Equal Opportunities and Employees' Performance

Essay by JohnTheGreekUniversity, Bachelor'sA-, March 2008

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Equal Opportunities and Employees' PerformanceA general opinion concerning social justice has to do with equal and fair justice, not only in the courts, but also in all aspects of society including the workplace. Equality and fairness can mean several things. The idea is that people, as much different as they may be in the line of race, nation, gender, disability and age, should have equal rights and opportunities. One surely cannot ignore the consequences of this situation. Nevertheless, what do the words "just" and "fair" mean and what defines "equal"? Who should be responsible for making sure workplace is a just and fair place? How do they implement policies regarding equal justice and equal opportunities? Moreover, how are these policies related to employee's performance? (www.wisegeek.com)All organisations have HR policies. Such policies set the organisation's philosophies and values on how people should be treated by recognising all kinds of differences, needs and requests when dealing with HR matters (Armstrong, 2006).

Lots of important legislative acts and developments have been made to assure that people's human rights, regarding the workplace, are respected and met. For people with a black or minority ethnic background, the disabled, women or others who are said or expected to be defenceless or stigmatised, in any way, these arrangements have been extremely significant (Report of Diversity in Business, 2006).

The particular essay will focus on equal opportunities in the workplace and its goal is to examine whether or not equal opportunity policies result in the ability to make a positive contribution to the value and aims of the organization through employees' performance. The essay will initially attempt to define equal opportunities as well as employees' performance. Afterwards, drawing from current literature, a discussion and an evaluation will be presented over the relationship between equal opportunities and employee's performance.