Company Promotion Policies - Research Paper Example

Problem Statement The Workplace consists of a very complex environment of co-existence and its management is a very tricky business. The most controversial matter in most organizations big or small is usually of promotions and the company’s promotion policy. Similar is the case here where Maria, who comes from the Latino region, has filed a complaint of unfair treatment towards a promotion because of her distinctive accent. Maria comes from the second generation of native-born Americans and she holds a graduate degree. She worked with the company for 10 years with 7 years on her current position. On the other hand, Alex the person who got promoted is an Anglo with a graduate degree but he has less experience with the company as well as in the position. However, he has left a positive impact on his evaluators and he is considered to be “up and comer.” Maria claims being discriminated because of her ethnic background as well as being the only woman in the department. She has concerns that her evaluations have been biased because all her supervisors are White males apart from the fact that her supervisor told her that she was not being promoted because of her accent and the clients would have problems in understanding her accent. Maria claims that the company is discriminating and is being unfair. If we look at the argument from the company’s perspective, they believe that Maria is a good employee; however, she is loud and aggressive at time in her contact with co-workers and supervisors. Moreover, she has had punctuality issues twice in the past and she gives family problems as the causes. She says that her family needed her help and support and it was her duty to do so. With regard to the accent, it was also cleared out that it was not the company was discriminating her accent, although it was a major consideration. However, it was pointed out that Maria speaks very rapidly and because of her accent, it becomes impossible to understand anything she said. The company says that communication is a very important part of that job description and hence, it cannot be overlooked. Case Analysis We need to first understand discrimination before we can provide any ruling regarding the company’s promotion policy. We can define discrimination as the bias in treatment that exists towards a certain race, color, sex, nationality. Another explanation of discrimination can be the improper treatment based on unjustified factors. Racial discrimination occurs when a member of one racial group is treated favorably as compared to the member of another racial group. Discrimination in the workplace occurs when there is an unjustified hiring, promotion, job assignment, compensation, or termination of the job (Blank, Dabady, & Citro, 2004). The law that is most widely used by employees against discrimination is the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which states that, “to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or (2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin” (Garcez, n.d.). The case at hand is that the company promoted another employee based on his evaluation and his aggressiveness for the job and another employee who is in racial minority in the company believes that there has been discrimination based on sex, race, and language ability. There were three major reasons that contributed towards Maria’s retention at her current post: her aggressive and loud behavior with her co-workers and supervisors, issues with punctuality, and her accent, which becomes un-understandable when she speaks rapidly. On the other hand, Alex being a fairly new employee in the company with no prior experience of the post was promoted due to his positive impression and better evaluations than Maria. However, one thing that goes in Maria’s favor is the fact that she has been working in the organization since the last ten years with seven years on the same post. If she was so bad at her job then why wasn’t she informed and counseled for her negativities before. Hence, we can say that there seems to be some sort of individual discrimination in Maria’s evaluations. Regarding her punctuality, it has been mentioned that she has been absent and late twice but considering her 10 year long stay at the company, we can say that using punctuality as a justification for not promoting her seems unfair. Moreover, the issues related to her rash behavior with her co-workers, the fact that she has worked at the company without any problems for the past 7 years at the same post indicate that her behavioral issues cannot be that strong if she has been able to continue at her job for such a long time. It seems that the major reason behind retaining Maria at her current post is the fact that her accent is not very understandable and the company suspects that it would cause problems for the clients as the job that she gets after the promotion requires her to communicate with the clients effectively. If we analyze the situation keeping the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in view, we cannot say that the company has discriminated on the basis of race, color, religion, or sex. However, the company has not been just with Maria as she has been working for the company for the past 10 years, therefore, any problems regarding her accent should be compensated. She could have been provided with language trainings to improve her accent. Having said that, the company chose the more feasible option of the two employees as it is clearly been stated that the job description required someone without a particular accent or the ability to communicate clearly. Accent discrimination occurs when employers do not hire or promote their employees because of the person’s accent without providing legitimate reason (Mass. English Plus, n.d.). Hence, the company in this case does have a legitimate reason, therefore, it does not discriminate when it decides to promote Alex instead of Maria. The company is completely within its rights to expect its customer representatives to speak in unaccented English as long as the issue remains of clarity and effective communication. However, if the accent of the employee does not hamper his ability to be understood, in that case, the employer should not focus on the accent. Another reason behind Maria’s perception that the promotion is some sort of discrimination against her is also due to the fact that she is in racial minority as well as being the only woman in her department. A survey conducted on 3,100 senior human resource executives by Boston based consultancy Novations Group found that nearly 63% of all the employees perceive that the policies of the company are just, however, fewer than half of the workers in the minority race agree with them. 26% of the minority workers believe that their organizations policies are not fair. Hence, if the employees are skeptical about the organization they work in, it would have a deep impact on their work (Amble, 2006). Besides an incorrect perception, another major problem on the company’s part is the absence of a promotion policy. Promotion Policy A major reason behind this issue ever arising was due to the absence of a clear promotion policy. A company with clear internal policies and procedures always avoids controversial situations and lawsuits and the employees are also happy with the organization. Moreover, besides confusions, the employees also do not feel insecure regarding their job and their growth options. They can plan their future with the company and work hard at their current job so that they can achieve their future promotions and goals. This not only ensures that an employee works with enthusiasm and effort at his current job, it also ensures employee retention and a positive work environment. Adopting the right policy A company has various options while formulating a promotion policy. However, the following are the two major promotion policies that most companies choose from: Seniority Promotions Merit Promotions Seniority promotions – Promotions that use seniority evaluate employees on their experience within the firm at a certain position. Employees with a three year experience at a certain position is considered more senior than an employee that has worked for lesser time. The major advantage of this type of promotional policy is the fact that employees get to experience various jobs and the coworkers do not have animosity due to competition. However, this promotional policy has more disadvantages. Seniority based promotions hampers the growth of ambitious workers who are looking to work hard and give their best to the company because it keeps them under the impression that even if they work really hard, they would not get anywhere ahead. Moreover, employees might not be fit for a certain post but they would be in it because of seniority. Merit Promotions – Promotions based on merit advance workers who are best for the job rather than relying on experience. However, a worker’s past performance is also taken into account and it helps to build trust. The major advantage is that most employees promoted on merit are best suited for the job and it motivates other employees to work hard and perform well so that they can grow fast. The right kind of people can hired for a particular job and enthusiasm and hard work can be fostered in the workplace. The disadvantage of the policy is the difficulty of measuring merit as it is an intangible quality. Problems of impartiality can also arise if the evaluation procedures are not transparent. However, a major way of tackling this problem is to keep the policy and evaluation procedures transparent while informing the employees of their performance at regular intervals so that they are aware of the situation (Billikopf, 2006). The company under analysis could have avoided the situation if they had a clear promotion policy. Promotions based on merit seems as the best option as it is a very competitive environment and more and more organizations are adopting this policy. Hence, a company should make its internal promotion policy public in the organization so that all employees are aware of the company procedures and they know what to expect from it. References Blank, Rebecca M., Dabady, Marilyn, & Citro, Constance F.(2004). Measuring Racial Discrimination. National Research Council. Retrieved on October 17, 2011 from < http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10887&page=39> Garcez, Claudia (n.d.). Preventing Discrimination. How to prevent national origin discrimination? Retrieved on October 17, 2011 from < http://aplawrence.com/Misc/discrimination.html> Mass. English Plus, (n.d.). Language Right, Workplace Right FAQ. Retrieved on October 17, 2011 from < http://www.massenglishplus.org/content/Language_Rights/Workplace_Rights/Workplace.html#q6> Amble, Brian (2006). Minority employees have less trust in promotion policies. Retrieved on October 17, 2011 from < http://www.management-issues.com/2006/8/24/research/minority-employees-have-less-trust-in-promotion-policies.asp> Billikopf, Gregario (2006). Promotions, Transfers & Layoffs. Retrieved on October 17, 2011 from < http://cnr.berkeley.edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7labor/04.htm> Read More