Individual Assignment
Organisational Behaviour
(PBSA812)
Equal opportunities versus diversity management
Executive Summary:
To gain insight into equal opportunities and diversity management we will define them. We will then look at the differences between the two statements. By gaining knowledge around the differences we will investigate what affect it has on organisations in their efforts of improving diversity. It will be looked at in the South African context. The next step will be to look at cornerstones reach by organisations this far. As a conclusion we will look at the implications this has on management and the skills they will need to affectively manage diversity.
Equal opportunities versus diversity management:
To
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Layer one is one’s personality. This represents “a stable set of characteristics that is responsible for a person’s identity”. (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2008:37) The next layer will be that of internal dimension or primary dimension as per the workinfo.com human resources website. This layer represents those attributes which we have no control over such as Age, Ethnicity, Colour or Race, Gender, physical ability and our sexual orientation. This layer also determines most of our life situations as it mainly dictate with who we interact with, where we want to stay or what we earn. The third layer of diversity is referred to as the secondary dimension or external dimension of diversity. It includes external factors which influence who we are. Examples of this will be income, geographic location (where you live or where you were born), parental status, marital status, political affiliation, believes and work experiences. Other factors will also be our appearances and our personal habits. This layer will be the one that influences your attitude and behaviour towards life and other people. Diversity training in most organisations takes place at this layer. Why? B Vaugh (2007) (as quoted by Wikipedia, 2009), defines diversity training as “training for the purpose of increasing participants’ cultural awareness, knowledge and skills,
Diversity must be created and maintained with in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of diversity onto an organization in addition to explaining the legally mandated and stakeholder driven explanations for mandatory diversity.
Making sure equality and diversity procedures are followed in a business environment will impacts on overall success of organisation. By recognising the strengths of differences between individuals company can get a great advantage in terms of employee motivation and clients satisfaction.
Diversity in any organisation includes hiring and promoting a workforce of people with differences. These differences include race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical abilities and economic backgrounds. The premise of a diverse workplace is that employees are
I am very happy witht the progress that Vicky has made in her job so far. She has been with the Bureau about 8 months and she has become invaluable to us. She understands the division and bureau vision and direction. She is a real team player who actively participates in bureau meetings and activities such as coming up with a vision and mission statement for the PPI bureau.
What is diversity and what does it entail? Luther College defines diversity as “complex differences and similarities in perspectives, identities, and points of view among members of an institution as well as among individuals who make up the wider community.” Diversity has been a hot topic in today’s news and social networking arenas with the ever-changing race relations that are prevalent in our country and around the world. The changes in perception towards minorities and women hasn’t just affected these groups socially, but has brought forth different questions about the benefits that a truly diverse would place would have on companies. What this work will attempt to do is elaborate on the treatment of
Diversity is what makes people different, not just culturally but in human differences. Having a multitude of differences in the workforce gives an organization the ability to use many ideas to reach a common goal. A person could say that a diverse group of people together in one room can accomplish greater achievements than a room filled with the same types of individuals. Managers understand the concept of diversity, and how important diversity is to the success of a company’s ability to implement programs that continue to develop a harmonious and diverse workplace. The recognition that diversity is a reality in the workforce has generated an enormous amount of activity over the years among leaders in business, government, and civil
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), Affirmative Action and Diversity are key concepts of public human resources management in the United States. Human Resource Managers must pay careful attention to these concepts and their values in order to keep their work place compliant, positive and free of controversy. One has to understand the values, history and laws that have shaped each of these concepts. This essay will attempt to briefly outline each concept, divulge briefly into their formation and project their evolution in the future based on the author
Diversity is a popular topic in today’s business world, but the definition of the word varies vastly between organizations. Some definitions are one sentence where others are a paragraph long. To add to the confusion, employees have their own ideas about diversity when entering the workforce that may collaborate with or contradict the organization’s explanation. This paper will compare and contrast four definitions concerning diversity to highlight the similarities and differences of the word according to national and international organizations. Also, the author will explore diversity categories in regard to her own experiences in life.
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With both parents in the Navy, I was surrounded by a diverse, ever-changing populace for the majority of my life while we lived in Virginia Beach. My friends, classmates, and fellow city residents consisted of a myriad of different ethnicities, religions, and backgrounds. Being raised in such a diverse culture helped me foster an open mind and respect everyone. Additionally, growing up in a dual-military family I endured multiple moves and being separated from one of my parents for long periods of time. While troublesome, I feel this gave me a unique advantage. I have become self-reliant and I am more apt to take initiative than many of my peers. Furthermore, I learned to quickly adapt to my surroundings. My upbringing has overall led to me
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Intent vs. Perception. Antoinette Mayer worked for DigiSys, a multimillion dollar technology company where many of the company’s senior managers were retired military officers. Jay Strong, her boss, became very friendly in an awkward way with Mayer one day where his conversation moved from business topics to more personal conversation. As time progressed, he got “warmer” towards Mayer; seemed to encounter her more in the company cafeteria and requested more of her time under the pretense of gathering updates. After many encounters like this, she decided to do something about it so she went to the Human Resources vice president for assistance. He told her that he didn’t think she had much of a case. The company was full of military
Managing diversity within organisation is about ‘recognising this range of differences in people and valuing people as individuals, respecting their differences and their differing needs. It is also about accommodating differences wherever possible so that an individual can play a full part in the working environment’ (Daniels and Macdonald, 2005)
First and foremost, it is important to note that diversity expands on and is exceedingly correlated to the concept of equality. Hence, in order to recognize how the two terms co-exist within each other when either one is being referenced, one must distinguish how diversity and equality management function as two different initiatives in