Effects of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) on Business Environment
Introduction
Every employer is supposed to follow the provisions of the equal employment opportunity legislation. The equal employment opportunity legislation provides that employers uphold appropriate treatment and fairness to all employees in all facets of employment. Under this legislation, employers are required to provide safe and good working conditions while identifying and eliminating procedures and policies that perpetuate or causes inequality and discrimination in regard to employment. Nonetheless, equal employment opportunity brings in calm, parity and enhances cultural diversity hence profitability and productivity in an organization.
Equal employment opportunity helps in bringing in a diversified workforce in an organization. Of note is that EEO endeavors to reduce racial and ethnic disparities, discrimination against people with disabilities as well as discrimination against women in all aspects of employment. It requires that every employee have the same access to privileges and rights of employment. It is important to note that EEO removes the barriers that are erected through unequal treatment and discrimination in business organizations. The legislation ensures equal opportunities in hiring of employees, recruitment, promotion, compensation, termination and training of employees. This aspects encourages blending of ideas from different cultures thus increasing the profitability and productivity of an organization.
Notably, EEO also allows for integration of skills and competencies which when blend together works to ensure that success and quality services in an organization are realized. While EEO ensures quality services which is made possible through blend of ideas ,thoughts, skills and knowledge, the benefits of this aspects are passed on to all the organization’s stakeholders. For instance, customers of a given organization enjoy quality services and products, benefits which make them develop trust. This creates considerable advantages to the organization in the sense that, the business entity gains and retains a sizeable market share which increases the level of profitability.
A favorable environment that is less discriminative increases the morale of employees. As a matter of fact, when employees are motivated, the organization stand to benefit through increase in levels of employees performances which consequently improves the overall organization’s performance. In addition, EEO ensures a diversified workforce which requires proper management from human resource department. Controlling diversity is part and parcel of an efficient HR department. While managing diversity may be challenging to human resource managers, the long term effect of diversity is beneficial to the employees and more essentially to the organization as whole. With maintenance of an environment that ensures equal opportunities to all employees and other stakeholders, an organization is at a good position of reaching its own goals and objectives. Particularly, managing diversity provides extra insight to all employees in organization which subsequently directs them to accomplishing their target and objectives.
As indicated earlier, EEO brings in diversity which gives way to a combination of different identities in a given organization. Of major note is that EEO is a legal policy which every business organization should adapt in order to remain functional in the business arena. It is worth noting that controlling diversity is a crucial part of the department dealing human resource which evidently requires affirmative action and EEO to maintain. Through elimination of unrelated job factors which include sex, age, race and nationality, the work environment changes positively hence an increase in performance level.
EEO imposes legal liabilities and obligations on employers in the sense that employers are required to respect individual rights of employees. Besides, respecting and upholding the rights of employees through EEO, positive workplace relations is enhanced which improves quality services as well as increase the level of employee performance. The employer’s obligation is to uphold employees’ rights while the employees are required to maintain the rights of the organization. Remember that every employee is absorbed in an organization in order for him/her to offer services wholeheartedly to the organization while respecting the rights of an employer. It is the duty of an employee to ensure that his services are satisfactory to the both the employer and the customers. Employees are also required to maintain the functionality of the organization and they are not supposed to leak out information which may be detrimental to the functions and profitability of the organization.
On the other hand, through EEO, employers are required to understand that each individual employee is unique in his own ways. In this regard, individual differences should be acknowledged and respected. As a matter of fact, customers of a given organizations are also diversified. They hold different beliefs and values and it is necessary that organization respect their beliefs, values and differences. For instance, an organization that discriminate employees on the basis of factors such as race, sex, age, political beliefs, religious beliefs, physical abilities, ethnicity to mention but a few may not adequately serve customers of a particular gender or perhaps a particular cultural background. In this view, such an organization may not promote good work relations or public relations hence a reduction in the level of performance which consequently affects productivity and profitability in an organization.
Notably, diversity gives way to exploration of individual differences in a nurturing and positive environment. It helps in enhancing the comprehension of different groups working within the same organization. Through understanding diversity and individual differences, employees are made to tolerate each other, embrace and observe the differing dimensions that each individual employee hold hence creating a harmonious work environment. This aspect helps in creating positive public relations as well as work relations which then leads to improved efficiency hence boost profitability. Assigning duties and employing individuals on the basis of their capacities to perform duties and roles without discrimination ensures quality work. When employees feel like their rights and dignity are respected by their employers, they get the urge to offer quality input and output levels of performance.
It is important to note that equal employment opportunities requires employers to provide safe and good conditions of work which are appropriate and comfortable to all employees regardless of their ethnicity, physical abilities, sex among other discriminative factors. In addition, employers should offer EEO programs to all its employees and, impartial selection which should be performed on the basis of qualifications. Requirements for women and persons with disabilities should also be provided by the employer. The government through EEO prohibits discrimination on hiring of employees and firing, compensation, promotion, layoff, transfer, recruitment, training, use of organization’s resources, pay, and benefits among others. The legal approach also ensures that employees are not harassed and also requires employers not to make work decisions on the basis of assumptions or stereotypes. Apparently all these procedures ensure equality thereby increasing morale of employees which consequently reduces some of the challenges that the human resource managers’ faces while managing human resources.
Conclusion
EEO is a legal policy that helps in creating a positive relationship between employees, work environment and their employers. It helps in upholding individual rights of employees while at the same time upholds the rights of employers. It has been noted that EEO promotes good work environment and public relations among all the stakeholders in an organization. As matter of fact, EEO also helps in making human resource management unproblematic.
