Workforce diversity and conflicts in care work: managers' perspectives

The care workforce in England is ethnically diverse yet little is known of how managers manage this aspect of human resources work. This article reports findings from a longitudinal study of the care workforce to offer insights into managers' views of staff demographics, relationships and management challenges and strategies. Three themes emerged from the analysis: sources of conflict; reactive approaches to limiting conflict; and proactive approaches to preventing and limiting conflict. Findings have implications for human resource management and the creation of supportive staff relationships within care work in countries where ethnic diversity is characteristic of the care workforce.