Diversity in Organizations

9 Diversity in Organizations

9.1 Why Diversity ?

With the advent of globalization, it has become imperative for organizations to have a workforce that is composed of different ethnicities and with the maturing of the business paradigm; gender is no longer a constraint. This has prompted large scale changes in the way organizations recruit people. Further, in many countries the laws governing corporates have been legislated in such a way that makes the firms actively encourage diversity. For instance, the US is the leading proponent of diversity with the adoption of the “Equal Opportunity Act”. This act mandates employers not to discriminate on any basis be it gender, color, lifestyle preferences or any other traits as mentioned in the act. This has given a fillip to the employment of women and people of color and has removed the barriers that were threatening to make these groups of people at a minority in the corporate world as well.

 

9.2 Still a long way to go

Though the laws mandate equal opportunity, in practice, the hiring of disadvantaged and minority groups is still lagging behind in relative terms when compared with the majority groups. For instance, it is not uncommon for employers to weed out resumes of women and people of color. In India, there are still barriers to the hiring of people from certain states as was evidenced in news reports that emanated in the recent past. These practices are certainly undesirable and cast a cloud about the intentions of employers in embracing diversity at the workplace. Further, given the spate of lawsuits about sexual discrimination and harassment on the basis of ethnicity, it becomes clear that more than laws that deal with these issues, we need a mindset change among the firms and the practice of diversity is something that has to be encouraged from the top. (Juneja, n.d.)

References

Juneja, P., n.d. management study guide. [Online]
Available at: https://www.managementstudyguide.com/human-resource-management.htm