Overview of Human Resource Management and Strategic Human Resource Management

Discuss about the issue of gender inequality which is faced by female employees in companies worldwide. 

Human Resource Management (HRM) is defined as practices, activities, and system that are implemented by a corporation for managing people in an organisation. Due to globalisation and digitalisation, the challenges faced by HR department in modern companies have grown substantially along with their responsibilities (Wright & McMahan, 2011). HR department focuses on implementing effective Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) policies for addressing the problems relating to human capital. Diversity is a key issue faced by HR department in corporations which is necessary to be addressed by effective SHRM policies (Guest, 2011). The HR department is required to implement effective diversity management policies to reduce the issue of “Gender inequality”. Gender Inequality is referred to a situation in which men and women employees are not treated equally, and they face discrimination wholly or partly based on their gender. This report will analyse the issue of Gender inequality by evaluating the News story posted by ‘Human Resources Director’. This report will examine the impact of gender inequality issues face by women and determine whether HR department is doing enough to address this issue. The report will analyse how gender inequality issues influence managing and retaining staff policies of HR department. Further, the report will provide various recommendations that can be implemented by HR department for addressing the issue of gender inequality in modern corporations.

In 2017, the ‘Human Resources Director’ posted a story on the issue of gender equality in modern companies (Hilton, 2017). The story provided that awareness regarding the issue of gender inequality is growing between corporations and HR executives are addressing the issue by implementing effective SHRM policies. The report analysed the 2016-17 workplace data provided by Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA). The dataset covers more than eleven thousand employers and over four million employees that show strong improvement regarding gender inequality issues. However, the report stated that the rate of change is considerably slow (Gaucher, Friesen & Kay, 2011). According to a story posted by the Wall Street Journal, women are 30 percent less likely to be promoted to the entry-level managerial position, and the ratio grows along with the senior position. The story provided that there are 19 percent women in C-suite positions worldwide which include positions such as CEO, COO, CFO and others (Waller, 2016). The data proves that even after growth in awareness regarding the issue, the pace of change is considerably slow and a large number of female employees are facing the issue of gender inequality (Treas & Tai, 2016).

Gender Inequality in Modern Corporations

In Australia, the issue of ‘gender pay gap’ still exist in between men and women employees and female employees still receive less salary for similar work. According to the data of WGEA, there is a 15.3 percent gender pay gap in Australia which defines the gap between men’s and women’s earnings (WGEA, 2017). The existence of gender pay gap proves the failure of HR department to address the issue of gender inequality. The issue of managing and retaining staff also increasing in organisations due to gender inequality because female employees are more likely to change jobs because of the discrimination and other problems face by them at the workplace such as sexual harassment, racist behaviour, and discrimination in promotion (Dereuddre, Van de Velde & Bracke, 2016). In order to promote diversity in the company, HR department hire female employees but lack of positive working environment increases the attrition rates which increases the recruitment charges of the enterprise. The awareness regarding these issues is growing continuously and HR executives are implementing SHRM policies for addressing the issues (Branisa, Klasen & Ziegler, 2013). Nonetheless, the results and studies have suggested that the HR executives have much work to do in order to ensure that men and women both feel fairly treated.

Current Situation Analysis

Even after growing awareness regarding the issue, the issue of gender inequality is faced by women worldwide. The situation and issues of gender inequality are worst in specific industries including construction, mining, transport, manufacturing, and waste management services. High rate of gender pay gap can be seen in small to large corporations (Newman, 2014). For example, as per O’Connor (2018), the gender pay gap rate is as high as 52 percent in many large multinational corporations. Many international companies including BBC, Virgin Money, and easyJet have reported a high rate of gender pay gap. After the report, many firms including BBC and Virgin Money have pledged to make 50:50 gender balances between men and women employees by 2020. These incidents prove that the issue of gender inequality still exists in companies and HR department has failed to address this issue.

Challenges

Due to gender inequality, the HR department faces issues regarding managing and retailing female staff members. The employee turnover rate is high in companies due to gender inequality problem because female employees did not receive a safe and positive working environment. Performance management is another issue faced by women in the workplace because various negative external factors reduce their productivity such as racist behaviour, sexual harassment, and discrimination against female workers (Mason, 2012). HR department did not implement appropriate policies for training and development of female employees which can assist them in promoting to top-level managerial positions. The female employees are not receiving Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) than compared to male employees. Lack of senior female executives is another issue which increases the challenges of gender inequality and pays gap in modern corporations. According to Peace Corp, women comprise over 50 percent of world’s population, but they own just one percent of world’s wealth (Peace Corp, 2018). Due to discrimination and inequality, the HR department finds it difficult to establish a positive relationship with female employees which result in increasing their attrition rate (Stephens & Levine, 2011).

Impact of Gender Inequality on Managing and Retaining Staff Policies of HR Department

Relevant Theory

According to the ‘Equity Theory’ provided by John Stacey Adams, people tend to compare their current situation with others to determine its fairness. They compare and maintain a balance between the ratio of total inputs put by them and the outcome that they received (Cappelen, Eichele, Hugdahl, Specht, Sorensen & Tungodden, 2014). As per this theory, people are motivated by the fairness of their situation and their input and output ratio. The inputs of employees include hard work, dedication, enthusiasm and technical know-how. The outputs for employees include bonus, salary package, accommodations, incentives, and recognition from senior executives. The inequality and discrimination faced by female employees negatively affect their productive performance in a company. Women receive less salary and accommodations for a similar amount of work than compared to men which demotivate them and reduce their productivity. The HR department finds it difficult to improve the performance of employees since they failed to establish equality between them (Ryan, 2016). Lack of equality reduces female employees’ performance and their chance to promote at the top-level managerial positions which increase the issue of gender inequality and pay gap.

The role and responsibilities of HR department include learning and development of employees as well. The HR executives are responsible for implementing effective strategies in order to develop the skills and knowledge of their employees which assist in their development and promotion to managerial level positions. According to the ‘Modernisation theory’ given by Max Weber, internal culture factors are the reason for women subordination in the developing world. The theory provides that traditional culture, especially religious ideas, is the basis for gender inequality faced by women worldwide (Stockemer & Sundstrom, 2016). In the business world, the traditional misconception that women cannot lead and men perform better than women is the reason for gender inequality and pay gap. The HR executives did not focus on the performance of female employees; they also did not implement learning and development programs for encouraging them to improve their performance (Card, Heining & Kline, 2013). Due to lack of HR support, the number of top-level female managerial employees is considerably less than compared to male employees.

Following are various recommendations that can be implemented by HR department in modern corporations to address the issue of gender inequality and pay gap which result in increasing their productivity and the number of top-level female executives.

Strict Gender Equality Policies

Recommendations for Addressing Gender Inequality in Modern Corporations

The HR department should promote the hiring and promotion of female employees in the organisation. Strict policies can establish a positive working environment which results in reducing the issues faced by women in the workplace such as racist behaviour, discrimination in promotion and sexual harassment. HR department should take strict actions against the people who mistreat or discourage female employees. It will assist in reducing the attrition rate of female employees and decreasing the recruitment cost of the enterprise. The HR department should implement effective Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) policies for female employees in order to promote equality in the firm (Hutchinson & Eveline, 2010). Each division and department should strictly follow EEO policies, and they should promote female employees at top-level positions in order to reduce gender inequality issue.

Effective Employee Relations

The HR department should talk and interact with female employees to learn about their feedback and opinions regarding the working environment in the enterprise. HR executives should understand the issues faced by women in the workplace by talking with them, and they should take corrective actions to improving the working environment in the firm. HR department should establish communication channels between female employees and HR executives to ensure that they can share their issue and challenges with them easily which result is establishing a positive working environment that promotes and support gender equality.

More Female Leader

Lack of women in top leadership roles increases the issue of gender inequality and pay gap in modern corporations. HR department should promote the hiring of female candidates for top-level managerial positions and C-suite roles which will assist in reducing the issue of gender inequality in firms. HR executives should change their traditional misconceptions that women cannot lead and take lessons from successful female leaders such as Merry Barra (CEO, General Motor), Sheryl Sandberg (COO, Facebook) and Ginni Rometty (Chairman, President, and CEO, IBM).

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Organisations should incorporate gender equality policies into CSR structure to ensure that they are strictly implemented across different divisions in an enterprise. The corporation should include the actions taken by them for promoting gender equality in their annual CSR report which assist them in improving their market reputation (Hart, 2010).

Equal pay for equal work

The corporations should implement equal remuneration policies to ensure that female employees receive equal pay for equal work. HR department should ensure that women in each division receive equal remuneration for equal work since it can assist in reducing gender pay gap in corporations.

Learning and Development Program

HR department should implement learning and development programs for female employees in order to increase their skills and knowledge to promote them to top-level managerial positions. Development programs encourage female employees to improve their abilities and promote to senior-level positions which reduces gender inequality and gap pay issues in the firms.

Conclusion

From the above observations, it can be concluded that gender inequality is a serious issue which is faced by female employees worldwide. The awareness regarding gender inequality issue is growing between modern companies, and HR executives are implementing effective policies for addressing the issue, but the pace of change is considerably slow. The HR department has failed to implement effective policies to address the issue of gender inequality in the organisation due to which female employees face various issues including racist behaviour, discrimination in promotion to the managerial positions and sexual harassment. To address these issues, HR department should implement strict HR policies for women in the workplace. HR department should maintain effective relationship with female employees and implement learning and development program for improving their abilities and promoting them to top-level managerial positions. These policies can result in reducing the issue of gender inequality and pay gap in modern corporations and sustain their future growth

References

Branisa, B., Klasen, S., & Ziegler, M. (2013). Gender inequality in social institutions and gendered development outcomes. World Development, 45, 252-268. DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.12.003

Cappelen, A. W., Eichele, T., Hugdahl, K., Specht, K., Sorensen, E. O., & Tungodden, B. (2014). Equity theory and fair inequality: a neuroeconomic study. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(43), 15368-15372. DOI: www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1414602111

Card, D., Heining, J., & Kline, P. (2013). Workplace heterogeneity and the rise of West German wage inequality. The Quarterly journal of economics, 128(3), 967-1015.

Dereuddre, R., Van de Velde, S., & Bracke, P. (2016). Gender inequality and the ‘East-West’divide in contraception: An analysis at the individual, the couple, and the country level. Social Science & Medicine, 161, 1-12. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.05.030

Gaucher, D., Friesen, J., & Kay, A. C. (2011). Evidence that gendered wording in job advertisements exists and sustains gender inequality. Journal of personality and social psychology, 101(1), 109. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0022530

Guest, D. E. (2011). Human resource management and performance: still searching for some answers. Human resource management journal, 21(1), 3-13. DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-8583.2010.00164.x

Hart, S. M. (2010). Self-regulation, corporate social responsibility, and the business case: Do they work in achieving workplace equality and safety?. Journal of Business Ethics, 92(4), 585-600. DOI: 10.1007/s10551-009-0174-1

Hilton, J. (2017). Is HR doing enough to address gender inequality?. Retrieved from https://www.hcamag.com/hr-business-review/leadership-development/is-hr-doing-enough-to-address-gender-inequality-244874.aspx

Hutchinson, J., & Eveline, J. (2010). Workplace bullying policy in the Australian public sector: why has gender been ignored?. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 69(1), 47-60.

Mason, K. (2012). The unequal weight of discrimination: Gender, body size, and income inequality. Social Problems, 59(3), 411-435. DOI: 10.1525/sp.2012.59.3.411

Newman, C. (2014). Time to address gender discrimination and inequality in the health workforce. Human resources for health, 12(1), 25. DOI: 10.1186/1478-4491-12-25

O’Connor, M. (2018). Gender pay gap revealed by UK companies. Retrieved from https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/gender-pay-gap-revealed-by-uk-companies-563w7pz3c

Peace Corp. (2018). Global Issues: Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. Retrieved from https://www.peacecorps.gov/educators/resources/global-issues-gender-equality-and-womens-empowerment/

Ryan, J. C. (2016). Old knowledge for new impacts: Equity theory and workforce nationalization. Journal of Business Research, 69(5), 1587-1592. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.10.022

Stephens, N. M., & Levine, C. S. (2011). Opting out or denying discrimination? How the framework of free choice in American society influences perceptions of gender inequality. Psychological Science, 22(10), 1231-1236. DOI: 10.1177/0956797611417260

Stockemer, D., & Sundström, A. (2016). Modernization Theory: How to Measure and Operationalize it When Gauging Variation in Women’s Representation?. Social Indicators Research, 125(2), 695-712. DOI: 10.1007/s11205-014-0844-y

Treas, J., & Tai, T. (2016). Gender inequality in housework across 20 European nations: Lessons from gender stratification theories. Sex Roles, 74(11-12), 495-511. DOI: 10.1007/s11199-015-0575-9

Waller, N. (2016). How Men & Women See the Workplace Differently. Retrieved from https://graphics.wsj.com/how-men-and-women-see-the-workplace-differently/

WGEA. (2017). Equal Pay Day 2017. Retrieved from https://www.wgea.gov.au/wgea-newsroom/equal-pay-day-2017

Wright, P. M., & McMahan, G. C. (2011). Exploring human capital: putting ‘human’back into strategic human resource management. Human Resource Management Journal, 21(2), 93-104.