Managing Positive Employee Relations Index

Managing Positive Employee Relations

INDEX

Profile of Company and Key Personnel

Preventive Measures Toward Compliance

Diversity Plan

Profile of Company and Key Personnel

I am the manager of an insurance and investment company, called World Wide Whatever (WWW). This company has existed for a little less than a decade, and incorporates a number of employees and branches. Recently, there has been plans for expanding abroad. However, before this can be done, I as the manager have to ensure that all relations and issues within the existing company has been resolved in order to optimize the profitability of the existing company and the potential of any future ventures. As such, four employees have been identified not only for the problematic issues that might be a liability to the company, but also for their positive features, which may be used to mitigate negativity. My aim with this is to make optimum use of the strengths within the company workforce. This will not only boost the morale within the workforce, but also provide the company with a competitive edge in a very practical way.

The first employee is a Hispanic male, who has emigrated from Mexico to the United States. His English is not fluent, but he is very good with numbers. His name is Carlos Hernos. Carlos has been appointed at WWW.forhis excellent numerical skills. Of course this has been done in full compliance with immigration laws, ensuring that Carlos has the correct documentation. He initially needed some help in his interactions with Government institutions in order to obtain the documentation needed.

Because of his above-average numerical skills, Carlos has been appointed as financial assistant. His duties are to help the financial managers with their duties in terms of investment projections and calculations, as well as other general financial matters relating to the company. These include salaries, bonuses, raises, and whether these can be afforded in terms of the company's income. Being an investment company, these calculations can be very complicated, and needs clear and precise calculations at all times. Carlos has proved himself on more than one occasion to be particularly adept at identifying small oversights in accounting that might nevertheless have led to large losses.

Possible problems that Carlos might experience in the workplace are generally connected to his status as immigrant and his lack of English proficiency. In terms of the first, there is a possibility that Carlos is not well versed in all the aspects relating to his legal status as immigrant. As with his arrival at WWW, he may need help to determine all the requirements for maintaining his legal status in the country. In terms of workplace interaction and dynamic, Carlos may have some problems in communicating adequately with his colleagues. Indeed, his lack of English skills may create the appearance of lower intelligence than he actually has. This could create undeserved and unrealistic prejudice. In the end, the perception of such prejudice may lead to a lack of work satisfaction and ultimately to a lower level of performance than is optimal for the company.

To mitigate this problem, the company might provide Carlos with further education opportunities, in order to help him become more autonomous in handling his political and social affairs. Furthermore, a greater proficiency in English will also help Carlos to distinguish himself as a knowledgeable accountant rather than an immigrant who is "good with numbers."

The second employee is female, African-American, and a member of the workplace union. She has no college degree, but has a particular talent for working with people and is very well spoken. Her name is Anna Regal, and she has been appointed as assistant in sales and customer relations. Anna's position as assistant provides her with the opportunity not only for promotions, but also for company-sponsored rewards in the form of bonuses for excellent results. As a sales person, Anna receives bonuses for clients gained as a result of her work. Furthermore, her work receives bi-annual reviews for possible promotion purposes.

Problems that Anna could experience in the workplace are mainly race related. Because of Affirmative Action policies mandated by the law, Anna's position might be perceived by her co-workers as something that she does not in fact deserve. Indeed, her colleagues might see her position as something that has resulted from her race rather than her merit, regardless of any demonstrated ability on her part. As such, any bonuses or promotions that Anna receives might be perceived as an unfair advantaged based upon race.

Such perceptions might then further lead to interpersonal conflict within the workplace. Any friendships that Anna tries to form might be jeopardized by the perceptions of others that she has an unfair advantage. In this way, while Affirmative Action attempts to redress inequality issues, it might lead to an even higher level of inequality and hostility between workers. This again will influence Anna's job satisfaction and performance, which ultimately translate to company losses.

To mitigate this problem, we could find ways to implement rewards and promotions for all employees, regardless of race or position in the company. Excellence can be rewarded in a variety of ways, including not only monetary compensation or promotion, but also via symbolic acknowledgement such as trophies or other forms of public recognition. In order to mitigate the perception that Anna is not qualified for her work, she could be enrolled in college classes on a part-time or online basis.

The third employee is particularly problematic, as his type is in many other workplaces as well. As a male Caucasian, Tom Hoskins represents the previously most advantaged social and workplace sector. Currently, legislation relating to affirmative action however has resulted in a reversal of the situation, with male Caucasians tending to be disadvantaged by issues such as enforced quotas in learning institutions as well as the workplace.

Because of these very policies, workers such as Tom tend to be overlooked when considering employees for promotion. Another problem is that Tom is not a member of any union, because he does not feel that this is necessary and that his work merit should be enough to ensure that he receives what he deserves in the workplace. Tom has however overlooked the fact that times have changed, and no longer favor white males in particular. As such, Tom has been overlooked for promotion more than once.

Tom's position within WWW.entailssupervising the pool of marketers. As such, he is responsible for the smooth operation of the sales team, as well as the decision-making process regarding promotions, bonuses and awards of the people under him. Tom's talent lies in his personality: he is very driven and acts as a motivational force of the team he is supervising. While he delivers results, these are often the result of more direct work by others. This paradigm tends to remove Tom from direct consideration for promotions and rewards.

The effect of this could be interpersonal hostility between workers such as Tom and Anna, with the latter's work resulting in a large amount of public recognition because of its nature. Tom, like the other workers, might for example begin to feel that Anna, with fewer qualifications than himself, is being favored for her skin color rather than the merit of her work.

In order to mitigate this problem, the rewards and promotion system could be updated to reflect the diversity of the WWW.workforce.As it stands, the system tends to favor only those who work directly with customers. This is not acceptable, as the company professes to be equal and fair to all its workers, regardless of race, religion, or any other factor.

The fourth employee is Sue Chen, a young Chinese woman who is appointed as the general office assistant at WWW. Chen's duties relate to public relations, delivering messages, and accounting. She enjoys working with people as well as accounting, and as such assists other financial officers such as Carlos when their duties become overwhelming. She has also taken it upon herself to help Carlos with his immigration documents and requirements. Sue also has a very outgoing and kind personality, which helps her in her duties as office assistant. She is able to log a number of necessities and ensure that everybody's resource and assistance needs are met at the end of any given day. In general, all her co-workers like Sue for her kindness and her readiness to help, as well as her capability in any field that is required.

The problem related to Sue's position is that it does not lend itself very well to promotional opportunities. Despite the excellence of her work, Sue has been in the same position for 5 years. While she never complains, Sue often gives the impression that she would like additional challenges. The effect of this, if unmitigated could result in a lack of job satisfaction for Sue, which in turn may lead to a decline in her performance.

Before this happens, it is important to find ways in which to challenge Sue's considerable intellect and communication skills. To do this, her duties could be diversified, and her position modified in order to give her a greater sense of responsibility. One way to do this could be to appoint assistants whom Sue could train to handle her more elementary duties. She could then learn to assist some of the higher-level positions within the company and work her way towards a leadership position.

In today's democratic and equal society, the law protects workers in diverse workplaces. Indeed, democracy and equality in the workplace and society are two of the most important paradigms in the United States today. As a company that reflects the society it serves, it is the aim of WWW.toprovide its workers with optimal satisfaction and opportunities to realize their work related dreams. In order to do this, it is the manager's job to become familiar with all the legislation relating to workers, their protection and their satisfaction. Only when workers are fully satisfied by their work situation can a company expect to make optimal profits. Happy employees deliver results.

There are many legal guidelines that protect workers such as those described above. They can be summarized as follows:

Workers are protected particularly by the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 1991, and Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

According to John Simkin, the Civil Rights Act of 1866 was a turning point in American history, and formed the basis for the democratic paradigm that the United States is known for today. At the time, the Act made history by providing every person within the United States with the right of citizenship, and as such with the right to own or sell property. This right, for the first time in the country's history, also extended to slaves, whose status were now changed towards that of citizen.

The problem at the time was however that this change was not accepted by all. It was very difficult for some to overcome their views of slaves as property rather than human beings, and therefore the Act was somewhat defeated by racist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act then clarified the exact ways in which people in general and employees in particular are protected by the law. Particularly applicable to the above cases are a number of provisions within the Act that relate to the responsibilities of the employer.

An employee may for example not discriminate in any way against any person based on factors such as race, religion, or original nationality. In terms of nationality, Sue and Carlos are relevant, as they originate from countries outside of the United States. Anna and Tom are born within the United States, but come from vastly different backgrounds. The problem in these terms is that Tom feels that he is being singled out for discrimination. As manager, it is my responsibility to mitigate this situation.

Case law that relates to the discrimination issue relates to affirmative action. Affirmative action has been implemented to redress workplace inequalities based upon race. This later related to the educational field as well. A concomitant phenomenon that has received increasing attention is "reverse" racism, or discrimination against previously advantaged persons, such as white males. Particularly, the concept of reverse racism has first emerged in court cases relating to student quotas in tertiary education establishments. An example of this is Grutter v. Bollinger, in which Grutter, a white woman, sued the University of Michigan for illegal discrimination, because they had a system by which ethnic minority groups with lower admissions scores than her own were accepted for study (NPR). The Supreme Court decided that postgraduate admissions could consider race as a factor for admissions, but undergraduate admissions could not. The basis for this decision is the fact that affirmative action is seen as an important development for democracy. Others however feel that the phenomenon has heightened discrimination and inequality.

A similar case is that of Allan Bakke vs. The Regents of the University of California, in which Bakke was denied entrance in favor of minority applicants with lower scores than himself. In this, the Court's decision was that Bakke should be admitted, as the quota system was a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

As the manager of the WWW.establishment, I find it of vital importance to take steps towards mitigating the problems faced by the above-mentioned employees. They are each thoroughly protected by the law, and I see it as my duty to familiarize myself with the relevant legislation.

Preventive Measures Towards Compliance

My first step will be to obtain a copy of all the relevant laws to rights in the workplace. When I have a copy, I will call a meeting with all my employees and approach an expert to speak to use during the meeting. The purpose of this is to ensure that everybody understands their rights in the workplace. I will then make a summarized copy of the relevant legislation and place it on the notice board where all employees can see it at their leisure. For the convenience of employees such as Carlos, I will also provide these summaries in Spanish.

My second step will be communication with my employees. As manager, I find it vitally important to ensure open communication between myself and my employees, as well as among employees themselves. I will encourage my employees to visit my office and discuss with me any problems they are experiencing with their position, their payment, or discrimination from other employees.

My third step is to discuss my findings with relevant employees. If cases of sexual harassment or racial discrimination are for example identified, I would call a meeting with all the employees involved and discuss with them the factors relating to the problem. I will encourage all employees to have respect for themselves and each other by also identifying and communicating the criteria for identifying discrimination.

The problem with discrimination, as can be seen in various case studies, is that it is often an arbitrary phenomenon. Some would view a comment about a dress as an innocent remark or a compliment, while others would see it as harassment. It is therefore important to standardize the circumstances under which a person can legitimately make a claim of harassment or discrimination. At the basis of these actions is open and honest communication.