Discuss the importance and role of diversity|HR
The purpose of an assignment is to ensure that the Learner is able to:
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Table of contents
Introduction
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QUESTION -1
Diversity efforts were driven in the 80’s, and early ’90’s primarily by the need to begin to adapt to the realities of a shrinking talent pool, and revised legislation ‘outlawing’ discriminatory HR practices based on colour and gender. For instance, ‘Equal Employment Opportunity’ practices and subsequent ‘Valuing Diversity’ efforts focused on a subset of the population, requiring employers to increase the presence of under-represented groups in their workforce.
The scope of diversity work expanded dramatically from 1994 onwards with the promulgation of the South Africa Constitution Act, and from 1998 onwards with the passing of the Employment Equity Act. Employers have been forced (by law) to accelerate the hiring of a more diverse workforce and to remove the barriers to employment progress for previously disadvantaged groups. However, changing the numbers has not been enough; figuring out how to effectively work together is the bigger challenge, and education about differences has been introduced.
While heeding the law is mandatory, this “extra effort,” which focuses on diversity training and interpersonal learning, is still perhaps viewed as an optional extra frequently not tied to the business, and often not as effective as newly ‘affirmed’ leadership intends. While there are a few success stories (like SA Breweries), there were many cases in which participants either do not know why they are there or are not able to apply what they had learned back on the job because their corporate culture does not reinforce components of the education they receive.
Some organisations are at the starting blocks where they are genuinely trying to understand the business rationale behind doing this work, and not just stopping there, unsure of what to do next. At the other end of the continuum, some leaders have already learned that attending to diversity issues could differentiate their organisation as an employer, vendor, or service provider – and continue to take action. Within the next 3-5 years the legislation around Employment Equity (second generation legislation) will undoubtedly begin to force employers to examine diversity in the context of not only the business case, but also the people dimension of the business strategy, which, in turn, has an impact on both the workforce and its customers.
With the above in mind, discuss the importance and role of diversity when it comes to employee recruitment and employee retention in helping form a resourceful and productive organisation
