How Far Should You Push Diversity

Background Review

The major players in this case are identified as Charles Begley (GlobeBank’s Managing director of diversity recruiting), Kumkum Bhatnagar (deputy director to Charles), Will Sonenberg (CEO of GlobeBank), and Bernie Regan (head of investment banking). Reviewing “How Hard Should You Push Diversity,” Will Sonenberg publishes an article in Bloomberg Businessweek criticizing the company’s efforts on bringing diversity to upper management levels. This directly impacts Charles Begley, as he is the director of diversity recruiting, which oversees the diversity progress within the company. The article slams the effort put in by the recruiting committee that includes Kumkum Bhatnagar. The committee select candidates with qualities that could potentially lead to better positions. Charles and his group have been working towards adding diversity to the company since he started working there by providing opportunities to diverse associates, but he has only confirmed he places people in his company to sit “on the bench. ”Charlie realizes his prospects are not actually moving up in the company ladder.

Bernie Regan is an example of the problem which has confirmed his point from two previous candidates he recruited that have not moved in level with the company’s diversity efforts. He does not seem too keen about the effort Charlie and his group put in towards diversity by claiming the managing directors have most of the control over who makes it to the next level. Bhatnagar is recommending the group input quotas towards their diversity efforts which would include benefits or bonuses for managing directors who meet the goals. He hears opinions from both sides that could severely impact the direction of the company in a good or bad way. Now, Charles is faced with the decision to tell Will, the CEO, how to implement a new strategy that will help the company towards being more diverse in upper management positions.

Analysis

Each case has their own examples of discrimination that are common in the workplace. The cases shown display discriminatory acts against age, gender, and obesity. However, obesity is not technically included in discriminatory laws, but it has come into light there can be discrimination against an obese person as obesity has been on the rise. Obesity can lead to health effects and could impact work ethic due to the nature of health problem it can cause. Discriminatory practices can impact hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, compensation, retaliation, and various types of harassment. Employment discrimination laws are in place to prevent these practices being used in the workplace based on race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, physical disability, and age by employers. Even though there are policies in place to protect individuals from these prejudices, there are hidden bias that people can be unaware of that can impact individuals from moving up in the company ladder or possibly being hired into a company from the start.

Action Plan

My solution would be to actively manage diversity in the company without putting quotas into effect. I think Charles efforts are a good start for GlobeBank towards implementing diversity, but they are not enough with a growing company’s efforts. They need to follow up with managing directors. They need to work on developing the skills of the new candidates, so they can grow to be potential leaders. They should develop training programs to build candidates skills and also for managers. I also think they need to be actively engaged monitoring the hiring and the exiting of employees. The committee gets candidates into the door, but they do not identify the needs of the company with managing directors. They need to be actively engaged with candidates and the managers. “Getting in the door is important, but we shouldn't declare victory at a job offer.

A lot of organizations have stumbled by focusing on what it takes to get a job but not providing enough insight or clarity into what it takes to be a high performer in the job (Lum, L. 2017). ” The committee could start by following up with candidates by getting them involved into the company culture. New hires could be put into groups of entry year similar to how the school system put students into each grade, so they can build relationships with other colleagues and build skill through training programs put together by the company. Learning doesn’t stop at the education level, and can be harder for individuals to learn soft skills. They can get input from colleagues how they are adapting and developing an open line of communication with each other. This will help brand their company for future employees to allow more candidates to want to be a part of their candidate pool (Gale S. F. 2017). The committee could provide diversity training programs to get managers more involved and identify needs. This could open up a line of communication and better be able to introduce new ideas. Leaders can also be more involved by developing mentorship and sponsorship programs. This involves high level leaders by grooming young candidates for more advanced positions in the company. “Mentoring and professional development opportunities are essential in order to keep minority employees employed within a particular organization (Larsen, S. E. 2017). ” I also think the committee needs to be actively engaged with the company in the hiring process and possibly an exit interview. This would identify retention issues and if employees are leaving the company for not being able to grow, Charles would be able to input the numbers. “Employees who are strongly identified with their organizations are likely to work harder in order to achieve organizational goals, therefore increasing their job performance and, in particular, extra-role performance. They show greater loyalty to their organizations and are thus more likely to remain with their organizations.

In conclusion, I think every company has a learning curve with diversity and new processes are needed now more than ever. The candidate pool is increasing and it is up to companies to adapt to a young and diverse workforce, especially with the older generation exiting. I believe the best strategy would be to actively engage with the diversity efforts by growing candidates’ skills by developing training programs, sponsorship and mentorship programs for managers, and monitoring retention of diverse candidates.