Diversity Management

Essay by cazforevaUniversity, Bachelor'sA, January 2009

download word file, 11 pages 3.0

"Legislation, voluntary codes of practice and equality initiatives have resulted in some progress towards equality of treatment for minority groups at work, but there remains inescapable evidence of continuing discrimination. More recent approaches under the banner of management of diversity include the economic and business case for equality, the valuing and managing of diversity in organisations, culture change and mainstreaming of equality initiatives". (Torrington, Hall and Taylor, 2005 p.529)The purpose of this study is to examine racial inequality in both the general UK and hospitality/tourism labour market. The study also examines the existing legislation and other actions that are use to shield ethnic minority from discrimination in their workforce. The paper discusses the factors that hinder the progression and retention of ethnic minority employees and how an employer can prevent this by implementing diversity strategies. The result suggests the needs to increase diversity in leadership.

According to figures obtain from Office National Statistics, in 2001 there is an estimate of 8.1

per cent of ethnic minorities made up the total population of Great Britain, whilst the ethnic minority population made up of 9 per cent of the population in England, and 2 per cent each of the populations of Scotland and Wales (ONS, 2001). A majority of ethnic minority group tends to live in Britain's major cities, the statistics shows that around 45 per cent of all ethnic minorities live in London compared to only a tenth of all white people that live there in UK labour markets.

A home office report produced in 1981 'Ethnic Minorities in Britain' (Field et al, 1981), highlighted that the unemployment rate between August 1979 and 1980 for both ethnic minority workers and total number of people employed was 38 per cent and 48 percent respectively. The gap between the employment rates seems to...