diversity - Flat World Knowledge

Human Resource Management

By Laura Portolese Dias

3-1

© Laura Portolese Dias 2011, published by Flat World Knowledge

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share

Alike 3.0 Unported License.

To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ncsa/3.0/or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San

Francisco, California, 94105, USA


3-2

Chapter 3

Diversity and Multiculturalism


3-3

Learning Objectives

• Define, explain, and identify your own power and privilege.

• Provide reasoning as to why diversity is important to maintain profitability.

3-4



• The terms multiculturalism and diversity are different, although they are often used interchangeably

• Diversity

– Differences between people such as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, background, and socioeconomic status

– Focus is more on legal compliance and policies

3-5



• Multiculturalism

– Goes deeper than diversity

– Focuses on inclusiveness, understanding, and respect

– Looks at unequal power in society

– Looks at systems of advantage based on race, gender, and orientation, called Power and

Privilege

3-6



• Challenges with diversity in the workplace

– Diversity is not well defined or understood

– Focuses too much on compliance

– Places too much emphasis on gender and ethnicity


3-7


• Invisible privilege

– The power and privilege one has and may not recognize

3-8



• Examples of invisible privilege:

– Race privilege. Let’s say you (a Caucasian) and your friend (an African American) are having dinner. When the bill comes, the server gives the check to you. While this may not seem like a big issue, it assumes you

(being Caucasian) are paying for the meal.

3-9



• Examples of invisible privilege (continued):

– Social class privilege. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in

2005, many people outside the storm area wondered why people stayed in the city, not even thinking that some people couldn’t afford gas for their cars to leave.

– Gender privilege. Assumption that a female will change her name to her husband’s when they get married.

– Sexual orientation privilege. If I am heterosexual, I can put a picture of my partner on my desk and talk about our vacations or experiences without worrying about what others think.

This is not the case for many gay, lesbian, and transgendered people and their partners.

3-10



• Invisible privilege

– Can be hard to recognize

– Understanding our own stereotypes

– Understanding the struggles of others

– Understanding systems of advantages can help us become better managers in all areas of business

3-11



• Why Diversity and Multiculturalism?

– It’s the law

– Better serve customers

– Better communicate

– We create better solutions and ideas

– Studies have shown that companies with more diversity report higher sales revenues

3-12


Learning Objectives

1. Be able to apply strategies to create a multicultural work environment and diversity plans.

2. Be able to create an HR plan with diversity considerations.


3-13

Diversity Plans

• Many companies have formal diversity policies, such as Zappos:

– The diversity of Zappos’ employees is a tremendous asset. We are firmly committed to providing equal opportunity in all aspects of employment and will not tolerate any illegal discrimination or harassment. Examples of such behavior include derogatory comments based on racial or ethnic characteristics and unwelcome sexual advances.

Please refer to the applicable sections of the

Employee Handbook for further guidance.


3-14

Diversity Plans

• Main steps to creation of diversity plans

– Assessment of diversity

– Development of the diversity plan

– Implementation of the plan


3-15

Diversity Plans

• Considerations in HR functions

– Recruitment and selection

– Testing

– Pay

– Promotion


3-16

Diversity Plans

• Training topics on Multiculturalism

– Build a cultural knowledge about customs, religions, and histories.

– Discuss treatment of people based on them as individuals, rather than as part of a “group,” which can result in stereotyping.

– Teach employees to listen actively, which can raise cultural awareness.

– Train employees to rethink current policies and how those policies might be exclusive to a certain group.

– Work on resistance to change. Many employees think, “This is the way we have always done it, and now we have to change it because we have a group of ____ working here now.”

– Does your leadership team have a multiculturalism perspective?

Are many ethnic backgrounds and other multicultural traits represented?

3-17


Diversity Plans

• Do you test your assumptions before acting on them?

• Do you believe there is only one right way of doing things, or that there are a number of valid ways that accomplish the same goal? Do you convey that to staff?

• Do you have honest relationships with each staff member you supervise? Are you comfortable with each of them? Do you know what motivates them, what their goals are, how they like to be recognized?

• Are you able to give negative feedback to someone who is culturally different from you?

3-18


Diversity Plans

• When you have open positions, do you insist on a diverse screening committee and make additional outreach efforts to ensure that a diverse pool of candidates has applied?

• When you hire a new employee, do you not only explain job responsibilities and expectations clearly but orient the person to the campus and department culture and unwritten rules?

• Do you rigorously examine your unit’s existing policies, practices, and procedures to ensure that they do not differentially impact different groups? When they do, do you change them?

3-19


Diversity Plans

• Are you willing to listen to constructive feedback from your staff about ways to improve the work environment?

Do you implement staff suggestions and acknowledge their contributions?

• Do you take immediate action with people you supervise when they behave in ways that show disrespect for others in the workplace, such as inappropriate jokes and offensive terms?

• Do you make good faith efforts to meet your affirmative action goals?

• Do you understand institutionalisms such as racism and sexism and how they manifest in the workplace?


3-20

Diversity Plans

• Do you ensure that assignments and opportunities for advancement are accessible to everyone?

• What policies, practices, and ways of thinking have differential impact on different groups?

• What organizational changes should be made to meet the needs of a diverse workforce?

3-21


Learning Objectives

1. Define the role of the Equal Employment

Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

2. Explain the various types of laws covered by the EEOC.

3-22


Multiculturalism and the Law

• EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission)

– Title VII of the Civil Rights Act

– Age

– Disability

– Equal Pay


3-23


• EEOC

– Genetic Information

– National Origin

– Pregnancy

– Race/Color


3-24


• EEOC

– Religion

– Sex and sexual harassment

– Retaliation

– Military service


3-25

diversity - Flat World Knowledge

Human Resource Management

Chapter 3

Learning Objectives

• Invisible privilege

• Examples of invisible privilege:

Related documents

Products

Support

diversity - Flat World Knowledge

Human Resource Management

Chapter 3

Learning Objectives

• Invisible privilege

• Examples of invisible privilege:

Related documents

Add this document to collection(s)

Add this document to saved

Suggest us how to improve StudyLib