Sexual Harassment
One type of problem that Human Resource managers must deal with is sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is defined as behavior characterized by the making of unwelcome and inappropriate sexual remarks or physical advances in a workplace or other professional or social situation. Sexual harassment is more prevalent in workplace nowadays than it ever has been before. According to Alison Doyle, some examples of sexual assault include sharing sexually inappropriate pictures or videos, sending suggestive notes or emails, inappropriate touching, and asking sexual questions (Examples of Sexual and Non-Sexual Harassment, 2018). All of these examples listed above could lead to a complaint being filed by the victim or by an innocent bystander. Human Resource managers are there to hear any complaints being made and to then take the adequate steps necessary to resolve the situation and make sure the victim feels safe and comfortable in the workplace again.
Anytime sexual harassment happens in the workplace, it has a great effect on the victim and the other employees in the workplace. The first thing that any Human Resources manager needs to do is make sure that every employee has environment where they can feel comfortable talking about any issue that may come about. If an employee does feel comfortable coming forward and talking about being sexually harassed, then further harassment will continue to happen and could be detrimental toward the safety of the employees. Anytime sexual harassment happens in the workplace, it has a great effect on the victim and the other employees in the workplace. The first thing that any Human Resource manager needs to do is make sure that every employee has environment where they can feel comfortable talking about any issue that may come about. If an employee does feel comfortable coming forward and talking about being sexually harassed, then further harassment will continue to happen and could be detrimental toward the safety of the employees. Bonnie Scherry, G&A Partners’ director of Corporate HR, states, “The key to establishing such a culture is knowing your people on an ongoing basis and establishing avenues and providing opportunities where employees feel safe to share their concerns” (Protecting Victims of Sexual Harassment In The Workplace, nd.). Scherry gives examples of how a Human Resource manager can help facilitate this type of culture in the workplace. She states, “Being willing to speak with employees outside of the office or in a private location in case employees are concerned about being “caught” talking to HR by the person they’re reporting” (Protecting Victims of Sexual Harassment in The Workplace, nd.). This is a great way to assure that the victim and other employees feel safe discussing sexual harassment. Another example could be the company having an anonymous hotline that employees could call to discuss any issues. Sexual harassment is a sensitive subject and if needs to be handled anonymously then it should be in the best interest of employee.
As far as policies go for sexual harassment allegations in the workplace, most places have a zero tolerance policy. This means that under no circumstances is sexual harassment tolerated, being physical or verbal. Bonnie Scherry talks about policies and procedures that businesses should have in place. She states, “A policy that clearly states that sexual harassment is not tolerated and any reports will be fully investigated. This policy should also provide the avenues employees can use to report harassing behavior” (Protecting Victims of Sexual Harassment in The Workplace, nd.). She also suggests that companies should provide training on sexual harassment. This is for the employees to be able to know if they are being sexually harassed or if someone else is being sexually harassed. If it is not happening to them then they need to be able to see it going on and report it. When it is all said and done, Human Resource managers need to be able to provide a safe environment for people to talk about any sexual harassment that is going on in the workplace. They are here for the employees’ protection from any act of sexual harassment.
Religion
One of the many types of problems that Human Resource Managers have to deal with day to day is preventing discrimination. Discrimination is the form of selectively singling out a person or group for some reason pertaining to them that influences an outcome of some sort. This is a problem that must be carefully watched and prevented in order to ensure a safe work environment that promotes the overall organizational culture the company wants to instill into their employees. One of the most lasting discrimination topics that has sustained and has never completely been neutralized pertains to religion. This type of discrimination focuses on singling out the person’s religious beliefs that goes beyond having a difference of opinion, but is used for the for the purpose of rewarding or denying a person the same treatment as someone else because of it.
Religion is a strong topic for any employee whether they have one or not and will act accordingly to those beliefs even if prohibited. Religion is an integral part to being human and it lies with the Hope and Belief we put into it. This is why as a Human Resource Manager, it is important to understand the employees you have working under you and the religious background they have in order to foresee any future problems you might have. Not in every case do Human Resource Managers have to worry about this due to different working environments. A business that operates in South West Virginia will have a large majority of Christian workers if not all of them being Christian workers which will allow a certain level of understanding between employees and their overall interactions with each other; however, If the Human Resource Manager decided to hire a person with a different religious background like Islam, Atheist, or any other religion in this scenario there might be backfire.
Although the person may be qualified in this situation there is a high degree in which discrimination will occur either from the company or from the employees themselves. This situation can be prevented by ensuring the organizational culture does not except any discrimination whatsoever and such actions will be face punitive action of the severest degree. This will not totally get rid of the risk involved with the employees; however, it can ensure that the environment is as safe as it can be. Now in a slightly different scenario where the group of employees are completely diversified with many different religious backgrounds, but the employer is Islamic. The employer is looking for a person to assume a higher-level management job, and is pulling them from the pool of workers they already have working under them.
A problem that can occur from the company level with this type of discrimination is when the employer decides to promote a fellow employee who holds the same belief as they do instead of the merits of the work they provide to the company. In this same case the employer could also decide to demote someone with a different religious background. Religious discrimination all around is unacceptable no matter what you believe a business must remain focused objectively and prevent any unnecessary noise in the work environment that can affect the health of the organizational culture that they are trying to promote.
All types of discrimination affect the work environment which causes people to not provide the same level of work. So, although the discrimination may have only been targeted at one person it hurts the company as a whole in terms of the work that people will put out. This can lead to turnover due to the uneasiness of being in a hostile environment. This is case especially if the person who was persecuted had the same religious background as other employees. It is a slippery slope and can easily make a company with a good public image look entirely bad. I always try to remember that you can do good things for people your whole life; however, the first time you do something wrong they will never forget it. Furthermore, the company’s image and funds will have been ruined when they are sued by the person that was discriminated against. Human Resource Managers have the edge in the prevention of this type of discrimination because they can gauge the work environment and request changes in company policy as preventative measures for any type of discrimination. In my opinion Human Resource Managers are the first line of defense from the liabilities of owning and running a business.
Racial
Of all the different types of discrimination, the one that most people think of the most, is more than likely racial discrimination. Racial discrimination has a history as old as mankind itself, for as long as people have existed, those of different races have fought and demeaned each other for one reason or another. In regard to human resources, racial discrimination represents a longstanding, and incredibly difficult obstacle that needed to be overcome. This goal has received mixed success over the century long campaign for equality in the workplace.
Racial discrimination, at least in the United States, is largely synonymous with African Americans and their fight for equal rights. For human resources, this meant fighting against the implementation of Jim Crow laws in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. For reference, let’s use the rather famous example of Rosa Parks. Parks is famous for being arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus to a white person, which she was required to do by the laws at the time. During this era, there was little to nothing being done by human resources in incidents like this, since African Americans were considered to be less important than whites when it came to customer bases and consumers. While it isn’t as specific, a separate, but lesser known example, would be how Japanese immigrants and those of Japanese descent were treated in the United States during World War II.
In both examples presented Human resources did little to nothing to protect those being discriminated against. This can mainly be attributed to the wide spread and acceptance of racist philosophies during this era in history. This would eventually change with the advent of the Civil Rights Movement and the implementation of anti-discriminatory laws aimed at protecting minorities from prejudice and discrimination that they that had experienced in the earlier eras of history.
The first major law that required human resources to properly manage racial discrimination in a non-biased manner was the Title VII section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (Lussier and Hendon, 2017 P. 60) This act aided not just those of discriminated races, but aided nearly every group that was faced with prejudice in the workplace, by preventing discrimination on the basis of race, color, or religion. Later on, the Civil Rights Act of 1991 further strengthened the protection set by the 1964 act by allowing people who are discriminated against to receive compensatory and punitive damages as a result of their experiences.(Lussier and Hendon, 2017, P. 63-64) This reduced the likelihood of not just racial discrimination, but all kinds of discrimination, as now the perpetrators would be required to pay damages on top of any fines, they may incur for breaking the law. This act also had another addendum to the 1964 act. It stated that race norming was no longer legal. For those that are unfamiliar with the term, race norming is the practice of attaching different standards as to what is deemed as passable to people of different races. Therefore, after this act all people were graded based on the same standards, and as such were equal when it came to grade based employment opportunities.(Lussier and Hendon, 2017, P. 64)
While it is not specific to those of discriminated races, affirmative action has aided in the reduction of racial discrimination. Affirmative action has helped people from groups that have a history of being discriminated against receive preferential treatment when it comes to job related opportunities. That being said, there are essentially only two ways for affirmative action to be required by law. The first way requires the company in question to have a past of discriminatory and prejudiced behavior, and as a result receive a federal court order to create an affirmative action program. The other way only applies to companies that hold a contract with the federal government for $10,000 or greater annually. If this condition is met, executive order 11246 required the company in question to create and maintain an affirmative action program with a handful of exceptions. With all these policies, acts, and laws in play, racial discrimination is a far cry from what it once was. (Lussier and Hendon, 2017, P. 68-69) That being said, another form of discrimination that was prolific in the early twentieth century lies in the form of discrimination against the disabled.
Disabilities
America is the land of opportunity for many reasons, but the most important of those would include the ability of individuals with physical or mental disabilities to still be able to find gainful employment. Any company in this country is not allowed to deny employment to the disabled, as long as they are able to execute their duties effectively with proper accommodations. These accommodations could come in many forms. If a wheelchair-bound individual is seeking employment as a receptionist in a newly built building, perhaps the employers could install a wheelchair ramp for said individual if one is not already installed. As managers, we have to constantly be aware of our employees’ special needs, and always be sensitive to them. If we are insensitive to the disabled and their required accommodations for the workplace, we can quickly find ourselves and our companies fighting lawsuits with enough negative press to bury our employment as well as the livelihoods of the companies.
Luckily, there are many measures we can set in place as preventative controls when it comes to these conflicts. The first, and arguably most important measure we can take, is training our first-line managers properly. There are many outside firms in which you can hire to come and give sensitivity training to your managers. This could include the Equal Employment Opportunities Committee (EEOC), or If a sensitivity-qualified individual, such as a human resource manager already exists within your organization already, you could use them as a trainer instead. Another way to help prevent these conflicts would be through sheer experience; expose your managers to these conflicts by setting disabled employee hiring goals. When these managers are exposed to conflicts in the workplace, they will always have the experience to fall back on should another conflict arise in the future. Committees can also be organized for the pool of disabled employees. This does not include a unionized entity, which will bargain wages with the employer, but rather a unified group where one leading individual can be the voice of disabled employees whom might not feel comfortable speaking about their issues with the workplace. Managers should constantly seek to foster an environment where employees feel comfortable discussing their problems, at all levels. Being that most individuals in the workplace are too shy to speak out, things such as an anonymous suggestion box could be implemented. This way the employee can avoid the direct conflict, and the issue will still be made aware to the employer. In terms of a comfortable work environment, we should hoist up our disabled employees and make every effort possible to help them feel as much apart of the work team as every able-bodied employee. This could include using their pictures on company websites, with proper consent, or just simply treating them like everyone else. It is totally possible to be over-sensitive towards these employees, and if this happens, it could make the employee feel uncomfortable of over-conscious of their disability. We do not want that at all. We have to provide proper accommodations, make sure our leaders are properly trained, and treat the employees with the same level of respect as everyone else.
Conclusion
In conclusion discrimination, regardless of what form it takes, has come a long way over the past century. Human resources personnel have worked hard to ensure a safe, fair work environment for all people, regardless of their backgrounds, race, sex, disabilities, or religion. That being said the battle for complete equality still continues, and it’s up to the people in human resources to ensure that improvements continue in the workplace.
References
- Doyle, Alison. “Examples of Sexual and Non-Sexual Harassment in the Workplace.” The Balance Careers, The Balance Careers, 2018, www.thebalancecareers.com/examples-of-sexual-and-non-sexual-harassment-2060884.
- Lussier, R. N., & Hendon, J. R. (2017). Fundamentals of human resource management: Functions, applications, skill development. Los Angeles: Sage.
- “The Role Of HR, Employers In Preventing Workplace Sexual Harassment.” G&A Partners, 27 Apr. 2018, www.gnapartners.com/news/protecting-victims-sexual-harassment-workplace/.
