Non Discriminatory Hiring and the Workplace
Equal Opportunity employment is more or less the law of the land. One says "more or less" because there are still some pockets of resistance. However, most human resources managers now are very careful to use some form of "Affirmative Action" in their hiring process. Just what is the definition of Affirmative Action? "Affirmative Action is a policy designed to create a nondiscriminatory environment for the management of human resources and the distribution of economic benefits...It means taking a second look to be fair to everyone who applies for a job or admission to college." (Anderson 1996 PG) What stirred up many people was not the previous blatant unfairness, whites favored over blacks or Hispanics, bosses hiring friends instead of the best qualified for the job. It was the imposition of the "second look" principle, whereby those favored prior to the Act now were feeling deprived of fairness by being forced to compete with those mandated by law to be looked at twice (i.e., tacitly preferred). Having and maintaining a non-discriminatory workplace goes beyond hiring. It also requires an effort at employee retention. The work place has become a far more diversified action arena than ever before. There is more cultural as w
There are several questions that need to be asked:1)have we adequately explained the rules of our company and the need to live by them and to enforce them?2)Are we aware of the diversity of today's workplace, and the fact that we may not be able to deal with every aspect of the rainbow of workers in the same manner? In other words, can we hold every employee, regardless of race, creed, or ethnic background to the same standards, and if not, why now?3)How can we look at what criteria and methods management uses in its selective process?4)If disciplinary action is a management "failure" can we pinpoint just where the problem lies, and do we have measures to correct or reinforce the hiring criteria?What may be most important and useful in both hiring practices and "peace" in the work place is some sort of sensitivity training. In addition to ethnic and racial diversity in the workplace, and the possibility of discrimination, there is another frequent problem: gays and lesbians. Promotions need to be based on results and abilities and potential achievements, not on equalizing the work-force within guidelines of race, ethnicity or gender. There is a vast difference in educational background, even in language or technical skills. There are more women, more older people in the work-place, as literally mandated by the Federal government. Today's forward-looking human resources managers need to do several analytical steps to assure the fairness and non-discriminatory policies are maintained properly- not just at the time of hiring but throughout employment. Diversity is a factor in the motivation and empowerment of employees, because there may be substantive areas of motivation for one group with different priorities for other. our racism workshops is 'What do I call them?'. As of 2001, Congress had not passed ENDA" (Schwartz 2003 52). "Engaging workers' hearts and souls, not just their minds will be the next catalyst for success in business" (Perle 1997 1). This can be effective in a corporate desire to give and take: that is, to provide an honest response to the needs and questions of the employees. Diversity is healthy, as long as it is a company policy to respect and not belittle one another because of these diversities.
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