To understand what we are talking about, the first question that needs to be answered is "What is workplace diversity"? As defined in Chapter 3 of Human Resource Management, Diversity is "the differences between people". These differences can be many different things whether it be race, gender, religion, background, sexual orientation, and many other things. Enforcement and complaints involving diversity are overseen by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC for short. It is very important that organizations have policies in place to make sure that everybody is treaded the same, regardless of the things listed above. Promoting diverstiy is not only the law, but in the long run it is good for business as it can increase employee productivity, efficiency, and in the long run, profitability. People from different cultures and such can bring different ideas and other things that their different life experiences have taught them to the table that otherwise may not have been known.
When inverviewing potential employees, it is important to be very careful on how things are said and worded, as well as the interview procedures taking place. It is a good idea to have a structured interview so that every candidate is being "judged" on the same standards. Even though you may not intend to discriminate, sometimes wording things the wrong way could be considered discrimination.
Another aspect to look at that is often invisible that we have to be carful of is power and privilege. Power and privilege is a system of advantages based on ones race, gender, and sexual orientation. Because of the fact that it is often invisible, it can result in one of these groups having unequal power in the workplace. This unequal power results in unfairness, and could eventually cause legal concerns.
One major thing to keep in mind is that the EEOC has a set of laws that make it illegal to retalliate against any employees that file a complaint regarding discrimination. Retalliation could consist of things such as firing, demothing, or harrassing employees that have filed a discrimination complaint.
The best thing that a company can do to encourage diversity and prevent discrimination complaints and lawsuits is to have polices in place that are equally enforced for everybody. There should be things such as set pay scales, specific disciplinary policies, and other things such as performance reviews. Making sure that everybody is treated and evaluated the same is a major key to keep things equal.
Diversity in the workplace is a very positive thing for many reasons, many of which I have already discussed. If a business can prevent any sort of discrimination, it will be just that much better for diversity, and you will surely see the advantages of it in the business' bottom line!
Dias, L. (2011) Human Resource Management. University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing Edition. Minneapolis, MN
When inverviewing potential employees, it is important to be very careful on how things are said and worded, as well as the interview procedures taking place. It is a good idea to have a structured interview so that every candidate is being "judged" on the same standards. Even though you may not intend to discriminate, sometimes wording things the wrong way could be considered discrimination.
Another aspect to look at that is often invisible that we have to be carful of is power and privilege. Power and privilege is a system of advantages based on ones race, gender, and sexual orientation. Because of the fact that it is often invisible, it can result in one of these groups having unequal power in the workplace. This unequal power results in unfairness, and could eventually cause legal concerns.
One major thing to keep in mind is that the EEOC has a set of laws that make it illegal to retalliate against any employees that file a complaint regarding discrimination. Retalliation could consist of things such as firing, demothing, or harrassing employees that have filed a discrimination complaint.
The best thing that a company can do to encourage diversity and prevent discrimination complaints and lawsuits is to have polices in place that are equally enforced for everybody. There should be things such as set pay scales, specific disciplinary policies, and other things such as performance reviews. Making sure that everybody is treated and evaluated the same is a major key to keep things equal.
Diversity in the workplace is a very positive thing for many reasons, many of which I have already discussed. If a business can prevent any sort of discrimination, it will be just that much better for diversity, and you will surely see the advantages of it in the business' bottom line!
Dias, L. (2011) Human Resource Management. University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing Edition. Minneapolis, MN