Diversity In The Workplace: Implications For Human Resource Development
Diversity in the Workplace: Implications for Human Resource Development
Jaleesa Brown
BSHS/425
07/28/2015
Deborah Young
Diversity in the Workplace: Implications for Human Resource Development
In today’s world discrimination is big problem in the business community. Since there is a big increase in cultural and gender diversity in the workplace people from many ethnicities and backgrounds are obligated to work together to meet the companies goals. In some cases differences between people have a tendency to lead to misunderstandings and result in conflict and discrimination (Scott, 2015). In the context of employment, discrimination is defined as treating a person or a group of people less well when recruiting, hiring, or any other terms and …show more content…
conditions of employment due to the person’s race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability or veteran’s status (Scott, 2015).
I once worked at this grocery store who were having a big hiring event.
So one the day of the event I told my best friend who needed a job to come apply. I didn’t think that discrimination would have taken place this day because I have never experienced it myself in this environment. My friend, who I will call DJ in this paper and is also a transgender male came up to my work place to apply and was told that all the positons have been filled. Once DJ left more people came to apply. I proceeded to tell them that all the positions have been filled but my supervisor jumped in and said it is ok she will interview them. 3 more people came out of the office that day happy because they received a job. I was confused and slightly upset because I knew that the experience DJ has would have greatly benefited the company, and I also wondered why my supervisor would lie. I was tired of wonder so I went and asked her why would she turn DJ away and state that all the positons have been filled. The response I received from her was not one that I expected, she told me it’s her decisions to decide who she wants to work there and she does not owe me any explanation. I knew after that day I could not work in an environment like …show more content…
that.
There are federal laws that prohibit job discrimination also known as Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Laws (EEO). These laws are:
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion ,sex, or national origin;
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) which protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination;
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967(ADEA) which protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older
Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as amended (ADA) which prohibit employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in the private sector and in state and local government
Section 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities who work in the federal government
Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) which prohibits employment discrimination based on genetic information about and applicant, employee or former employee; and
The Civil Rights Act of 1991 which among other things provides monetary damages in cases of international employment discrimination (“The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission, 2009”).
There are also state legislation that supports the work place being fair. Almost every state has adopted a law that relates to employment. In Illinois there is freedom from unlawful discrimination. It does not matter what your race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, order of protection status, marital status, physical or mental disability, military status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or unfavorable discharge from military service in connection with employment every individual is has the right not to be discriminated against.
The roles of the Human Resource manager is switching up and evolving because the competitive market environment is changing.
So the Human Resource manager must play a more strategic role in the success of an organization. The H.R. manger also has to encourage and fight for values, ethics, beliefs, and spirituality within their organization, especially in the management of workplace diversity. He or She can meet the challenges of diversity that the workplace may face by motivating employees through gain sharing, proper planning, organizing, and leading and controlling their human resources (Chan, 1998). In order to effectively manage workplace diversity cox (1993) suggest that a H.R. manager need to change from an ethnocentric view, which means our way is the best way, to a culturally relative perspective meaning let’s take the best variety of ways.
Risk Management is defines as the identification, analysis, assessment, control, and avoidance, minimization, or elimination of unacceptable risk (“Risk Management”, 2015). Promoting equity and diversity is a key components of managing employees by focusing on building a positive and respectful environment. Risk management supports equity in the work place by constantly reminding the employee that’s discrimination is a risk in the organization, and gives the organization a opportunity to access the risk and figure out ways to manage
it.
Issues of diversity within the workplace are a big deal for human service workers and for management of human service organizations because cultural diversity is absolutely necessary to maintain a balanced organization. In organizations that are global, which means their operation includes business deals and affiliations in other countries understanding cultural differences is the key to a successful business partnership (Scott, 2015). It is very important for employees to respect the cultural differences of others. The reason being is because recognizing and respecting cultural differences in the workplace is essential to a company’s organizational structure and the health of its human resources (Scott, 2015). By stressing awareness of and promoting sensitivity to cultural issues employers can show that they recognize the contributions and values of workers.
The discrimination I observed that day at work has stuck with me until this day. I knew that discrimination existed but that was the first time I witnessed it with my own eyes. This has a lot of influence on my dream organization for week five learning team presentation. Cultural diversity would be very important in the dream organization. In order to stress that I would suggest that training be held in order for employees with different backgrounds understand and respect each other differences in order to work together and achieve the organizations goals.
This would apply to the development and management aspect of human resources because it helps the employees develop their personal and organizational skills, knowledge and abilities. The training I chose would defiantly give the employees the opportunity for career development. Human Resource Development can be formal such as in classroom training, a college course, or an organizational planned change effort. Or, Human Resource Development can be informal as in employee coaching by a manager. Organizations have many opportunities for human resource and even employment development, both within and outside of the workplace.
In conclusion workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization. That sounds simple, but diversity encompasses race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education, background and more. Diversity not only involves how people perceive themselves, but how they perceive others. Those perceptions affect their interactions. For a wide assortment of employees to function effectively as an organization, human resource professionals need to deal effectively with issues.
References
Chan, A. (1998). Planning Resource Center. Retrieved from http://work911.com/planningmaster/planningarticles/challengesofhrmgmt.htm
Risk Management. (2015). In Business Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/risk-management.html
Scott, S. (2015). Chron. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/discrimination-workplace-2855.html
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/qanda.html
Jaleesa Brown
BSHS/425
07/28/2015
Deborah Young
Diversity in the Workplace: Implications for Human Resource Development
In today’s world discrimination is big problem in the business community. Since there is a big increase in cultural and gender diversity in the workplace people from many ethnicities and backgrounds are obligated to work together to meet the companies goals. In some cases differences between people have a tendency to lead to misunderstandings and result in conflict and discrimination (Scott, 2015). In the context of employment, discrimination is defined as treating a person or a group of people less well when recruiting, hiring, or any other terms and …show more content…
conditions of employment due to the person’s race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability or veteran’s status (Scott, 2015).
I once worked at this grocery store who were having a big hiring event.
So one the day of the event I told my best friend who needed a job to come apply. I didn’t think that discrimination would have taken place this day because I have never experienced it myself in this environment. My friend, who I will call DJ in this paper and is also a transgender male came up to my work place to apply and was told that all the positons have been filled. Once DJ left more people came to apply. I proceeded to tell them that all the positions have been filled but my supervisor jumped in and said it is ok she will interview them. 3 more people came out of the office that day happy because they received a job. I was confused and slightly upset because I knew that the experience DJ has would have greatly benefited the company, and I also wondered why my supervisor would lie. I was tired of wonder so I went and asked her why would she turn DJ away and state that all the positons have been filled. The response I received from her was not one that I expected, she told me it’s her decisions to decide who she wants to work there and she does not owe me any explanation. I knew after that day I could not work in an environment like …show more content…
that.
There are federal laws that prohibit job discrimination also known as Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Laws (EEO). These laws are:
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion ,sex, or national origin;
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) which protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination;
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967(ADEA) which protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older
Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as amended (ADA) which prohibit employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in the private sector and in state and local government
Section 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities who work in the federal government
Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) which prohibits employment discrimination based on genetic information about and applicant, employee or former employee; and
The Civil Rights Act of 1991 which among other things provides monetary damages in cases of international employment discrimination (“The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission, 2009”).
There are also state legislation that supports the work place being fair. Almost every state has adopted a law that relates to employment. In Illinois there is freedom from unlawful discrimination. It does not matter what your race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, order of protection status, marital status, physical or mental disability, military status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or unfavorable discharge from military service in connection with employment every individual is has the right not to be discriminated against.
The roles of the Human Resource manager is switching up and evolving because the competitive market environment is changing.
So the Human Resource manager must play a more strategic role in the success of an organization. The H.R. manger also has to encourage and fight for values, ethics, beliefs, and spirituality within their organization, especially in the management of workplace diversity. He or She can meet the challenges of diversity that the workplace may face by motivating employees through gain sharing, proper planning, organizing, and leading and controlling their human resources (Chan, 1998). In order to effectively manage workplace diversity cox (1993) suggest that a H.R. manager need to change from an ethnocentric view, which means our way is the best way, to a culturally relative perspective meaning let’s take the best variety of ways.
Risk Management is defines as the identification, analysis, assessment, control, and avoidance, minimization, or elimination of unacceptable risk (“Risk Management”, 2015). Promoting equity and diversity is a key components of managing employees by focusing on building a positive and respectful environment. Risk management supports equity in the work place by constantly reminding the employee that’s discrimination is a risk in the organization, and gives the organization a opportunity to access the risk and figure out ways to manage
it.
Issues of diversity within the workplace are a big deal for human service workers and for management of human service organizations because cultural diversity is absolutely necessary to maintain a balanced organization. In organizations that are global, which means their operation includes business deals and affiliations in other countries understanding cultural differences is the key to a successful business partnership (Scott, 2015). It is very important for employees to respect the cultural differences of others. The reason being is because recognizing and respecting cultural differences in the workplace is essential to a company’s organizational structure and the health of its human resources (Scott, 2015). By stressing awareness of and promoting sensitivity to cultural issues employers can show that they recognize the contributions and values of workers.
The discrimination I observed that day at work has stuck with me until this day. I knew that discrimination existed but that was the first time I witnessed it with my own eyes. This has a lot of influence on my dream organization for week five learning team presentation. Cultural diversity would be very important in the dream organization. In order to stress that I would suggest that training be held in order for employees with different backgrounds understand and respect each other differences in order to work together and achieve the organizations goals.
This would apply to the development and management aspect of human resources because it helps the employees develop their personal and organizational skills, knowledge and abilities. The training I chose would defiantly give the employees the opportunity for career development. Human Resource Development can be formal such as in classroom training, a college course, or an organizational planned change effort. Or, Human Resource Development can be informal as in employee coaching by a manager. Organizations have many opportunities for human resource and even employment development, both within and outside of the workplace.
In conclusion workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization. That sounds simple, but diversity encompasses race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education, background and more. Diversity not only involves how people perceive themselves, but how they perceive others. Those perceptions affect their interactions. For a wide assortment of employees to function effectively as an organization, human resource professionals need to deal effectively with issues.
References
Chan, A. (1998). Planning Resource Center. Retrieved from http://work911.com/planningmaster/planningarticles/challengesofhrmgmt.htm
Risk Management. (2015). In Business Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/risk-management.html
Scott, S. (2015). Chron. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/discrimination-workplace-2855.html
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/qanda.html