Executive
summary
The
main issues identified in relation to OneSteel are that gender inequality is
still high despite the form commitment by the organisation to the contrary.
There also seems to be a perception that service staff jobs are a preserve of
the males as indicated by females being only 2% in that job level. This fact
also indicates that the production processes are unhealthy and strenuous hence
the rationale to keep women out of them. Unfairness in promotion is indicated
by the fact that the proportion of female employees lowers as one move up along
the ladder. These are some of the issues addressed.
Recommendations
for use of accelerated affirmative
measures to increase the proportion of female employees in the organisation
-
Enhanced training
-
External recruitments where talent is
not available within
Recommendations
for Enhanced job flexibility through job
rotation:
-
Facilitate job rotation across different
departments
-
Encourage women to report early in case
of pregnancies and conditions warranting future flexibility requirements
-
Do inter-departmental training
Recommendations
for Improved working conditions for
manual employees and publicising the change
-
Facilitate upgrading to make manual jobs
less strenuous
-
Demystify the department and encourage
women to get involed
This
report recommends that these measures be implemented to make gender parity
easily achievable at OneSteel. Further details are as contained in the
report.
1.0 Introduction
OneSteel is a constituent company of
Arrium, a mining and manufacturing company operating in Australia. It is the
manufacturing and recycling division of the larger corporation. The management
model at OneSteel is a decentralised one where different divisions are
empowered to make decisions that are specific to them including human resource
management decisions. The company makes efforts to entrench equality and
maintains a comprehensive policy for ensuring transparency and equality in its
human resource management practices. The company’s report on equality indicates
that the females are greatly outnumbered in the organisation forming only about
11% of the total employee population. This is in addition to the fact that some
categories such as service staff have only 2% female (Appendix 1). In addition
to this, the percentage of women seem to decrease as one moves up the
management ladder and this is an implication that promotion and training
practices may need to be revaluated. The
main weakness in the making of this report is that the main source of
information is the company which would ordinarily be expected to put more
emphasis on facts that put them in positive light at the expense of any
prejudicial information. Nevertheless, weaknesses in the policy can be deduced
from the statistics provided.
2.0 Recommendation 1: Use of accelerated affirmative measures
to increase the proportion of female employees in the organisation
2.1 Brief description of recommendation
This recommendation shall target
promotions, internal appointments and appointment of new female managers at the
management level. The idea will be to send the message of equality by
demonstrating the commitment of the management teams to bring this about.
Resorting to recruiting women at the higher levels of management will be useful
in promoting gender equity without necessarily impacting negatively on
performance as such new employees would certainly be qualified for the job. The
scope for the implementation of the policy will be the manufacturing and
distribution divisions.
2.2 Existing initiatives within the organisation
The current initiatives in the company
are such that participation of females is higher than their average rate of
11%. For instance, Steelers leadership program contained 25% females; 16% of
new recruits are women; and internal appointments contain 23.4% women (Appendix
1). This means that there is a marginal approach for affirmative action. But
this approach is too marginal to entrench equality. If the trend is to be
maintained, it would take decades before equality is realised. The new
initiative suggests more radical measures such as raising the numbers to at
least 35% for each training initiative. However, these initiatives are not
sufficient as maintaining the trend would mean that equality would not be
realised in the foreseeable future. Besides,
these initiatives have not been sufficient to guarantee the maintenance of
proportional representation as one move up the ladder. The fact that the
percentage of women reduces as people rise in the organisation indicates that
there is women are edged out of promotions.
2.3 Level of union involvement
Embracing affirmative action may mean
that the organisation would have to reconsider its position on fairness in
appointments and promotions. The women who may be slightly less qualified than
their male counterparts may be favoured in order to improve on the gender
balance. These likely claims of unfairness make it important that the support
of the unions be procured before the processes are embarked on. The unions to
be consulted in this case are the Australian Worker’s Union whose main goal is
to fight for the rights of the workers in terms of remuneration and working
conditions (The Australian Workers’ Union, 2013). Where initiatives are to
extend to the technical and engineering aspects, the union to consult is the
Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union which also ensures that workers’ rights
to fairness and good working conditions are upheld in addition to helping the
organisation access trainings which they conduct for their professionals when
promoting affirmative action (AMWU, 2013). The consultations shall be formal to
avoid future disputes.
2.4 Organisational context
In the implementation, it will be
important to appreciate the fact that certain departments may need certain
levels of expertise. The organisation lists some responsibilities such as
engineering as male jobs and cites them as among those in which little progress
has been made in creating gender equity (Appendix 1). There is little mention
of ‘male’ jobs in distribution except store keepers and this means that this department
can possibly accommodate more ladies.
2.5 Theoretical basis
Even
though the law outlaws any form of discrimination in the organisation,
organisations are encouraged to pursue affirmative action in order to improve
on gender balance (Commonwealth of Australia, 2013). However, this is only for
as long as it does not grossly impact on the rights of the male employees who
are also entitled to equality and non-discrimination in the workplace. The
involvement of unions is entrenched in law even though it is not mandatory. The
unions only need to be available to ensure that sufficient checks are in place
to guarantee fairness.
2.6 Merits and demerits of proposed measures
Merits
- Attainment
of gender parity
- Healthy
culture backed by a balanced employee pool
Demerits
- Risk of
discriminating against male employees hence lower motivation and
performance
- Poor
attitude by women workers relying on favouritism through company policy
2.7 Monitoring and reporting of problem
Targets should be set for each element
of human resource management. Aspects such as recruitment, training and
promotion should be done. This should be done on an annual capacity where the
proportion of women within the organisation rises by at least 5% until the
overall percentage is over 45%. The department would accordingly report
regularly on progress based on comparative analysis on observed trends. It is
recommended that the officers in charge of human resource management in the
manufacturing and distribution sections be in charge of implementation and
report to management team in charge of all OneSteel operations for further
directions.
3.0
Recommendation 2: Enhanced job flexibility through job rotation
3.1 Overview
This suggestion concerns promotion of
women participation in roles that would not usually offer the levels of
flexibility needed. For instance, factory staff would need to be on location
regularly in the manufacturing division. The same would apply to drivers and
storekeepers. In this proposal, the need for women to work from home to home is
acknowledged and for those working in non-flexible positions, strategic job
rotations can come in handy. This would in essence require high levels of
training to equip employees to handle jobs in most designations. Rotation is proposed
between the manufacturing and the distribution divisions of OneSteel. Needless
to mention, this would also call initiatives to facilitate work from home such
as through enhanced network capabilities.
3.2 Existing initiatives
The company allows employees to embrace
flexibility of work schedules and this is done by allowing them to work online
from home. This may be very favourable to the female employees. However, in
certain functions like service staff involved in factory operations, this work
arrangement may not be sustainable. Flexibility can on the other hand be
promoted through job rotation. For instance, as soon as an employee is aware
that she’s pregnant, she can notify the management which would then assign her
to job roles that she can handle while pregnant and shortly after childbirth.
3.3 Levels of consultations needed
The role of the unions in protecting
employees from abuse is well defined. This is especially in situations where
conditions of work could change abruptly. However, in this case, consultations
shall be limited and shall be on a case by case basis. It is expected that
employees who will be opting to settle for flexible work arrangements will be
willing to make concessions in terms of pay and other rewards. However,
consultations where there is a grievance will be handled in consultation with
the relevant union officials (Australian Worker’s Union, Australian
Manufacturing Workers’ Union and Transport Workers’ Union). This low level of
consultations is advised since such rotations will not be many and the
complaints arising even fewer.
3.4 Organisational context
OneSteel runs a decentralised form of
management where each division is largely responsible for its own decision.
This implies that the level of communication between the manufacturing and the
distribution functions is limited. It’s therefore expected that a lot of
training would be needed in order make the rotations possible. Embracing
rotation as a tool for promoting gender equity in jobs that are inflexible and
therefore unattractive to women is an exercise that requires skill. It would
also require that the overall management structure be revised to allow for
deeper interaction between the manufacturing and the distribution divisions.
The gender parity angle comes out in this arrangement where situations normally
associated with women such as pregnancy occur and the woman anticipates that
she’ll need to embrace flexible work arrangements in the future. This becomes
the triggering factor for the rotation to ensure that such inflexible jobs do
not discourage females from going for them.
3.5 Theoretical basis
Irrespective of the motive for job
rotation, it tends to work in the same way. Employees are assigned to different
positions need training and are also often forced to accept different terms of
payment that are in accordance with their new positions . This makes the
negotiation process intricate and potentially contentious. Through the help of
unions, contentions can be cleared but often at the expense of the employees
(Heery, 2009). This is what discourages many organisations from embracing this
level of flexibility.
3.6 Merits and demerits
Merits
- Women will
not shy away from non-flexible jobs knowing that they can be rotated
whenever need arises
- This raises
the total number of female employees hence achieving gender parity
- It can
create higher motivation especially those working from home
Demerits
- Frequent
disruptions of work can affect performance
- It may be
costly where the organisation is not able to review job conditions to suit
the new positions held
3.7 Monitoring and reporting
The effectiveness of this approach shall
be gauged by its ability to encourage women to take the non-traditional jobs in
the promise that considerations for rotation shall be made whenever necessary.
Its impact on performance shall also be monitored and reported regularly by
comparing the rate at which performance targets are met. The officers in charge
of human resource management in the manufacturing and distribution sections would
be in charge of implementation and report to management team in charge of all
OneSteel operations for further directions.
4.0
Recommendation 3: Improved working conditions for manual employees and
publicising the change
4.1 Description
In this recommendation, manual jobs that
are categorised as men’s jobs are made easier by making them less strenuous.
This recommendation is based on the presumption that women tend to avoid
service jobs due to the fact that they may be strenuous to execute. Improvement
of the working conditions by facilitating tools to make work easier will be
expected to make the work more attractive to women. Publicising of the new
working conditions to demystify them and attract women into them will also be
done. This will reduce the challenge of women being unavailable for selection
even where there is a commitment to give them a fair chance.
4.2 Existing initiatives
At OneSteel, the main commitment in
regards to equality is the commitment to provide all employees with a fair chance.
However, there as insufficient initiatives to make the jobs that are perceived
as male jobs manageable by women.
4.3 Level of union involvement
The introduction of new working gear to
make work easier is supposed to be welcomed by unions whose main preoccupation
is to ensure that the best working conditions are facilitated by the
organisation. They are expected to
provide recommendations for better working conditions especially drawing from
real examples where some of their female union members have been able to
successfully execute manual tasks. Since this is being applied to both the
manufacturing and distribution divisions, the unions to be consulted will be
Australian Worker’s Union, Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union and
Transport Workers’ Union. The type of consultation will either be formal or
informal depending on the circumstances.
4.4 Organisational context
The composition of women in the service
level staff category is a dismal 2% of the employees. This is attributable to
the fact that the jobs may be manual and with inadequate facilitation to reduce
strain. This could be the reason why women may be keeping out of the job
category and preferring to go for jobs that may be easier to handle in
administrative capacity where their proportion is at 41%. By creating good
working conditions, the organisation is able to attract more females hence
making strides in making them more gender balanced.
4.5 Theoretical basis
The improvement of working conditions
goes to the heart of employee motivation theories. Employee performance is
directly affected by the nature of the working conditions that they are exposed
to. Creating work environments in which neither gender is prejudiced is very
important in promoting equality (Deirdre and Mary, 2012). Organisations can
also be compelled to change its internal operational systems where it could be
proven that they are in violation to either gender’s ability to function
properly. Irrespective of the facts of law, improving working conditions not
only improve the performance of the females but also that of their male
counterparts (Baird, Williamson and Heron, 2012). It’s therefore likely to
yield good results as far as performance is concerned.
4.6 Merits and demerits
Merits
- It may lead
to better performance for males and females alike
- It may
encourage participation in ‘male’ jobs by females hence promoting gender
parity
Demerits
- It may be
costly to achieve higher forms of facilitation that makes manual jobs much
easier to execute
3.7 Monitoring and reporting
The effectiveness of this initiative
shall be monitored by gauging productivity and through surveys to establish the
extent to which the new measures have made work easier for both males and
females. The rate at which the cited jobs are being applied for by women would
also be a good measure to monitor performance. The officers in charge of human
resource management in the steel manufacturing would be in charge of
implementation and report to management team in charge of all OneSteel
operations for further directions.
4.0 Summary
In
this report, the main suggestions made involve efforts to fast-track measures
being taken to promote gender parity at OneSteel. It was observed that even
though the policy of fairness is already in place, the gender disparity is
still very high in the organisation. Differences in work description can be
exploited to raise the percentage of women in areas that can easily be handled
by women such as in the distribution department to make up for imbalances in
areas such as engineering where bridging the gap may be difficult due to
difficulties in getting competent women. Other measures suggested include using
job rotations to promote flexibility and making manual tasks easier through
provision of equipment to make them less laborious hence enable women to handle
them in addition to making work easy for all employees. If these measures are
implemented as suggested, gender parity wold be improved within a relatively
short time.
References
Deirdre, C. & Mary, Q. (2012). Attitudes to employment law and the
consequent impact of legislation on employment relations practice. Employee Relations, 34(5), 464-480
Heery, E. (2009). Labor Divided, Labor Defeated . Work and Occupations, 36(3), 247-256
The Australian Workers’ Union, (2013). Your rights & entitlements. Retrieved
from: http://www.awu.net.au/your-rights-entitlements
Baird, M., Williamson, S. & Heron, A. (2012).
Women, Work and Policy Settings in Australia in 2011. Journal of Industrial Relations, 54(3), 326-343
Commonwealth of Australia, (2013). Workplace Gender Equality (Matters in
relation to Gender Equality Indicators) Instrument 2013 (No. 1), Retrieved
from: http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2013L00434
AMWU, (2013). The
Union: About Us. Retrieved from: http://www.amwu.asn.au/the-union/
Bibliography
Akkerman, A., Born, M.J. & Torenvlied, R.
(2013). Solidarity, Strikes, and Scabs: How Participation Norms Affect Union
Members’ Willingness to Strike, Work and
Occupations, 40(3), 250-280
Bacon, N. & Hoque, K. (2012). The Role and
Impact of Trade Union Equality Representatives in Britain. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 50(2), 239-262
Commonwealth of Australia, (2013a). Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace
Amendment Act 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2012A00179
Dean, S. & Peter, F. (2012). The limits and
prospects of union power: Addressing mass redundancy in the steel industry. Economic and Industrial Democracy,
33(4), 649-668
McCrystal, S. & Orchiston, T. (2013). Industrial
legislation in Australia in 2012. Journal
of Industrial Relations , 55(3), 321-337
Ralph, F., Heidi,
G. & Rioch, B. (2011). Discrimination and Unfair Treatment in the
Workplace. British Journal of Industrial
Relations, 49(S2), s207-s235
Truss, C., et al. (2013). Knowledge work:
gender-blind or gender-biased? Work,
employment and society, 26(5), 735-754
TWU, (2013). About
the Transport Workers Union of Australia. Retrieved from:
http://www.twu.com.au/about/
Williamson, s. (2012). Gendering the Bricks and
Mortar: Building an Opportunity Structure for Equality Bargaining. Journal of Industrial Relations, 54(2),
147-163
No comments:
Post a Comment