Equal Employment opportunities
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Equal Employment opportunities
Racial diversity in the workplace continues to move at an impressive pace, from recruiting to hiring and promoting people of color. Diversity is crucial for a range of employees since individuals with different backgrounds tend to bring different ideas that enable the employer to appeal to different parts of the marketplace. This contributes to innovation and success. Companies treat recruiting diverse people as compliance or risk mitigation rather than a business opportunity that explains the roles and responsibilities cast upon the diverse employees. Additionally, most companies view hiring people who seem different from most of their employees as lowering the bar. This limiting mindset negatively impacts the ability to recruit and build a genuinely diverse workforce. In line with that, the roles played and cast upon individuals of different races and ethnicities tend to differ from the majority.
The Ascend foundation analysis on white-collar employment data from the U.S indicates that white men are by far the most represented group at the management level. Next is Hispanic men, white women, black men, Asian men, Hispanic women, black women, and Asian women. White men continue to dominate executive and managerial roles at companies with over 1000 employees. A nation review of 2015 0n white-collar jobs indicated that white men are 61.3 percent of executives nationally and 81 percent above parity than 33.8 percent in non-management professions. The review also revealed that in 1967 African American median household income was 55 percent that of whites, and in 2016 that number was 61 percent. The people of color still represent a deficient percentage of the professional white-collar force (less than 8) percent considering their overall representation in the population.
In some companies, and mostly in the Tech companies, the issue of workplace equity persists. For women working in science, technology and engineering or Math, the workplace is much different. Discrimination and harassment are seen more frequently, and gender is viewed as an impediment rather than an advantage to career success. In STEM jobs, women are most likely to encounter workplace inequities. According to Pew Research (2018), in a computer occupation with a job cluster of computer scientists, system analysts, software developers, information system managers, and programmers, the STEM job that has had most development over the years regarding women representation has decreased from 32 percent in 1990 to 25 percent as of today.
Additionally, blacks and Hispanics are underrepresented in STEM occupations relative to their share in the U.S. workforce. The share of the blacks working STEM jobs going from 7 percent in 1990 to 9 percent currently- blacks make up only 11 percent of the U.S workforce. For Hispanics, those working in STEM jobs, the percentage has gone from 4 percent to 7 percent while their share of the U.S population workforce has risen from 7 percent in 1990 to 16 percent today.
It was often argued that there were not enough black and Hispanic students graduating with degrees in the necessary fields, hence the recruiting problem of the black and Hispanic people in tech companies. Nonetheless, an analysis conducted by USA Today indicated that the two groups are graduating in computer science and computer engineering t twice the rate tech companies are hiring them. On another note, women of color are likely to be shunted into the lowest-earning occupation in the service sector or sales and office jobs. In 2014 among working women on 35 percent of black women and 26 percent of Hispanic women were employed in higher-paying management, professional and related jobs compared to 48 percent of Asian women and 43 percent of white women (Fisher, 2015). Also, women of color tend to work fewer hours than their counterparts, and it is not something done willingly.
For instance, women of color are mostly concentrated in food service, and working hours are often partial. The schedules, too, are subject to cancellation or alteration on short notice.
The Us equal employment Opportunity enforces Title VII and the ADEA; the U.S department of labor Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs reinforces the executive order mandating affirmative action plans for companies that provide goods and services to the federal government. Often state and local las can mirror the federal laws and set out employer obligations and rights concerning fair employment practices. Equal employment policies involve adhering to federal, state and local news that prohibit discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Equal opportunity as one of the policies means that employers are bound to not discriminate against applicants based on such non-job-related factors as age, disability, national origin, race, religion and sex. The principle behind this policy is that everyone should have access to opportunities in the workplace.
Additionally, it eliminates discrimination in human resource policies and practices and provides equal access opportunities with no excluded from participation. It is the pillar of a healthy and productive workplace. Everyone should feel supported valued to work productively.
It is the responsibility of Human Resource managers to ensure such policies at the workplace are functional. In dissemination and implementation of the policy, the company should post all required notices regarding employee rights under EEO laws in highly visible areas to every employee. In cases of advertising for job openings, the company should always open with the statement we are an equal employer and all qualified applicant are welcome to apply” Also, the company should post the required jobs with the appropriate state agencies’ case individual files a charge of discrimination or opposes a practice believed to be unlawful discrimination, reports harassment or assist, testifies or participates in the agency proceeding, the company should forbid retaliation against any individual.
There are several ways to promote employment opportunities at the workplace; for instance, training and development. Training equips employees with the necessary tools in performing productively in their roles. Offering training and guidance and development and job shadowing or mentoring on a nondiscriminatory basis is an example of equal opportunity at the workplace. Employees thrive in an environment characterized by recognition, being challenged and valued. Conducting layoffs in an organized manner can help get rid of discrimination and promote employment equality. While conducting layoff, most companies often result in seniority-based selections, resulting in the newest and possibly most talented workers being let go.
Additionally, if the employer conducts these kinds of layoffs could appear discriminatory, especially if the employees with lower seniority are the youngest (McGregor-Smith, 2017). Instead, the employer can choose the lowest-performing workers to terminate first. The most organization comprises four different generations, and affording equal employments is critical and includes treating employees from all for generations fairly.
Diversity at workplaces is crucial for any organization. Nonetheless, race continues to be a problem at workplaces, with the people of color being mostly affected regarding their cats’ role. White men dominate the managerial position while the blacks and especially women work in the lowest-paying positions. In other fields such as STEM, black people are underrepresented despite the number of individuals graduating from such courses being twice as many as the tech industries’ job openings. Policies instilled in place by the law can be used to ensure equal employment opportunity. Under the equal employment policy, everyone has the right to access equal jobs opportunity regardless of their ethnicity or origin or any things that make them different from the whites. Such policies can be implemented by promoting equal opportunities in the workplace.
References
McGregor-Smith, R. (2017). Race in the workplace: The McGregor-Smith review. Report for Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Retrieved from https://assets. Publishing. Service. gov. UK/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/594336/race-in workplace-mcgregor-smith-review. pdf. Accessed on December 12, 2018.
Pew Research Center. (, 2018). Women and men in STEM often at odds over workplace equity. Available at.
Fisher, M. (2015). Women of color and the gender wage gap. Center for American Progress, 14.