Employees’ perceptions of diversity management practices as predictors of psychological capital: A South African study

Abstract

Human resource practitioners have recently been interested, especially within large corporations, in diversity management and psychological capital (commonly known as positive psychology) – making the insights from such studies inadequate and difficult to apply in other contexts such as the small business sector. With no known empirical research on these two areas of interest within small businesses, the purpose of this study was to determine the impact of perceptions of diversity management practices on psychological capital amongst employees in bed and breakfast (B&B) establishments. A quantitative design, specifically a cross-sectional case study design, was adopted. Data were collected from a sample of 144 B&B employees conveniently selected. The collected data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings of the study showed that there is a significant and positive relationship between perceived diversity management practices and psychological capital of employees. Specifically, perceived diversity management practices in specific human resource management practices were found to influence the psychological capital of the B&Bs employees. Given the nature of B&B establishments, in terms of attracting diverse customers, the study recommends the need of B&B managers to implement appropriate and fair human resource diversity management practices in order to promote the development of psychological capital amongst employees. This study is the first of its kind to contribute to the literature on diversity management practices and psychological capital within B&B establishments in a developing context.