Managing Human Resource: Gender Inequality and Discrimination Issues

The purpose of this task is to understand the issue of managing diversity at the workplace. It is essential for organizations to understand that it is important for them to retain the employees otherwise the organization will not work effectively in global context. The task enlightens readers about the problem of gender inequality and discrimination happening with women.

Running Head: Managing Human Resource
Managing Human Resource

Managing Human Resource 1
Executive Summary
The purpose of this task is to understand the issue of managing diversity at the workplace. It is
essential for organizations to understand that it is important for them to retain the employees
otherwise the organization will not work effectively in global context. The task enlightens
readers about the problem of gender inequality and discrimination happening with women. More
details about the task are discussed below:

Managing Human Resource 2
Contents
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................1
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................1
Gender Inequality Issue...............................................................................................................................1
Current situation.........................................................................................................................................3
Role of HR department in issue...................................................................................................................3
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................5
References...................................................................................................................................................7

Managing Human Resource 3
Introduction
The situation which is occurring in the current environment tells that the policies related to
human resource keeps on changing day by day. According to which the human resource
department of companies also needs to change their policies as well. The aim of this report is to
provide information about the gender inequality issues faced by women in the society.
Irrespective of the industries in which companies prevail, worldwide women are facing the
problem of discrimination and gender inequality. The news article posted on the Human
Resource Director website talks about the challenges which are faced by the women in the
organizations. Further, it shall be noted that the human resource management committees are one
of the reason due to which this problem has occurred in the society (Baruch, Humbert, & Wilson,
2016). As the committee does not believe in promoting women in the organization due to which
they are paid less in the organization.
Further, the below mentioned task talks about the inequality issue faced by women worldwide,
the current situation present in the business environment, contribution of the HR departments in
this case and lastly, recommendations to the organization to resolve the problem. More details
about the task are discussed below:
Gender Inequality Issue
Analyzing the whole worldwide economic situation, it shall be understood that females in every
sector are facing the gender inequality issue. Working women worldwide are paid less according
to their work provided. The human resource department of the company does not treat male and
female equally in the business environment due to which such problem occurs. The department
does not promote the female staff in the senior position nor do they treat them equally as
compared to men. The Human Resource Director report 2016-2017 explains that according to the
Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) many companies in the today’s environment
understand the importance of equality in the workplace and they are also planning policies to
resolve the problem as well (WGEA, 2017). The management is aiming to initiate corrective
actions so that the female employees can work safely in organization. The director of WEGA
explained their opinion by stating that more than four million and eleven thousand employees are

Managing Human Resource 4
suffering from the problem of discrimination in the workplace. Apart from that, the main issue is
that even after initiating various reforms on the part companies and governments, there is no
such result portrayed in the society (Bartlett, Rhode, & Grossman, 2016). In the present scenario,
the gender gap is increasing day by day, even in Australia, it has reached to 15.3 per cent which
shows that the male employees are earning well whereas female employees do not receive the
opportunity to earn in the market (Hilton, 2017).
The human resource department is most important department for the employee in the
organization as they listen to the problem of employees and solve them as well. Thus, the human
resource departments need to understand it as critical issue and solve them as well. Equal
Employment Opportunity (EEO) refers to the act of reducing the unethical activities from the
environment. The amended bill was passed in the year 2012 which aimed to provide equal level
of opportunities to both men and women in the society. The main aim of this bill was to reduce
the discrimination between both the genders and provide a safe and secure working environment
for female. It is the responsibility of the human resource department of the company to
correctively take responsibility for the actions which they perform in the environment, and all
such actions shall impact the employees in a better way. The activities of the managers should
reduce the effects of discrimination in the environment (Thompson, 2016). Lastly, it shall be
noted that the problem of inequality arises due to the negligence of the human resource
management to act upon this issue. They did not consider it a severe aspect which can affect the
working of the business. But it is the need of the era that organizations and its human resource
departments shall implement plans to solve the discrimination among men and women. So, in
order to change the situation, it is important for employees to understand their responsibilities
towards the females present in their organization (Vitriol, 2016).
Current situation
Usually, it is considered that men are the stronger sex present in the environment and women are
the weaker section of the society. It has become the thinking of people that women cannot
perform the action which men can do. While comparing people always consider women weak in
every field as compared to men. This is the reason due to which in workplace women are paid
less than men. People think that women are not meant to do job in an organization; in fact, they

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are meant to do household chores and stay at home. But in the current environment, such
mentality of people has changed (Hacker, 2017). People do not compare male and female neither
do they stop women growing in the external market. As women are proving themselves in every
field which clearly shows that the reason to pay them less because they are women is invalid. All
people present in the society shall be paid according to their designation in the market. NO
discrimination should occur just because of age, caste, sex etc. in the business world. People
should be judged on the basis of their thinking skills not because he is a male or female (Müller,
& Szabo, 2016).
Further, it shall be noted that awareness is still a topic of concern for women but now the
organizations understand their corporate social responsibility to provide equal status to women as
compared to men. Nowadays many initiatives are also being led by the government to improve
the attrition rate in the country, as it impacts the overall growth of the economy as well. The
governments of many countries through their policies are trying to change the thinking of people
that women can too succeed and grow in the business (Ozturk, & Tatli, 2016). They mainly want
to provide equal level of opportunity to women as compared to men; along with which they want
to provide safety to them as well. Although, it is difficult for organizations to change the
workplace environment and thinking of the male staff it is the need of the era. All companies
shall promote the recruitment of women in the organization to resolve such issues (Ponthieux, &
Meurs, 2015).
Role of HR department in the issue
The HR executives played a negative role in the environment in case of gender equality and
discrimination. Instead of promoting the women to work, the executives demoted them by
discriminating them and pay them less as compared to men. The HR executives in an
organization are responsible for promoting the interest all employees in the organization and
satisfying them as well. Further, these executives gave rise to inequality in the market by
initiating such activities. Inefficiency in the HRM policies increased the tension of women to
work in the industry as they were being discriminated and sexually harassed in every field
(Rowley, Kang, & Lim, 2016). Due to the prevalence of such activities, they were unable to
work in their respective organizations. Further, it shall be noted that organizations can only

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survive in the business environment by attaining diversified task force which is eligible to
perform different types of action, so the company needs qualified human resource to grow in the
business world. And by initiating such strategies they cannot attain qualified females in their
organization which is a drawback for them (Tolbert, & Castilla, 2017).
But it shall also be noted that now organizations have understood that in order to grow they need
both males and females as human resource in their organization. With respect to that they have
started promoting women in the workplace; also safety has become their utmost priority in the
organization. The HR executives have stooped the discriminative activities and are ensuring that
no women get harassed mentally or physically in the organization (Joshi, Neely, Emrich,
Griffiths, & George, 2015). Organizations like, KPMG, Telstra, PWC are aiming to reduce the
gender pay gap and initiate equality in their activities. Further many organizations have
promoted women on the top most position in the organization as well. Some of them are,
PepsiCo (CEO- Indra Nooyi), Marvell Technologies (Co-founder- Weili Dai), Huffington Post
(Founder- Arianna Huffington) etc. Thus it shall be noted that now the world is changing its
mentality and it is shifting their focus on the interest of women as well. In this way, only the
industries will collectively lead its way to success.
Recommendations
The following recommendations tell about the ways in which the organizations can provide
gender equality and avoid discrimination in the organization.
o It is the utmost responsibility of the top level management is to remove the discriminative
activities from the organization. The management shall focus on initiating equality in the
organization so that no person feels insecure while working in the organization. They
should provide pay all employees according to their designation and capabilities. The
income level shall not be segregated on the basis of sex, caste, age, creed etc. The HR
executives shall monitor the implementation of such activities in the organization
(Graham, Belliveau, & Hotchkiss, 2017).
o Training programs should be implemented to train the employee to work ethically in the
organization. The HR executives should make every male staff understand that it is their
responsibility to take care of the female staff in the organization and do not disrespect

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them. Equality is one of the social responsibilities which the HR executives should
mainly focus on.
o The code of ethics should be amended by the top level management and it should explain
the responsibility of the team on a whole to remove the discrimination from the
organization. Further, the safety of women should be the important aspect of the
organization which they should focus.
o The departments should hire more female staff to equate the ratio of male and female in
the organization. Further, this will increase positivity in the environment which will
ultimately increase the efficiency of the company in the market as well. Positivity and
flexibility will give rise identified brand image of the company in the market (Hill,
Upadhyay, & Beekun, 2015).
o Lastly, the performance appraisal method should be adopted by different organizations
prevailing in the environment. The appraisal method shall evaluate the performance of
the employees and upraise the designation and pay according to the work performed by
them in the organization. This will improve the act of equality in the organization and it
will also provide women satisfaction while working in the organization.
Conclusion
Thus in the limelight of above mentioned events, it shall be noted that equality is a basic right
which shall be given to all individuals. Women are considered as weaker section of the society
due to which they are paid less in the organization but such practices should be prohibited by the
employee. Gender inequality and discrimination reduce the scope of an organization to succeed
in the international market. All men and women should be treated equally in an organization and
the human resource department of the company should analyze and look at this issue. Also,
women should be provided safety and security in the organization so that they do not feel
insecure during the job and provide the best result of their efficiencies. Further, the report
observes the factors due to which women are being discriminated in the work field. The major
reason is the incompetence of the human resource management team to understand the
capabilities of women in the organization. The managers always give priority to men to perform
any action in the organization due to which the caliber of women is not recognized in the
organization. But now these managers have understood that in order to grow in an organization it

Managing Human Resource 8
is important for them to keep an equivalent ratio of men and women in the organization and
adequately satisfy their requirements as well. Thus, the above-mentioned task explains the issue
of gender inequality and the ways through which the organization cannot the employee turnover
ratio.

Managing Human Resource 9
References
Bartlett, K. T., Rhode, D. L., & Grossman, J. L. (2016). Gender and law: Theory, doctrine,
commentary. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
Baruch, Y., Humbert, A. L., & Wilson, D. (2016). The moderating effects of single vs
multiple-grounds of perceived-discrimination on work-attitudes: Protean careers and self-
efficacy roles in explaining intention-to-stay. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An
International Journal, 35(3), 232-249.
Graham, M. E., Belliveau, M. A., & Hotchkiss, J. L. (2017). The View at the Top or Signing
at the Bottom? Workplace Diversity Responsibility and Women’s Representation in
Management. ILR Review, 70(1), 223-258.
Hacker, S. (2017). Pleasure, power and technology: Some tales of gender, engineering, and
the cooperative workplace(Vol. 5). Routledge.
Hill, A. D., Upadhyay, A. D., & Beekun, R. I. (2015). Do female and ethnically diverse
executives endure inequity in the CEO position or do they benefit from their minority
status? An empirical examination. Strategic Management Journal, 36(8), 1115-1134.
Hilton, J. (2017). Is HR doing enough to address gender inequality?. Viewed on February 4,
2018 from < https://www.hcamag.com/hr-business-review/leadership-development/is-hr-
doing-enough-to-address-gender-inequality-244874.aspx>
Joshi, A., Neely, B., Emrich, C., Griffiths, D., & George, G. (2015). Gender research in
AMJ: An overview of five decades of empirical research and calls to action thematic
issue on gender in management research. Academy of Management Journal, 58(5), 1459-
1475.
Müller, J., & Szabo, V. (2016). An OECD-Country Analysis: Gender Discrimination and
Female Emigration.

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Ozturk, M. B., & Tatli, A. (2016). Gender identity inclusion in the workplace: broadening
diversity management research and practice through the case of transgender employees in
the UK. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(8), 781-802.
Ponthieux, S., & Meurs, D. (2015). Gender inequality. In Handbook of income
distribution (Vol. 2, pp. 981-1146). Elsevier.
Rowley, C., Kang, H. R., & Lim, H. J. (2016). Female manager career success: The
importance of individual and organizational factors in South Korea. Asia Pacific Journal
of Human Resources, 54(1), 98-122.
Thompson, N. (2016). Anti-discriminatory practice: Equality, diversity and social justice.
Palgrave Macmillan.
Tolbert, P. S., & Castilla, E. J. (2017). Editorial Essay: Introduction to a Special Issue on
Inequality in the Workplace (“What Works?”).
Vitriol, J. A. (2016). The (In) egalitarian Self: On the Motivated Rejection of Implicit Racial
Bias (Doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota).
WGEA. (2017). Equal Pay Day: 4 September 2017. Viewed on February 4, 2018 from
https://www.wgea.gov.au/media-releases/equal-pay-day-4-september-2017