Recruiting and Retaining People Lecture 10: Equal Opportunities and Diversity

Unfair Discrimination “Women who work full-time are cheated out of around £330,000 over their lifetime” (Prosser, 2007) “Minority ethnic full-time male employees earn on average 29% less per week than do white full-time employees” (Kirton and Greene, 2005:25) “43% of disabled women and 50% of disabled men are in paid employment compared to 72% and 86% of non-disabled women and men respectively (Kirton and Greene, 2005:29)

Unfair Discrimination “Older people, particularly women, are over- represented in low-pay, low-status forms of employment..” (Kirton and Greene, 2005:35) “There is evidence of widespread concealment of sexuality among lesbians and gay men” (Kirton and Greene, 2005:37) See Taylor (2010: 76) for other examples/ statistics that suggest there are pay gaps and employment gaps between different societal groups Consider other groups? e.g. travellers, size

But there is 40 years of legislation outlawing unfair discrimination…. Equal Pay Act 1970 Sex Discrimination Act 1975 Race Relations Act 1976 Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Human Rights Act 1998 Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 Civil Partnership Act 2004 Disability Discrimination Act 2005 Equality Act 2006 Equality Act 2010 Not to mention a raft of regulations. E.g. See EU Equal Treatment Framework Directive; See Equality and Human Rights Commission at

Protection Covers… Six major characteristics across EU: –Gender –Race, ethnicity and national origin –Disability –Sexual orientation –Religion or belief –Age Plus to less comprehensive extent across EU: –Fixed term employment –Part-time work –Agency work (since October 2011)

Protection in UK also Covers…. Plus in UK, other protected categories: –Trade union membership/non-membership –Marital status –Ex-offenders whose convictions are now spent –Whistle-blowers –People undergoing gender reassignment

So Why Does Unfair Discrimination Still Occur? Taylor (2010: 76) argues there are various explanations/and no simple single explanation He summarises Graves and Powell (2008: 450), however, to highlight the main issues: –Stereotyping –Prejudice –Status characteristics –Social roles –Prototype matching –Similarity attraction/social identity –Group composition

Unfair Discrimination Direct discrimination/treating less favourably Indirect discrimination Victimisation Harassment/violating person’s dignity Not making reasonable adjustments Instructions and pressure to discriminate Segregation (Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2007)

Where Unfair Discrimination Can Occur (Noon, in Beardwell and Claydon, 2010: 197) Advertising posts Recruitment process Selection techniques Contracted T&Cs Pay Dress codes Working hours Discipline process Appraisal interviews Allowances/bonuses Dismissal process Company pensions EI processes Training opportunities Culture and norms Custom and practice arrangements Promotion process

Advice from the Equality and Human Rights Commission to organizations is to: Review your current position Develop and implement an equality policy and action plan Promote equality and good employment practice Equality Training Deal properly with complaints and grievances Monitor progress and encourage continuous improvement

In Reality…… Typology of organizations (Kirton and Greene, 2005:207) reflects different cultures/attitudes to equality –The negative organization –The minimalist/partial organization –The compliant organization –The comprehensive/proactive organization See also LaFasto (1992 in Torrington et al, 2008: )

Theoretical Issues on Equality Difficult to define –Equality of opportunity or equality of outcome? –Treat people the same or differently? Different traditions and models –Liberal –Radical –Managing Diversity

Managing Diversity Policy orientations –The social justice case –The business case Organizational policies reflect social justice/fairness or business needs? Problems (Kirton and Greene, 2005) –Organisational needs put before equality –Short-termism in outlook/evaluation Solutions/way forward on equality?

The Social Justice Case (Noon in Beardwell and Claydon, 2010: ) This approach emphasises fairness and dignity at work –E.g. being aware of/ensuring decisions made without prejudices and stereotyping –Promotes ‘level playing field’ in procedures, opportunities/’fair share of cake’ in outcomes –But, can structural disadvantages in society (e.g. schooling, lack of connections etc) be overcome this way? Further legislation/policies required? –E.g. Positive action? / positive discrimination? Fairness/morality a laudable agenda but not an organisation’s main concern? – profit and efficiency likely to be foremost concern?

The Business Case (Noon in Beardwell and Claydon, 2010: ) This approach stresses that equality and diversity agenda makes good business sense: –It is a better use of people/using and retaining all talent potential –It leads to a broader customer base –Creates a broader labour pool for recruitment –It leads to a positive company image/brand –However, in practice does ‘good business sense’ argument get used to justify not employing a minority candidate? e.g. cost? –Cost/profitability foremost in business view? –What measures can be used to show positive effects of equality and diversity on the business? –Will business wait to see long-term effects/benefits?