EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY AND WORKFORCE DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT

In recent years, organizations in all sectors have been aggressively working towards a concept called diversity
of workforce. When you see a job posting that talks about equal opportunity, you might be wondering what it is
all about. To put it simply, diversity in employment means that the employer is actively pursuing what can be
called non-discrimination of potential recruits on the basis of gender, ethnicity, physical constraints and the like.
What this means is that the employer or the organization adopts a policy wherein they do not differentiate
between applicants on the grounds listed above and merit is the sole criterion when deciding the suitability of a
potential recruit.[1]

Diversity

The free translation of the term often refers to the German word “Vielfalt”. In the literature, various definitions
of the term diversity can be found in the context of social life. The definition according to Wagner and Sepehri
is often used, so diversity includes "... everything in which people can differ, and at the same time both
externally perceptible and subjective differences."6 The perceptible differences in this regard include
characteristics such as age, gender, race or physical impairments. Subjective characteristics therefore reveal
themselves later than the perceptible ones, this group includes characteristics such as lifestyle, set of values,
religion, or similar. [3.0]

Diversity in the workplace refers to recognizing, understanding, consenting, appreciating, and celebrating the
dissimilarities amongst individuals with respect to their age, social class, culture, sex, capability, ethnicity,
sexual orientation, and religion. Globalization is always advancing, thus requiring more collaboration and
communication among individuals from various beliefs, cultures, and backgrounds than before. Currently,
individuals do not live and work in a parochial market; instead, they are part of a global economy that is facing
competition from about every continent. Thus, organizations require diversity in order to become more
innovative and receptive to change. According to Esty, Richard, and Marcie (1995), exploiting and making the
most out of diversity in the workplace has become an imperative issue for organizational management today.
This paper defines diversity and equality in the context of workplace and describes associated opportunities and
challenges. [3.1]

Equality in the workplace is about impartiality or fairness and giving every individual a chance to participate in
organizational development, and the opportunity to accomplish their potential. The Society for Human
Resource Management (1998) holds that equality comes about through eliminating prejudice and
discrimination. Equality reinforces accomplishment in the workplace since it goes further than just providing
equal opportunities for all. It includes a promise to providing every individual with services that are of equal
value to all, and understanding that this could mean providing different services to different individuals in order
to accommodate their diverse needs. Both terminologies of equality and diversity have often been used
interchangeably regarding the workplace. The two aspects of equality and diversity in the workplace are
multifaceted and they include more than just embracing the dissimilarities amongst individuals and the equality
elements protecting particular individuals from racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, disability, religion, gender, and
age factors (Esty, Richard, and Marcie, 1995). [2.0]

Legislative Frameworks

According to Price (2004), one of the most important environmental restrictions on the job market and the
actions of people managers comes from the law. Employment law changes constantly and varies in diverse parts
of the world. Legislation relating to business obtains from norm or precedent. Precedents are also settled on by
judges working to the systems that are decided in a similar way. In the Anglo-Celtic countries these have been
regulated in a common law framework. Many of these countries like e.g. the USA also have a written
constitution which provides a further code. Most European countries use an exclusively code- based system
called civil law descended from the law code of the Roman Empire. [5.0]

Price (2004) also says that national governments have become “law making machines” (Price, 2004, p. 129),
which create a multifaceted legal background for commerce. They put into practice acts for strategic reasons,
ensuring, so that employees who are disciplined or dismissed are dealt with in particular manner. Price (2004)
underlines that companies, which do not succeed to meet their legal compulsions must pay compensation
affected individuals correctly. And not only are current employees meant by that but also ex-employees and
prospective recruits such as job candidates. One of the major complications for human resource managers is that
there are differences in laws in accordance to country, there are sometimes hardly any similarities in laws
between different states within countries with a devolved or federal structure. [5.1]

1. Race Equality

Over the last few years, there have been major developments in national legislation (Bristol CYPS Equalities
and Inclusion Team, 2008). The introduction of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, according to
Bristol CYPS Equalities and Inclusion Team and their Anti-Discrimination Legislation (2006), replaced Section
71 of the RRA (1976) and says that public authorities must consider how to dispose of unlawful racial
discrimination, promote equal opportunities and good relations between people of different racial groups. The
Race Relations Act (1976) states that it is unlawful for employers and service providers to discriminate directly
or indirectly because of someone’s colour, race, nationality, including citizenship, or ethnic or national origin.
Sections 37 and 38 allow employers to take positive action where a racial group is under-represented in a
particular kind of work to make available training to that racial group to help fit them for that work or to
encourage them to submit applications for jobs. [5.2]

2. Disability Equality

According to Anti-Discrimination Legislation (2006), under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), it is
generally illegal to treat a disabled person less favourably than others in employment, providing services or
carrying out public functions as well as to harass people because of their disability. Employers and service
providers must make reasonable adjustments (e.g. changes to practices, policies and procedures; providing extra
aids and services; adaptations to overcome physical barriers) to enable disabled people to work or access
services. Since December 2006 all public authorities must take into consideration how promote equality of
opportunity for disabled people, promote positive attitudes toward them, encourage participation of disabled
people. [5.3]

3. Other Equalities

Public sectors, Bristol CYPS Equalities and Inclusion Team (2008) communicates, are bound by the
Employment and Service Delivery sections of the Sex Discrimination Act (1975) which prevents unfair
treatment of boys and girls or women and men and gender equality duties come in to force in 2007. The
Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 protect employees and job applicants from
discrimination, victimisation or harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation. [5.4]

2003 also saw the introduction of legislation relating to the prevention of discrimination in employment in
relation to religious belief (Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations, 2003) , which employers
need to be aware of, and this will be extended to protecting prospective and current employees from
discrimination in service delivery with the new Equalities Act. Equality Act 2006 makes it unlawful to
discriminate on the grounds of religion or belief. Exceptions apply to religious organizations and some charities
and schools (Anti-Discrimination Legislation, 2006). [5.5]

Managing Equality and Diversity in the Workplace

From conformation to inclusion, the idea of workplace equality and diversity is evolving. Workplace equality
and diversity have assumed a new face and are much different from, for instance, what they were a few decades
ago. Today, workplace equality and diversity are no longer exclusively about antidiscrimination complaisance
—they now focus on inclusion and the effect on the outcome. Leveraging workplace equality and diversity is
progressively understood as a spirited strategic reserve for competitive advantage. For that reason, Cornelius
(2002) thinks, equality and diversity in the workplace need to be managed effectively to bring about the benefits
that they are expected to produce. [2.1]

There are numerous types of tools that organizations can employ in the workplace in order implement equality
and diversity policies, and assess the effect of diversity and equality initiatives. For equality and diversity
initiatives to succeed in the workplace, they ought not to be introduced as separate practices and policies, left
for either a human resource department or managers to implement and manage. The triumph of equality and
diversity initiatives rely on on their incorporation into the organization’s approach and culture. This way, they
the two aspects can shape the manner in which business in the workplace is undertaken and the manner in
which individuals in the workplace operate. Gale and Davidson (2006) hint that management of practices and
policies that relate to equality and diversity conform to an organization’s viewpoints on the corporate social
responsibilities and thus, these policies and practices become entrenched in the values behind the manner in
which the organization operates. Consequently, the policies and practices of equality and diversity in the
workplace become part of the picture represented to current employees, the prospective employees, and the
public at large. [2.2]

Opportunities of Diversity and Equality in the Workplace

Embracing equality and diversity is fueled by a number of anticipated opportunities, including these six reasons
that enable organizations meet their strategic goals and objectives: First, equality and diversity contribute to
greater compliance and flexibility in the ever-evolving marketplace. Second, the two attract and the best talent.
Third, they help an organization in gaining and keeping new local and global market share with customers from
diverse background (Cornelius 2002). Fourth, they enhance return on investment (ROI) from different policies,
initiatives, and practices. Fifth, they help organizations to reduce e associated with low productivity, turnover,
and absenteeism. Finally, based on the five benefits, equality and diversity in the workplace lead to increased
sales and proceeds. Therefore, workplace diversity can be seen as having direct as well as indirect impacts on
the bottom line (Cañas and Sondak 2011; Karsten 2006). [2.3]

Diversity and equality in the workplace can be advantageous to both associates and the employers of the
organization as they can help in reducing many lawsuits that face organizations arising from claims of
workplace discrimination issues. At the same time, upholding diversity and equality in the workplace can help
to increase the marketing opportunities of an organization, its recruitment, ingenuity, and its business image,
and is vital for the success of an organization (Bach and Sisson, 2000). Equality and diversity in the workplace
also contribute to a broader range of services from the diverse sets of experiences and skills such as languages,
and understanding of cultures can allow an organization to provide service to its clients on a worldwide basis. In
addition, they provide varied viewpoints, because the workforce feels at ease contributing their different
viewpoints, hence providing a bigger pool of experiences and ideas. Organizations can get ideas for the large
pool to meet the needs of their clients, and their business strategic needs in a more effective manner. [2.4]

Diversity and equality in the workplace increase flexibility, helping organizations capable of supplying their
clientele with a greater variability of solutions to various challenges from sourcing, servicing, to resource
allocation. In addition, since the workforce is from different backgrounds, they each contribute individual
experiences and talents and propose ideas that are adaptable to the changing markets and demands of customer.
Organizations that promote equality and diversity in their workplace motivate all of their workers to perform to
their utmost capability (Hubbard 2004). This ensures that organization-wide strategies be executed in better
ways; ensuing higher productivity in the organization, higher profits and return on investment. [2.5]

The Business Case for Diversity

A seminal article by Cox and Blake (1991) provides a comprehensive framework that articulates the business
case for diversity. The article reviews research findings and arguments to connect managing diversity with
creating a competitive advantage for organizations. The authors present six major arguments that represent a
business case for diversity.

■ The cost argument explains that as organizations become more diverse, the consequences of having a poorly
integrated workforce become more costly. Therefore, companies that are good at diversity management will
ultimately save money in the long run.

■ The resource-acquisition argument maintains that companies can develop a reputation for being a good
place for women and minorities to work. Those companies that are known as a good place to work will
ultimately be able to attract the best talent, which will give them a competitive advantage. [4.0]

■ The marketing argument maintains that for multinational companies,the insight that people of various
backgrounds bring to the table can help improve marketing efforts in various countries, thereby leading to an
advantage.

■ The creativity argument explains that the more people you have from various different backgrounds, the
more likely they are to think of new ways of solving problems and the less likely they are to simply follow the
old ways of doing things. This should improve creativity.

■ The problem-solving argument describes that people from diverse backgrounds have different ways of
approaching problems and are more likely to discuss various approaches, thereby providing a rich pool of
information and options in order to solve problems. This can produce better decisions through a wide range of
options discussed.
■ The system flexibility argument explains that a multicultural approach to diversity management will lead to
a less rigid and less standardized organization. This will allow the organization to be more fluid in response to
environmental changes, which can also improve firm performance and reduce cost. [4.1]

Reference

University of Mahatma Gandhi University/PG M.COM……………………………………………..…page 1 [1]

Diversity and Equality at Work. Opportunities and Challenges Research Paper …………………..…...page 1 [2]

Diversity Management. Opportunities, risks and options for action/Term Paper 2014………………... Page 1 [3]

Managing Diversity in Organizations: A Global Perspective………………………………………...Page 324 [4]

Managing Diversity in Organizations: A Global Perspective…………………………………..…. Page 325 [4.0]

Equality of opportunity at work Iryna Shakhray (Author) …………………Page [5.0] [5.1] [5.2] [5.3] [5.4] [5.5]