Gender Equality Hiring and Discrimination

Question

Is the act by companies to discriminate women during the hiring process, especially in managerial positions, a bad idea because it deprives those companies of the same? 

Introduction

Over the decades, there have been concerns about the manner in which any organization, including top performing companies, handle the issue of hiring women, thus gender-based discrimination. As a result, many organization such as the retail giant, Walmart, have been in and out of court over gender-based discrimination in some of its stores, which have negative implications on its performance. The productivity of organizations is usually dependent on how well the human resource perform day-to-day activities of an entity. As a result, there is the need to consider various aspects of the human resource including business leadership and strategy as well as diversity. Diversity, as well as business leadership and strategy with regards to human resource, entails having a workforce that has both qualified genders equally represented as well as having top management and leadership positions held by either gender as long as they are qualified, respectively (Kaplan, 2017). Also, both male and female employees should be hired and paid equally without gender-based discrimination including managerial and leadership positions in business.

Discrimination against women in the hiring process, especially in the managerial positions, denied such companies the benefits of the contribution of women. The aim of this paper is therefore to show some of the instances in which the contribution of women has been beneficial, thus the need for companies to eliminate gender inequality and discrimination in the hiring process. This will entail providing the benefits of employing women, especially in managerial positions, thus eliminating gender inequality and discrimination in the hiring process. 

Among the forms of ensuring a company's productivity is not only competitive, but also progressive, is to eliminate certain issues from the company. For instance, many companies have been sued for gender-based discrimination, which has reflected negatively on the company, thus ruining the previously good reputations of such companies. Similarly, gender inequality creates instances of disagreements with the existing employees, which slows down performance, thus negatively influencing the company’s performance. Also, by eliminating gender inequality in as far as human resource is concerned, a more diverse workforce will be achieved, whose benefits are endless. Companies need to understand and consider the benefits of employing women, especially in managerial positions since the benefits do not only include the creation go a diverse workforce. 

Position Statement

Women, especially in managerial positions, translates into a diversified workforce, whose benefit is that it results in a better productivity, thus company performance (Simpson, 2015). As a result, the benefits a company can accrue from eliminating the discrimination of women during the hiring process and instead hire women, especially in managerial positions, become numerous. Therefore, this paper supports the idea of consideration of hiring women, especially in managerial positions, as it will eliminate gender inequality as well as improve company performance through the numerous contributions of women. 

Supporting Reason

A diverse human resource that is composed of equal assigning of all positions, women in managerial positions has a better understanding and service of customers (Simpson, 2015). Studies have shown that companies with a diverse human resource tend to create products or services that can appeal to a broader customer base. Women are great contributors to ideas that can easily and skillfully satisfy the female customer base, seeing as more women than men characterize the world's population. This is because women are in a better position of understanding the needs of fellow women, making them a better pick with regards to decision making on how to target customers of the female gender. 

An example of how better fit women are with regards to developing ideas well suited for fellow women is demonstrated through the company, PepsiCo Inc. The company, following its successfully executed diversification effort, increased the percentage of women as well as ethnic minorities in various levels in the company such as the managerial positions. Upon employing women to certain managerial positions, the company was able to generate about 1% of its 8% revenue from products that were inspired by women in the managerial positions such as the wasabi-flavored snacks as well as the Dorito chips that were guacamole-flavored, back in 2004. Therefore this goes to show that women in managerial positions can raise company revenue, thus the need to avoid discriminating them in the hiring process.

Supporting Reason

Women contribute to reduced staff turnover as well as foster long-term relations (Simpson, 2015). When compared to men, a larger percentage of women have the better ability to multi-task as well as focus on multiple things at the same time. As a result, more companies have opted to train women and promote them to managerial positions s opposed to hiring new staff in the event of openings and vacancies in the very positions. This goes to show that women are effective and can be an asset to a company since their nurturing nature can help improve relations among employees, hence should be considered for positions such as human resource management. Employee relations are an essential element in the event of organizational strategy since it determines the manner in which employees perform their day-to-day activities. Therefore, an organization is required to create a rapport between employees and employers, in a bid to ensure proper flow of directives and communication as well as productivity among the employees (Howard, Turban & Hurley, 2016). As mentioned above, women employees can be great contenders for the position, thus should be given equal consideration through the avoidance of gender inequality and discrimination during the hiring process. 

Supporting Reason

Women can strengthen team dynamics, which is attributed to their uniting skill (Simpson, 2015). Employees usually work in teams within the various departments, which results in various issues such as disagreements, lack of common ground for decision making as well as laziness among employees who ride on the efforts of others. Women are known to frequently possess and employ the skill of uniting people as well as draw together creative proposals and opinions that could improve company performance. Through the contribution of women and their ability to unite people, fosters healthy competition, which furthers employee participation and optimizes the process of decision making. A united human resource is more effective on various fronts such as decision making, execution, and analysis of performance, which are benefits a company accrues from employing female employees, especially in managerial positions 

Opposing Reason

Among the many arguments in support of discrimination against women is the notion that women have too many responsibilities. As a result, women cannot also take on the responsibilities of running businesses as well, which results in them not asking for promotions or raises. Women, due to societal stereotype, are confined to more domestic roles such as motherhood, cooking, and cleaning. As a result, employers as well some women themselves believe that managerial and leadership positions are well suited for men since they are considered a superior sex. Also, the high standards set for women compared to those of men discourage women from applying to top ranking positions as not only are they afraid of being rejected, but some of their duties as mothers and wives cannot allow them to take on the workload. Employers tend to avoid employing women in top leadership and managerial positions for the fear that they may not be able to handle so many responsibilities and duties, which may negatively influence the performance of the company. However, this is merely a stereotype women have equally been described as having the ability to multi-task and focus on multiple activities at a go, making them equally good contenders for managerial positions. 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are currently more women in the workforce than there has ever been. There are 73.5% million women in the workforce, which is estimated at 47% of the entire workforce and an improvement from 29% in 1945. This goes to show that the contribution of women in the workforce is being felt and should be further appreciated. Organizations can, therefore, benefit a lot from inclusion, which means employing women employees, thus eliminating gender and inequality in the hiring process (Ayad & Rahim, 2016). Therefore, the act by companies to discriminate women during the hiring process, especially in managerial positions, is established as a bad idea because it deprives those companies the chances of benefiting from the unique contributions of women. Women should hence be given equal opportunity and equal pay for work done as they have similar capabilities as men in the workforce, thus should not be discriminated in as far as the hiring process goes. 

References

Ayad, A., & Rahim, E. (2016).  The Inclusive Leader: An Applied Approach to Diversity, Change, and Management . Balboa Press. 

Howard, L. W., Turban, D. B., & Hurley, S. K. (2016). Cooperating teams and competing reward strategies: Incentives for team performance and firm productivity.  Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management ,  3 (3). 

Kaplan, S. (2017). The challenge of gender diversity.  Survive and Thrive: Winning Against Strategic Threats to Your Business , 51. 

Simpson, W. G., Carter, D., & D'Souza, F. P. (2015). What do we know about women on boards?.