Diversity in the Workplace Diversity

Diversity in the Workplace

Workplace diversity is one of the most important aspects that influence modern strategies regarding Human Resources. Diversity in the workplace brings many advantages that have medium term and long-term positive effects. Diversity helps reduce routine and monotony, especially in work environments that are characterized by these phenomena.

In the case of the Fairfax Metropolitan Hospital, the situation is very unclear about the evolution of the director of nursing position recruitment and selection process. Given the situation and its circumstances, the HR manager might take the following actions:

Hire Dr. Soysa despite the search committee's disapproval

Hire one of the male nurses as mentioned in the case study

Reopen the search for the nursing director position

Each of these actions has different implications and consequences on the HR manager, the candidate, the other employees, the hospital in general, and mostly its patients.

The obvious legal aspect that characterizes this situation is represented by workplace discrimination. Although Dr. Soysa is not yet an employee of the hospital, she still benefits from law protection against discrimination, since "federal law prohibits discrimination in a number of work-related areas, including recruiting, hiring, job evaluations, promotion policies, training, compensation and disciplinary action" )All Business, 2009).

Workplace discrimination is nothing to joke about, given the fact that in 2008 it seems that "a record number of workplace discrimination charges were filed with U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission" (Industry Week, 2009).

In this case, Dr. Soysa is discriminated because of her weight and her age. His professional background leaves no room for excuses regarding a possible non-hiring of Dr. Soysa. The HR manager is aware of the two dimensions of the problem, but does not know how to reach a middle decision without upsetting all the parties involved in this matter.

Even more, Dr. Soysa would be more than entitled to take legal actions in order to diminish any harm done to her through discrimination. She could ask for a court order to stop the discrimination, and she could even ask for compensation for damages caused by the hospital's discrimination.

In such conditions, the situation would cause negative publicity for the hospital. This could possibly affect employees' morale and opinion towards the hospital's management. Also, not hiring Dr. Soysa because of weight and age issues would discourage workplace diversity.

The HR manager has different alternatives for solving this problem. He could hire Dr. Soysa despite the search committee's opinion against it. His decision cannot be questioned because it is entirely backed by Dr. Soysa's exceptional background. The hospital's board of directors cannot have any professional objectives regarding this candidate.

Another alternative that the HR manager might take into consideration consists in hiring a male nursing director. The explanation in the case study for backing such a move is represented by the fact that the hospital also employs several male nurses that would feel well represented in such a situation.

It would also prove that the hospital's management is seriously oriented towards promoting diversity in the workplace. The paradox with this alternative is that although it would be discriminatory towards Dr. Soysa, at the same time it would prove that hospital's policies are not discriminatory, given the fact that they would hire a male nurse as the nursing director, which cannot exactly be considered a usual situation.

By following this alternative the HR manager risks to hire a less qualified person for the job. In this case, the hospital's board of directors can have objections to the new nursing director's activity. Each mistake the nursing director might make would negatively reflect on the HR manager. In such a case, he cannot defend himself by claiming that he hired the most qualified candidate that was selected by the search committee.

Hiring a less qualified candidate for the nursing director position would have negative effects on the entire hospital's activity. If the new nursing director does not manage to rise to the expectations and to the standards of this job, the hospital's activity will be affected. The patients are the one that will suffer the consequences in the first place. This will further influence the hospital's image and future activity. Eventually, the person held responsible for any possible damage is the HR manager.

The HR manager also has the alternative of reopening the search. But this does not mean that the outcome will be different. It is very unlikely to find a more suitable candidate for the job than Dr. Soysa and with less issues of debate.

As a consequence, the HR manager would find himself in the same situation as before. Even more, extra resources will have been wasted for another search. He would also have the financial aspect to explain.

In my opinion, the HR manager should hire Dr. Soysa as the new nursing director, despite the search committee's opinion. Communication is very important in this situation. The HR manager should try to change the search committee's beliefs on Dr. Soysa.

He should emphasize the fact that not hiring Dr. Soysa because of her weight and age is considered discrimination. This may draw legal consequences. The hospital's image might be altered.

The first thing that the HR manager, the search committee, and the hospital's board of directors should take into consideration is represented by the well-being of the patients. For the hospital's patients it does not matter how the nursing director looks like or what his or her age.

In order for things to go well at the hospital, the nursing director must have impeccable professional background. Obviously, the most qualified person for this position is Dr. Soysa. If the HR manager hires Dr. Soysa and the board of directors does not agree with this solution, the HR manager's decision is supported by the candidate's outstanding credentials and professional background.

The resources that Dr. Soysa possesses and that would help her deal with the problems are represented by her accomplishments: the advanced exams she took, the college she early graduated from summa cum laude, the advanced graduate work she successfully completed.

Dr. Saryn is also considered to an articulate person and her experience is appropriate for the nursing director position she is applying. The references she presented also denote she has the skills, the personality, and the sense of responsibility that are required by this position.

In other words, Dr. Saryn has the skills required by this job, not just the experience. The search committee's members feared that Dr. Saryn might lack such skills and that this would represent an obstacle in doing her job. But their opinion is clearly not grounded on real facts.