Introduction
The central issue of concern for CAPE Tisbe is an inefficient Equal Employment Opportunity Policy (EEO). It suffices to mention that the weak EEO policy does not include usage guidelines and procedures for employee working hours. It is also apparent that the policy does not have guidelines for management meetings and has unclear policies for conflict management. All these have led to the feeling of bias and favoritism among the employees of the company, in turn demoralizing them. This has affected their overall performance levels, with many feeling dissatisfied with their jobs. To ensure that employees feel appreciated in the company, the Equal Employment Opportunity policy must be revised. This report will discuss the issues that have been identified and give suggestions and recommendations on what can be done to help ease the tension in the company.
Main Body
Smith (2009) argues that the Equal Employment Opportunity Policy (EEO) was created to protect employees from any form of discrimination in the workplace. Marcus (2009) adds that there are seven essential components, or sections, of the policy. These are recruitment, employment, promotion, transfer, training, working conditions, wages and salary administration, and employee benefits, and application policies. In analyzing CAPE Tisbe, there are three things from the list provided which appear to be unclear thus, causing problems between the employees and the managers. The three sections are recruitment, promotion, and transfer.
For example, an employee has given a written complaint on the issue of promotion. This particular employee feels like he is being discriminated against because he cannot work overtime. Thus, he thinks that he has never been promoted despite his excellent work record because he cannot work overtime. Additionally, the employee states that his inability to work overtime is due to taking care of two children.
Many employees have also cited the issue of rosters as problematic. Rosters are meant to identify people who have arrived at the workplace and those who have not. It is very necessary to point out that the workplace has evolved. Previously, it was mandatory for people to arrive at a particular time and to leave at a specific time. The arrival and departure time would be recorded in the roster system and used for HR purposes. However, the workplace today does not necessarily give a particular time code to employees. Due to this, different employees get in at different times unless specified. There is no clear guideline on the issue of time in the directions. In fact, many employees think that the roster system is used to determine who gets promotions, regardless of the efforts and the job done by the time an individual leaves his or her workstation.
Several non-technical factors can make the situation worse if they have not. One such factor is communication (Jacobs, Murphy & Silva, 2013). All employees and managers must be encouraged to raise issues when they arise. The workers agreed that they have always experienced favoritism, either against them or for them, but did not raise the concern to the appropriate office. Doing so would have ensured that the problem was solved before it blew up as it has today. Another non-technical factor that can be cited is the relationship between the employees and the managers. This relationship has to be purely professional to ensure that no employee is favored. The professional relationship will also make the managers look at effort and performance objectively, such that they can explain the decisions they made.
Without proper action, the issues that have been mentioned might sink the company. One of the significant impacts of lack of clear guidelines, as mentioned, is the feeling of being undervalued, and unappreciated amongst the employees. This, in turn, will lead to a lack of job satisfaction. Rabinovich (2008) argues that indeed many employees who feel unappreciated in the workplace tend to look elsewhere for greener pastures. In turn, employee turnover will be high.
Also, a factor that can alleviate the problems is the lack of immediate action. It is obvious that the employees are tired of being mistreated, and this is why they have raised concerns. Failing to act on their concerns and providing a viable solution will only make the situation worse.
Recommendations
CAPE Tisbe has an EOO policy installed. The central issue, as identified, is that the policy is insufficient and ineffective in protecting the employees. It is due to this reason that the first recommendation to be given is the review of the policy. The board should not feel obliged to throw out the entire policy because the employees have only complained about sections (a), (c) and (d). Management, on the other hand, has raised concerns over the lack of guidelines for management meetings and unclear guidelines for conflict management. Since no one has complained about the other sections, it would be right to assume that they are clear.
In the same breath, while improving the policy, the board must focus on the sections mentioned. The three sections are recruitment, promotions, and transfers. Barrow (2007) argues that the best policies towards promotions tend to revolve around performance levels rather than time in the office. Indeed, some people can work for eight hours, and provide very little to show for it. However, some people can work for fewer hours and provide excellent work. This realization has made many companies opt to focus on performance levels rather than the time used. Using performance standards will also ensure that the employees understand why one was promoted and why the other was not, as it can be easily justified. The board can also encourage the use of performance levels to determine transfer options.
Leonard (2011) also observes that the use of merit in recruitment works best as compared to nepotism and other corrupt ways. If an individual was hired based on nepotism, then he or she can be assured that the managers will also use the same method for promotions. This will, in turn, create more conflict in the workplace.
With regards to clear guidelines on management meetings and conflict management, the new policy must incorporate ways in which managers can employ skills in both areas. For the management meetings a recommendation is to have a policy that allows managers in different departments to call for meetings whenever necessary, in the same vein, it is also crucial that all managers be handed power to call for executive meetings, after sending out the agendas to all concerned (Mintz & Krymkowski, 2010). Such meetings would have highlighted the weak EEO and avoided experienced problems. On the other hand, the company will have to invest in the training of managers in crisis management. Närvi (2012) asserts that very many companies that do not have a skilled crisis management team fail. To avoid this, the board has to approve the training of managers and senior staff of crisis management.
It is also recommended that the roistering system be used only to confirm people who are in the office and those who are not. As mentioned, times have changed, and so has the workplace. To increase performance levels, the company can initiate incentives for the employees. These incentives do not have to be in the form of money, but can be a general appreciation; for example, being crowned the best employee of the year and so forth.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is commendable that CAPE Tisbe has installed an EEO policy to protect its employees from harassment and favoritism at the office. However, the policy appears to be weak in some sections, specifically the sections of recruitment, promotions, and transfer. Employees have complained that these sections have left loopholes for them to be exploited by their managers. Due to the complaints, it is recommended that the board of the company approves the reviewing and updating of the EEO policy. One recommendation given is the incorporating of clear guidelines to be used for management meetings. It is also recommended that the company train the managers and senior staff on crisis management as this too is missing from the policy. Indeed, there are non-technical factors that also alleviate the problem under discussion. For example, poor communication and unprofessional relationship with the employees and their managers have both made the situation worse.
Reference List
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