Gender Issues
...stereotyping. As more and more men become single parents or exercise such nontraditional options as paternity leave, they find themselves subject to criticism for departing from the traditional company man who gives all to the corporation while making family considerations secondary (Kelly, et, al, 1993). Another issue regarding gender diversity is that of sexual harassment in the workplace. According to Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights (2003), the Commission of the European Union states (1991) states that "sexual harassment pollutes the working environment and can have a devastating effect upon the health, confidence, morale and performance of those affected by it”. They further summarize that "in general terms, sexual harassment is an obstacle to the proper integration of women into the labor market." The definition of sexual harassment from the United Stated Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC): “Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment” (Wyatt, 2000). Therefore, corporate effects of sexual harassment are potentially severe, especially when the employer does not have adequate policies and complaint procedures in place. Financial harms to victims of sexual harassment include loss of wages because of taking sick leave or leave without pay from work or as a result of the termination or transfer of employment (Cooper, Hoel & Martino, 2003). A transparent yet, apparent barrier that has become a leading gender issues within the workplace is known as the “glass ceiling”. Baxter and Wright (2000), declare that taken literally, the metaphor of the “glass ceiling” implies the existence of an impermeable barrier that blocks the vertical mobility of women. Below this barrier, women are able to get promoted, beyond this barrier, they are not. Nathan Davidovich (2003) thus defines, "glass ceiling" as describing the artificial plateau beyond which women and other minorities are denied the opportunity to advance to upper levels of executive management in the corporate world. Therefore if a company chooses to continue to exclude qualified women from top management positions it is most probable that they will find themselves unable to compete in an increasingly diversified marketplace and will lose an extraordinary amount of talent, creativity and productivity (Velasquez , 2004). MANAGING DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE As the companies of today become increasingly diverse, the need for managing a diverse workforce is escalating. The challenge facing today's corporate leaders is to foster an organizational culture that values differences and maximizes the potential of all employees. In other words, leaders must learn to manage diversity (OnlineEssays, 2003) Once managers create and define a vision for a diverse workplace, they can analyze and asses the current culture systems within the organization. This assessment identification followed by a willingness to change the status quo is necessary to modify current systems and ways of thinking (Daft 2003). There are many guidelines which an organization’s leaders must follow in order for diversity to work, some important ones are: • Focus on getting the best talent out of the person regardless of different age, gender and other demographic differences. • Develop career plans for all employees of the organization including the minorities. • Make managers responsible to obtain diversity goals by managing its employees well. • Managers also have to communicate well with all the employees who are of different background or cultures and listen to their problems. (OnlineEssays 2003) While some companies have well-articulated plans designed to ensure greater representation i...