

Rs. 30000 – Rs. 40000 ( )

Rs. 40000 – Rs. 50000 ( )

Above Rs. 50000 ( )

SECTION II

This section involves Likert Scale Statements ranging (1=Strongly Disagree,

2=Disagree, 3=Neutral, 4=Agree, 5=Strongly agree). The respondents are required to

tick whichever option is appropriate according to his/her personal opinion or

judgement.

6. Age Diversity

Age diversity is the ability to accept all the different types of ages within a business

environment.
 Statements Level of Agreements

SD D N A SA

i. Age difference causes conflict in my

workplace.

ii. Young employees help older employees to

use high tech tools.

iii. Our team leader includes all members of

different age in problem solving.

7. Gender Diversity

Gender Diversity is equitable or fair representation between genders or equitable ratio

of men and women.

Statements Level of Agreements

SD D N A SA

i. Fair treatment is given to all employees,

i.e. male and female.

ii. The employees are not discriminated by

employer during hiring and recruitment.

iii. NMC does a good job of attracting and

hiring women.

8. Ethnic Diversity

Ethnic Diversity implies diversity in races, religions, languages and cultures.

Statements Level of Agreements

 SD D N A SA

i. Nepalese co-operatives attracts and hires

employees from all ethnic backgrounds.

ii. NMC is concerned about employees’

customs, culture and values.

iii. I develop low-self esteem at work at NMC.