DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT

Diversity management

Diversity management

Introduction

Society labors intensely toward influencing the workplace into accepting diversity as it relates to individuals and their value to society. However, one can at times participate in personal bias to some degree. Personal bias lead to hiring or promoting those individuals that one perceives as being most like everyone else, in other words what is most acceptable to one person is someone that he or she feels is most similar to their expectation, not someone who is different from the way that one is perceived. Even though most people are unaware that they practice personal bias it is still a form of discrimination based on the fact that if the other person is not like the average person, they will not be able to properly perform the functions and duties of the job.

Discussion

A vast majority of people also have certain beliefs or perceptions that lead them to stereotype particular individuals and socially distinct groups (Bennett-Alexander and Hartman , 2007). Stereotyping usually involves false assumptions that all group members share the same characteristics, which leads on to believe everyone in a particular group will act in exactly the same manner or fashion. As a result, stereotyping often results in overall general discrimination within the workplace. As enlightened as one believes to be, society still maintains discriminates based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

Federal and state laws prohibit discrimination in employment based upon race, creed, color, national origin, religion, gender, age and disability. These rules include many different kinds of employer actions, such as hiring, promotions, firing, and conditions of work. Sexual or racial harassment on the job including pressure on an employee to grant sexual favors, or other conditions that create a racially, ethnically, or sexually hostile working environment can also constitute employment discrimination.

The most ...