Introduction
In an organization, the Human Resource Department serves the purpose of helping it in accomplishing its goals as well as meeting the needs of its workforce. The HR Department is the hub of an organization since it acts as a liaison between all the different parties concerned with improving the performance of the organization.
With the current diversity in the workforce, the functions of the HR Department are increasingly becoming of essence in the success of a company.
Therefore, a central focus of the department’s interventions is an effort to uphold equal employment opportunity (EEO) and anti-discriminatory practices (Ivancevich, 27). This means that the department makes sure that the place of work is free from all forms of unlawful discrimination and harassment as well as providing programs to help the employees overcome past and present disadvantages.
Fair practices and behaviour
In an organization, promoting fair practices and behaviour cuts across the activities of the HR Department. In this regard, the Emirates Telecommunication Corporation – Etisalat Human Resource Department ensures that the organization act in accordance with the law, avoids fines, and establishes a discrimination-free place of work (“About us,” para.2). It achieves this in several ways.
To begin with, the Etisalat HR Department promotes recruitment, selection and promotion practices that are open, competitive and based on the merit of the applicant (“What is EEO?”, 2).
The department avoids discrimination during the recruitment process so as to avoid breaching the law and give the organization it is representing the best opportunity of getting the right individual suited for the position. If this is not followed, the job applicants can sue the company for unfair treatment during the recruitment process.
When drafting the job description and person specification, the company’s HR professionals are obliged to state plainly the duties the recruit will be expected to perform and the vital skills that are necessary in accomplishing the duties.
It is important to note that the specification does not include any obligations that are not directly associated to the job, for example, for the work of a forklift truck driver, the job specification does not include a good command in the English language since this may not be very necessary. On the other hand, for an editorial or an administrative position within the company, specification of this is of essence.
In writing a job advertisement, the HR professionals are obliged not to state that the vacant position in the organization must be of a specific gender, race, sex, religion, or nationality. However, giving such specific requirements is lawful if it is an occupational requirement.
It is not allowed by the law of the U.A. E. for the HR professionals to advertise for positions indicating that the applicant’s success relies on him or her not having any disability that may reduce his or her performance.
In some instances, the Etisalat HR department endeavors to treat disabled individuals more favourably by announcing that the position is only available to disabled job seekers. To steer clear of discrimination because of age, the HR professionals desist from using words in job advertisements that may result in bias on the grounds of age.
The use of such words as ‘young and dynamic’ is not considered as a fair practice in the recruitment exercise. In certain instances, the HR professionals specify that one being of particular race, sexual orientation, age, or religious belief is an occupational requirement for the advertised position, for example, it may be possible for them to specify that being an Emirati is a requirement for one to work as a cashier in a town within the country.
This is important in ensuring that the company has an ‘authentic’ Emirati atmosphere within the town.
A central issue in Etisalat human resource management is ensuring that all the employees have access to training and development. The department makes sure that all the employees, regardless of their backgrounds, are doing a commendable work.
This is achieved by making the employees realize that their input within the organization is important and they have the opportunities to develop their full potential and pursue a career path that is within the best of their interests. The quality of the work is usually watered down when workers fail to recognize the value of their input in the company.
Therefore, the company’s HR Department usually enacts programs intended to encourage all workers that the workplace is their second home and that their diversity adds value to the success of the company.
It is of essence to note that people most of the time react better to their surrounding when their emotional well-being is appropriately taken care of. That is why when a company gives rewards to workers who may seem to be unfairly treated, they will be able to feel appreciated and not harbour negative emotions.
In the company’s business environment, the HR Department takes part in employee development by motivating all the workers without any discrimination, regardless of whether they are Emiratis or expatriates.
Motivation through rewards, including tangible things such as monetary benefits and intangible things such as recognition and acceptance, ought to give ideally the outcomes desired by the entire workforce. Studies have revealed that employees are more likely to accomplish duties for which they are rewarded without any bias.
However, when the HR Department is discriminating in this aspect, the employees can develop undesirable behaviour and their motivation and development can be reduced.
This means that the HR Department is endowed with the task of understanding the reward system of the organization it represents in order to influence the behavior of all the workers. This entails understanding what the reward system is meant to do, how to apply it, and how to address the diverse workforce response to it.
Another way that Etisalat’s HR Department uses to encourage personal development within the organization is by ensuring that the workers engage in effective communication since it is the key to optimal day-to-day running of the activities of the organization. It is important for workers to adhere to good communication practices when addressing one another, regardless of their diversity.
Embracing effective communication necessitates the HR Department to keep the employees conversant with the activities taking place behind the scenes as well as rendering a listening ear to their various needs and requirements. Effective communication leads to personal development because employees usually respond well to an environment that cares for their emotions without discriminating against them.
The company’s HR Department promotes fair practices and behaviour within the organization by providing flexible working schedules that meet the needs of all the workers and produce productive workforce. When workers attempt to strike the right balance between their lives at home and their lives at the workplace, some of them fail to achieve this and end up being stressed and worked up.
This may lead to increased cases of absenteeism and decrease in the level of productivity. Having a career is different from having a life.
For example, to prevent harassment at the place of work, the company’s HR Department ensures that the married workers have instances in which they can be off duty and spend some quality time with their loved ones. Recognizing the needs of all the workers outside the place of work is an important aspect of realizing their dedication when undertaking various duties.
A central issue in Etisalat’s human resource management involves addressing employee’s relations and grievance handling procedures. It is important to note that these procedures should be accessible to all workers and deal with grievances at the place of work promptly, confidentially, and fairly. Uncomfortable workers are usually known through observing their body language.
For example, if an Emirati worker is feeling uneasy at the presence of a white manager near him or her is an indication of a bad relationship between the two. In some cases, a worker may even end up losing his or her train of thought because of this. In such instances, after successfully identifying such a problem of lack of good relations, the company’s HR Department then enacts appropriate strategies to solve the problem.
Almost all the tasks within an organization oblige one to have a good interpersonal relationship with others so as to accomplish them. Efficient performance of the duties require a tremendous understanding of others and even the worker’s own interpersonal skills.
Therefore, to handle grievances, which are common in a workplace setting, especially if the employees are of diverse backgrounds, the company’s HR Department frequently advises the employees to be ready to recognize the needs and perspectives of one another and compromise in certain occasions.
For example, the global internet company Google has successfully implemented this initiative since it has workers of various backgrounds.
Etisalat’s HR Department ensures that management decisions are made without bias and that there is respect for the social and cultural backgrounds of all the workers and clients. This leads to satisfied employees who are generally more productive on the job.
If unfair managerial decisions are made, the whole organization can be brought back to zero because of the resulting dissatisfaction from the employees. It is within the mandate of a company to develop candid ways of making decisions that respects the diverse backgrounds of its workforce.
In this current dynamic work environment, negative influences from outside can have an influence on a company having stable internal work environment and accredited standards of employee behaviour. In most cases, external negative influences force organizations to make drastic actions that will ensure that they are not affected.
For example, negative changes in the economy can force a company to downsize its employees so as to reduce costs. Recent investigations have revealed that the practice of downsizing, especially if it is discriminatory, is able to lower employee satisfaction because the remaining employees generally fear of becoming the next possible targets.
It is essential to note that for companies to accomplish their objectives, maintaining their investment in all the employees is very important. This culture ought to be maintained even if the company is restricting or downsizing its employees. Therefore, to foster fair practice and behaviour, Etisalat’s HR Department play a crucial role in determining the efficiency of downsizing and restricting.
Since such practices have a huge impact for human resource development, the company’s HR Department is obliged to challenge or redirect efforts of the organization in this aspect so as to avoid negative employee behaviour in the place of work through unfair treatment.
Eliminating discrimination
Eliminating discrimination at the place of work is a central issue in human resource management since the current workforce is becoming more diverse. Discrimination is treating somebody with prejudice or harassing him or her due to his or her affiliation to a particular group.
It is an unlawful practice for an organization to discriminate against a worker or a job seeker because of their age, sex, pregnancy, disability, race, colour, ethnic background, marital status, career’s responsibilities, homosexuality or transgender. The HR Department usually strives to avoid two forms of unlawful employment discrimination: disparate treatment and disparate impact (Mathis and Jackson, 101).
The department avoids disparate treatment, which takes place when members of a protected class are treated differently from others, by using the same set of standards to judge recruits and employees. For instance, to monitor the progress of employees, the same performance management policies and procedures are given to both white and black employees within an organization.
If illegal discrimination has taken place, heavy fines can be imposed on the organization when an employee files a lawsuit. For example, a manufacturing company in Cleveland, Ohio, paid about one million dollars to settle an EEO lawsuit involving twenty individuals.
They claimed that S&Z Tool & Die Company declined to recruit black and women applicants except in clerical positions. The HR Department avoids employment discrimination due to disparate impact by making decisions that ensures that the interests of individuals of a protected class are adequately taken care of.
An aspect of human resource development involves creating a hostile-free work environment in which employees can reasonably perform their duties without any interference from a bad boss, a coworker, or even a non-employee.
Some of the situations that can lead to hostile work environment include asking for sexual favours on the part of bosses or coworkers and acts or remarks that are intended to be discriminatory concerning a particular group.
A hostile work environment may also result when the management of a company starts to act in a way that can make the employee to quit in retaliation for his or her actions, for example, when an employee reports unfair treatment to the authority and the company starts to act in ways intended to make the employee uncomfortable.
More over, hostility that threatens an employee physically can also make effective rendering of duties at the place of work impossible. Therefore to curb this habit, the HR Department of most organizations have enacted appropriate policies and procedures to control this kind of behaviour which not only leads to decreased productivity but can also lead to lawsuits against the organization.
Affirmative action alludes to the policies that aim at promoting equal employment opportunities for all, especially for women and minorities groups in aspects of employment from which they have historically been left out.
The HR Department often institute affirmative action policies so as to make sure that the interests of minority groups are considered and that compensation for past or present discrimination is properly addressed (Burstein, 1). However, affirmative action should not be understood to include exceptional treatment of some people to the disadvantage of others. Several companies around the world have adhered to this approach.
For example, in the U.A.E., which has most of its workforce composed of foreigners, affirmative action is being practiced to prevent its residents from racial discriminatory practices. The National Bank of Dubai, with about thirty percent of its entire workforce being Emiratis, is the largest employer of the country’s residents in the banking sector and across its private sector as well.
Conclusion
When the HR Department of an organization observes fair practice and eliminates discrimination at the place of work, several benefits are likely to follow. Employees will benefit by working in a fair environment that is free from illegal discrimination and harassment, having equal access to jobs, training and other development opportunities, and having fair processes to tackle work-related grievances and complaints.
The management of the organization will benefit by having reduced workplace conflicts, increased employee job satisfaction and morale, a more productive workplace, and improved efficiency of the workers that leads to better services to the customers.
The running of a business experiences significant progress in its development when a good organizational behaviour, centered on HR practices that are against discriminatory behaviour, is enacted. Therefore, because of these central issues in the success of an organization, it is evident that the HR Department in any organization plays a critical role in its well-being, and it is not present, rampant confusion sets in.
Works cited
“About us.” Etisalat. Emirates Telecommunications Corporation – Etisalat. 2010. Web.
Burstein, Paul. Equal employment opportunity: labor market discrimination and public policy. New York DeGruyter, 1994. Print.
Ivancevich, J. M. Human resource management. Boston : McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2007. Print.
Mathis, Robert L., and Jackson, John H. Human resource management. Mason, OH: Thomson/South-western, 2008. Print.
“What is EEO?” Fair Ways. Public Employment Office, NSW Premier’s Department. N.d. Web.