Complex Human Resource Management Issues - Assignment Example

1. Affirmative action has outlived its usefulness as an employment policy and should be abandoned – I am not in agreement with this ment. Affirmative action as a policy was adopted in order to offer women and minorities evenhanded chances of employment and education. Affirmative action is in reality just an equalizing mechanism that aims to facilitate people who have been and still are facing fundamentally different / difficult circumstances and conditions that hamper their progress in the field of education and employment. The disadvantages associated with racial, gender and class backgrounds; still persist to a considerable extent. This justifies the continuity and usefulness of the affirmative action. The perception and behavior of prospective employers towards future employees is still clouded by race and gender issues, even if this is no longer made very obvious or openly acknowledged. On the face of it organizations present themselves as equal opportunity employers, and some genuinely are; but this is not the case with the entire industry. Sometimes it is the organization that harbors reservations about the capability and reliability of women and people from varied races. And sometimes it is certain individuals in the organizations that harbor the same prejudices. As a result women and minorities still bare the brunt of prejudices that have no bearing on them in reality. Although, the mindset of people has changed over time and at least legally discrimination has been denounced; one cannot escape the fact that psychological conditioning of centuries is not so easily rid of by just making a policy or passing a law. At such times a policy such as the affirmative action comes in handy to persuade organizations or individuals to put aside their misgivings and give people from different backgrounds a chance to prove themselves. If it weren’t for the existence of this policy such people might never bother to overcome their prejudice, which would not just deprive the victims of their prejudice of a fair chance, but further strengthen the cultural and racial rift that continues to exist in our society. Therefore, considering the problems that affirmative action addresses, its usefulness, as an employment policy designed to overcome the various impediments faced by the victims of discrimination (for reasons associated with their racial, gender or class backgrounds), will last for many years to come. 2. All the videos communicated something of value, but I found the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Sex Discrimination Case the most beneficial. The Court clarified what counted as retaliation against employees and said that it can be something more subtle than denying a promotion, cutting pay, or outright firing of an employee. This case (as observed in the video) involved a woman who worked for the Burlington Northern Railroad and was given a more menial job and suspended for thirty-seven days, without pay after she complained about sex discrimination. Clearly, this was an obvious act of retaliation by the organization. And the Supreme Court justly recognizes this and declares it illegal. In its ruling the court said that it is illegal discrimination/ retaliation to give employees who complain about discrimination less desirable jobs or to suspend them without pay even if they would eventually get the money back. The court said that the test is whether employer’s action would discourage a reasonable employee from complaining about discrimination. The lesson learnt is that discrimination and retaliation against employees is a legal offence that is taken seriously by the employees as well as the authorities. And a senior cannot get away with unfair treatment of people who work under him/er or misuse his/er position and power to demean an employee or deprive him/er of whatever is their due. Perhaps, the only surprising thing in this video was that the ruling of the court was unanimous, this seem to be unexpected since it was considered to be a conservative court. The implications of this are entirely for the managers, since they are the ones in a position to assign jobs to individual employees along with manipulating their compensation. The case and ruling are something that every manager needs to remember when dealing with his/her underlings, especially when they complain of discrimination of any kind. Any action a manager takes after such a complaint could be misconstrued if it is not thought through and hurts the employee’s emotions or income. Hence, it becomes necessary for the manager to take the complaint seriously and try to resolve it sincerely in all fairness, plus make sure that if the duties of this employee are being changed, they should be acceptable to him/her; so that no contention of being given a menial job can be made later. Additionally, a discrimination complaint by an employee should not have any bearing on his/her future growth with the organization; In particular an employee should not be suspended, denied promotion or pay because he/she complained. 3. The sexual harassment policy at the Coca-Cola Company is simple yet effective; as stated on the company website “The company is dedicated to maintaining workplaces that are free from discrimination or physical or verbal harassment on the basis of race, sex, color, national or social origin, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, political opinion or any other status protected by applicable law.” As can be conclude from this statement the company does not tolerate acts of sexual harassment towards any of its employees and takes steps to resolve such issues quickly and fairly. The company provides regular updates to employees through newsletters, trainings and workshops. In the United States, the company has also established several employee forums, which connect employees with colleagues who support each others personal and professional growth. One such forum is —The Coca-Cola Womens Forum, this contributes to the personal and professional growth and development of all women, by providing insights to the Company regarding womens perspectives on workplace and marketplace issues, and by supporting the Companys goal of being recognized as an industry leader in the recruitment, development and retention of talented women. Every system or policy has room for improvement no matter how good it may be. In case of the Coca Cola Company it could be said that it could improve the way in which sexual harassment cases are dealt with by engaging sensitive counselors who are experienced in these matters, to investigate the issue and advise the victims about dealing with the situation and resolving it. Reference: 1. http://www.mhhe.com/business/management/videos/NBC/Flash/NBC_us_supreme_court_sex_discrim_case.html 2. http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/workplace_rights_policy.html 3. http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/workplace_culture.html Read More