Analysis of the Agency’s Policies, Procedures, and Plans Regarding Unions, Privatization, Pensions, and Productivity,
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Running Head: LAWS AFFECTING THE AGENCY
Assignment 3: LAWS AFFECTING THE AGENCY
Shahin Alakbarov
Strayer University
Prof. Dr. Mark Pantaleo
PAD 530
February 21, 2015
LAWS AFFECTING THE AGENCY.
The presence of a minimum wage in the USA has many effects on the agency. Currently, many states have set the minimum wage at an average of $9.00 per hour. This figure applies to all workers of the agency, whether they are citizens or foreigners owning a work permit (Jamieson & O'Mara, 2000).
This regulation has affected the agency as they are supposed to pay their staff an equal or higher than the minimum wage, depending on their job groups. The minimum wage does not discriminate racially and applies to the whole United States of America. Some states have even set the minimum wage high tan the national average, for example, Connecticut has set it at$10.
Recently, laws have been passed on non-discrimination based on race, religion, gender and even national origin. That has affected the workplace since when hiring, employers are forced to hire based on merit and not any of the above. It is also illegal to terminate an employee, or promote him, classify his job group based on any of these factors. As a result, the competition in the market is healthy as there are both citizens and non-citizens are given fair employment opportunities based on their academic achievements and experience in the job.
Personnel recruitment and hiring process.
The agency is a major employment partner. Several thousands of people derive their livelihood from it. It should, therefore, take steps to clarify its stand on lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender relations as these issues always manifest themselves during the hiring process. Some groups argue that these issues are personal and don’t play a part in an employee’s output and should, therefore, be left as they are. However, some people argue in contrast to these and believe that an employee is likely to give a better output when he feels that all his needs, personal and not personal, are listened to and factored by the company her works for, while making decisions that require such considerations (Kottak & Kozaitis, 2008).
The firm should address this issue since the firm is seen through the image of its staff. After deliberations in the above mentioned, the employees will feel that their needs are well taken care of and, therefore, give a better output in their productivity. Thy feels the company values and cares for them and will, therefore, will strive to meet the demands of their job.
The firm should also address Lesbian, Gays, Bisexual and Transgender relations during recruitment. Addressing these issues will give the company an advantage over others that do not factor such or vehemently deny the existence of people practicing the above. Its clients, some of who may support these relations will commend the company for taking measures in order to address these relationships in the workplace. They will feel that the company is real, acknowledges that people living in such relationships are also valuable assets to the firm and will, therefore, recommend it to their friends. This will see the company increase their sales and client-base, and most importantly, their profits.
Also, addressing these relationship issues will undoubtedly change the face of the company. It will be youthful, creative and productive. Through addressing these issues, the workers will feel accepted and protected. The will also come clean on their orientations as they will not feel discriminated against either will they feel under pressure to hide or pretend so as to feet in with the norms. Clients will also be free within the firm and will not feel pressured to conform therefore ensuring their loyalty
On the hand, tackling these issues may cause problems such as harassment in the workplace if a gay or lesbian comes out, may be unseens unprofessional by co-workers and supervisors, or may be fired, miss out on promotions due the nature of their relationships. Opting to leave this issue unaddressed will prevent such problems in the workplace.
In a firm where there closeted gay or lesbians, or even Transgenders, there will not be problems with discrimination based on the above factors and everyone will be treated equally and normally. There will be no derogatory jokes based on a worker’s sexual orientation, and neither will there be complaints or dissatisfaction due to missed out promotions on the basis of a worker’s sexual orientation.
Ethics and diversity training.
In the agency, ethics is taken seriously. It ensures that the workers abide by the conducts expected of them in the workplace (Izzo & Withers, 2011). This is because unethical behavior will ultimately ruin the company’s image, and dissatisfied clients will find ethical firms to work with, lowering the value and profit index of the company. Therefore, the agency has undertaken ethics trains to mitigate the occurrence of unethical behavior.
On the other hand, diversity training ensures that workers of different backgrounds can coexist to coexist in the workplace without looking down on those they judge as different from them on the basis of races, creed, socio-economic background or even gender. Diversity in the workplace guarantees equal opportunities among the employees as they will be engaged on the basis of merit, not race or any other discriminatory factor.
The agency usually trains its employees as they join it. That makes sure that they can quickly adapt to the working conditions in the agency. Training its staff also makes sure that workers deliver quality output that is expected from them thus doing away with the problem that may come with doing unsatisfactory work. This is a strength of the agency as trained workers will deliver quality work when compared to employees who are left to navigate their way in office on their own (Reilly, Sirgy, & Gorman, 2012).
Another strength of training new and existing employees is that the employees are constantly updated on the expectations of their work. This enables that their output is of high quality and meets the required standards as per job specification.
Training both existing and new employees also serves as a channel to receive feedback from them. This feedback may come in a form of questions in the way of doing things in the agency or opinions on the systems used in the firm. This is very important because it helps the management know the thoughts of their employees and may sometimes be used when sourcing for fresh, creative and innovative ideas in order to stay top in the market. Since the workers fill taken care of, they will feel part of the organization and rack up their brains for new ideas.
Training the agency’s workers in ethics and diversity ensures that they work as a team and accept each other in spite of their differences; they also become tolerant to each other. That ensures they will voice and listen to each other’s opinions with respect and will deliberate greatly on the best ways of handling an issue as they come up.
Through training workers in ethics and diversity, the agency will reap benefits in the following ways; the worker will be motivated, appreciate their work and experience job satisfaction, enhance the agency’s image, increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the workers and lastly, the firm will experience low employee turnover. Also, the company employees will receive training in risk management such as handling sexual harassment thus empowering them and diversity training making them open minded and accepting changes around them, and people different from them.
A major weakness of ethics and diversity training is that it uses the agencies resources; money and time. However, this can easily be mitigated by engaging professionals in the training and grouping the workers in small groups so that while some are been trained, others are still working. This ensures that the agency will still be productive at any given time.
Recommendations for recruiting and training a diversified workforce.
The following are recommendations that the agency could undertake to ensure that it improves in recruiting and training a diversified workforce:
Ensure that all portions of the application and interview process are accessible to persons with disabilities and multicultural groups living within the agency’s society. This will ensure that there will no group feeling marginalized in the hiring process as employment will be based on merit and will be fair and equal to all based on merit, experience and academic achievements (Clutterbuck & Ragins, 2002).
I would also recommend that the company offers training on language. That will ensure that the agency reaps maximum benefits from qualified applicants who are unable to use the language been used at the workplace. It is especially important to provide English language training as this language is recognized all over the world. Providing English training will improve diversity while at the same time enriching the workplace.
Lastly, the employer should also make use of the minority groups they have in the workplace to recommend qualified friends whenever there are job vacancies. Such an initiative will propel the company into use of diversity in the workplace by having diverse candidates seeking work engagement. Such an initiative will also significantly reduce the recruiting budget.
Reference
Clutterbuck, D., & Ragins, B. R. (2002). Mentoring and diversity : an international perspective. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Izzo, J. B., & Withers, P. (2011). Values shift : the new work ethic & what it means for business. Vancouver: Fairwinds Press.
Jamieson, D., & O'Mara, J. (2000). Managing workforce 2000 : gaining the diversity advantage. San Francisco: San Francisco.
Kottak, C. P., & Kozaitis, K. A. (2008). On being different : diversity and multiculturalism in the North American mainstream. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Reilly, N. P., Sirgy, M. J., & Gorman, C. A. (2012). Work and quality of life : ethical practices in organizations. Dordrecht ; New York: Springer Netherlands.
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