Introduction
In recent years, organizations in all sectors have been aggressively
working towards a concept called diversity of workforce. When you see a
job posting that talks about equal opportunity, you might be wondering
what it is all about. To put it simply, diversity in employment means
that the employer is actively pursuing what can be called
non-discrimination of potential recruits on the basis of gender,
ethnicity, physical constraints and the like. What this means is that
the employer or the organization adopts a policy wherein they do not
differentiate between applicants on the grounds listed above and merit
is the sole criterion when deciding the suitability of a potential
recruit.
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 manycountries
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.
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.
Some suggestions
Among the ways in which employers can encourage diversity is by
promoting the concept of “blind resumes” that do not have the name,
gender or ethnicity of the applicant mentioned. This would ensure that
recruiters screen the resumes on the basis of the applicants’
qualifications alone and other factors are secondary. Another way to
ensure diversity is by sensitizing the workforce to gender and ethnic
issues, and ensure that they are more tolerant of people who are unlike
them.
Conclusion
In conclusion, one needs to understand the difference between having a
policy of diversity and actually practicing it by comparing it to the
adage about the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit
of the law. Only by ensuring that the law is followed in spirit as well
can employers truly embrace diversity.
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