Assignment 3: Pay, Benefits, and Terms and Conditions of Employment
Running head: THE HIRING PROCESS AND MANAGING A DIVERSE WORKFORCE 0
The Hiring Process and Managing a Diverse Workforce
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The Hiring Process and Managing a Diverse Workforce
Organizations need to have the right workforce in place for them to function efficiently and attain their mission and vision. In organizations, the human resource department deals with the employee needs. They conduct the recruitment, selection, and training of the employees. There are employment laws that should be used by an organization in developing the method and policies they should utilize in the recruitment of their employees so that they can get a diverse workforce. Organizations use different approaches and policies when recruiting employees. Each agency selects the best method and system that is suitable for them to get the best candidates in the market. The human resource department should undertake all the possible measures as stipulated in the employment laws to ensure that they employ people with the best skills. There is an opportunity of community counselor that need to be filled in this organization that is in the human service industry providing mental and counseling services (Analoui, 2007).
Recruitment Methods
Recruitment in an organization simply means sourcing job candidates for the identified job opportunity, and this will be carried out with the aim of attracting diverse, competitive and highly skilled and talented individuals for the position. The first recruitment method that will use is social media. The use of social media in the process of recruiting people today does not come as a shock to anyone since this method has been widely and successfully used by very many firms and organizations. This recruiting will involve the use of networking platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram as well as Facebook among many others. Various job posts will be shared across the different networking platforms to ensure that it reaches out to more individuals.
The second method of recruiting that will be utilized is the use of job advertisements on print media such as help wanted ad in newspapers. This method is one of the most commonly used methods of recruiting. It is important because not every individual is a fan of social media platforms and therefore this ensures that the organization also reaches out to populations, not on social media. For this method, the description of the job will be put in help wanted only ads as well as the newspaper with information such as the title of the job, the location, and description as well as the expected package of compensation.
The final recruiting method that the organization is going use of is the use of staffing and recruitment agencies. Many organizations use this approach as a form of staffing strategy where they have the role of attracting candidates and interviewing them to professional recruiters in companies since it helps save the organization the hustle that is associated with the process of recruiting. The organization will, therefore, research on a very reputable agency with whom they can entrust to carry out the role effectively at a cost saving fee. The group will also provide the company with all the information that will be needed for example skill requirement and qualification to ensure that they recruit the right individuals to cover the organizational need (Safrit, 2014).
Avoid Discriminatory Practices
The recruitment methods that have been discussed above have been selected with the consideration of how much the enhance diversity and the level to which they discourage discriminatory acts in the hiring process. The social media recruiting method helped to avoid discrimination in that the job post is not limited to being seen by a selected set of individuals leaving application opportunities open to all. The second way in which this discourages discrimination is the fact that despite online adverting application remains through the same channel and therefore the employer does not get the social media identity of the person applying which could lead to bias.
The second method of job advertising on print media helps to reduce discrimination since there is no print media organization that I know who would agree to posted job advertisements if they are deemed to be discriminative. Before any post ad is put up, they are thoroughly screened to ensure that they hold the right ethical standards. Second being put up on print does not limit the people who see the ad and therefore all individuals who think they qualify are eligible to apply.
The final method that is the use of employment and recruitment agencies helps to avoid discrimination since most of the professional recruiters are deeply rooted in employment laws, and therefore they make sure that the hiring process is carried out without discrimination. The fear of loss of reputation and possible lawsuits for the agency also leads them to make sure that the process is free of discrimination (Powell, 2010).
Application Process
All job applications in the counseling agency are subject to the same procedures of verification. In this office, applicants submit their applications by sending, their cover letters alongside their resumes, scanned copies of academic transcripts, and any additional certificates via an online platform. However, during the actual day of recruiting, the applicants will be asked to come with their original documents for further verification. Failure to produce original copies will be treated as a failure to meet the requirement for recruitment.
The counseling agency takes this process of verifying the reliability of every information presented by an applicant seriously. In this regard, the process of verification is done in three stages, checking the authenticity of the documents by confirming with the institutions that the applicant attended. The second stage is to establish with the institutions or jobs where the applicant attended ascertain the authenticity of workplace certificates. The third stage is to confirm the references whose contacts are valid on the candidate’s resume. The references will be expected to give sufficient information about the candidate to rest any suspicion of professional character on the side of the candidate.
When verification is completed, the human resource will now evaluate if the candidates qualify for the advertised position. This is done by matching the academic qualifications, leadership skills, attitude towards works, and other interpersonal relationship skills of the applicants to the expectations of the advertised position. This process involves reviewing the resumes and determining whether they reflect the experience of the desired candidate. From this process, the applicants whose applications are considered to qualify for the position will be scheduled for a series of interviews (Smith, 2011).
Procedure to Maintain Applicants Records
Maintaining the records of all applicants is critical since it can help the organization retrieve their information quickly in case of a lawsuit or in the future when recruiting for other positions. Federal law entails that employers retain and maintain all form of employment records.
The first step is to establish the requirements needed for the position in the agency before advertising for a post. By determining the requirements, it will be easy for the HR department to establish whether their system is discriminatory, or whether there are compromises in their systems that are unavoidable. The HR manager will then post the advertisement by the employer so that applicants can be aware of the available position. The job posting is relevant to prove that the position existed and was advertised for suitable candidates to apply.
Secondly, after the job has been advertised, the potential candidates apply for the job by filling out an online application for the job. They are send their resumes and cover letter to accompany the online request form. The creation of an email account that will specifically be used for sending in job applications is vital in helping maintain the records. It will avoid mix up with other company emails, and in the case of loss, they can be easily retrieved from the email.
Thirdly, the human resource hiring manager reviews the application for the job. The application should be scanned and those received online should be managed for easier retrieval. It is crucial to make sure that for all the records that have been placed on paper, separate files are used for each. Also, that the files are properly labeled help to ensure that there is no mix up of applicant information and that it is very simple to retrieve the information when needed. All the documents that the applicant sent to the company should be filed and maintained in a proper manner so that in the case of a discrimination issue they can be easily retrieved.
The fourth step is preserving the documents of the applicants by backing them up on a server and having a human resource folder dedicated to making sure that all applications are saved in one file on the server for backup. Those receive by paper can be scanned then saved to the server. Having an ideal location makes it easy to manage and access the data so it will not be mixed up with other documents that could be saved on the same server on which they are downloaded.
The last step is to ensure the recruitment procedure is not biased. This action will ensure that any applicant, who is not considered for the job opportunity, is contacted and a letter sent to them with the decision made to hire or not to hire them. There will be a complaints resolution system where applicants who feel they were discriminated against can ask for an explanation from the organization. If an applicant believes that they lost out on the opportunity because of a discriminatory feature, the organization will allow them to seek clarification on the merits of the selection criteria (Pankl, Theiss & Bushing, 2010).
Background Checks
During the hiring process, a background check should be conducted to make sure that all the information that has been provided by the applicant is authentic. There are various background checks that can be carried out but we are going to discuss three of the most important ones.
A candidate’s criminal record is necessary because they enable the agency to understand the character of people they are recruiting. The information that is available about a person’s criminal past should not be ignored because it explains the weaknesses of that applicant that work against them if given the opportunity to be hired by the agency. An example is mishandling of classified information that may result in huge compromises in the office. Also in the human service field, you work with adolescents and adults. You want to make sure they do not have any barrier crimes or felonies or had an incident where the child or adult protective services were involved.
For an applicant to be selected for a position as a community counselor, they must meet the required education levels. Meeting the educational levels assure the hiring managers that the candidate has full knowledge and is qualified to do a certain job. Education qualification check is necessary to ensure that the person hired will be efficient because the clients expect the organization to offer quality counseling services. Also, it is important to screen the academic certification because some people can be dishonest about their educational background. The HR manager be confident that the candidate is qualified and suitable for the job and meet the state requirements to work in this field of work.
The last background check that needs to be carried out is verification of the work experience of the individual. Many employers will ask information about previous employment and responsibilities which were held. This report provides the candidate with a chance of proving that they are the best and have the required experience. Many employers need people who have experience because they already have an idea of what is required and the state require a level of experience with work with clients. Work experience provides one with other relevant skills that employers are usually looking for such as communication skills and ability to work in a team. It also seeks to find out information such as the length of time when the individual used to work for the employer, the salaries that were being paid and the manner of performance of the candidate. This verification check is mainly done simply by making a phone call and gathering the information needed about the candidate (Nixon & Kerr, 2008).
Employment Tests
Hiring people who are not suitable can cost the organization. Intelligence test and skill test are used to determine the ability of the candidate to use logic and expertise. The hiring manager gives the candidate questions or problems which require reasoning and logic. These tests measure the ability of the candidate to comprehend and grasp matters. The skills test is used to determine the level of knowledge the candidate possess. Intelligence and demonstration of cognizance are vital for the successful operation in any capacity in the agency. The greatest asset in mental counseling tasks is the ability to read the direction of interaction with clients and use the same to assess the response of the individual progressively. Counseling requires someone to anticipate reactions and response during interacting with a client. In this case, a suitable candidate should know how to handle individuals and create a suitable environment for interactions.
Pre-employment drug testing is standard during the hiring process. Drug tests should be done by employers to determine the suitability of a candidate. A drug test is critical before employment since what individual do outside of the office affects their level of productivity. For example, if a person is a drug addict or an alcoholic their level of productivity is likely to be low or the employer can anticipate having some sense of irresponsibility. Conducting a drug test on candidates, therefore, helps to give information upon which character can be judged. Although a candidate’s, experience with drugs may be treated as a matter of privacy, a case like the job opportunity in the counseling agency makes it necessary to conduct this test. Most of the client are on some type or psychotropic or controlled medication and we must ensure that employees are not tempted to take these drugs from the individuals. If drug use inhibits a candidate’s efficiency in providing services to the mentally challenged individuals, the company will consider this factor is limiting to the recruitment process. An applicant’s use of drugs may render them incorporative and or unreliable when assigned tasks. This aspect of a candidate’s character makes drugs test a necessary test during recruitment.
The fact that the agency offers to counsel for mental, behavioral challenges underscores the need not to ignore physical fitness from the applicants. There are incidents when the individual may get upset with the counselor and or their people within the agency. With such information in mind, it is only a safety precautionary measure to consider the physical fitness of the candidate alongside other features. Employees who are physically intimidated by their individuals may not perform their tasks with ease when they are left alone with their clients. There are also times when the counselor is expected to conduct obvious observation on their individual and perhaps how they interact with others. This situation will require a person to be physically fit to be able to relief themselves with ease in case of a commotion (Boxall, Purcell, & Wright, 2010).
Hiring and Promotional Decisions
The policy that needs to guide the hiring and promotional decisions are ensuring that any policy made is aligned to the right ethical standards and complies with the law. With this, a company can prevent cases such as loss of reputation or lawsuits for the company and therefore ensure that the decisions made result to a smooth hiring and promotional process. About hiring and promotions decisions, the agency policy is based on two subjects on merit and an arising need for additional personnel in the company. This process ensures that the group of employees who are employed with the company would be considered for the position alongside those who have applied before, and whose applications are still in the database. Also, there will have some training exercises that an employee in this position must complete to be suitable for additional roles and responsibilities after promotion (Powell, 2010).
Challenges and Adverse Impact of Using Subjective Criteria for Assessing Soft Skills
The use of these criteria can lead to a lot of discrimination claims, because the criteria are not always satisfying to all the applicants and most of them may view the process as being favoritism. Issues such as gender and racial discrimination could arise, and this may lead a company to receiving lawsuits on the grounds of discrimination. The challenge posed is that the applicants who applied for the position will not be satisfied if not called for an interview. Individuals who have used may have technical skills, and some may lack good interpersonal and communication skills. This approach has the challenge of turning the recruitment process biased to those with soft skills as compared to those with physical attributes. Since recruitment involves employees from the agency and those outside the office, the process will become discriminatory in nature. The employees from the company will become dissatisfied with the course if they realize that the person sought after was a physically fit person yet they were subjected to the test.
Plan to Mitigate the Adverse Impact
To mitigate the adverse impact, it is necessary to advertise for the position and conduct sufficient publicity and even convene a meeting to let the applicant know the expectations for the job. It is also important to let the candidates know the recruitment criteria ahead of time and give them time to make their opinions and limit complaints about the discriminatory process later. Selecting the right interviewers in the human resource department and training them can mitigate the adverse impact. Trained interviewers understand that they are supposed to have interview question which focuses on the position being hired. Having this process will assist in getting the best candidate for community counselor who is qualified and has all the skills needed. The job resumes and application letters indicate the hard skills the applicants. The interviews are the ones used to determine the soft skills which are required because a candidate may have the technical skills needed but may not be able to express themselves. Having good interviewers in place enables the company to get the best candidate.
Disabled Applicants and Religious Considerations
America with Disabilities Act Title I require that organizations provide reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities who are employees and those applying for jobs. Accommodation is regarding offering a conducive environment for the individuals with disabilities and special religious needs to be able to apply for the advertised position and can get equal chances just like other applicants.
For the community counselor position, those with disabilities should be given reasonable consideration. The first reasonable accommodation for an applicant with a disability is the modification of the application process. The organization should modify the job application process to accommodate the disabled applicants. For example, an applicant for the community counselor position with a disability who cannot walk but is qualified for the job should be given a reasonable accommodation of conducting the interview via the phone after they have come for the screening rather than having them keep on coming to the office. Modifying the application checks of physically fit individuals in the job application is also a reasonable accommodation. If they are qualified and can perform the job, they should be given the opportunity to take the position.
Civil rights act prohibits employers from failing to provide reasonable accommodation for an applicant with religious needs. For example, an organization which is open the whole week may require employees to work on Saturday or Sunday. An employee may not be able to work on these days because of religious reasons. The organization should have a reasonable accommodation for such candidates to have an opportunity to make up their hours on another day. With this company the counselors can make their own schedules as long as it works in with the clients schedule. Another reasonable accommodation for the company that can be given to counselors is during their sessions with an individual is to present themselves dressed in an official way if the client is not offended. Some employees such as Muslims have special religious needs. The females are required to have religious head scarfs. The organizations should have reasonable accommodations for those workers (Walsh, 2016).
Legal Reasons not to Provide Reasonable Accommodation
An agency may decline to accommodate a disability if it is going to result in difficulty in delivering the services and if the disability is not recognized in the EEOC list of disabilities. If a disability cost the agency more resources before the employee can begin to work, the company would decline to proceed to work in that situation.
Religious accommodations can be met with resentment from the office if they do not fulfill the criteria used by EEOC to define moral values and what is right and wrong. If the time required by the religion from the employee ate into the working hours, the agency would acknowledge the clash in ethics of work and moral demands. In this case, the company would decline religious accommodation for the employee (Walsh, 2016).
Court Charged an Organization
The case we are going to be focusing on is the case of the Green Bay Dressed Beef LLC. This company was sued in court on the grounds of gender discrimination. They had been accused of discriminating against 970 women between 2006 and 2007. The women had applied for positions in the organization between that one year period and positions which they were not offered even if they qualified for the positions. The company was found guilty following various statements and hiring records. For example, the gender imbalance in the work force was big since only 25% were women. They were also charged with harassment of women in the workplace (Kluwer, 2017).
In the case of Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc., the Supreme Court decided that Title VII forbids harassment of all types like sexual harassment, gender harassment for all employees in the organization. The plaintiff Oncale claimed that he was subjected to humiliating sexual actions by some coworkers and he quit because he was in fear that he would eventually be forced to have sex or be rape. Charges of sexual harassments were filed against the company. The district court ruled for the defendant, but Supreme Court reversed the judgment (EEOC, 2017).
Action Plan
For the agency to avoid discrimination in the recruitment process, the company will only use criteria that are based on ability to deliver services as opposed to controversial clauses that demean the affirmative action in place. The agency intends to recruit people for the job based on their qualifications and additional considerations outside established requirements.
The agency will insert non-violence and harassment clause in the employment contract of each employee to remind them such behavior is discouraged and is punishable. Harassment in the workplace is not desirable, and it is important o makes sure that employees sign the contracts knowing the consequences of violating any of the rules. The agency expects employees to work as a team and therefore harassment will derail that process (Storey, 2007).
Work-Life Conflicts
Work and life are inter-related and compete for attention of the same person. It is, therefore, important to establish the desired balance between work and life to ensure efficiency at workplace. The conflict arises out of the inability to allocate equal attention to work and life as separate entities. The HR manager at the agency should consider the following conflicts.
Family-to-work interference occurs when the employee in the organization is not able to accomplish tasks at workplace due to the overwhelming demands of family responsibilities. A typical case in this situation is the need to attend to children functions at school or kid’s sickness, which requires frequent absence from work. The policy that will help to resolve this work-life conflict is given employees leave periods that are in respect of the leave duration outlined in the labor laws.
Work-to-family interference conflict arises out of a very demanding work schedule that ends up eating to a person’s family time. In this situation, the stresses of spending long hours at work and the demands of the same job may spill into the family space and destabilize the family life. The human resource needs to ensure that employees are provided with the most conducive work environment to avoid stress. The policy would ensure that employees can engage with their families sufficiently and ensure that work and family are not interfering with each other.
Role overload conflict arises out of the requirements of the position for which an individual is employed to work. In this case, the work overloads end up reducing the efficiency of that employee to deliver quality work and in an efficient way. The policy should explore the amount of work expected of an employee in each capacity. The company can avoid this by making sure that there is another individual able to help with the case load. During their off time, even if the company must hire a part-time person. Applying this policy will ensure that an employee is not overwhelmed due to so many tasks allocated to one person (Work, 2006).
Conclusion
Management of human resource in the workplace requires a review of internal human resource policies to achieve the best work environment. The functions carried out by the human resource department are very sensitive and need to be performed with high level of compliance and ethical standards. The application of labor laws should enable the agency to manage flaws in recruitment process without infringing on job applicants. Having a clear understanding of ethical principles as well as the law can help the human resource department have a smooth hiring process and will also make sure that decisions and policies made during the hiring process are accordance with the law hence avoiding lawsuits. Discriminatory aspects should be handled because they are protected by the law and therefore should be limited to a carefully managed process.
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