Huaman Resource Management - a Strategic Approach

Ch. 5: An Example of Subtle and Not-So-Subtle Discrimination in the Workplace--Whose Responsibility

1. What are some of the ways in which the not-so-blatant discrimination felt by this employee affected the success of the organization? The affects of not-so-blatant discrimination leave the employee feeling alienated, angry, decreased job satisfaction, decreased organizational commitment, change in their mindset of the company perception/core value, distrust in management and HR. Financially the employee could file a lawsuit and the lawsuit could possibly change the public's perception of the company and discredit future talent from joining the organization.

2. How do you feel about the statement that HR deals with the problem, not the cause of the problem? How could HR actually deal with the cause? I agree with the statement in a culture that does not practice managing diversity in the work place. I do not agree with the method because it causes many problems. For example when HR does not directly deal with a problem, it can cause a hostile work environment. HR is in place to manager, organize departments for productivity and the company generates revenue, carry out training and prevent discrimination. In this case, HR failed the employee, several flags were raised; the employee skipped their bosses' boss and went directly to HR. HR should have conducted an investigation, consultant the companies legal team, make decision and inform all parties.

3. Can you describe a situation in which you felt not so blatantly discriminated against? What was the outcome of the situation? I faced a similar case of discrimination when I worked for a banking institution in 2000. I was actually the third shift manager. My shift started at 10pm, Sun-Thursday. Our operational hours were 7 days a week 24 hours a day. Once the last senior level manager left on Friday at 6pm, our department had leads in place to handle supervisory functions, and three peers and I were on call (rotational) to handle any high-level management decision on the weekends. My VP of operations during a staff meeting made comments about response time on the weekends when leads place calls to the on call managers, he recapped the expectation of callbacks to the leads and our rotational calendar. During my annual performance, review I received a merit increase, however I did not receive a letter grade increase. My grade level would remain at III instead of IV and my performance review went on to state why. My VP noted occurrences of calls when I was on weekend duty that were not responded to in a timely manner per the departments written procedure. I explained I responded and answered within the expected time or the department's procedure. I was also a part of the management team who collaborated with HR to write the procedure. I ended up writing a rebuttal that included personal