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Equality and Diversity within the Workplace
BWL - Unternehmensführung, Management, Organisation


Autor

Iryna Shakhray
8 Texte

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Institution / Hochschule

UNIVERSITY OF DERBY
Managing Diversity
Equality and Diversity within the Workplace
Iryna Shakhray
ID100092603
12.12.2008
All people are different. Price (2004) states that they vary in their gender, culture,
race, social and psychological characteristics. Our attitude towards these differences
can be positive as well as negative; it depends usually upon individual perspectives
and prejudices and sometimes even on influence of friends, accountancies and
colleagues. There is a tendency to form like-minded groups, to recruit people like
themselves. This may seem natural or normal and often goes unquestioned - but it is
unfair. The consequences can be seen in a lack of opportunity for women, ethnic
minorities, and disabled, the middle-aged and other disadvantaged sections of the
community.
People are the key assets of a business, according to Price (2004) so it is important to
realise the maximum benefit from their human capital. True competitive advantage
requires the best from everyone, without restrictions; it demands a prejudice-free
attitude towards actual and potential employees. It requires diversity.
So, what is diversity?
Diversity, according to the Webster College Dictionary (in Grant and Kleiner 1997), is
defined as [a] quality, state, fact, of instance of being diverse; different.
The traditional
definition of diversity is focused on gender and racial differences. In today's terms
diversity also includes age, sexual preferences and disabilities; it could be defined by
an individuals' different personal and corporate background, education, job function,
tenure with the organisation, exempt or non-exempt status, and management or non-
management. In the workplace today not only does diversity imply difference in
people based on their identification with various groups, but it is also a process of
acknowledging differences through action.
In accordance to ASUO Multicultural Advocate (1999), the concept of diversity
encompasses acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each individual is
unique, and recognizing our individual differences. These can be along the
dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age,
physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies. It is the
exploration of these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment.
It is about understanding each other and moving beyond simple tolerance to
embracing and celebrating the rich dimensions of diversity contained within each
individual.
The Management of diversity goes beyond equal opportunities (Price 2004 p. 450).
Instead of just allowing a greater range of people the opportunity to "fit in", or be an
honorary "large, white male", the concept of diversity embraces the belief that people
should be valued for their differences and variety. The aim of diversity is actually to
enrich an organisations' human capital. Equal opportunity focuses on different
disadvantaged groups and management of diversity is about individuals.
Price (2004) also communicates that the pitfalls in the process are evident. E.g. a 1995
report (Targeting Potential Discrimination) produced by the UK Equal Opportunities
Commission detailed findings from 2000 companies that showed that over two-thirds
didn't collect information about the gender and ethnicity of their employees. Auditing
HR systems is also problematic.
Daniels and Macdonald (2005) state, another problem is in lack of understanding
about each other (especially racial groups) as a result of lack of knowledge. People
tend to resist everything they don't know or don't understand.
However, Price (2004) is of the opinion that the main difficulties arise from cost and
lack of commitment, exemplified by "tokenism", he underlines: "We have done as
much as we need to - we have a disabled person in the office." "Paternalism" is a
related attitude, where discriminatory decisions are taken for the so-called "benefit" of
particular groups, as it is illustrated in the case of American Cyanamid:
Trying to eliminate any liability for toxic damage to unborn children, American
Cyanamid decided in January 1978 to remove all women of child bearing age from
contact with chemical which, in the company opinion, carried a risk. The company
banned all women aged between 16 and 50 from production areas at two plants. The
only exception was for women who could prove they had been surgically sterilized or
accepted such sterilization at the company's expense. 5 women accepted this offer.
The other women were offered lower-paid jobs. 13 women and a union representative
took legal action that was settled out of court. The Occupational Safety and Health
Administration cited American Cyanamid for violating a clause in the Act of 1970;
however, this was defeated with summary legal judgements. This decision was
Textauszug: 4 von 7 Seiten -  nach oben


Beschreibung

Titel:
Managing Diversity
Untertitel:
Equality and Diversity within the Workplace
Veranstaltung:
Equality and Diversity within the Workplace (HRM)
Autor:
Iryna Shakhray
Jahr:
2008
Seiten:
7
Archivnummer:
V120354
ISBN (eBook):
978-3-640-24162-0
DOI:
10.3239/9783640241620
Dateigröße:
189 KB
Sprache:
Englisch

Schlagworte:
Managing Diversity Equality Workplace

Arbeit zitieren:

Iryna Shakhray, 2008, Managing Diversity, München, GRIN Verlag GmbH

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