Power and Privilege

As defined in this chapter, diversity focuses on the “otherness” or differences between individuals and has a goal of making sure, through policies, that everyone is treated the same. While this is the legal and the right thing to do, multiculturalism looks at a system of advantages based on race, gender, and sexual orientation called power and privilege. In this system, the advantages are based on a system in which one race, gender, and sexual orientation is predominant in setting societal rules and norms.

The interesting thing about power and privilege is that if you have it, you may not initially recognize it, which is why we can call it invisible privilege. Here are some examples:

1. Race privilege. Let’s say you (a Caucasian) and your friend (an African American) are having dinner together, and when the bill comes, the server gives the check to you. While this may not seem like a big issue, it assumes you (being Caucasian) are the person paying for the meal. This type of invisible privilege may not seem to matter if you have that privilege, but if you don’t, it can be infuriating.
2. Social class privilege. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, many people from outside the storm area wondered why so many people stayed in the city, not even thinking about the fact that some people couldn’t afford the gas to put in their car to leave the city.
3. Gender privilege. This refers to privileges one gender has over another—for example, the assumption that a female will change her name to her husband’s when they get married.
4. Sexual orientation privilege. If I am heterosexual, I can put a picture of my partner on my desk without worrying about what others think. I can talk about our vacations together or experiences we’ve had without worrying what someone might think about my relationship. This is not the case for many gay, lesbian, and transgendered people and their partners.

Oftentimes the privilege we have is considered invisible, because it can be hard to recognize one’s own privilege based on race, gender, or social class. Many people utilize the color-blind approach, which says, “I treat everyone the same” or “I don’t see people’s skin color.” In this case, the person is showing invisible privilege and thus ignoring the privileges he or she receives because of race, gender, or social class. While it appears this approach would value all people equally, it doesn’t, because people’s different needs, assets, and perspectives are disregarded by not acknowledging differences.Victoria C. Plaut, Kecia M. Thomas, and Matt J. Goren, “Is Multiculturalism or Color Blindness Better for Minorities?” Psychological Science 20, no. 4 (2009): 444–46.

Another important aspect of power and privilege is the fact that we may have privilege in one area and not another. For example, I am a Caucasian female, which certainly gives me race privilege but not gender privilege. Important to note here is that the idea of power and privilege is not about “white male bashing” but understanding our own stereotypes and systems of advantage so we can be more inclusive with our coworkers, employees, and managers.

So what does this all mean in relation to HRM? It means we can combine the understanding of certain systems that allow for power and privilege, and by understanding we may be able to eliminate or at least minimize these issues. Besides this, one of the best things we can do for our organizations is to have a diverse workforce, with people from a variety of perspectives. This diversity leads to profitability and the ability to better serve customers. We discuss the advantages of diversity in Section 3.1.2 “Why Diversity and Multiculturalism?”.

Why Diversity and Multiculturalism?

When many people look at diversity and multiculturalism, they think that someone’s gender, skin color, or social class shouldn’t matter. So diversity can help us with policies to prevent discrimination, while multiculturalism can help us gain a deeper understanding of the differences between people. Hopefully, over time, rather than look at diversity as attaining numerical goals or complying with the law, we can combine the concepts to create better workplaces. Although many books discuss laws relating to diversity, not many actually describe why diversity is necessary in the workplace. Here are a few main reasons:

1. It is the law.
2. We can better serve customers by offering a broader range of services, such as being able to speak a variety of languages and understanding other cultures.
3. We can better communicate with one another (saving time and money) and customers.
4. With a multicultural perspective, we can create better ideas and solutions.

Promoting a multicultural work environment isn’t just the law. Through a diverse work environment and multicultural understanding, organizations can attain greater profitability. A study by Cedric Herring called Does Diversity Pay?Cedric Herring, “Does Diversity Pay? Racial Composition of Firms and the Business Case for Diversity” (paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Montreal, Canada, August 11, 2006), accessed May 5, 2009, http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/0/1/7/9/pages101792/p101792-1.php. reveals that diversity does, in fact, pay. The study found those businesses with greater racial diversity reporter higher sales revenues, more customers, larger market shares, and greater relative profits than those with more homogeneous workforces. Other research on the topic by Scott Page, the author of The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and SocietiesScott E. Page, The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007). ended up with similar results. Page found that people from varied backgrounds are more effective at working together than those who are from similar backgrounds, because they offer different approaches and perspectives in the development of solutions. Often people believe that diversity is about checking a box or only providing window dressing to gain more customers, but this isn’t the case. As put by Eric Foss, chairperson and CEO of Pepsi Beverages Company, “It’s not a fad. It’s not an idea of the month. It’s central and it’s linked very directly to business strategy.”William J. Holstein, “Diversity is Even More Important in Hard Times,” New York Times, February 13, 2009, accessed August 25, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/14/business/14interview.html. A study by the late Roy Adler of Pepperdine University shows similar results. His 19-year study of 215 Fortune 500 companies shows a strong correlation between female executives and high profitability.Roy Adler, “Women in the Executive Suite Correlate to High Profits,” Glass Ceiling Research Center. Another study, conducted by Project Equality, found that companies that rated low on equal opportunity issues earned 7.9 percent profit, while those who rated highest with more equal opportunities resulted in 18.3 percent profit.Melissa Lauber, “Studies Show That Diversity in Workplace Is Profitable,” Project Equality, n.d., accessed July 11, 2011, http://www.villagelife.org/news/archives/diversity.html. These numbers show that diversity and multiculturalism certainly is not a fad, but a way of doing business that better serves customers and results in higher profits.

As managers, we need to recognize this and develop policies that recognize not only the importance of diversity but the importance of nurturing multicultural understanding in the workplace. Many employees, however, may be resistant to a discussion on diversity and multiculturalism. Much of this may have to do with their own power and privilege, but some resistance may be related to the discomfort people may feel when faced with the realization that change is a necessity and the cultural makeup of the workplace is changing. Some people may feel “We’ve always done it this way” and are less willing to change to the new ways of doing things.

Perhaps one of the best diversity statements by a Fortune 500 company was made by Jose Manuel Souto, the CFO for Visa in Latin America. He says, “A diverse workforce is critical to providing the best service to our global clients, supporting our business initiatives, and creating a workplace environment that promotes respect and fairness.”National Latina Business Women Association, “Women and Minorities on Corporate Boards Still Lags Far Behind National Population,” accessed August 24, 2011, http://nlbwa.org/component/content/article/64-nationalnews/137-procon-and-asian-global-sourcing-conference.

Now that you have an understanding of the meaning of diversity, power, and privilege, as well as the importance of diversity, we will discuss specific diversity strategies in Section 3.2 “Diversity Plans”.

Recruitment and Selection

As you saw in the opening of Chapter 3 “Diversity and Multiculturalism”, sometimes organizations do not mean to be exclusive or discriminatory, but their practices are discriminatory and illegal. For example, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) says it is illegal to publish a job advertisement that shows a preference for a particular type of person or discourages someone from applying for a job. For example, a Facebook post that says “recent college graduates wanted” might be inclusive to a younger group and discouraging to a diverse (older) workforce, not making the post multicultural. Another example might be the reliance on word-of-mouth advertisement for job openings. Suppose you have a mostly Hispanic workforce and use word of mouth for recruitment. It is likely that most new hires will also be Hispanic. This is also illegal, but perhaps a consideration is the lack of diversity you will have in your workplace with these recruitment methods.

Make sure that job announcements aren’t posted only for your Facebook friends to see; post them in a variety of places to gain the largest and most diverse response.

We address discrimination in the selection process in Chapter 5 “Selection”. However, a mention of the four-fifths rule here is important to determine how we can quantitatively evaluate discrimination in our selection practices. One way to calculate possible discrimination is by using the four-fifths rule, or 80 percent rule. The rule states that a selection rate for any race, sex, or ethnic group that is less than four-fifths of the rate for the group with the highest rate could be regarded as adverse impact. Adverse impact refers to employment practices that may appear to be neutral but have a discriminatory effect on a protected group. For example, let’s assume 100 women and 500 men applied to be firefighters. Let’s say 20 of those women were hired and 250 men were hired. To determine adverse impact based on the four-fifths rule, calculate the following:

• Selection rate for women: 20 percent
• Selection rate for men: 50 percent
• Then divide the highest selection rate: .20/.50 = .4

Because .4, or 40 percent, is less than four-fifths, there may be adverse impact in the selection process for firefighters.

Testing

If employment tests are required, a test must be in direct relation to the job. For example, an organization that uses a personality test in hiring must be able to show that the personality test results are nondiscriminatory and do not exclude a population.

In addition, if a reasonable accommodation is needed, such as an interpreter, and it does not cause financial difficulty for the organization, this should be granted.

Also consider the type of test and how it might exclude a certain group of people, such as those who don’t speak English as a first language. We will discuss multiculturalism and testing further in Chapter 5 “Selection”.

Pay and Promotion

Development of policies related to pay and promotion is key to fairness in a multicultural situation. It is widely published that women make about 77 percent of what men earn for similar jobs.National Committee on Pay Equity, accessed August 25, 2011, http://www.iwpr.org/initiatives/pay-equity-and-discrimination/#publications. Many studies have tried to determine a cause for this pay inequity, and here are some of the possible reasons studied and researched:

1. Hours worked. Studies have said that women tend to work fewer hours because of child-care and housework expectations.
2. Occupational choice. A study performed by Anne York at Meredith CollegeE. Anne York, “Gender Differences in the College and Career Aspirations of High School Valedictorians,” Journal of Advanced Academics 19, no. 4 (Summer 2008): 578–600, http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=EJ822323. found that women tend to choose careers that pay less because they are worried about balancing family and career. In addition, numerous studies show that women choose careers on the basis of gender stereotypes (e.g., nurse, teacher) and that this leads to lower pay.
3. Stereotypes. The concept of male bias is a possibility. In many studies, people were more likely to choose male doctors over female doctors, even when experience and education were the same.David R. Hekman, Karl Aquino and Brad P. Owens, “An Examination of Whether and How Racial and Gender Biases Influence Customer Satisfaction,” Academy of Management Journal53, no. 2 (April 2010): 238–264. There appears to be a perception that men may be more competent in certain types of jobs.
4. Maternity and family leave. Women leaving the workforce for a short or extended period of time may affect the perception of promotability in the workplace.
5. Salary negotiation. A study performed by Bowles and BabcockHannah Riley Bowles and Linda Babcock, “When Doesn’t It Hurt Her to Ask? Framing and Justification Reduce the Social Risks of Initiating Compensation” (paper presented at IACM 21st Annual Conference, December 14, 2008): accessed August 25, 2011, http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1316162.showed that men were eight times more likely to negotiate salary than women. In addition, when women did negotiate, they received lower monetary returns. Consider a study performed by Cornell University, which found that women were often negatively affected in their job when they negotiated salary, as compared to men not being viewed negatively after negotiations.

Whatever the reason for pay difference, all managers should be aware of these differences when hiring and promoting. Allowing managers to determine the pay for their employees can also bring out negative stereotypes—and lead to breaking of the law. Determining a set pay schedule for all new and promoted employees can help remedy this situation.

A factor in promotions can also be the mentor-mentee relationship. Most individuals in organizations will have an informal mentor who helps them “through the ranks.” Traditionally, this informal mentor relationship results in someone “pairing up” with another who has similar physical characteristics, is the same gender, or has a similar mind-set. As a result, if the organization has, for example, mostly men, it is likely the female will not be informally mentored, which can result in lack of promotion. Likewise, if the workforce consists of mostly Caucasian females, it is likely the African American male may not develop an informal mentor relationship with his female counterparts. Development of a formal mentorship program to ensure that everyone has a mentor is one way to alleviate this situation. Mentorship programs are discussed in Chapter 8 “Training and Development”.

Now What?

Now that you have an awareness of the aspects of HR that could be affected by multiculturalism, you may consider what steps you can take to create a more multicultural workplace. The first step would be to create a diversity plan, as discussed earlier in this section. The second step would be to look at the operation of the HR department and to figure out what departmental measures can be taken to promote diversity.

HR, for example, can provide a training series on power and privilege and how it relates to the workplace. Awareness is the first step to creating a truly multicultural environment. Once employees recognize their own power and privilege, the training could be developed to include laws related to diversity, and discussions on bias can take place. Then discussions can be held on how to improve HR plans such as job analysis, recruitment, and selection to create a multicultural work environment. Rather than thinking about this training as one of many objectives that must be accomplished, think about the training from the conversation perspective. Getting the conversation started is the first step in this personal and professional development process for employees.

Some of the aspects to creating a training focused on multiculturalism might include the following:

1. Build a cultural knowledge about customs, religions, and histories.
2. Discuss treatment of people based on them as individuals, rather than as part of a “group,” which can result in stereotyping.
3. Teach employees to listen actively, which can help raise cultural awareness.
4. Train employees to rethink current policies and how those policies might be exclusive to a certain group.
5. Work on resistance to change. Many employees think, “This is the way we have always done it, and now we have to change it because we have a group of ____ working here now.”
6. Does your leadership team have a multiculturalism perspective? Are many ethnic backgrounds and other multicultural traits represented?

While these suggestions may not eliminate power and privilege, the ability to talk about differences and expectations can be a key ingredient to creating a more inclusive environment. Sometimes this type of training can help people evaluate their perceptions. For example, suppose a complaint came through that a woman was making derogatory sexual comments to only one group of men in an organization. When talked to about it, she said she made comments to the “techies” because she thought the comments would provide them a needed confidence boost, but she generally wouldn’t make those types of comments. This is an example of her perception (“techies” need confidence boosts from women) followed by her action (the comments) on this perception. When we assume our perceptions are correct, we are usually wrong. Training can get people to consider their emotions, stereotypes, and expectations. Besides training, asking ourselves a series of important questions can be the start to making diversity and multiculturalism work. The University of California, San Francisco human resource department lists some of these questions, which are shown in the sidebar.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency charged with the task of enforcing federal employment discrimination laws. The laws include those that protect people from discrimination in all areas of employment, such as discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, and disability. People who have filed a discrimination charge are also protected against discrimination under the EEOC. Employers with at least fifteen employees (twenty for age discrimination) are covered under the EEOC. This agency covers not only discrimination in hiring but also discrimination in all types of work situations such as firing, promotions, harassment, training, wages, and benefits. The EEOC has the authority to investigate charges of discrimination against employers. The agency investigates the claims, makes a finding, and then tries to settle the charge. If they are unsuccessful in settling the charge, the EEOC has the right to file a lawsuit on behalf of the complainants. The EEOC has headquarters in Washington, DC, with fifty-three field offices throughout the United States.

If a company has more than one hundred employees, a form called the EEO-1 must be filled out yearly. This form confirms the demographics of an organization based on different job categories.Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, 2011 EEO-1 Survey, accessed December 20, 2010, http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/eeo1survey. An organization that employs more than fifty people and works for the federal government must also file an EEO-1 yearly, with the deadline normally in September. In addition, organizations must post the EEOC notice, which you have probably seen before, perhaps in the company break room. Finally, organizations should keep on file records such as hiring statistics in the event of an EEOC investigation.

It is necessary to mention here that while there is a legal compliance concern, as discussed before, it is in the company’s best interest to hire a diverse workforce. So while we can discuss the legal aspects, remember that the purpose of having a diverse workforce is not just to meet EEOC requirements but to create a better, more profitable workplace that better serves customers.

EEOC Federal Legislation

While the EEOC is the larger governing body, many pieces of legislation relating to multicultural practices are part of the EEOC family of laws. Many of these laws began with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. This act, enforced by the EEOC, covers several areas in which discrimination was rampant. However, a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) is a quality or attribute employers are allowed to consider when making decisions during the selection process. Examples of BFOQs are a maximum age limit for airline pilots for safety reasons and a Christian college’s requirement that the president of the college be Christian.

EEOC laws relate specifically to the following and are discussed in detail in Chapter 4 “Recruitment”and Chapter 5 “Selection”:

1. Age
2. Disability
3. Equal pay
4. Genetic information
5. National origin
6. Pregnancy
7. Race/color
8. Religion
9. Retaliation
10. Sex
11. Sexual harassment