Introduction
An ethical issue is a general term given to standards that determine how individuals, society, or institutions should behave. They are set codes of conduct within which subjects must operate. A breach in any of these principles is termed as unethical, implying that necessary corrective actions must be taken to restore order and equilibrium. In the realm of economics, ethical issues can be defined as principles formulated or adopted by an organization to ensure that it complies with the general operational requirements of a given federal state. They are composed of clusters of policies that a company follows to provide answers to ethical dilemmas that occur during the business operation span (Köllen, Kakkuri-Knuuttila & Bendl, 2018). In the modern-day world of business, ethical issues form an important pillar upon which employees are guarded against exploitation by their employers.
In addition, these principles help to uphold the rights and privileges of workers, preventing potential infringement by company shareholders, creditors, and other financiers. The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission is a federal regulatory organization based in the United States. The agency is entitled with the responsibility of ensuring companies abide by the Civil Rights Act laws against discrimination and non-inclusivity practices in business. It is tailored towards upholding employees’ interests through reviewing and analyzing complaints from workers and new job applicants to ensure that businesses maintain a clear ethical line of operation by avoiding discriminatory and harassment practices (Beji et al., 2021). In this paper, an analysis of workforce diversity and inclusion is based on Tescol, a motor vehicle assembly company in Minnesota. A breakdown of how lack of diversity affects Tescol’s engagement, shareholder value, ecological sustainability, hiring, turnover, profitability compensation, and possible recommendations to solve it form the basis of discussion for this paper.
Organization’s Purpose
Generally, the purpose of every company is to maximize profits and minimize operational expenses. Although some firms may prioritize other objectives such as consumer satisfaction, the primary goal always revolves around growth through opening new branches or expanding the existing ones. However, revenue maximization should be achieved in a manner that observes all the ethical principles that govern the operation of firms (Manita et al., 2018). Diversity and inclusivity are the major contemporary ethical issues in the business world. According to the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, diversity is a multifaceted discipline that comes when a firm eradicates discrimination, unfair treatment, and harassment of specific groups of employees. In this context, an analysis of Tescol Limited reveals several cases where diversity was not observed.
Early last year, there were reports that the company failed to include female employees within its top hierarchical positions, thus making the issue of diversity critical. Discrimination is the leading cause of lack of inclusivity and diversity at Tescol; therefore, every firm should focus on restructuring its policies to ensure all ethical principles are observed. For the past few weeks, the workforce has reported discrimination based on age, disability, pay, genetic information, race, nationality, retaliation, pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
Tescol Limited has been involved in several social responsibility calls from both the local and national authorities. The company has specific policies highlighted in the Environmental Stewardship and Support Act (ESSA) that ensure its operations are environmentally friendly. The car assembly processes are conducted in a way that ensures zero greenhouse gas emissions and maximum water, and waste recycling. It is through this practice that Tescol maintains a pollution-free operation.
Secondly, the firm has an official tree planting day when over 900 seedlings are planted in each of these events organized on the eve of every New Year. In addition, the company uses a renewable source of energy to run heavy machines in the main assembly plant. This was achieved after the establishment of a giant solar panel project that was partially financed by the local government. On the same note, the company is an active participant in philanthropic campaigns. For example, it recently launched a charity program entitled Feed a Child, through which 2,565 students across 16 primary schools were offered free lunch for two consecutive months (Iliyasu & Abiodun, 2020). The company has entirely maximized increasing its existential value through maintaining close engagement with society.
It is clear that the initiatives highlighted above have accrued a lot of benefits to the nearby residents. However, Tescol has been unable to uphold an upright ethical responsibility for its employees and shareholders by failing to blend diversity alongside its daily operations. The section that follows illustrates some of the effects of Tescol’s’ discriminatory practices on the workers and how the remaining employees perceive non-inclusivity in the company.
Employees and Job Seekers at Tescol
Lack of diversity and inclusion affects nearly all employees in an organizational setting. Although many firms claim to maintain perfect adherence levels to fundamental ethical principles throughout their operation, cases of gender-based harassment and other forms of discrimination have continuously hit the limelight for a long time. In that regard, it is important to probe further into this topic and identify potential glitches that are responsible for the reoccurrence of the reported cases (Kirton & Greene, 2021). This section presents an analysis of how diversity affects Tescol’s existing labor force as well as their safety, enthusiasm, engagement, turnover, compensation, and advancement. It is important to note that discrimination and diversity have been used interchangeably throughout this paper because they are directly related in this context.
The first form of discrimination noticeable at Tescol Limited is based on age. This occurs when an employee or job applicant is regarded as unfit for a given vacancy based on his age rather than meritocracy. There have been reported cases that Tescol Company considers applicants who are older than 40 years as old for the job while preferentially recruiting those below the baseline age irrespective of their skills and qualification. If this happens continuously, many potential employees above the company’s 40-year threshold will miss job opportunities that they could be perfectly fit for (Jha, 2021). This form of discrimination corrupts Tescol’s ethical principle of diversity and equal representation. One of the possible solutions to it can include the formulation of laws that guard against age discrimination in employment. The company’s management should revise and amend their laws to make sure they relate to those documented by federal agencies and labor organizations such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Secondly, discrimination can occur based on a person’s physical or emotional disabilities. It happens when an employer deliberately disregards his employee’s opinion or job and promotion application after reviewing his medical history or physical impairment (Sarah, Sang & Ngure, 2018). For example, an applicant who had experienced post-traumatic stress disorder was regarded as unfavorable for an auditing slot by the review panel. When this happens, affected individuals miss the opportunity to express their potential and may feel discriminated against and less valuable to society at large especially if they were well trained and qualified for the job. One of the recommendations to solve this issue requires Tescol managers to consider giving equal treatment to all workers and job seekers provided the condition is not expected to last for more than six months (Tamunomiebi & Ehior, 2019). Additionally, if the employee’s situation will not force the company to incur additional costs when accommodating the applicant, he should be considered viable for the job or promotion.
The third form of discrimination that affects the Tescol’s diversity and inclusivity is based on gender, sexual orientation, and pregnancy. This occurs when an employer or fellow employee requests sexual favors from a job seeker or colleague. It can be in the form of unfriendly sexual moves or non-verbal gestures from the manager toward the targeted worker. In one extreme case, a manager in the marketing department was reported to offer job vacancies on quid pro quo. This implies that if the seeker fails to comply, they automatically lose the slot. Applicants who get caught in such circumstances may be forced to ignore the job opportunity as they try to protect their dignity, respect, and personal space. Concomitantly, some of the existing workers at the company may eventually decide to apply for transfers in search of a better working environment.
Other cases reveal that some departments in the company pay workers differently depending on their gender even though they are doing the same job. In this context, diversity can be achieved if managers pay their subordinates proportionately based on the scope and complexity of work rather than their sexual orientations. The board of management should ensure that all workers, in similar departments receive an equal share of benefits such as insurance scheme funds, allowances, basic salaries, vocational bonuses, and benevolent funds. In addition, it should introduce a whistleblower department where workers who notice ethical morals have been violated can urgently report such cases.
Fourthly, diversity and inclusion are violated when some of Tescol’s departmental managers genetically and racially profile their subordinates and job applicants. These managers have been reported to deny workers from certain geospatial areas their lawful privileges such as promotions. When this happens, qualified personnel miss the opportunity to showcase their experience and skills. The recommendable solution to this condition can involve the company, collaborating with federal bodies, and enacting laws like the Genetic and Racial Non-discriminatory Act. These templates should contain policies that warn against hiring, profiling, firing, retrenching, or physically assaulting employees or job applicants based on their skin tonality, the color of their skin, and hair among other personal traits.
Generally, all the forecited issues cripple diversity and inclusion at Tescol, thus rendering it unethical in its operations. Employees and job seekers are affected the most as they are denied chances that could help them develop and sharpen their skills through work experience. Workers who were disapproved of promotions may never grow to realize their dreams in the corporate space thus success levels in life as a whole (Fine, Sojo-Monzon & Lawford-Smith, 2020). Furthermore, some of the employees at Tescol have already lost their morale and decided to terminate operations with the company. This has negatively affected the enthusiasm and engagement among the remaining workers who may eventually quit or ask for transfers thus increasing the rate of turnover. In the long run, output of the company is expected to drop drastically if appropriate measures are not taken to restore employees’ safety and compensate those who became victims of discriminatory malpractices.
Organization’s Metrics Profit
Tescol Limited does not uphold diversity and inclusivity in how some of the company’s managers treat their subordinates. In that regard, the company’s reputation and public image may eventually be ruined in case one of employees brings this issue to public attention. A shuttered reputation implies that the company would experience a significant drawdown in its financials as a result of fewer customers. When this happens, shareholder value drops, and the owners may decide to sell their shares to retrieve their investment capital.
It is important to note that most of these outcomes may not happen in the short run but gradually, if discrimination and lack of inclusivity are ignored by the firm. The company may continue to make considerable profits to sustain its operations for a while. Some of the solutions to avert the current unethical situations have been highlighted later in this paper. However, Tescol has been an active champion for environmental conservation and ecological sustainability. This is evident from how the company has sustained a pollution-free operation as discussed in the section below.
Organization’s Sustainability
From the earlier illustrations, Tescol uses solar energy as its main source of power that sustains all processes within the firm. The Sunthrive Nega project that was partially funded by the government has played an important role in ensuring that the environment within Tescol’s location is conserved. In addition, most of the waste products such as scrap metal are continuously recycled and used in manufacturing other cars parts. Chimney systems in the main assembly chamber are coated with calcium carbonate that reacts with the toxic sulfur oxide to produce less harmful gasses. In that regard, the company can maintain its greenhouse gas emissions below significant percentages.
Tree planting sessions organized once every year help to maintain a green environment while preserving the water catchment areas. In the combustion chamber where reactions are normally very exothermic, the company was able to incorporate the dry-ice cooling technique that helps to envelop excess heat from these reactions. In addition, most of the raw materials are transported to the company’s premises via the modern cargo railway network, a system that is environmentally friendly compared to road transport.
It is important to note that in this context, there is no relationship between diversity and ecological sustainability as the former involves how employers and their subordinates relate. The aspect of environmental regeneration only becomes significant because the company strictly upholds its social responsibility obligations. The issue of diversity and inclusion revolves around the company’s workforce and may not be of significance at this stage of discussion. However, the section that follows presents three basic techniques that the company can adopt to achieve diversity and inclusion in its workforce.
Staff Techniques
One of the main approaches that Tescol can use to restore diversity is bureaucracy, which can be defined as a formalized protocol that contains rules for the company. It usually summarizes all the roles and responsibilities that each worker is obliged to do in all departments. Studies by the Ethical Business Reforms Agency reveal a direct relationship between this approach, productivity, and inclusivity (Annabi & Lebovitz, 2018). According to EBRA, when a firm abolishes all the forms of discrimination highlighted in the earlier section, employees feel more comfortable and relaxed while pushing the company’s objectives.
A system that applies equal and fair rules for all workers irrespective of their age, race, gender, sexual identity, or physical orientation cultivates a favorable culture that later reciprocates into improved output. A positive culture attained through bureaucracy ensures that all employees in the same department receive equal pay that is based on the complexity of work rather than their cultural backgrounds, age, and sexual orientations. In the long run, employees will feel more appreciated and this will result in lower turnover rates and greater workers’ satisfaction.
Secondly, restructuring Tescol’s leadership is necessary to ensure the recommendations listed above are successfully implemented. The rejuvenation of diversity by the firm will be achieved faster if the company owners reshuffle directors at top positions. For example, the manager who racially profiled a job applicant should either be demoted or fired so that to caution the remaining senior officials. On the same note, the revised leadership structure needs to address the scarcity of female candidates at top hierarchies within the organization. Women occupying top positions will act as avenues through which other female workers can approach and share their opinions regarding aspects that need to be changed.
In addition, the strategy will introduce balanced gender equality while reducing cases of sexual harassment. Female applicants will be empowered to apply for higher vacancies in the firm because the existing executives would have paved way for more feminine representation (Moreno-GĂłmez, Lafuente & Vaillant, 2018). Basically, the initiative is one of the best ways to eliminate discrimination that occurs in form of sexual orientation and gender identity (Ng & Sears, 2020). Cases of unequal pay among men and women working in the same department will be completely eradicated. As the company collaborates with federal bodies to enact laws such as the Genetic and Racial Non-discriminatory Act, it is important to make changes in leadership positions so that the new laws can be more effective. The formulation of new regulations while maintaining the same people in power may not necessarily reciprocate positive results for the company, thus prompting the need for downsizing.
Lastly, diversity and inclusivity can be restored through the use of rewards. According to the recommendation in the earlier section, the board of management should use the whistleblower department to monitor the behavior of managers and punish those who break company laws. Employees who reveal cases of discrimination should be rewarded to encourage other colleagues to voice their experiences with the senior management. Some of the benefits to the tale teller can include but are not limited to salary increments, promotions, or extended holidays. The use of rewards will ensure that junior employees watch their seniors thus updating the management directly concerning the day-to-day activities in different departments.
Conclusion
It is equally important to sensitize workers about their rights and privileges that must be upheld by employers at the workplace. Many employees are afraid to share their experiences with their bosses because they fear losing their jobs or being demoted. Some employees may be sexually abused or receive defamatory remarks about their skin color or complexity but lack the confidence to retaliate against those assaults. In extreme cases, an employer may deliberately be overworked while his colleague enjoys plenty of free time especially if the manager does like some personal attributes about him. However, with the new set of staffing techniques in place, contemporary ethical practices such as diversity and inclusivity can be easily achieved. These strategies target at redefining the significance of inclusivity and diversity to achieve employee’s satisfaction.
The restructuring of leadership will help in the elimination of managers who perpetuate unethical practices such as gender discrimination and racial profiling among employees and job applicants. Leadership reforms focused on introducing female employees to top managerial positions will eliminate gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment. Concurrently, the incorporation of a whistleblower department tied with rewards will be a great incentive to ensure workers feel free to share and rate their encounters with other workmates and senior officials in the firm.
If the suggested recommendations are blended with the staffing approaches discussed in the previous section, Tescol’s overall efficiency will inevitably improve tremendously. Similarly, government agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission should enhance their operation and surveillance on companies to ensure full compliance with the policies documented in the civil rights act. If necessary, the company’s board of management should enact more efficient norms and policies that regulate the behavior of managers towards workers and job applicants to maintain diversity and inclusivity throughout different operations.
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