Women at the Helm - Planters Development Bank

1. Employers can miss out on people who canpotentially be assets to the enterprise.Business success can start at the recruitmentphase. But when the employer automaticallycrosses out candidates that do not meetspecific, and oftentimes shallow requirements,the enterprise might be in jeopardy. Hiringshould be more of skills-based and capacity,and less of appearance, gender, or religion.2. There is the danger of ending up witha team who thinks similarly, somethingthat will possibly rule out the beauty ofinnovation within the company.Having a team that works agreeablycan put any boss at peace. This,however, also means that there willbe very little or no conflict at all—something that can mean that fresh,out-of-the-box ideas will be put tothe grave.3. Discriminatory practices in hiringcan put the company’s reputation ina bad light and, at the same time,can cause its current members tofeel unmotivated.When a company becomes knownfor their preferences in hiringemployees, there is a tendency forclients and customers to be turnedoff by such practice. For example,if a company only hires womenof a certain stature and beauty,female clienteles who do not fit thebill might hesitate to avail of theirproducts and services. In the samemanner, if the company has current“misfit” staff members who observediscriminatory practices in theorganization, these individuals willnot feel as committed and loyal totheir employer.On the other hand, there aretimes that discrimination in theemployment process is intendedto improve the overall wellbeingof the company. Positivediscrimination can be strategicallyimplemented to lead towardaffirmative action. Here are someexamples to illustrate this point.1. Avoiding staff witha staggering history ofunemployment will prove to bebeneficial for the business.Having someone on boardwith an unimpressiveprofessional backgroundmight backfire on youas an employer. Thosewho weren't employedfor a very long time canbe detrimental to theorgranization's valuesin terms of the greatwork it hopes to provideand the quality of products itpromises to deliver.2. Candidates with extreme healthconditions such as morbid obesity canbe ruled out if applicable to the jobopening being promoted.Company values exist to guide itsmembers toward the end goal. If thegoal includes having healthy staff forhigher work productivity, then hiringextremely obese individuals can bevalidly ruled out.3. Job titles that rely heavily ontechnical skills must be allotted forpeople with technical skills.To exhibit positive discrimination,these qualifications must be basedmostly on experience and capability,and again not on gender, age,or appearance.Reducing discrimination inthe hiring processThe employment process all boilsdown to the objective of having thebest people on board for the specificposts in an enterprise. To be able toscore the right individuals, employersmust learn how to reduce, if noteliminate, discrimination when lookingfor candidates.1. Do not ask for photoattachments in resumes to avoidinstantly judging the applicant byhow he/she looks. While candidatesmust put premium in presentingthemselves, pictures can say verylittle about a person’s capacity.2. Lessen the weight on physicalappearance by creating aquantitative evaluation sheet thatwill help assess the candidate basedon the quality of answers andperspective he/she provides.3. Do not require birth dates or anyother indicators of age. Employershave a tendency to assume thatolder applicants may have moreprofessional experiences than theiryounger counterparts.4. Let the work experiences,performance, skills, and otheraccomplishments of the candidatespeak for itself. If you needto clarify certain items in yourcandidate’s resume, then do soduring the interview.5. Form a diverse panel of interviewerswhen screening a candidate to weigh inon different opinions and evaluations.Having more than one screener will alsohelp avoid any biases for or againstthe applicant.SME | 11