Abstract
The equality act 2010 makes it law not to discriminate against employees and people that use their services because of a certain particular characteristic, it implies on all private, public and voluntary organizations. Equality act makes sure that all kinds of people with any particular characteristics i.e. (Age, gender, ethnicity, race, disability, and religion) are protected from discrimination.
Working hard towards a diverse workplace, Apple defines diversity as their future. Apple also defines diversity and inclusion on their website as:
“Humanity is plural, not singular. The best way the world works is everybody in. Nobody out”
(Apple, 2018)
Apple is proud of their accomplishments; however, they admit that meaningful change takes time and that they have much more work to do as they to do better.
Diversity is often described in terms of human differences, race, gender, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability, ethnicity, nationality, age, spiritual practice, class and other human differences, (Brazzel, 2013). Value of diversity perspective argues that a diverse workforce is generally beneficial for business, (Herring, 2009). Other aspects of diversity are used to acquire and process information, making and defining reality, diversity therefor is also expressed in terms of human experience ideas, behaviors, physical sensations, feelings, values, and other knowing, (Brazzel, 2013). Therefore the notion of diversity in a workforce is seen as an enhancement of organizational effectiveness and performance which can lead to a competitive benefit, however, if not managed well or even ignored, can bring negative outcomes and can seriously harm the success of organizations, (Slater, Weigand and Zwirlein, 2008).
Introduction
Nonconsequential to business success, or actually detrimental by creativity conflict, and decreasing productivity is seen by other accounts as a view of diversity, (Herring, 2009). Only geographical separated cultures do not imply a diverse culture, but can also include ethnic, class, professional or organizational cultures, (Slater, Weigand and Zwirlein, 2008). Using a narrow view of gender and race diversity would result in an incomplete transformation of organizational culture, (Thomas, 1992). Considered different in some way from traditional members, “diversity” is generally referred to policies and practices that seek to include the people that are considered different, however, centrally it aims to create an inclusive culture that values and uses the talent of all would-be members, (Herring, 2009).
The equality act 2010 defines discrimination by treating someone unfairly because one of their characteristics, a claim under the act could result in an organization being taken to court and sued. The mix of anti-discrimination and equality laws to streamline and bring together existing protection into a place were the reasons behind the 2010 act (Gov.uk, 2018).
Organizations have understood that diversity alone is not a guarantee of success, but in need of a proactive diversity management strategy, (Brazzel, 2013). If diversity is seen as a program, rather than an organizational commitment that will produce superior business results, then costs of diversity are more likely to outweigh its benefits, (Slater, Weigand and Zwirlein, 2008). When little is done to value diversity, minorities are apt to develop negative workplace affect, (AVERY et al., 2007). To create an empowered workforce, acceptance, tolerance, and understanding of diversity are not enough; diversity management is needed to empower diverse groups to reach their full potential, (Thomas, 1992). Organizations are required to engage and motivate an increasingly diverse workplace, due to the evolving demographic landscape, (Block and Noumair, 2017). A narrow definition of diversity management is the commitment on the part of organizations to recruit, retain, reward, and promote minority and female employees, (Ivancevich and Gilbert, 2000). To truly capitalize on the potential return on racial and ethnic heterogeneity, firms must commit resources to manage diversity more effectively, (AVERY et al., 2007). By bringing previously excluded groups into the box, diversity is related to business success, because it allows companies to “think outside the box”, which therefore enhances creativity, problem-solving and performance, (Herring, 2009).
Apple is no stranger to diversity in the workplace, as Apple’s new hiring motto is “inclusion inspires innovation”, (Young, 2016). Big kudos to Apple for their recent strides, not only in reporting the numbers but also in taking real action, apple has stepped up to the plate and shown tremendous progress in their diversity and inclusion, (M. Biro, 2016). Diverse teams make innovations possible, grace a software engineer said that: “if we want a product to appeal to and work for a big group of people, it needs to be built by a diverse group of people”, (Apple, 2018).
UK legal framework
Following 1970’s acts further discrimination legislation was passed relating disability, transgender, religion, belief, and sexual orientation; however, in 1974 the race relations act came into effect, which made discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnic origin, and color. Recently amended acts were made on extended pre-existing anti-discrimination laws, to make them compliant with later directions on those areas.
The equality act 2010 also includes the public sector equality duties to promote equality not only stop discrimination. The equality act 2010 defines and described different forms of discrimination:
– Associative discrimination: where discrimination is against a person because they have an association with someone with a particular protected characteristics
– Perceptive discrimination: Is discrimination against a person because the discriminator thinks the person possesses the characteristics, even if they do not ,in fact, do so, this kind of discriminations is applied to age, race, religion or belief and sexual orientation.
– Indirect discrimination: Occurs where a provision, criterion or practice (PCP) applies to everybody, but the PCP has:
1- A disproportionate impact on people with a particular protected characteristic
2- It is to the disadvantage of a person with a protected characteristic
3- It is is not a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim
– Harassment: Is unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic, which has the purpose or effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that individual. It applies to all characteristics but pregnancy, maternity, marriage and civil partnership.
– Direct Discrimination: Occurs when an employee is treated less favorably due to a protected characteristic.
– Victimization: Occurs when an employee s treated less favorably because they have made or supported a complaint related to the Act, or they are suspected of doing so.
CIPD head of employment law consultancy support views the equality act 2010 as set out to rationalize provisions and achieve a greater coherence and consistency across the protected characteristics. This also sets out to provide a more enabling legal framework to support the progress of diversity and fairness for everyone in a more uniform way, which enables to achieve a diverse culture where people value it, and treat people with respect, and help to sustain business performance and competitiveness.
Apple Initiative towards diversity and equality
In apple they don’t focus on a particular characteristic, however, we focus on everyone, as diversity is the human experience, said Apple VP of inclusion and diversity, (Panzarino, 2017). Apple new hires reflect more diversity than its current employees, as were 11% of apple new hires were black compared to its 9% of current black employee population, from July 2016 to July 2017, Apple says half of its new hires were from historically underrepresented groups, this is reflected in Apples first diversity and inclusion report since naming Denise Young Smith (Black and female) as VP of diversity and inclusion, (Dickey, 2017). Apple has also reported improvements in gender and ethnic diversity in June 2016, and in its annual diversity and inclusion report, they have stated that they had closed pay gaps by analyzing salaries, bonuses, and annual stock grants, (M. Todd, 2016).
Apple’s VP has assured in an apology sent to members over comments she made at the One Young World Summit in Bogota that Apple’s view and dedication to diversity has not changed. In the apology, she stated that understanding diversity is at the heart of their work and to create an environment that is inclusive of everyone, women, people of color, LGBTQ people, and all underrepresented minorities, other than the commitment of creating an inclusive culture in which having the most diverse workforce, and their work in this area is the most important, commitment at Apple is to increase racial and gender diversity and there is still much work to be done said Smith (Panzarino, 2017). This commitment isn’t easy, it takes leadership, rules, execution management and reporting and much more for sure, but with the firm’s mindset that this is the right thing to do for myriad reasons, (M. Biro, 2016). Apple ,of course, is a large company with 130,000 employees worldwide, which means change may happen slowly, (Dickey, 2017). Apple workforce includes a pool of retail employees that Google and Facebook do not have, Reverend Jesse Jackson who once confronted Apple chief executive Tim Cook in 2014, stated: “They are clearly setting the pace, making measurable progress for three consecutive years. They’ve ’acted with intention, not just aspiration”, (M. Todd, 2016). Baha a retail store-leader, born and raised in Turkey, lived in Hong Kong and Taiwan credits international background for the ability to adapt to different cultures and circumstances, and these skills come into play every day, he states: “Biggest responsibility is hiring because who we hire today is our culture tomorrow”, today Apple new hires are even more diverse than current employees, new hires are employees hired in the past 12 months, (Apple, 2018). Younger generations are more diverse in the workforce today than previous generations, millennials are more likely to be racial or ethnic minorities than members of silent generations, due to the large scale of immigration, the rise of racial intermarriage, and differences in fertility patterns across racial and ethnic groups, all contributed to more diversity than prior generations, (M. Biro, 2016). Grace a software engineer at Apple said that: “Apple really cares about doing what’s right, and if an employee believes there’s something more the company could be doing, Apple wants to hear about it”, (Apple, 2018).
How does diversity and equality act as a benefit of business performance and as a competitive advantage for strategies
Managers in public and private organizations are searching for and experimenting with various approaches to more effectively deal with increasing workforce diversity, (Ivancevich and Gilbert, 2000). From this perspective, diversity management is seen as inevitable and an urgently needed strategic response to increasing diversity at a workplace, (Ehrke, Berthold and Steffens, 2014). During 1990’s diversity rhetoric shifted, managing diversity became a business necessity, the nation’s diversity was viewed as key to future prosperity, not only because of the nature of the labor markets, but because a more diverse workforce was thought to produce better business results, and it suggested that groups displaying a range of perspectives outperform groups of like-minded experts, (Herring, 2009).When firms engage to recruit minorities, promote, and practices emphasizing equal employment opportunity, and make managers accountable for the diversity initiatives, minority employees should perceive those activities in a goodwill and in exchange they are expected to reciprocate through entranced workplace affect and reduce withdrawal from the firm, (AVERY et al., 2007). Diversity produces positive outcomes over homogeneity because growth and innovation depend on working together and capitalizing on the differences of people from various backgrounds, diversity also provides a competitive advantage at the firm level through social complexity, (Herring, 2009). Diversity can increase retention and saves thousands in recruiting, hiring and training costs, when employees feel like they’re part of the team, and all teams are from different cultures, it is also beneficial on the economic growth as it creates new employment opportunities, which helps decrease the courtiers unemployment level, (Young, 2016). Organization development in service of creating a more inclusive organizational culture that will help in unleashing the potential of the entirety of the workforce and have an impact on individuals and organizational performance, (Block and Noumair, 2017). Diversity management is a corporate or managerial initiated strategy, that can be proactive and is based on operational reality to optimize the use and contribution of an increasingly diverse national workforce, (Ivancevich and Gilbert, 2000). Apple is becoming one of the most diverse tech giants, by diversifying backgrounds and branching out different cultures, societies, and genders, tech companies can pool a myriad of resources, not only to encourage creativity but also inspire innovation by taking advantage of different opinions and multicultural mindsets, (Young, 2016). Linking diversity to the idea of parity helps illustrate that diversity pays, because a business that draws on more inclusive talent pools are more successful, (Herring, 2009). Having diverse viewpoints in boardroom discussion ultimately benefits shareholders since each board member can make a unique contribution based on having different background and perspectives, other than that diverse teams can boost performance as they are more likely to access to the breadth of information necessary to solve a complex problem, (Slater, Weigand and Zwirlein, 2008). Diversity in the tech workplace also creates a more adaptable workforce, as where it increases multi-lingual abilities, enabling them to branch out to global markets where they can better communicate and identify a vast array of business opportunities, other than having different solutions for the same problem, (Young, 2016). Scholar’s claim that “diversity pays” and represents a compelling interest, an interest that meets customer’s needs, enriches one’s understanding of the marketplace, therefore diversity enriches the workplace by broadening employee perspective, strengthening their teams, and offering a greater resource for problem resolution, (Herring, 2009).
Conclusion
With the help of different races, ethnicities, and gender tech companies can more accurately cater to growing diversity, Apple knows their consumer base is global, and with a diverse workforce, Apple can better relate to the customers they serve, (Young, 2016). The research suggests that diversity when tethered to concerns about parity-is linked to positive outcomes, therefore diversity yields superior outcomes over homogeneity because progress and innovation depend less on lone thinkers with high intelligence than on diverse groups working together and capitalizing on their individuality, (Herring, 2009). Diversity can bring new voices and perspective into the strategic dialogue, helping managers in better understanding and addressing the needs of diverse demographic customers, and also stimulate a wide range of creative decision making, therefore it is understood as a source of competitive advantage only when it represents a deep commitment to the inherent values, beliefs and behavioral norms of the organization, (Slater, Weigand and Zwirlein, 2008). Diversity management theories and techniques of have been developed and enthusiastically supported by a growing member of chief executive officers, training specialists, diversity consultants and academics, and if managed well it can help improve organizational effectiveness, (Ivancevich and Gilbert, 2000).