Workplace Diversity Guidelines
Diversity in the workplace is encouraged by U.S. statutes that forbid discrimination in employment practices. Laws by themselves do not change attitudes, and many companies have developed guidelines for incorporating diversity into the values of their organization. With the rise of global markets, some employers feel that a diverse workforce provides a competitive edge as well as fulfills legal requirements.
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Anti-Discrimination Laws
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The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) is the federal agency charged with enforcing anti-discrimination laws. Major legislation that the EEOC enforces includes the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Practices prohibited by these acts include discriminating in any employment practice based on the race, color, age, national origin, sex or physical disability.
Diversity in Hiring
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An example of diversity-hiring guidelines is the UCLA Faculty Diversity guidelines, which advise that efforts to hire qualified women and minorities should be proactive. Suggestions include concerted outreach on job boards and among colleagues, as well as mandatory inclusion of the phrase "Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer" on all job advertisements.
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Principles
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According to the Association for Specialists in Group Work, raising awareness is an important part of diversity-competent groups. Awareness of personal limitations in working with others who differ in race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, religion, and values is often a first step. Diversity-skilled workers show comfort, tolerance and sensitivity to the differences of others and recognize how racism, sexism and stereotyping negatively affect people professionally and personally.
Recommendations
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Some recommended practices from the Chicago Land Association include bringing in speakers from diverse backgrounds, diversity training for staff and volunteers, and proactively recruiting members of under-represented demographic groups. Another suggestion is to scan all company publications to ensure that language is gender-neutral and images represent individuals from different ethnic backgrounds.
Considerations
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According to Embracing Diversity, the challenge to embracing diversity in the workplace is due to the natural human tendency to gravitate toward people who are like ourselves and to stereotype those who are not. Arguably, all humans possess biases and these must be overcome in order to operate within the law and to tap into the strengths that different viewpoints can bring to an organization.
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References
- Photo Credit silhouette of a crowd image by Christopher Hall from Fotolia.com
