Compare and contrast Equal Opportunities Policies with Diversity Management
There are similarities as well as differences in the policies of Equal opportunity and the Diversity management. Equal opportunity is imposed legislatively by government on the Industries to minimize discrimination on the basis of sex, race, ethnic origin and other characteristics irrelevant for the tasks undertaken in a job in an Industry. Its orientation and perspective is social justice and equity in the workplace.
In UK with this legislative and external imposition and regulation the discrimination persists in UK workplaces. That is many companies in the Industry do not have policies and practices to implement equal opportunity policies in human resource management area. How ever some organizations have adopted these policies in order to be a socially responsible citizen or they value equity and social justice as an important principle in their human resource processes and practices or in fear of legal sanctions and social pressures.
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In essence equal opportunity polices are not internally imposed by management but it is externally imposed and social in its orientation not individualistic. In other words equal opportunity policies outcomes need not or perceived by management that these can improve the firm or industries bottom line by adopting these policies. However the diversity management and equal employment policies address some minority groups disadvantage and give opportunities for carrier advancement. better quality of work life and reduce discriminatory practices in selection. promotion and training and pay and compensation in the workplace. That is they are to some degree benefit these disadvantage groups in society to participate in the labor force and integrate in society rather than alienation.
In contrast Diversity management focus on the diversity practices which enhances organizational effectiveness and enhance their bottom line results. It direct its policies
To individuals rather than groups. It identifies special talents and values of women and other minority groups in a particular section or jobs, which may be beneficial for the organization. In other wards its orientation is not equity or equality and social justice but how to harness the diverse force to enhance their bottom line. It may tolerate discrimination if it is not hampering its work processes and its organizational effectiveness. As contrast to equal opportunities policies it is driven by management imperatives rather than by external imposition and it is individualistic not social in its orientation.
In addition Diversity management differs from firm to firm and Industry specific and its scale and importance in its human resource policies compared to equal employment policies, which are legislative prescriptions, and applies to all Industries. That is Diversity management is more flexible than equal employment policies as it has to satisfy legal and other social and ethical requirements to meet its social justice outcomes.
In UK Hospitality Industry is a Growing Industry. It serves a diverse range of customers nationally and internationally. In this context and to satisfy the legal and social requirements it can adopt a mix of equal opportunity policies to reduce discriminatory practices and harassment in the workplace and racial stereotypes from workplace and provide an equitable environment as well adopt policies which is consistent with equal opportunity policies and not contradictory and meet its bottom line not at the expense of equity at all costs which hamper the image of industry as a socially responsible one and
Face legal sanctions if they contravene any equal opportunity legislation in UK.
To challenge issues faced by women in the hospitality industry and enhance prospects of women progress in to senior management positions the Industry as a whole must consider women issues in the work place is as important as a policy issue and raise its consciousness so that it can motivate most of the participants to adopt human resource policies which reflect equal opportunities policies or Diversity management which address these issues adequately and monitor its progress on a continuous basis and have a
Reporting system so that it can refine and improve any shortcomings and identify weaknesses in its implementation and its appropriateness to its unique circumstances
Human resource management involves recruitment, selection, promotion, training, pay and labor relations. The Hospitality Industry must equal opportunity policies or diversity management in all these areas to redress women issues and prospects for women to hold senior management positions.
Recruitment strategies, which is compatible with equal opportunity policy and or Diversity Management to redress women issues in Hospitality Industry
In recruitment process it must choose a variety of methods to notify positions available such as in news papers including ethnic press, University programs, Advertising in TV channels including the ethnic channels and promote the company as an inclusive company and inform applicants about their human resource policies so that a variety of women from diverse background who is capable can apply and the company or the Industry can choose from a diverse source of talent. In this manner the Industry can give opportunities on equal ground with male participants based on merit for the job openings and attract talented women from diverse background to consider applying for the job.
It enables women from minority background to be attracted to apply for jobs because they can have opportunity to further their carriers if they contribute to the company and
They know equal opportunity principles are implemented in assessment processes, organizational culture which is inclusive and cross-cultural in its human relations approach and decision-making system in the company or industry or fair chance they can advance to senior management positions in the Industry or company.
Selection strategies, which is compatible with equal opportunity policy and or Diversity Management to redress women issues in Hospitality Industry
If women issue to be addressed in Hospitality Industry it must change its staff selection strategies so that it can not only select staff with appropriate skills but also have the values and perspective as well as cross-cultural experience or the ability to acquire such skills is paramount. There fore its selection strategies must not only take pencil and paper assessment but also other tests which inform the psychological and cross-cultural knowledge and experience and emotional intelligence. It must also employ interview
as a selection method which reveals the applicants aptitude to the job not in terms of skills requirements but also other human relations and his or her value systems and
Personality profile and perspectives. It must also provide mentoring programs and other assistance so that the applicants do not perceive the test as unfair or biased. As well interview panel it must have adequate women represented so that the biases in interpreting information can be kept to a minimum.
Promotional strategies, which is compatible with equal opportunity policy and or Diversity Management to redress women issues in Hospitality Industry
As the UK hospitality Industry faces many clients from many countries from diverse background it make business sense to have a multicultural staff which can serve these clients effectively and the performance of managers must consider this fact and assess
How the managers are managing their multicultural workforce and addressing their issues
Is vital to retain skilled staff in the industry and have an assessment program which is broader than job performance and quantitative measures. It must also take steps to increase the number of senior managers as women in their organization and give carrier prospects which is based on merit and based on broader assessment mechanism to assess
which is not biased against women. It also must take action if women issues regarding promotion if raised by them by inquiring and addressing these issues particularly if they feel they are victimized or assessed in a biased or in a stereotypical manner. That is it must have staff survey strategies, which is compatible with equal opportunity policy and or Diversity Management to redress women issues in Hospitality Industry promotional program to assess the effectiveness of their promotional programs and its implementation of their programs, which satisfies the women issues in the organization.
Staff development strategies, which is compatible with equal opportunity policy and or Diversity Management to redress women issues in Hospitality Industry
The staff development strategies are vital to raise the consciousness of the managers so that they know at least how these diversity management can not only equitable but it makes business sense in a changing market and in the era of globalization of the world economy. In addition it also will improve cross-cultural knowledge of managers and make to use the talents of women from diverse background to make innovative and quality decisions, which is vital in a fast changing world to survive and grow in the future. As training strategies it can adopt role-plays, consciousness rising sessions to enable staff to tell their experiences and share experiences so that managers and staff become sensitive to each other’s need and improve the quality of relationship within the company as well in Industry. As well it can have cross-cultural training programs so that
Managers become more effective and also become effective leaders. In addition it can obtain from government sources best training programs suited to their organization and also can employ consultants to deliver programs, which is compatible with their equal opportunity and or Diversity management programs.
The Equal opportunities policies must be monitored on a regular basis so that the management can refine and review and identify weaknesses in its implementation.
There fore it must have a reporting system within the Industry so that it can adopt Industry best practice or benchmark its against the benchmark and explore to refine its human resource policies, administrative systems, assessment systems an organizational issues such as job promotions, leadership training, motivational techniques, pay structure
Of women or equal pay issues in the Industry on a regular basis. This also will be an asset as the outside stakeholders will view the company as a socially responsible citizen and improve its image. In addition the implementation of equal opportunity policies will address women discriminatory practices in the workplace in regards to training, promotion, childcare issues, pregnancy issues and flexible work arrangement in particular as women needs flexible work arrangements than men due to pregnancy and childcare issues. They can also adopt family friendly workplace policies to redress women issues in the work place. As discussed above the equal employment opportunities and diversity management can be used in the Hospitality Industry in a specific sense on a separate basis or in combination depending on the unique circumstances and the management
Philosophy and orientation of the company. The success or failure of such policies will depend on the top management support and the managerial ability and cross-cultural knowledge and commitment to such practices. If the Industry do not raise awareness by conducting awareness and consciousness building program on a regular basis then these policies will work for some time and not fork in the medium to long-term.
Conclusion
As discussed above equal opportunity and diversity management have different orientation and their aims are different. However these policies if adopted in a contextual manner given the unique circumstances of each firm applying equal opportunity policy or diversity management or a combination of these as discussed above by reflecting its policies in its human resource management policies can address to some extent the women issues in the Hospitality Industry and also can create opportunities for women to
Hold senior management positions if review its programs on a continuous basis to improve effectiveness of their programs based on facts and research in the Hospitality
Industry. It is also important that as it must operate within the law it must to some extent
Must have equal opportunity policies adopted to satisfy its legal, moral and social justice requirements. In addition as discussed above it must benchmark its programs to Industry best practice to review its programs and their for improve their effectiveness to redress women issues and improve prospects for women to hold senior management positions within the Industry. It is also important to hold programs, which will increase women issues in the Industry on a regular basis so that it enhances consciousness building and maintaining it for the programs to become successful.
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Compare and contrast Equal Opportunities Policies with Diversity Management. (2018, Feb 15). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/compare-and-contrast-equal-opportunities-policies-with-diversity-management/
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