The implications of this legislation for the HR department means that any advertisements, notes and circulars need to be checked and altered where necessary, the selection procedures and job descriptions will also need to be examined. The HR department will also have to conduct a review of pay strategy, systems and wage rates. Equal opportunities are very much an issue for the human resources/personnel department.
Equal opportunities do not just give employees equality, it can also benefit a commercial organisation. “Inappropriate discrimination may deny an organisation access to skills, knowledge and experience that will enhance productivity”. Unfair discrimination may also have the potential to lead to increased stress levels in employees or to higher absence levels, both of which lead to decreased levels of productivity and lower standards of work. However human resource departments must not use quotas and employ a pre-set number of, for example disabled people or ethnic minorities. This is also unfair discrimination and can mean people being hired who are not suitable to a job. The benefits of giving the best person the job regardless of gender, race, disability or age are obvious. The organisation may enjoy, for example, higher creativity, improved productivity and even a better public image. There is also an added value incentive for firms to recruit from a cross section of the local population. This can create cultural and religious awareness and also enable better communication with those whose first language is not English.
The management of diversity concept differs from the traditional equal opportunities outlook by focusing on individuals as opposed to under represented or disadvantaged groups. The management of diversity approach accepts that the workforce is made up of a diverse group of people. The diversity includes factors such as gender, age, physical ability, experience, race, background, personality, education and work style. The management of diversity concept is “founded on the premise that harnessing differences will create a productive environment in which everybody feels valued, where their talents are being fully utilised and in which organisational goal are met”. Due to this management of diversity involves and benefits everyone.
For the management of diversity concept to be a success the human resource department must examine the organization's cultural environment, management systems and evaluation systems to reveal if existing personnel/human resources programs will support or hinder diversity in the organization.
A possible challenge facing HR departments is convincing top managers that management of diversity is an important issue. Many leaders of businesses and organizations are concerned that diversity initiatives are too expensive, upsets productivity, and causes disruption in the workplace when in fact, the opposite results exits.
Managing Diversity in the workplace is more than just an acquired skill, it is "a way of thinking". It involves creating an environment that allows all employees to contribute to an organizations goals and experience personal growth. The key is to help employees reach their full potential by creating an environment that will allow them to be motivated, productive and ultimately be beneficial for the organization. Whereas Equal opportunities is the responsibility of the HRM/personnel departments and is concerned with changing systems to improve minority opportunities, management of diversity is the responsibility of all managers and is concerned with changing the culture of a business to improve opportunity for all.
The equal opportunities approach is often criticised as it reinforces stereotypical images of minority groups. This is because the development opportunities or available support is often based on stereotypical assumptions. For example assertiveness training for women can be perceived as reinforcing this idea. It implies that women are not already assertive and that men are. By contrast a managing diversity approach would provide assertiveness training only on the basis of individual training needs regardless of gender.
HRM departments must work collaboratively with top executives and line managers to develop a strategic plan that will meet diversity challenges. In working with top executives human resource managers can look at the organizations mission and goals and also look at strategic plans for the future. By analysing these HR departments can incorporate a diversity plan that identifies the organizational culture and workforce in relation to gender, race, age, skills and knowledge. This top-down approach to workforce planning helps the organization to define goals and objectives and translates them into human resource objectives to determine needs. If human resource managers were to work closely with line managers it would enable the HR department to integrate employee profiles, goals, skills/competencies into the organizational culture. This would enable human resources to hire workers with the right qualifications for the right jobs and in the right locations. This bottom-up approach to workforce planning identifies information regarding employees by analyzing the skills, retirements, turnover and retention of employees, while considering the balance of social representation.
A floor in the management of diversity concept is that managers are often subjected by there own biases. Managers should know what these are and be aware that what they consider to be appropriate or desirable qualities in a candidate may reflect more about their own personal preferences than about the skills needed to perform the job. To avoid this a good strategy for overcoming any bias in an interview is for the recruiter to focus on the job requirements and assess experience but also consider transferable skills and demonstrated competencies, such as analytical, organizational and communication skills. Prior experience does not necessarily mean effectiveness or success in a job. The recruiter should also use a panel interview format so that any of the recruiters’ personal bias may be further reduced. To represent different perspectives and to eliminate bias from the selection process the selection panel should be diverse, have different positions in the organisation, different lengths of service and different life experiences etc. Put questions to the panel to ensure there is no unintentional cultural or institutional bias.
Equal opportunities and management of diversity are both trying to accomplish similar goals. However equal opportunities legislation tends to stereotype certain groups and there is the question of where to stop, i.e. how wide is the definition of minority under-represented groups. However the management of diversity approach is idealistic and does not fully take into account bias in individual managers. Due to this the management of diversity approach can not be used on its own, regulation is still necessary. Indeed there is “potential for the managing diversity concept to be used as an excuse for doing nothing. Rhetorical statements about valuing diversity” may hide the fact that there is no equal opportunities policy.
Managing diversity allows organisations to re-evaluate, review and revise its equal opportunities approach. Managers must have the knowledge and the courage to be able to implement this change successfully otherwise management of diversity will simply become another wasted management fad.
References
Foster, C. & Newell, S.(2002). Managing Diversity and Equal Opportunities – Some Practical Implications. Business and Professional Ethics Journal,21 (2)
Eaton, J (2004). Equal opportunities and the management of diversity. Lecture notes. Topic 13.
Corbridge, M. & Pillbeam S. (2002) People Resourcing: HRM in practice (p. 190). London: FT Prentice Hall
Kandola, R. & Fullerton, J. (1998) Diversity in Action: Managing the Mosaic
Mathews, A. (1998) Diversity: A Principle of Human Resource Management, Public Personnel Management. 27 (2), p.175-184.
Roosevelt, T. Jr. (1992) The Concept of Managing Diversity, The Best of the Bureaucrat (p.41-44)
Corbridge, M. & Pillbeam S. (2002) People Resourcing: HRM in practice (p. 192). London: FT Prentice Hall
Kandola, R. & Fullerton, J. (1998) Diversity in Action: Managing the Mosaic
