Understanding the Equal Opportunities Framework in the UK - Literature review Example

CIPD research shows that the majority of organisations just fulfill their minimum legal obligation in terms of diversity management with only a small minority of organisations embedding diversity into their business strategy. Introduction 3 Understanding the Equal Opportunities Framework in the UK 4 Recent Moves in HRM Departments Toward Managing Diversity 5 Diversity Compliance as a Matter of Law, Rather Than its Benefits 6 The Role of Organisation Size and Other Factors 9 Conclusion 15 References 18 TABLES Table 1 – UK Companies Sizes 3 Table 2 – Seven Success Factors of Managing Diversity 14 FIGURES Figure 1 – Importance of Workplace Diversity Practice Outcomes 8 Figure 2 – Importance of Workplace Diversity Practice Outcomes by Organisation Size 9 Figure 3 – Diversity Staffs by Organisation Size 10 Figure 4 – Organisations with Diversity Practices in Place 11 Figure 5 – Organisations with Staffs Dedicated Exclusively to Diversity Practices 11 Figure 6 – Workplace Diversity Practice Areas 12 Figure 7 – Workplace Diversity Practices Used by Organisations by Staffing Size 12 Figure 8 – Diversity Areas Covered by Organisations 13 Figure 9 - How Companies Measure the Impact of Workplace Diversity Practices 16 Figure 10 – Effectiveness of Workplace Diversity Practices 17 Introduction Research conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) uncovered that in most cases companies in their approach to diversity management seek to simply fulfill their obligations under the law, with just a small segment actually approaching this area as an integral aspect of their corporate cultures. The foregoing is a sweeping statement that takes in many parameters as it takes in microenterprises, small and medium-sized companies as well as larger corporations of which the latter is the smallest group statistically in terms of personnel numbers: Table 1 – UK Companies Sizes (National Statistics, 2007, P. 9) As a result of the above, reading into the research by the CIPD means there are other factors that are a part of the equation in their statement, which this examination shall broach. The statistical vent as uncovered by the CIPD research, along with other sources revealed that diversity tends to be more of a box-ticking exercise than actual entrance into the realm of workplace diversity. While the overall indications point to this being the case, not all things are black and white. From a purely numerical standpoint, diversity is not being embraced on the national scene in terms of its applicability to the majority of the workforce. The foregoing is attributable to a general lack of understanding as to its benefits in corporate and employee terms that represent foundational advantages for firms beyond the usual connotation of the term which is defined “... broadly to include dimensions beyond those specified legally in equal opportunity and affirmative action non-discrimination statutes (Cornell University, 2009). However as shall be uncovered, workplace diversity consists of a broader range of inclusionary parameters that broaden its meaning, which shall be explored herein. Understanding the Equal Opportunities Framework in the UK The foundation of equal opportunities in the United Kingdom rests upon the Equality Bill (House of Commons, 2009, P. 1) that reformed as well as harmonized the law governing equality concerning “… discrimination and harassment related to certain personal characteristics; to enable certain employers to be required to publish information about the differences in pay between male and female employees; to prohibit victimisation in certain circumstances; to require the exercise of certain functions to be with regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and other prohibited conduct; to enable duties to be imposed in relation to the exercise of public procurement functions; to increase equality of opportunity; and for connected purposes.” The foregoing law made it the responsibility of the Minister of the Crown thus making it a national mandate applicable to “… age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy, and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation …” (House of Commons, 2009, P. 2). The reason for drafting the Equality Bill is that the present framework splits equal opportunities legislation under separate Acts, as represented by the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 that was amended in 1986, the Race Relations Act 1976, amended in 2000, Equal Pay Acts 1970 and 1983, Human Rights Act 1998, and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (more beachcast .sunderland.ac.uk, 2009a). Under these laws race relations, sex discrimination, as well as disability discrimination, are unlawful beachcaster.sunderland.ac.uk, 2009b). The Equality Bill has been drafted to close areas in existing legislation that has been lacking in terms of its split under the law, thus making avoiding the rules of application easier (Mason, 2006, P. 171). The importance and significance of equal opportunity legislation is to harness the diverse population of the UK in terms of career and job positions that include recruitment and selection as carried out in interviews, hiring sessions, job descriptions, as well as advertisements, training, career and promotion opportunities, and a means for individuals to address grievance and other procedures to ensure equal treatment (The Solution Works, 2009). Recent Moves in HRM Departments Toward Managing Diversity Legislation in terms of setting forth the rules, and related facets entailed in equal opportunity, as well as anti-discrimination, are needed legal foundations, however, the test of a society is when legal applications are there as a fall back rather than compliance position, meaning that the trend of the country has passed beyond needing rules and legal remedies to promote what is right (Thomas, 2006, P. 12). According to Cox and Blake (1991, P. 4) managing cultural diversity and the benefits derived from it is not a new concept. They brought forth that firms that have diverse workforces gain in the areas of cost, resource acquisition, marketing, overall creativity, problem solving and organisational flexibility (Cox and Blake, 1991, P. 4). HR departments, in addition to the foregoing business sense reasons, have found a host of other factors, and benefits that have moved them in this direction. Diverse societies see their companies as being an extension of that society, thus the composition of their workforces should reflect that makeup as members of the community (Knight, 2007, P. 24). Internally, companies have found that inoculating diversity into the workplace and managing said diversity in terms of eliminating pockets of social groupings in job categories that indicate bias results in more productivity and a participatory workforce (Growe et al, 2002, P. 34). The importance of the preceding was brought forth in an article that appeared in People Magazine (2008, P. 9) that stated many employers see diversity as an exercise in ticking off boxes to meet certain quotas in terms of appearing as if they are adhering to diversity standards, when they are missing the meaning, importance, and benefits of the practice. The realities of the labour market, particularly in the United Kingdom is that the construct of society is highly diversified and that “ineffective or non-existent diversity management can to diminished job satisfaction for individuals in out groups”, reduce commitment levels, a poorer quality of work, interpersonal conflicts, higher absenteeism and turnover level, all associated with lowered levels of satisfaction in the manner in how a company is perceived to view its employees from their vantage point (CIPD, 2008, P. 3). The preceding views are supported by an investigation conducted by Alex Blyth (2006) where he looked into if “…diversity training programmes offer real business benefits or are they just a box-ticking exercise? In researching the foregoing Blyth (2006) refers to an estimate by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) that estimated approximately 70 percent of companies in the UK have some type of diversity programmes in place, with the key aspect centring around the importance of training as a core practice in making diversity policies work. As commented upon by Paula Logan, the HR and corporate services director at the Network Housing Group, in most cases these programmes represent a box-ticking exercise as opposed to being crafted and implemented with the understanding and inputs to address making diversity a productive segment of company operations. Diversity Compliance as a Matter of Law, Rather Than its Benefits Laws set on eliminating discrimination that includes minimum standards, along with sanctions for failure to meet such standards put forth a foundation whereby many companies comply but do not implement the programmes needed to make diversity work. Blyth’s (2006) article is seconded by Karen Waltham, the diversity expert at Fairplace Diversity, who stated that most companies implement the process because it is required by legislation, simply use half day courses that cannot accomplish the objective. The realities of the lip service being applied to diversity programmes as a result of box-ticking, misconceptions and other reasons were pointed out in the People Magazine article (2008, P. 9) that revealed that out of “… Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed said the law was the most important motivator for implementing diversity policies, while 71 percent didn’t build diversity into business goals. Only 30 percent had a budget for managing diversity.” Carol Woodhams, who is a senior lecturer on HR management at Manchester University tells us that the management and executives of companies understand the issues of diversity, but fail to investigate and implement policies and programmes to cause it to become a part of the corporate culture as well as fail to understand its bottom line benefits in terms of productivity, worker satisfaction and other areas (Blyth, 2006). De Meuse et al (2007, P. 31) advise that diversity in the workplace provides multiple benefits to companies and their employees when effective programmes and training programmes are used. Diversity programmes and training represent a long term commitment whereby the benefits to the corporate bottom line in terms of enhanced productivity, public image, creativity, and allied factors takes time for the results to manifest (Wilson, 2002, P. 22). The indicated lack of diversity implementation on a meaningful level has to do with management not understanding its positive aspects (Brockett, 2009). Greenberg (2008) advises that in embracing diversity organisations can achieve enhanced adaptability as a result of having access to a larger variety of ways to look at and approach solutions, resource allocation, marketing and other areas due to the different backgrounds and thinking. A broader service range is another benefit of companies that practice active diversity through languages, cultural understandings and thus services provided to customers (Greenberg, 2008). In addition, active diversity brings with it a wider variety of viewpoints that can be pooled for problems and in crafting solutions, thus heightening performance, job satisfaction and productivity (Greenberg, 2008). In terms of the broader benefits that an effective diversity programme can achieve, a study as conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (2005, P. 9) found a list of corporate benefits that could be measured, thus showing the worth of such efforts: Figure 1 – Importance of Workplace Diversity Practice Outcomes (Society for Human Resource Management, 2005, P. 9) Organisational size, in terms of the benefits, comes into play as well, with the costs of implementing diversity policies potentially recouped when organised effectively, further pointing to the benefits of such activities: Figure 2 – Importance of Workplace Diversity Practice Outcomes by Organisation Size (Society for Human Resource Management, 2005, P. 11) The Role of Organisation Size and Other Factors In order for diversity policies and programmes to work, company management needs to devote resources in an organised and protracted manner under a carefully thought out plan that considers corporate bottom line objectives, productivity gains, training and staff job satisfaction, along with other goals (Buttner et al, 2006, P. 31). In terms of equating diversity practice and policy from an organisational standpoint, larger firms are better equipped to implement diversity practices and policies: Figure 3 – Diversity Staffs by Organisation Size (Society for Human Resource Management, 2005, P. 4) The above shows the result of a survey that asked which corporations have staffs solely devoted to diversity. The preceding takes on added meaning when one understands that 76 percent of all firms surveyed had diversity practices in place, with 79 percent of them having staffs exclusivity assigned to this task: Figure 4 – Organisations with Diversity Practices in Place (Society for Human Resource Management, 2005, P. 5) Figure 5 – Organisations with Staffs Dedicated Exclusively to Diversity Practices (Society for Human Resource Management, 2005, P. 5) In order to achieve an effective diversity programme, a number of areas need to be implemented, thus providing insight as to the resources needed and thus the skew for larger firms handling this area as a result: Figure 6 – Workplace Diversity Practice Areas (Society for Human Resource Management, 2005, P. 6) The significance of the foregoing enactment of diversity practices and policies in terms of organisation size and the resources needed is shown by the following: Figure 7 – Workplace Diversity Practices Used by Organisations by Staffing Size (Society for Human Resource Management, 2005, P. 6) In order to gain an understanding of the depth of diversity practices and the areas of concentration, the study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (2005, P. 8) revealed that as would be expected gender diversity is the top issue: Figure 8 – Diversity Areas Covered by Organisations (Society for Human Resource Management, 2005, P. 8) In an article written by Munn et al (2008, P. 2) seven success factors with respect to managing diversity were brought forth that provided insight as to the importance of HR expertise and influence in making such exercises work, along with the importance and significance of senior management support. The lack of commitment in either of these areas or both, dooms such efforts. Table 2 – Seven Success Factors of Managing Diversity Munn et al (2008, P. 2) Area Explanation 1 A clear articulation of the company’s business case for diversity programmes Companies that understand the ramifications, purpose, and benefits of implementing diversity programmes and practices through researching the ways in which it can positively impact the organisation achieving productivity as well as employee satisfaction results. 2 A clear understanding of the company’s present situation In order to craft a diversity policy and programmes that work, companies need to look inward as well as at their exterior environment, regional and or national population profiles, whom they do business with, and the actions of competitors. 3 Diversity comes from the top Management is the driving force that makes diversity practices work through commitment, the allocation of resources and planned programmes. 4 Diversity leadership needs to be managed from the top Implementing diversity policies and practices requires ongoing management support, guidance and overseeing of the programmes a senior level entrusted with this responsibility. 5 Diversity programmes are focused on cultural change as opposed to simply redressing imbalances The management of diversity requires that companies focus the practice from the recruitment practice through to all ancillary areas. 6 Management processes, goals that are measurable, and incentive systems underpin change Linking diversity programmes to pay incentives helps to create an active climate that reinforces the process and reveals the level of company commitment. 7 Wide employee engagement and involvement is achieved In order to be effective, meaningful, achieve performance, job satisfaction and other organisational results, diversity programmes and policies need to encompass the entire company and all aspects of operations in a system-wide series of policies. The above seven factors for achieving success in the management of diversity has helped to provide an illustrative example of the manner in which this function is a factor of corporate culture, as opposed to being an add on exercise. Conclusion In the context of this study, diversity represents its application in the workplace, which “…affects everything from the market potential to the employee morale of a business or organization” (Switzer, 2009). Diversity in the workplace is broad in that it “…can include everything from race, gender, and age to socioeconomic and educational background. Diversity in the workplace can also be seen in differing communication styles, physical abilities, lifestyle choices, skill levels, and personality traits.” (Switzer, 2009). The preceding understanding is important, yet a study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management found that while companies have the belief that diversity is important, just 30 percent have come to an agreed definition for it (HRM Guide, 2009). In an article written by Carnevale (2008, P. 32) he brings forth from an employer standpoint diversity represents the heightened competitive pressures brought on by market forces that require companies to wrest maximum benefit from resources and human capital, achieve quality, offer variety, include convenience, introduce innovation, and be mindful of social responsibilities. The preceding means that companies need employees that have foundation skills and learning capacity, communication skills, oral communication skills, the ability to adapt, work effectively in groups and are able to solve problems (Carnevale, 2008, P. 32). Employees seek a working environment that is in touch with the modern atmosphere of the times, offers job satisfaction, provides a means for equal opportunity advancement, recognizes their inherent diversity, exhibits fairness and balance in its policy applications, and is progressive in the handling of its staff (Carnevale, 2008, P. 32). Companies that see workplace diversity as a part of their understanding of social changes and responsibilities in society are fulfilling their roles in the community (Western Mail, 2006). The benefits that accrue to companies that actively exhibit and are known for these qualities are manifested by a number of positive benefits, as cited in a study as conducted by the European Social Fund and Welsh Assembly Government (Western Mail, 2006). That study uncovered that firms that incorporated active equality and diversity programmes, 7 out of 10 stated business had improved, along with easier recruitment (Western Mail, 2006). As is the case in most social areas, adoption of principles by companies serves to move them from compliance into ones of social significance, change and the understanding that they are areas whose time has come. The business case for managing diversity brings firms recognition as a preferred place to work, preferred recruitment and retention status, heightened productivity, enhanced use of human capital resources, better retention of customers, and the aforementioned heightened public image (Stevens, 2008, P. 3). Figure 9 - How Companies Measure the Impact of Workplace Diversity Practices (Society for Human Resource Management, 2005, P. 12) The preceding reveals the responses to a study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (2005, P. 12) where respondents listed the business case benefits, with 66 percent citing that such programmes were somewhat effective, and 17 percent indicating they were very effective: Figure 10 – Effectiveness of Workplace Diversity Practices (Society for Human Resource Management, 2005, P. 13) Rules of law and compliance, as stated herein, are initial measures implemented to help point society in the direction of issues and trends that are or have become important. As stated in an article by Schramm (2008, P. 1) corporate recognition and embracing of diversity as a part of corporate culture is moving the understanding of this issue to the point of expectation as opposed to the legislation. References beachcaster.sunderland.ac.uk (2009a) Overview – Equal Opportunities Legislation. Retrieved on 1 December 2009 from http://beachcaster.sunderland.ac.uk/misc/equality/equalops/sect02/frameset.htm Blyth, A. (2006) Compassion or compliance? 17 January. Personnel Today Brockett, J. (2009) Majority of older workers now plan to work past 65. 24 November People Magazine Buttner, E., Lowe, K., Billings-Harris, L. (2006) The Influence of Organizational Diversity Orientation and Leader Attitude on Diversity Activities. Vol. 18. Journal of Managerial Issues. P. 31 Carnevale, A. (2008) The Workplace Realities: In the New Global Workplace, What Exactly Do Employees Need and Employers Want? Vol.65. School Administrator. P. 32 CIPD (2008) Managing Diversity, Measuring Success. Retrieved on 2 December 2009 from http://resources.greatplacetowork.com/article/pdf/managing_diversity.pdf Cornell University (2009) Workplace Diversity. Retrieved on 2 December 2009 from http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library/research/subjectGuides/workplaceDiversity.html Cox, T., Blake, S. (1991) Managing cultural diversity: Implications for organizational competitiveness. Vol. 5, No. 3. Academy of Management Executive De Meuse, K., Tod, H., Claire, E., O’Neill. K. (2007) A Longitudinal Evaluation of Senior Managers' Perceptions and Attitudes of a Workplace Diversity Training Program. Vol. 30. Human Resource Planning. P. 31 Greenberg, J. (2008) Workplace Diversity: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions. Retrieved on 3 December 2009 from http://www.diversityworking.com/employerZone/diversityManagement/?id=9 Growe, R., Schmersahl, K., Perry, R., Henry, R. (2002) A Knowledge Base for Cultural Diversity in Administrator Training. Vol. 29. Journal of Instructional Psychology. P. 34 House of Commons (2009) Equality Bill. House of Commons. London, United Kingdom HRM Guide (2009) Few Organisations Defined Diversity. Retrieved on 3 December 2009 from http://www.hrmguide.com/diversity/job-market.htm Knight, C. (2007) The Evolution of Cultural Diversity: A Phylogenetic Approach. Vol. 13. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. P. 24 National Statistics (2007) UK Business: Activity, Size and Location – 2007. National Statistics. London, United Kingdom. P. 9 Mason, A. (2006) Leveling the Playing Field: The Idea of Equal Opportunity and Its Place in Egalitarian Thought. Oxford University Press. Oxford, United Kingdom. P. 171 Munn, A., Neck, C., Allen, J. (2008) Seven success factors for managing diversity. Egon Zehnder International, London, United Kingdom. P. 2 People Magazine (2008) Diversity seen as a box-ticking exercise. 18 September. People Magazine Society for Human Resource Management (2005) 2005 Workplace Diversity Practices. Society for Human Resource Management. Alexandria, VA, United States. P. 7 Stevens, W. (2008) The value of workplace diversity. IPS Worldwide. London, United Kingdom. P. 3 Switzer, C. (2009) Definition of Workplace Diversity. Retrieved on 3 December 2009 from http://www.ehow.com/facts_5630019_definition-workplace-diversity.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art The Solution Works (2009) Equal Opportunities Policy. Retrieved on 1 December 2009 from http://www.solution-works.co.uk/EqualOpportunities.aspx Thomas, R. (2006) Building on the Promise of Diversity: How We Can Move to the Next Level in Our Workplaces, Our Communities, and Our Society. AMACOM. New York, N.Y., United States. P. 12 Western Mail (2006) Companies Feel Benefit of Equality and Diversity in Workplace. 8 February. Western Mail Wilson, T. (2002) Diversity in the Workplace. Vol. 21. The Public Manager. P. 22 Read More