Issues in Diversity: Challenging Inequality or Promoting Diversity in Organisation

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Essay topic:

Should HR practitioners focus more on challenging inequality or promoting diversity in organisation? Focus on age.

Introduction

There has been increase concerns about age discrimination at workforces, for aging workforce, those employees who are 40 years old or older are usually been defined. Some organisation has already taken actions on how to solve ageing issues by providing more training with age discrimination act, however, there still a gap in our daily workforce which make various employment difficult to process. Consequently, HR practitioners could focus more on promoting age diversity in organisation to achieve top performance, yet, the age discrimination and diversity issue is not only happening in technology industry, it happens in almost every industry.

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This research essay aims to address why should HR practitioners should focus more on promoting diversity and how could HR practitioners can help organisation to reduce age diversity issue by promoting age diversity. This essay looks at some academic journal articles to give evidences of how HR practitioners could do to help promoting age diversity in organisation and what ways can help organisation. Google as an example of age diversity and discrimination in technology industry, shows the clearest problem they have, thus, by promoting these issues HR practitioners could provide training and developing program for both employees and employers to make sure that have good behaviours at workforce, different age employees have different working experience which is good for company, because it can bring in more innovation and ideas, also easy for decision making processes. Hire and recruitment process also can he improve by promoting age diversity, therefore, teamwork, monitor program and processes, and so many other relevant programs all can help business to achieve top performance and address age diversity issues. Have friendly diversity HR policies can help organisation introduce and monitor with high level of performance (Kunze 2013).

Age shortage in technology industry

Nowadays, technology workers with working experiences are being screened out of jobs, by Visier Insights Report (2017) the truth about ageism in the technology industry, shows that between 2008-2015 there are 63,000 technology workers and 267,000 non-technology workers mentioned that it was hard to find a job for people from age 40 onwards. By Fottrell (2017), in technology industry, millennials workers are being hired around 50% more than other industry, generation X are being hired 33% less than other industry, and baby boomers are about 60% less both in technology industry and other working industry. However, older workers are usually having more working experiences and working skills, these skills and experiences are always more valued compare with young workers, whether in working performance or other workforce. Ageism is always an important issue and it happens all the time in all industries, thus, business and originations should be aware and take more steps on monitor and improve working produces.

These monitor and improvement progress not only can help business to have fairness for both organisation and employees, but also can help organisation to reduce the risk of age discrimination litigation, instead for lighting in different workforce and working on to improve shortages expected in the coming years (Visier 2017).

Age discrimination at google

Google’s average employee’s age is 29 years-old, this data shows there are not much difference for average age between other technology companies (Nisen 2015). In 2019 late July, there was 227 job seekers who are over age 40 and applied for working at google sued them as age discrimination (Kelly 2019) and google paid $11 million to settle these 227 age discrimination cases (Yeomans 2019). In USA California April 2015, Brian Heath who is 64 years old as the Google’s hiring practices discriminate, in this lawsuit, the suit seeks to represent there was many applicants in google in age 40 and plus were rejected from employment starting back in 2010 August. After this lawsuit, google was consequently by providing more training programs for their employees, and more management process about age bias for their company. Therefore, the company’s committee focused on age diversity and age discrimination to ensure that all age-related complaints are fully investigated with the settlement terms (Kelly 2019).

HR practitioners should focus more on promoting age diversity

Age diversity in workplace is a common topic at today’s workforces, it’s can lead HR practitioners into storm world by dealing with age, gender, religions, languages and so many other diversity issues (Lee n.d.). in today’s generational mix group, there are more and more organisational facing challenging (Gordon 2017), while these diversity issues are extremely important, but age diversity is another important diversity issue at workplace for HR practitioners to promoting on (Mazzotta 2018). By research PwC’s2015 Annual Global CEO survey report shows that there are 64% CEOs had strategy to promote diversity at workplace, this also can be say as promoting diversity is important for not only HR practitioners but also for business leaders to take consider, because it can lead business in to better engagement by employees, better teamwork, increase working performance and innovation, also people from different age and background group can brings in more different ideas (Mazzotta 2018).

Age diversity can improve working performance and increase productivity. People’s working experiences, working skills, and knowledge are increasing with age, if there is a talent with a professional knowledge or strong working skills, he or she should be held back according to age issue (Mazzotta 2018). Research clearly states that different age group people in organisation can improve working performance, therefore, HR practitioners can help business to manage current and future working performance by using more practices, HR practices can help business ro reduce staff turnover, because when employees are feel accepted and valued in organisation they are more willing to stay longer. Therefore, HR practices can help to deal with employee’s career development to make them feel involved, thus, employees are willing to have stay and business can have higher retention rate (Giveagradago.com 2019). When working forces are representing the diversity of age, and different ways of thinking that can make employees to have more feelings of belonging, this can lead to better working performance (Lee n.d.).

Different age group employees in organisation can brings new ideas and good innovation. Multigeneration employees at workforce would have positive impact on organisation, for example they might have different opinions on working procedures and methodologies they are having at organisation, therefore, from different perspectives can help business to brings new ideas (Markovska 2015). According to Harvard Business Review (2017), article states that when multigeneration employees come to working on the same team it can shoes diverse thinking, openness to working experiences and mind wandering are needed to have a large number of original ideas, therefore, these different thinking would lead to the actual innovation.

Human Resource Department as a key department of any organisation should take serious about diversity/(in)equality issues. HR practitioners would provide more training and developing programs for both employees and employers, they can provide plenty of new opportunities for employees and employers to learn new working skills therefore, easy to take next career steps. For example, HR can provide training for age discrimination, this can help the whole organisation to build more inclusive workforce. This also can help employees and employers have better and more clearly understanding of how tp behave professionally at their workforce. Those kinds of training and developing program also can provide to Google, this might can help them to make better decision for not only hiring process but also for productivity and innovation. HR practitioners should also to make sure that training and developing are offering same opportunities for all employees and employers, therefore, each individual have new responsibility and knowledge of what behaviour they need to take when they at workforce (Larkin 2019). Therefore, training can help employees have different thoughts from different age groups and learn from each other to build their increase their working performance.

For most workers in their 40s to 60s are caring more responsibility than other age employees, this means organisation could offer more flexible working hours for them. This can provide with more health condition and more extra working flexibility for organisation which have different age group of employees. By providing flexible working hours business can make employees have more working opportunities, and also can make older workers to stay longer and delay retirement, it’s have benefit for both employees and employers (Lewis 2020).

When HR practitioners promoting age diversity at organisation, the facilitate of strong network and communication would be increase. People from different generation are having different communication and working styles, this sometime can make organisation suffer, however, if HR can use these diversities in good way to build better organisation network and communication, that would increase productivities (Becheravise 2015). Teamwork also can be providing for employees, this can increase employees communicate level and make them have better experiences and team understanding of the final goals, and by working together can provide output through each individual’s efforts. By different age employees working together to achieve same goals can allow more opportunities for them to sharing new thoughts and have experiencing from different perspective. During the teamwork, there would be some conflict in between, therefore, HR practitioners would be able to address quickly and have more idea for future methods to implement for business (Becheravise 2015). Also, for young employees, age norms might be violated more often than older employees, therefore, teamwork can improve younger employee’s expectation and reduce gaps (Kunze, Boehm & Bruch 2011).

Developing hire process also can reduce the intentional or unintentional bias in potential way when business hire older applicants (Visier 2017). Recruiting and hiring process is not the only screen out the candidates who are based on length of their unemployment, but also for candidates who with highly skilled and more suitable for the particular job. Older workers usually are more valued for organisation, because older workers occurs top working performance (Visier 2017), in technology industry employees who are over 40, they usually increasingly counted as top working performance, also, sometimes young workers do not have unique working experiences, therefore, the salary for young employees are newly. however, for older employees, most them are on paid equitably.

There are more important things for HR practitioners need to be focus and working on to promoting age diversity at organisation. These diversity at aging workforce can lead to serious outcome for all business, it might happen in both ways, therefore, how to manages to address aging diversity and challenges are taking HR practitioners take actions on. For employees from different generation they might have different understanding of business culture, and HR practitioners would also look at their background to help have useful understand about what they think and make into organisation diversity (Bell & Marvin 2007).

Conclusion

In conclusion, this essay covered definition of aging diversity, and age discrimination at google, also provide useful reason for HR practitioners why should promoting age diversity for organisation, what in what ways they can improve their job. Age diversity at organisation can improve working performance, encourage engagement for both business and employees, therefore, innovation for business can also be provide by employees working together to achieve the same goal. When employees from different age group they must have different thoughts and background which is good for teamwork, because managers can see different ways of employee’s performance and different background provide different communication skills, these diversity at organisation can lead to better decision process. Thus, recruitment and monitor process are also important for HR to implement, this can make sure that each individual employees and clear understanding of the responsibility and behaviour they need to take to provide better working force. Have multigeneration employees working together can achieve top working performance and reduce talent shortage, these good ways of organisation performance would lead to better business culture with less age discrimination, high perspective and top management from different age group employees.

References

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  2. Bell N S & Narz M 2007, Meeting the challenges of age diversity in the workplace, The CPA Journal, vol.77, no.2, p.56.
  3. Fottrell Q 2017, ‘Tech workers with years of experience are being screened out of jobs’, Silicon Valley has an age problem, viewed 30 May 2020, .
  4. Go G A G A n.d., What Is Diversity In The Workplace? Examples, Definition. viewed 30 May 2020, .
  5. Gordon P A 2018, Age diversity in the workplace, In Diversity and inclusion in the global workplace, pp. 31-47.
  6. Harvard Business Review 2017, Does Diversity Actually Increase Creativity? viewed 30 May 2020, .
  7. Kunze F, Boehm S A & Bruch H 2011, ‘Age diversity, age discrimination climate and performance consequences—a cross organizational study’, Journal of organizational behavior, vol,32, no.2, pp.264-290.
  8. Kunze F, Boehm S & Bruch H 2013, Organizational performance consequences of age diversity: Inspecting the role of diversity‐friendly HR policies and top managers’ negative age stereotypes, Journal of Management Studies, vol. 50, no.3, pp.413-442.
  9. Lee, S n.d., ‘Diversity in the workplace – benefits and challenges’, culture amp, blog post, viewed 30 May 2020, .
  10. Lewis S 2020, Why age diversity is important for business, HRZone, viewed 30 May 2020, .
  11. Mazzotta A R 2018, ‘3 Reasons Why Age Diversity in the Workplace is Important’, Employment Specialists. viewed 30 May 2020, .
  12. Markovska M n.d., How Age Diversity in the Workplace Is Disrupting HR Practices, blog, viewed 30 May 2020, .
  13. ‌Nisen M 2015, a 64-years-old engineer is suing Google for age discrimination, Quartz, viewed 30 May 2020, .
  14. Vizier insights report 2017, the truth about ageism in the tech industry 2017, company report, viewed 30 May 2020,

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