Originally published as Human Resource Management International Digest Volume 14 Number 3, 2006
ISBN: 1 84663 002 9
Guest edited by: David Pollitt, University of Bradford, UK.
Employment law can be a minefield. New employment regulations are coming into force constantly, expanding this area of the law and forcing companies to be aware of potential pitfalls.
There is a particular focus on equality and discrimination in the workplace, and many companies are curious how to encourage and work with diverse collections of employees. This Special Issue looks at recent case-studies of discrimination, and also features interviews with high-profile experts in the field. This collection of articles pays particular attention to women’s careers, age discrimination, the growing issue of obesity prejudice and the problems companies face when moving to new geographical areas and encouraging new members of staff.
Contents:
What lies beyond the glass ceiling?: The glass cliff and the potential precariousness of women's leadership positions
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the glass ceiling, but does this metaphor fully describe the experiences of women today? Recent research being conducted at the University of Exeter has identified a further barrier that women must conquer in order to succeed.
Beyond age discrimination to leveraging human capital: ASDA, BT and the UK National Maritime Museum promote age diversity
Western workplaces are becoming more diverse. Governments and organizations are increasingly being proactive about gender equality and ethnic diversity at work. What was once a case of fighting discrimination is now viewed by many as a lasting route to corporate success through the inclusion of all available talent.
Developing diverse senior managers: How alike are your high potentials?
If you were asked to describe a stereotypical American CEO, what words would you use? Dynamic? Charismatic? Decisive? Innovative? Inspiring? All of these characteristics would probably spring to mind, but it is even more likely that before you even started coming up with such adjectives that you pictured a middle-aged white male. And whilst you might be right in doing so (just 5 percent of top executive positions are occupied by women in the US), this lack of diversity in the upper echelons of corporate America could potentially have a damaging effect on business in the future.
Geert Hofstede: challenges of cultural diversity
Geert Hofstede is the most cited non-American in the field of management in the US Social Science Citation Index. He has acted as a consultant to national and international business and government organizations including the World Bank, OECD, Asian Productivity Organization and the Commission of the European Union.
Barclays bank on Africa: Expanding business into the third world
Barclays had a mission on their hands to turn Barclays Africa into a viable part of the business, whilst taking into account the third world surroundings they were working in. The article explains how they have achieved this.
The glass ceiling: smashed or still holding strong?: Why are women still rarely in the top jobs?
“The conundrum of the glass ceiling” argues that despite the efforts of many organizations, the glass ceiling that prevents women rising in the workplace is still firmly in place. The article looks at various countries, finding there are still few females in the top roles, and those that are there have taken a lower salary than their male counterparts.
Amin Rajan: promotion of workforce diversity
Amin Rajan is the Chief Executive of the Centre for Research in Employment and Technology in Europe (CREATE) – a pan-European network of prominent researchers undertaking high-level advisory assignments for the UK government, city institutions, multinational companies and international bodies such as the EU, OECD and ILO. In this interview, Professor Rajan speaks about the business benefits of and practical challenges involved in the promotion of workforce diversity.
Survival of the fittest: Discrimination against obesity in the American workplace
Concentrating on the American workplace, this article details the legal requirements employers face when it comes to discrimination, noting that the obese are poorly protected. It asks whether or not discrimination based on weight is more acceptable than that based on gender or race, and considers what steps employers can make to fulfil their ethical as well as legal obligations.
When the rhetoric doesn't match the reality: equality and diversity in recruitment and retention of staff
Equality and diversity are important social values and should underpin all aspects of life in modern multi-ethnic, multi-cultural societies. However rhetoric does not always match the reality and nowhere is this more apparent than in the workplace. Sexual and ethnic discrimination still exist, in recruitment, selection and evaluation of employees.
When's it due?! Not the baby, the lawsuit: Pregnancy discrimination in the US
An increasing amount of women stay in employment for the majority of their pregnancy, and, as such, may not be able to undertake certain tasks that they were capable of doing before. The employer has a legal responsibility to these women to keep them employed and content within their organizations.
Linda Wirth: trends in female employment
Linda Wirth is Senior Gender Specialist in the ILO Bureau for Gender Equality, with responsibility for policy and institutional development work in the implementation of gender mainstreaming strategy.
Ensuring harmony in the workplace: The issues faced by managers in creating a “level playing field”
In this article, the author discusses a number of causes and effects of backlash, presents the results of a survey conducted by a large Canadian financial institution and then offers a number of ways to deal with backlash.
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Human Resource Management International Digest keeps you up to date with the very latest in HR concepts, applications, comment and research. It provides you with a unique opportunity to understand and monitor developing HR trends and ideas around the world – and apply them to your own company with confidence. Every issue features experienced appraisal and reviews of the latest thinking on HRM that has been published in the top 400 management journals. In addition, the journal keeps you up to date with news about employment law, and the best HR websites and books.
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