Introduction
The use of machinery was developed to replace human resource in the industry, however, despite the development; human resource is inevitable because of the various operations that cannot be handled by the machines.
Thus human resource is an important aspect of the business organization which should be carefully handled if at all the organization wants to catch up with the global competition (Armstrong, 1999, p.143). The human resource managers are therefore faced with a big challenge of making sure that their employees get the best from the organization so that they can equally perform well.
Among the major concerns of the human resource managers is ensuring that their employees do not undergo discrimination in their work place. This paper is therefore an analysis of the current issues related to employment discrimination that the HR mangers ought to be aware of and thereafter a recommendation of the actions to be taken by the HR mangers to avoid discrimination.
Current (timely) issues related to employment discrimination that HR managers need to be aware of
Employment discrimination entails creation of a distinction between the employees so that some of them are disadvantaged as others become advantaged during the times of recruitment, termination, promotion among other human resource processes. Discrimination in the work place can take many forms such as sex, race, age, physical and mental disability, religion and political differences.
It could also take different directions, in that discrimination could either come from the employer or from the other working staff of higher or even lower ranks (Hemphill, and Haines, 1998, p.4). The fact that discrimination can take many forms; it is therefore the obligation of the human resource managers to beware of any possible causes and instances of the discrimination within the work place. Some of the issue that could lead to discrimination and the human resource mangers ought to be informed of include;
- Job advertisement– During the publication of a job vacancy, the human resource managers have to be careful that the information provided does no indicate even the slightest sign of any form of discrimination. For example, unless the job is suited for males only, they should not indicate that they require only male applicants yet the females are able to perform the job.
- Job description– This is a common instance where discrimination is likely to occur once the employee has accepted the job. Most employers have recently been advertising jobs without or with less information on the job description and thereafter overloading the employee with many duties to perform (Hemphill, and Haines, 1998, p.4). To avoid this, the HR officers should make the job description available even during interviews so that the employee may be in a position to know what they are up to.
- Application forms- This again is an issue of concern in that the forms to be filled may be indicating instances of discrimination thus disadvantaging a certain group of people.
- Interviews– The human resource mangers conducting the interviews should be pretty ware of the legislation laws governing employees. They should therefore have made good plans and forethought before the interview. In addition, it is advisable to have an external interviewer so as to avoid incidences of discrimination.
- Occupational safety and health requirements- The employers ought to be responsible for the health and safety of their employees in the workplace. Despite the employee differences, all should be safeguarded from any hazards and risks within the workplace.
Apart from the aforementioned issues, the human resources mangers should also ensure that other human resource responsibilities such as reward systems, training, performance appraisal are equally distributed or rather given on merit so as to avoid cases of discrimination in the work place.
Recommended actions for HR managers to help them ensure on an ongoing basis that their organization is not engaging in such discrimination
Discrimination of employees is a crime that is punishable in the court of law. This therefore calls for all employers as well as their human resource managers to avoid any possible instances of discrimination set they are persecuted (Garcez, 2006, p.1). Not only will the company spend huge sums of money in the case, but they will also create a bad image in the society which will destroy their good reputation. There are several recommended ways through which the human resources can avoid instances of discrimination in their work place. Some of these include;
Use of best practices decisions during the process of recruiting, promotion, retrenchment, or layoffs
Due to the fact that these processes are some of the instances during which discrimination could occur, the human resource mangers ought to be careful when carrying out these obligations. The best way of avoiding this is through use of a variety of techniques of hiring or recruiting new employees such as open houses, recruitment firms or even scholar programs. Decisions to promote or lay off workers should be based on satisfactory or unsatisfactory work respectively and not on language or race differences.
Taking the appropriate procedures to prevent or correct discrimination instances
The human resource managers should follow the requirements of the EEOC that require that every organization should have a discrimination policy which both the employers and employees should sign. The EEOC officers offer training and guidance on the course of action to be taken in instances of discrimination. This therefore ensures that once both parties sign and attest to the policy each is responsible for any consequences that arise if the policy is gone against (Garcez, 2006, p.1).
Equal treatment of the employees
Since most organizations will consist of people from different races, religions, geographical locations among other differences it is important that the human resource managers treat all the employees in the same way. The only differences that should be present in the organization should be in terms of the ranks or positions whereby there are those who have authority over others. This authority should however b e confused and used as a point of discriminating others.
Conclusion
From the above discussion on current issues that the human resource managers should be aware of concerning discrimination in the work place, it can be deduced that discrimination is something that could occur even without the HR mangers noticing. And since discrimination is a criminal offence punishable in the court of law, the human resource managers should be careful when performing their daily errands to avoid discriminating their employees (Legge, 2004, p.102).
Given the aforementioned recommendations of preventing discrimination in the organizations, it is thus possible to achieve a discrimination free global work place. This will therefore ensure that employees are free to work in any organization without the fear of being discriminated.
Reference List
Armstrong, M. (1999). A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. Kogan Page Limited.
Garcez, C. (2006). Preventing Discrimination. Web.
Hemphill, H. & Haines, R. (1998). Confronting discrimination in your workplace. HR Focus, Vol.75 No. 7, pp. 5-6.
Legge, K. (2004). Human Resource Management: Rhetoric and Realities (Anniversary ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.