Equal opportunity relates to legislation intended to outlaw
discrimination. (Mullins, L, 2010).
Within a business the human resources department will take care of equal opportunities issues that may rise within the organisation. There can be problems
between employees or managers, the reason for the equal opportunities
legislation is that is makes businesses have to action in a positive way
against discrimination with the work environment. The legislation such as the
equality act 2010 helps to eliminate unjustified discrimination by making it
unlawful and it provides a mechanism for individuals that suffer from or have
suffered discrimination to seek redress.
The different forms of discrimination that can arise are :
indirect and direct discrimination.
Indirect
discrimination is when a person has or is treated unfairly due to some
requirement that would disproportionately exclude the group that the person belongs
to, or when the requirement is not be justifiable. An example of indirect discrimination would
be all employees have to be over a certain height in order to do the job.
Direct discrimination
is when an individual is or has been treated less favourably for a reason that
has directly to do with his/her sex, marital status , race, origin of
background , age and disability. An example of direct discrimination is to
refuse a woman a truck driver job due to her being a woman.
Diversity
Diversity focuses upon the multiplicity of differences among
people on the variety of people as heterogeneous grouping. Individuals
differences are the basis of diversity. (Mullins, L, 2010). It also means that the business is trying to
meet the aims and objectives that were set by the business at the beginning of
the year.
Some of the advantages of diversity are an increased adaptability
and broader service range. In terms of increased adaptability businesses that
employ a diverse workforce are able to provide a larger variety of solutions to
problems with a service, sourcing and allocation of resources. Employees from
several different backgrounds bring to the business, individual skills and
experience in making suggestions for more flexibility in adapting to customer
demands and market fluctations.
The boarder service range means that their will be a more
diverse collection of skills and experience this will include for example
cultural understating or language skills. These skills allow business to
provide services to customers on a global scale. ( Ariclesfree.co.uk, 2012)
Differences
between diversity and discrimination
Differences between diversity and equal opportunities is
that diversity is focused upon dealing with discrimination , by helping to
solve issues and problems so that there is an increase in the contribution of
employees to the business. In equal opportunity
cooperation between employees is strongly encouraged. Diversity does not
require action to be taken in the same way as equal opportunity on which the
human resources department in a business is relied upon to deal with the issues.
(Bizcoverimg.com, 2008)
Views of employers
to wards young people and older people
The views that employers have against young people is that
they are lazy and not committed to the jobs. This would show that employers
think that young people are not motivated to come to work on time and are not committed
because they will often not complete their tasks to the standards that is
required by the business. . they way in which business can change their perceptions
of young people is by offering incentives and appraisals to those young people
that are working hard and are committed as this will also motivate un professional
young people too also work hard and do a professional job so that they are also
able to receive the appraisals and incentives.
The views that employers have towards older people is that
they are unable to do jobs quickly and are unable to do certain task due to
their old age. Employers also believe that they can be a liability for the
business are they are more likely to get injured at work. The organisation can
change their perception of older people by offering them longer brakes and holidays with smaller shifts so they are
able to rest, the business could also position elder people on tills and have
younger people do carrying items and stocking shelves. Because younger people
will be more productive in doing labor work than older people would be . these suggestions would be beneficial for the
business as it would help to change business attitudes and productivity of
staff.
B&Q diversity
and equal opportunities
“At B&Q we are committed to equal opportunities in
employment and value diversity within our Company. We wish to create a positive
work place, where people feel comfortable to be themselves and where everyone
is treated with fairness, dignity and respect. We will eradicate all forms of
inappropriate/offensive behaviour including bullying, intimidation,
victimisation, discrimination or harassment and ensure that we protect the
rights and opportunities of an employee to work and progress.” (diy.com,2010)
What b& Q say about diversity is that respecting
diversity is central to their success, or reputation and their
profitability. It’s not an optional
extra or a nice to have; it is the mark of our humanity and is crucial to our
B&Q culture. (diy.com, 2010)
In order for B&Q to increase their diversity and make
sure that every employee has equal opportunities B&Q uses monitoring, this
is useful as they say that by B&Q holding monitoring information on every
employee consisting of their age, disability, gender and ethnic origin, B&Q
are able to identify areas for improvement, by doing this B&Q hope to
ensure that customers and staff will say it is a great place to work and shop
for everyone. The information is treated
confidentially. In order to make improvements
upon diversity they have set some goals for the year, these are:
● To achieve and retain a top ten
position in Race for Opportunity Benchmark
● To achieve our aspirational gender
target for total management population and improve position in Opportunity Now
(Gender) Benchmark
● To achieve and retain a top ten position
in the Employers Forum on Disability Standard Benchmarking
● To achieve an upper quartile
position in Stonewall LGBT index
● To achieve a world-class score on Q12
employee engagement measure (diversity question)
● To extend the range of Daily Living Made
Easy products and increase sales in this category by 10%
● To achieve external recognition
for B&Q’s diversity programmes from a range of external stakeholders (diy.com, 2010)
Conclusion
In conclusion their can be many cases within an organisation
where discrimination may occur between employees in the workplace , in order to prevent this from occurring
manger and bosses need to make sure that if there are any problems positive
action is taken in order to deal with the problem HR departments are responsible
for dealing with equal opportunities and diversity within the business, B&Q
is a very large organisation that has
many legislations and acts that are enforced to prevent discrimination and
increase diversity with the business for their employees.
References
Mullins,
L J. ( 2010) Management And Organisational Behaviour. 9th Ed. Pearson’s
Education Limited: Essex
