The concept of workforce diversity includes the principle of equal employment opportunity. (EEO)
There are many socially defined minority groups, some of which are:
Women, racial/ethnic minorities, disabled people. Individuals who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transsexual are also defined as minority groups.
These are just some of the groups for whom legal protection against discrimination is available.
The CIPD (2003) provides a wider definition of diversity in which they include informational diversity-which is differentiating people in terms of their functional background and their education. They also differentiate people in regards to their personality and attitudes.
According to the Equal Opportunities review (2002) the number of women participating in the labour workforce has risen. Between 1971 and 2001 the participation of women in the labour workforce has risen by 15.2%. However, the male participation rate has been in a slow decline. These developments are expected to continue in the same manner. These figures are a result of the replacement of full time jobs with part time jobs between 1951 to the late 1980s.
Discrimination in the workplace may not have disappeared completely however, there is evidence to convey that women are starting to fill the positions which are normally dominated by men.
Although there is continuous debate, women have even started to become priests of the Church of England. And in the same respect, men are beginning to take on jobs which were previously perceived as women’s jobs, such as midwifery.
When the Equal pay act (1970) was introduced in 1975 women’s pay was increased however, in some organisations there is still a difference between the men’s wages and the women’s.
Even though women’s wages were increased by around 30%, according to The New Earnings Survey (2003) women’s full time pay is still 18% lower than men’s.
Also, if a woman works the same job as a man but only works part-time in comparison to his full-time position, she will receive 40% less hourly rate.
Although, there has been some progress in the campaign for equal pay, there are still problems which need to be overcome. Minimum wage is an example of progress in the campaign.
Even though it is against the law to discriminate due to race, the discrimination still exists. The EOR (2003) reports that unemployment figures amongst the black and the Asian communities is 7 per cent higher than the unemployment rates of the white population. These figures have remained constant over the past eighteen years and have been increasing rather decreasing.
There is obvious segregation in the labour market. There are a high percentage of ethnic minority males working in the catering and repairs industries in comparison to the white males. Basically the white males are employed to do highly paid, clean, well respected jobs such as teaching, management, etc and the ethnic minority are left with the jobs which do not require a lot of education and are not very well paid. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) (2000) gives an account of the ratio of white male managers to the ethnic minority managers. There were 30.4 per cent of white people who were managers in comparison to the 24.7 per cent of black people.
The ethnic minority are also disadvantaged when it comes to wages.
Many aspects of discrimination have been notably improved yet discrimination of minority groups in the workplace still exists.
There is an ongoing debate to improve the disadvantages that the ethnic minority groups come across. Legislative action is the favourite idea for dealing with the situation. It is normally referred to as the equal opportunities or liberal approach.
However, many argue that legislative action will not make a difference and that it is people’s outlooks and prejudice that must be altered.
The equal opportunities approach is based on legislation and aims to banish discrimination through rules and regulations. It promotes the rights of all members of society. Many assumptions are made on applicants using stereotypical characteristics. For example a company may not employ a young newly wed female as they may presume she is going to want to start a family as soon as possible and will require maternity leave and pay. They may also presume that she will require her normal hours to be cut after the birth of her child. Because this is only an assumption it is considered to be irrelevant. And so the Equal Opportunities method is used to make procedures more formal so that useful, job based criteria is used instead of the assumptions.
Equal opportunities are normally recognised as the responsibility of the HR department.
In contrast to the Equal opportunities approach, the management diversity approach focuses on improving conditions and opportunities for everyone and not just the minority groups.
Management diversity is popular with employers and employees as it is beneficial to everyone. It is a fairer way of dealing with matters as everyone’s problems are looked at and so the minority group do not receive all the special treatment.
The main UK supporters of the management diversity approach are Kandola and Fullerton and so they put across their views on the subject.
‘Managing diversity is about the realisation of the potential of all employees…………
Certain group based equal opportunities policies need to be seriously questioned, in particular positive actions and targets.’
They go on to say that:
‘If managing diversity is about an individual and their contribution rather than about groups it is contradictory to provide training and other opportunities based solely on peoples perceived group membership.’
The differences between the equal opportunities approach and the management of diversity approach are clearly highlighted in this American definition of managing diversity:
Managing diversity ‘is the challenge of meeting the needs of a culturally diverse workforce and of sensitising workers and managers to differences associated with gender, race, age, and nationality in an attempt to maximise the potential productivity of all employees.’
(Ellis and Sonnefield 1994, p.82)
The managing diversity approach creates a fairer workplace as it encourages difference rather than perceiving it as a negative aspect.
Another difference between the Equal opportunities approach and the managing diversity approach is that the managing diversity approach is based on the ‘economic and business case for recognising and valuing difference rather than the moral case for treating people equally.’
(Human resources management 2005, p.538)
Human Resource Management, 2005, p540
This table displays the key differences between the equal opportunities approach and the managing diversity approach.
The managing diversity approach is different to the equal opportunities approach. The Equal opportunities approach is more focused on groups of people where as management diversity is mainly based on individuality. Managers are responsible for the diversity in the business where as HR are responsible for the equal opportunities.
Conception model of diversity (source: F.LaFasto (1992) ‘Baxter health care Organisation’, in B.W Jackson, F LaFesto, H.G Schulz and D Kelly, ‘Diversity’, Human resource management, Vol. 31, nos 1 and 2, Spring/Summer, p. 28)
This model displays the different contributions of equal opportunities and managing diversity.
Management diversity varies in its methods and emphasis. Some compare with those of the equal opportunities approach and some are completely different. Managing diversity is considered to be superior to the equal opportunities approach. It is becoming more popular in the work place as it provides a fairer working environment for the employees and is not just based on legislation. Managing diversity is more personal as it focuses on individuals where as the equal opportunities approach focuses on groups.
References:
Human resource management
Derek Torrington, Laura Hall, Stephen Taylor
Sixth Addition 2005
Pearson Education Limited
