Secondary Data – Meaning, its Advantages and Disadvantages
Secondary data is the data that have been already collected by and readily available from other sources. Such data are cheaper and more quickly obtainable than the primary data and also may be available when primary data can not be obtained at all. Advantages of Secondary data It is economical. It saves efforts and expenses. […]
Sum of the Parts Valuation
Equity valuation is usually conducted for an entire enterprise. For instance, if we are trying to come up with a valuation for Apple Inc, we will usually consider Apple Inc as being one single indivisible unit. This is because the cash flows that will accrue to Apple Inc are intertwined and all of the cash […]
Questionnaire Design – Guidelines on how to design a good questionnaire
A good questionnaire should not be too lengthy. Simple English should be used and the question shouldn’t be difficult to answer. A good questionnaire requires sensible language, editing, assessment, and redrafting. Questionnaire Design Process State the information required- This will depend upon the nature of the problem, the purpose of the study and hypothesis framed. […]
Blue Ocean Strategy and its Implications for Businesses
Introduction Blue Ocean Strategy is a concept that has been pioneered by INSEAD Professors, W. Chan Kim, and Renee Mauborgne. This strategy, which is based on extensive research of hundreds of companies spanning across decades and including several industries, proclaims that instead of battling competitors, companies can create new markets for themselves. In other words, […]
Challenges Faced by the Chinese Pension System
In the previous article, we have already studied about the peculiarities of the Chinese pension system. We are now aware that the Chinese pension system is quite different from the pension system operating in western countries. The fact that the Chinese system is different does not make it better than the western system. The Chinese […]
The previous articles in this module discussed how diversity as a core value is important for organizations. We have also discussed how actualizing diversity means that the entire organization has to walk the talk instead of merely espousing it in name and then practicing something different altogether.
One of the most important actions that any organization can take is to ensure that diversity and inclusivity are inculcated right from the recruitment process itself. This means that recruiting a diverse is the first step towards realizing the goal of diversity.
Though the governments in many countries including the US and India do not mandate a certain percentage of the employees to be women, racial minorities, or those with alternate sexual orientations, they do specify that equal opportunities must be given to everyone and that the organizations should not discriminate against anybody on these counts.
For instance, we often hear the term Organization X is an “equal opportunity employer”. What this means is that the organization treats all potential recruits in the same manner and does not discriminate against them in any respect. However, announcing that we are equal to towards everybody does not that mean that we are equal towards everybody in practice. Take for example, the practice in many companies in India to recruit employees based on location and because of political pressures.
Further, many companies in Asia do not recruit women for the jobs that need overseas travel or those jobs that have extended working hours. This certainly goes against the grain of diversity and hence must be avoided at all costs.
Further, many companies go by the appearance of candidates and not necessarily by merit alone. Of course, we are not saying that for the jobs that need pleasant demeanor like Airline Stewards and Stewardess or jobs in the hospitality sectors, employers must not give importance to looks. Rather, what we are saying is that in general, it would be a good practice to recruit employees based on merit alone instead of other considerations.
The best way to recruit a diverse team is to have “blind resumes” where except for the qualifications of the candidate, nothing else is visible. In this scenario, the potential recruit can be a woman, racial minority, physically challenged or any of the other categories that comes under inclusivity. Therefore, the recruit has a fair chance to make it to the interview stage without any bias.
Once the interview is announced, it would be better for the companies to have interviewers drawn from a heterogeneous group instead of having a homogenous group. This would ensure that the candidate is not discriminated against. Finally, it would be in the fitness of things if the candidate were not asked questions from where they are and their preferences about things other than work related matters alone. This is somewhat hard to actualize but is sorely needed if organizations have to recruit diverse teams.
It must be made clear to the hiring team that asking questions about matters that are not directly related to the job at hand is not allowed. Further, the HR representative and the manager in charge of the diversity program must be allowed a greater say in recruitment and preferably, present during the interview.
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