Discrimination at the Workplace - Essay Example

Discrimination at the Workplace In recent years, diversity at the workplace has become a major concern for employers as the number of people from various backgrounds seeking employment continues to rise. The demographic diversity at the workforce is characterized by employees of different ethnicity, ancestry, physical abilities, race, educational background, gender, sexual orientation, age, income, religious beliefs, work experience, and military experience. Workplace diversity leads to teams that face a lot of challenges in performing their duties one of such challenges being various forms of discrimination. Therefore, for employers to get the best out of their employees, they need to have the knowledge on how to best rally the diverse work groups to work as a unit through establishing the necessary policies designed to promote equal opportunities and diversity management. According to Welle and Heilman (2007) the contemporary society still exhibits various gender discrimination practices which are perceived as posing a great challenge to career progression of women. Cultural diversity at the workplace is a result of different trends in the business environment one of them being the increased number of female professionals where it is estimated that by the year 2020, the workplace will be composed of employees from diverse cultures with more female and older employees. Women today are faced with challenges that goes beyond sexual harassment as many report some form of discrimination that is not more visible for example women in high-level corporate and firm positions face social exclusion through practices such as lack of mentoring, elimination from informal communication networks in addition to facing hostile corporate culture (Catalyst, 2001). Discrimination based on gender can be attributed to the existing conflicting perceptions between the necessary qualities essential for one to be successful at the workplace and the qualities that women are presumed to possess (Welle and Heilman, 2007). Along with the qualities that male or female workers are presumed to possess is the perceptions about a particular work being suitable for a particular gender due to the difference in numerical figures of those present for example the existence of more women than men in the nursing profession while there are more men than women engineers (Lips, 2003). This furthers the assumption that certain jobs are for a particular gender leading to the preference of one gender over the other during employment as it is presumed that for example a successful manager must exhibit masculine traits while a nurse is expected to possess feminine and communal traits. Based on the gendered stereotypes about given jobs, it follows that the matching process for assigning jobs work against women and in favour of men in employment sectors that have the potential to offer higher returns in terms of remuneration and working conditions. The available jobs that confer the most power and are therefore coveted by both men and women are in almost all situations male gender-typed (Welle and Heilman, 2007). This is phenomenon is true considering organizational leadership positions are not only overly populated by men but successful inhabitant of the jobs are in most cases described in classical masculine manner. Schein (2001) notes a successful manager is always described in a similar way to how men are viewed by society and not the way women are viewed. The researcher further goes on to illustrate that this phenomenon is experienced worldwide and not in the USA alone due to similar results obtained in Germany, China, UK and Japan. A part from gender, age is another form of discrimination which potentially could affect anyone regardless of sex, race, disability or any other form of diversity in addition to the difficulty associated with its identification. Age discrimination laws in UK covers employees of all age groups ensuring that young employees are protected the same way as older employees. Organizations that continue to have employment policies that are based on age of employees do so with the view that there is a reduced participation rate of older people in the job market. Therefore, it is believed that older people should be encouraged to retire from the labour force and not to re-join afterwards. Such policies are responsible for employers offering fewer chances for career advancement to older employees compared to their younger colleagues (Sargeant, 2006). A survey by Sargeant (2006) points to existence of stereotypical notions that most employers have based on the age of employees. Based on the results from 500 companies sampled 12 per cent of employers thought those of age 40 years were too old to employ, 25 per thought 50 years old, 43 per cent at 55 while about 60 per cent considered those with 60 years and above were not employable anymore. The Sargeant (2006) study further indicates that 36 per cent of employees thought older workers were more cautious compared to younger employees. Additionally, 40 per cent of the employees feared employing older peoples as they had difficulties adapting to new technology and 38 per cent preferred younger employees based on the belief that older employees disliked taking orders from younger workers. There are some practices at the workplace that can be blamed for the propagation of both racial and religious discrimination. These forms of discrimination includes the indirect discrimination where many organizations continue with practices that they see as offering neutral criterion for recruitment and working conditions which effectively puts people of certain religion or race at a disadvantage. Such disadvantages include being asked to work on a day set aside for worship or taking part in practices forbidden by one’s religion. Additionally, there are some practices that directly discriminate against people of different race and religion such as refusing to employ members of a particular religion or race (Hill, Sandberg, and Doe, 2011). Globalization in business transactions has also resulted in a diversified workforce as business organizations continue to discover new markets leading to opening of branches abroad therefore bringing together people from diverse national origins to work in teams for the organization (Cullen and Parboteeah, 2013). This continued trend has made it necessary for organizations to have people from diverse backgrounds as their employees. Globalization has resulted to people of different races and religious orientations having to work together in teams designed to achieve various organizational goals. Nelson and Quick (2012) note that by about 2020, the United State’s minority population will make up over one-half of new employees who join the workforce. This the authors point out is as a result of the improved participation rates of African Americans and Hispanic Americans in the labour force. Further, the authors see white non-Hispanics at the workforce making up 68 percent by the year 2020, 14 percent Hispanic, 11 percent African Americans and 5 percent Asian. As the people from different racial and religious backgrounds work together, there are inherent racial prejudices that are bound to result into discrimination of some employees due to generalizations about how certain members are supposed to behave. Legislations and new technologies have made it possible for those with disabilities to join the workforce as it has become unlawful to deny a qualified person job opportunity due to physical disability. However, some employers see having employees with disabilities will increase organizational expenses as they might need some specialized services in terms of infrastructure and other services that will accommodate them into the organizational practises. Therefore, to avoid these commitments, these employees would rather avoid employing those with disability (Nelson and Quick, 2012). Discrimination at the workplace presents a reality that cannot be avoided by all the stakeholders in any economic undertaking. The problem for managers is coming up with strategic measure that will ensure effective management of people through creation of an organizational environment that attracts and retains diverse workforce by responding to changes in the demographic and social patterns at the workplace. Managers have a role to play in creating an organization that attracts workforce from diverse background while at the same time being supportive of their aspirations by promoting equality and ambitions (DeNisi and Griffin, 2013). Diversity in terms of employee backgrounds might pose a big challenge to employers who want to work with such a team if there are no efforts to recognize the importance of such a workforce. One of the major challenges for a diversified workforce is based on the difficulties in communication. People from diverse cultures have different ways of encoding and decoding messages whether verbal or nonverbal. Such cultural-based interpretation of communicated messages may lead to misunderstanding among employees leading to poor workplace relations due to misinterpretation of each other’s intentions (Reece, 2013). Diversity runs the risk of causing disorganization at the workplace if employers do not put in place the necessary policies to handle employees from diverse backgrounds. People from the same background tend to form their own subgroups since they present the same ideas and viewpoints. This poses a challenge to the management, as they cannot rally all the employees to take a common stand through consensus building. Due to the disorganization at the workplace, the organization suffers as production is lowered when all employees and management cannot come together to champion a common course. Diversity at the workplace comes with stereotypes on how different groups of people work in the organization. Stereotyping increases stress and anxiety as the worker faced with such a challenge feels discriminated upon leading to low output levels (Nelson and Quick, 2012). Diversity at the workforce represents the actual market trend in cases where the goods and services the business organization is offering its clients are also attracting customers from a diversified background. The business organization will ultimately benefit from this diversity, as the employee will mirror the needs of customers who share common background with the employee. Customers who identify the diversity from looking at the employees profile will feel the business organization is also replicating this phenomenon in taking care of their different tastes and preferences. This way, the business organization benefits from the public image that it projects as an organization that has fully embraced the different background and cultures that employees and clients represents (DeNisi and Griffin, 2013). Diversity at the workforce presents the employees and management with avenues to learn from other based on the different skills each employee acquires from the different backgrounds and culture. Diversity is actually an advantage and does not put the organization at a disadvantage given the fact that employees expand their knowledge on various issues thorough their interaction with fellow employees who posses knowledge on a variety of work styles. Further, this diversity offers knowledge about the different work attitudes that employees from different cultures and background offers in the organization. Therefore, any form of discrimination that locks out any employee from participating fully in organizational activities actually hinders organizational performance as it limits the ability of the employee to fully participate (Glicken and Robinson, 2013). In terms of the goods and services provided by the organization diversity in workforce can be perceived as presenting different perspectives for the business organization. These perspectives contribute to an overall holistic approach in the various undertakings of the business organization production process. Employees from diverse backgrounds are able to identify the areas where the business organization needs to improve so that it can expand operations and market, while suggesting changes that need to take place in the various aspects of existing goods and services to meet the different needs of customers (Glicken and Robinson, 2013). Workforce diversity promotes mutual respect and creates synergies when employees work in teams or groups. Although it is feared diversity might create tensions in the working environment, employees learn to respect the views of fellow employees. Employees learn to appreciate the different talents and strengths that come with diversity thorough the experiences that they generate while working together. This understanding among employees improves their performance in the organizational teams. Consequently, employees whose aim is to have an organization that works smoothly as a unit for higher levels of performance should encourage formation of teams made up of employees from diverse backgrounds so that they can improve their interpersonal relationships (Glicken and Robinson, 2013). Several strategic plans can prevent crises that may come up in the organization due to the diversity of its workforce. Firstly, setting targets for diversity in the organization can help manage employees. In this regard, the management needs to come up with plan that determines the recruitment targets for various groups whether women, men, disabled, ethnic minority. Although this might in itself look like discrimination practice, it will present employers with a chance to work within a predetermined framework which enables employers anticipate any challenges that might arise due to diversity. Through such initiative, the organization is able to determine its progress towards workforce diversity and further practices and policies can be evaluated against the set targets (DeNisi and Griffin, 2013). To manage diversity at the work place, managers need to create flexibility practices and policies that will ensure all employees are treated fairly at the workplace. Creating flexible time schedule ensures that all employees are available and offer their best to the organization. This flexibility will benefit the organization especially when it targets qualified female workers who have given birth recently or need to look after their children in addition to progressing with their career (Trask, 2013). Such flexibility will also go a long way in accommodating those with divergent religious beliefs as they will offer their best to the organization while also setting aside the time for worship while also avoiding practices not sanctioned under their religion. A key ingredient in dealing with diversity at the work place is how managers handle grievances. Employers need to create a working environment that promotes justice aimed at eliminating possibilities that some employees might face bullying, discrimination, and any form of victimization due to their personal background. Managers who want to prevent frictions that are possible at the workplace due to diversity should come up with concise efforts to tackle the issue through development of strategies and procedures to handle arising issues. By setting grievance procedures, employees facing disciplinary measures are assured that issues raised against them will be handled fairly the situation is thoroughly investigated and authority to punish is imposed consistently whenever the need arises (Wright and Conley, 2011). Consiquently, organizations should not perceive diversity as a challenge, but as an opportunity to tap into the potential that employees come with from their different backgrounds. Employers should discourage any form of discrimination that disadvantage employees based on their ethnicity, ancestry, physical abilities, race, educational background, gender, sexual orientation, age and religious beliefs. Business organizations that have adjusted their perspective of diversity through accommodation policies have been able to see improved relationships between employees and between employees and customers. Such working relationships improves the public’s perception of the organization while at the same time increasing profits due to the higher productivity levels. This improved output highlights the importance of eradicating discrimination at the workplace while at the same time encouraging workforce diversity in the organization. References Catalyst. 2001. Women in financial services: The word on the street. New York: Catalyst Inc. Cullen, J. B., &Parboteeah, K. P. 2013. Multinational management. Tennessee: South-Western Pub. DeNisi, A. S. & Griffin, R. W. 2013. HR 2.0. Tennessee: South-Western Publishing Company. Glicken, M. D. & Robinson, B. 2013. Treating Worker Dissatisfaction During Economic Change. Massachusetts: Academic Press. Hill, M., Sandberg, R. & Doe, N. 2011. Religion and Law in the United Kingdom. Alphen aan den Rijn, South Holland: Kluwer Law International. Nelson, D. L. & Quick, J. C. 2012. Organizational behavior: science, the real world, and you. London: Cengage Learning. Lips, H. M. 2003. The gender pay gap: Concrete indicator of womens progress toward equality, Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 3(1), 87-109. Reece, B. 2013. Effective Human Relations, 12th ed. London: Stamford: Cengage Learning. Sargeant, M. 2006. Age discrimination in employment. Farnham: Gower Publishing, Ltd. Schein, V. E. 2001. A global look at psychological barriers to womens progress in management, Journal of Social issues, 57(4), 675-688. Trask, B. S. 2013. Women, Work, and Globalization: Challenges and Opportunities. London: Routledge. Welle, B. & Heilman, M. E. 2007. Formal and informal discrimination against women at work, Research in social issues in management: Managing social and ethical issues in organizations, 229-252. Wright, T. and Hazel C. eds. 2011. Gower Handbook of Discrimination at Work. Burlington: Gower Publishing, Ltd. Read More