Human Resources Management Aspects Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Human Resources Management Aspects - Essay Example Equal Employment Opportunities and affirmative action are terms that people commonly use in their daily lives without understanding their real meaning, the difference between them, and their application in human resource management. Equal employment opportunities and affirmative action are the principles that were set by the government and aim at ensuring fairness in workplaces since they prohibit any form of discrimination. I have seen people treat each other differently because of their different nationality, race, ethnicity, or gender. Learning this course was important since I now understand that Equal Employment Opportunity is a principle, which forbids discrimination of any type whether racial, gender based or ethic based, against any employee or persons seeking employment (Ulrich, 2005). Without this principle, it is obvious that the hiring process, promotions, access to professional development opportunities would be faced by prejudice. Learning what affirmative action is was another significant aspect in this unit. Affirmative Action is a remedy or a principle used to handle or address past cases of discrimination. Affirmative action thus ensures that organizations commit to overcome discrimination, which starts with addressing past discriminative actions and seek to eliminate all barriers that should limit or prevent professional development of any individual. The affirmative action was enacted to ensure organizations establish measures to improve the participation. of females, persons with disability as well as minority groups. For example, I have seen some organizations advertise certain jobs in women magazines to ensure that they increase the chances of women being the main applicants. It is not a new phenomenon to hear of cases where employees have been treated unjustly because of their race, marital status, disability, transgender status, sexuality, or other factors such as carer’s responsibilities. It was interesting learning that the above actions are unlawful. However, it is not a new phenomenon to hear of cases where an employer or manager who sacked an employee, for example, just because she was pregnant or because she or he was disabled and could not handle certain tasks. This is wrong since ones colour, gender or physicality does not demonstrate or even determine his or her capability. Everyone should thus be given equal opportunity to confirm their potential (Ulrich, 2005). EEO requires employers to avoid using selective criteria to offer jobs or promotions to certain groups of people particularly the minority. However, affirmative action is results oriented and is meant to correct underutilization of minority groups, which often result if employment, promotion, and career development opportunities are given equally without considering diversity. This course exposed me to the challenges faced by managers and supervisors during the hiring process since all their