Value_of_Diversity_in_the_Workplace

Value of Diversity in the Workplace This has turned out to be more difficult than I thought that it would be. What I have chosen is to discuss the latest hiring of my information specialist (IS). I will discuss what I did after I advertised the position; tallied the resumes; graded the resumes; and categorize what I believed was the important items I needed in the potential candidate. I will also disclose what my boss dictated. The information specialist is a person that will have the necessary knowledge to talk with the public; to answer all questions and attempting to fill that short time with as much useful information, while not monopolizing the visitor’s time. While interacting with the public, the IS must be cordial, articulate, and pleasant. This is very important, as the IS will be the first person that the public will interact with, and so the “first impression” must be the best possible impression. I was able to attract twenty-two possible candidates for this one position. After reviewing them all, I decided to use a general guideline to narrow the field down to five strong individuals. My guideline included the normal things: education, skills, forest subject matter etc. After much consideration and calculating, I was able to get the number down to seven. That is when my boss came into the room, and told me that I was to hire a minority. She then defined to me what she considered “a minority”. The bottom line, her definition was that it was to be someone other than a Caucasian person. What a pickle. The list that I had made was made of only seven names. The problem was that I made the list from the resumes and the questionnaires coupled with random tests that were administered. In all the paperwork that I had accumulated, there wasn’t anything asking about race or ethnic backgrounds. I had not had the opportunity of having a personal interview with any of them. What was I going to do' My first concern was for why my boss would make me do such a thing as to exclude candidates strictly on race. I asked her, but received nothing back. I tried to reason with her, explaining that we can’t discriminate in any way, shape, or form. She countered that we need to show more diversity in the office. What should I do' Was I to contact all twenty-two candidates, and ask each and everyone what their race and ethnic backgrounds’ were' Or just with the seven finalists' Or disregard what she had mandated all together' Now let’s define what diversity means: Diversity means more than just acknowledging and/or tolerating difference. Diversity is a set of conscious practices that involve: • Understanding and appreciating interdependence of humanity, cultures, and the natural environment. • Practicing mutual respect for qualities and experiences that are different from our own. • Understanding that diversity includes not only ways of being but also ways of knowing. • Recognizing that personal, cultural and institutionalized discrimination creates and sustains privileges for some while creating and sustaining disadvantages for others. • Building alliances across differences so that we can work together to eradicate all forms of discrimination. So did my boss have the right to declare that we only hire persons of a race other than white' From just what we read, having diversity is a good thing. But is it important to have this diversity at the cost of certain fairness' Is it ethically right to demand that the hiring practices will only incorporate interviewing those that have a certain race or a certain ethnic background' Here is what I did to overcome this obstacle. I took my short list in and sat down with my boss. I explained the method that I used to get to this list’s number. After our discussion, she felt that I had been fair in how I had come to that number. She also asked what my next plan would be. I explained that now I will have the interviews with each of them, and then my 1st assistant will be allowed time with each candidate to talk over some things about the job. My reason for using the 1st assistant is because of all the people that I have worked with in my lifetime, she is by far one of the most knowledgeable of the Forest Service, and yet at the same time, is one of the hardest individuals to get along with. Now, remember I have just been hired into this position, and the assistant has been doing this for 25 years, and 12 years with this district. So, although it seemed to her that I was using her to gauge the applicants and utilize her opinion (which I did look at), in reality, I used that moment to ask the different candidates what they thought of the assistant. And based on that interview answer, I would further decide the best candidate for the position. In this interview process, I was able to use the different egos, environmental backgrounds, and knowledge levels to determine what diversity mix I would end up with. The funny thing about the whole process was that we, who were doing the questioning, are all white. We ended up hiring a white girl, who’s resume, application and answers coupled with how she presented herself, won her the job. The 1st assistant also ranked her the highest. Did we have diversity in the applicants' I can’t say anything about them all, but only for those that I spoke with. We did have a good solid representation. So, was I fair' I believe I was. Do I still have my job' Yes and the boss agreed with the decision. The method for the process proved to her, that although we try to use diversity in all that we do; in this instance we did our best to identify the best possible employee and chose the best candidate in the end. References Definition of Diversity: Queensborough Community College. http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/Diversity/definition.asp The Real Value of Diversity: A Student Perspective. http://www.diversityweb.org/Digest/ W98/value.html The Value of Diversity/EEO. http://www.sybase.com/about_sybase/careers/valueofdiversity.