We've been talking over the last few days about human resouces and staffing issues. We've also discussed how one of the stakeholders that businesses should be concerned about is their internal stakeholders-employees. I'd like you to read this article from the Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120370822092186297.html
and answer the following questions:
What will it really take to get equal respresentation at the top-level of Fortune 500 companies?Why do you think that most companies claim to promote diversity however there is not equal pay for all employees? Or equal representation at all levels of the organization? Do you think that the discrepancies are intentional or unintentional?
Why do you think that this topic is included as part of Corporate Social Responsibility?
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5 comments:
Im not sure what it will take to get equal respresentation because women might not ever get the chance. Im sure for a few select women they are getting the equality they deserve. I think they promote diversity becuase they have to these days and not because they want to. I think there more unintentional because its been goign on like this for so long that it is just a way of life.
To really get equal representation at the top-level of Fortune 500 companies, there needs to be more control over the pay and skills of the employees. It doesn’t need to be a secret and proper authorities should review the pay and skills of employees to make sure its legit. Companies promote diversity because it enables them to reach and attract diverse customers, recruit the best talent, and enlist broad thinking. Even with these benefits, equal pay remains is a big issue and a wage gap between the white man and everyone else persists even after 40 years of job discrimination being outlawed. The image of a white powerful man is still there and many believe that a white male makes a better leader. Diversity is beneficial to many companies but the pay of minorities is still significantly less because of stereotypes that still remain. These discrepancies in my opinion are unintentional many times. Employers have it in their minds and many times truly believe some minorities and women are less capable of performing certain jobs. When we picture a CFO, we usually picture a white male in a suit. Women also may get lesser because they take time off to care for children, so they don't build up the tenure that leads to promotions and higher salaries; or they don't demand raises as often as men do because they've been socialized not to be assertive.
I think that every company promotes diversity because it is what is expected of them and in part they mean to have a diverse company but stroll away from it. I don't think that the fact that there is not as much diversity or equal pay at higher levels is unintentional. The people that are running most large companies in the country are older white men that are not used to haviing women or minorities in higher positions. I think that the only way to get equal pay and representation is to wait until our generation gets to have the higher positions as we are a little more used to diversity and cosiderate of it since we grew up with it.
Employees need to start practicing what they preach; even though, affirmative action is active is not being that effective due to “politics” in the work place. What needs to be done is that constant pressure should be applied to companies that turn down qualified minorities and women in regards to their hiring practices. Slavery is to be blamed for this and that’s why we need to correct that. Due to globalisation, companies cannot escape diversity, however, they want to be looked upon as la creme de la creme and acting socially responsible, even though they don’t think that every employee are equally qualified (even though that might not be the fact) to be paid on the same scale. Racism and prejudice has caused companies to stereotype individuals. I would think that this practice is sometimes intentional because they feel threatened that minorities will take over and still maintain the slavery mentality.
A company acting under corporate social responsibility (it includes treating employees fair and just) has to show the world that they are acting in accordance. Therefore, if employees are not treated fairly then this can cause reason for unions to step in to protect the employees.
Assuming "equal representation" indicates that a given ethnicity comprises the same percentage of the top-level positions in Fortune 500 companies as it does in the general American population, I think the key is in providing a firm foundation in education to build on. As it stands, schools in poor neighborhoods, such as many urban areas with predominately minority residents, are woefully underfunded.
These schools don't have the funds to attract many teachers, to provide computer labs, or to keep textbooks up to date. A student at an underfunded public school is at a remarkable disadvantage compared to a student at a well-funded private or public school. As a result, they'll likely get lower test scores, which will limit their options for college.
College, aside from the education, is primary place for making the sorts of connections inside industries that help after graduation (so-called "networking"). Lacking these, and the big name from a prominent school, a student will have a substantially harder time climbing the corporate ladder.
Corporate under-representation, I believe, is primarily a sort of "trickle-up" effect of this lack of emphasis on education at a younger age. Racism is also to blame, of course, but I think that racism is a symptom of ignorance -- a relic of an obsolete and ugly age, albeit still a very wide-spread relic. Racism in companies will linger until a plethora of well-qualified minorities start getting employed; at that point, I believe/hope, it will wither and fall away.
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