Introduction
The modern day work environment is faced by numerous challenges that emanate from different quarters both internal and external. Internal factors such as organizational culture, structure and so on present challenges that the management ought to address extensively so as to ensure the company remains on course to achieving its goals and objectives.
External factors such as legal and others such as technological compel the management of organizations to work round the clock to ensure the organization fits into the presented environment and remain on course (Tan & Nasurdin, 2011). This paper discusses some tips that the modern day management ought to adopt in order to address the employment issues such as sexual harassment, employment issues, and diversity that may cost the company costly lawsuits.
Employment issues in Europe
It is a regulation in Europe that any person who gets a job in Europe to be recruited at the same employment conditions as the nationals of that particular country. This means that an individual looking for a job is not required to meet any extra conditions in form of qualification that the natives of a particular country do not have in order to secure an employment. This means that a qualification attained in a particular country in Europe is equal and accepted in any other country in Europe.
Employers should therefore be aware of this recognition of qualification. This will go a long way in ensuring that the potential employees do not result into a lawsuit due to the inability to secure a job.
When a potential employee is denied an opportunity to work in a particular company in Europe due to specific qualifications, the company may bear a bad image in the public if the reason for denying the job is lack of a qualification on the part of the employee who is has equal qualifications from another country. This can also lead to a lawsuit that may cost the company a huge sum of money in terms of legal fees and potential damages rewarded should the lawsuit succeed.
Issues of diversity
This has become a huge concern among many organizations over the recent past. The emergence and growth in globalization has enabled individuals from different walks of life to seek and get a job anywhere in the world (Lusser, 2010). This has come with myriad of challenges that the management need to address. One of the issues that come up with the diversity is the racism.
The globalization means that people will come from other continents to look for jobs in Europe and this presents the issue of racial discrimination.
The management should therefore be able to know that any person from a anywhere can get a job in Europe without undergoing any form of discrimination. Racial discrimination may be detrimental to the company since if exposed, it may cause a bad public image to the company and possible financial loss through costly lawsuits.
Issues of sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is defined as the sexual behaviors which are unwanted, unwelcome and unasked for. It is the a very common phenomenon in the modern day workplace. It is a form of power display that is meant to degrade other genders. It can also be practiced between people of the same gender.
Sexual harassment takes the form of verbal, non-verbal or physical. physical harassment touching, pinching and so on. Verbal harassment entails making comments which are homophobic, or requesting for sexual favor. Non verbal may entail sexually suggestive gestures and so on.
Of all the employment issues, sexual harassment is the most costly of the other issues. This is because of the legislations that have been enacted over the past two decades putting strict punitive measures on culprits of sexual harassment. Companies have incurred huge financial losses as legal settlements from sexual harassment lawsuits. It has become paramount for all managers to address this issues on all possible fronts.
One of the ways of tackling the sexual harassment problem by organizations is introducing what is referred to as consensual relationship agreement. This requires employees who are involved in relationship with each other in the same organization to declare that they are involved in such a relationship and make it formal with the management.
In doing this, an employee who has signed a consensual relationship agreement cannot file a sexual harassment complaint from the person he or she has declared that they are in a relationship. This can be used as a defense in a court of law.
The other way that an organization can cushion itself from sexual harassment related litigations is through coming up with a sexual harassment policy within the organization that govern the manner in which employees should interact amongst themselves. The policy should clearly spell out what sexual harassment is and train the employees on the same. It should also indicate the procedures that should be followed when launching a complaint in case of any.
Conclusion
In doing all of the tips discussed above, an organization is able to avert many dangers that may arise from employment issues, diversity and sexual harassment. This not only saves the company the potential financial loss but also help providing a conducive environment for employees to work in.
References
Lusser, R. N. (2010). Leasership: Theory, application, and skill dvelopment. Sydney: Cengage Learning.
Tan, C. L., & Nasurdin, A. M. (2011). Human Resource Management Practices and Organizational Innovation: Assessing the Mediating Role of Knowledge Management Effectiveness. Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management, 1.