University of the People (UoPeople)

BUS 5511-01-AY2024 T5

Human Resource Management

Dr. Sourabh Kumar (Instructor)

August 7, 2024
 Introduction

Computer Business Solutions (CBS) is a leading technology solutions company that

specializes in providing IT solutions, computers, printers and accessories. CBS is located in

Kingston, Jamaica, a city renounced for its diverse population and business minded scene. With

30 employees CBS supplies clients in all fourteen parishes of the country. With the intention of

expanding their workforce; CBS understands the importance of diversity and inclusivity and they

are committed to fostering a workplace that reflects a broad range of cultural, gender, and sexual

orientation diversity.

Objective

We have been commissioned by CBS to develop a proposal that will be implemented by

their Senior Management staff to be used to begin diversification within the company. We seek to

establish an inclusive workplace that makes the most of a range of skills and viewpoints by putting

into practice focused initiatives in the areas of recruitment and selection, training and development,

pay and incentives, performance management and appraisal, and other pertinent areas.

Key Functional Areas

Recruitment and Selection

The process of finding, attracting, interviewing, choosing, employing, and onboarding staff

is referred to as recruitment. Put another way, it covers every aspect, from determining the need

for staffing to meeting it. (Team & Team, 2019)

When an employer selects employees based on factors unrelated to a candidate's ability to

perform the job, such as age, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or religion, that constitutes

discrimination in recruitment and selection. It can manifest itself in a variety of ways, such as

stereotyping, prejudice, and unconscious bias. This can happen at any point during the hiring and

selection process. (Anete, 2023)

The following strategies represent steps that CBS should employee to eradicate

discrimination from its recruitment processes:

1. Training – training hiring managers and recruiters on unconscious bias and anti-

discrimination practices. They should also be trained on how to apply objective criteria

for screening and selection. (Anete, 2023)

 2. Advertising the job – job advertisement should be encouraging and not discouraging; it

should focus solely on skills and abilities needed for the job. (A Step-by-step Guide to

Preventing Discrimination in Recruitment, n.d.)

3. Shortlisting – shortlisted applicants should be selected based on unbiased criteria and the

reasons for choice should be documented. (A Step-by-step Guide to Preventing

Discrimination in Recruitment, n.d.)

4. Selection – after conducting job interviews, additional data may be gathered from

references, medicals and psychological aptitude tests. (A Step-by-step Guide to Preventing

Discrimination in Recruitment, n.d.)

Increasing Cultural Intelligence

Facilitating initiatives that promote diversity and inclusivity inside CBS should be one of

the primary responsibilities of the HR department. By promoting a culture that values and

celebrates diversity, CBS can create a foundation for effective cross-cultural collaboration and

communication. This can be achieved through cross-cultural training. This is where HR is

equipped with the necessary tools to promote a diversified environment. (The Role of HR in

Facilitating Cross-Cultural Competence and Communication, 2024).

CBS can provide its staff with critical diversity training. With this training staff members

will be equipped with conflict resolution and communication skills. Training can also take the

form of going over policies that will promote cultural intelligence within the companies. For

example, CBS should consider creating its own sexual harassment and or discrimination policy fit

with disciplinary actions that will be taken in the even a staff member is found guilty of being

discriminatory. (Can your business be sued over an employee's discriminatory comment to a

customer? - findlaw n.d.)

Pay and Incentives

According to (Summary of public sector salary scales n.d.) the Government of Jamaica’s

salary scale was created to promote transparency, fairness and equity. The salary scale is concerned

with a person’s level of employment and not their biological characteristcs or sexual orientation.

CBS should implement this remuneration system to ensure that their staff members are paid solely

by their job level.

 CBS should also organize an incentive programme that will promote fairness. For

example, the Government of Jamaica has several incentive programs that implemented throughout

the government sector. Each employee receives the same incentive despite their background

sexual orientation.

Performance Management and Appraisal

Bias is more common when the standards for evaluating someone are unclear. In the

absence of structure, individuals are more prone to base their decisions on prejudices related to

gender, race, and other characteristics rather than creating evaluations based on impartial standards

that are uniformly applied to every employee. "Open Box equals Open to Bias," to put it simply.

(Robworkcompass, 2022).

The three main purposes of performance appraisals are to: (1) give each employee

sufficient feedback on how they are doing; (2) act as a foundation for behaviour modification

towards more productive work habits; and (3) give managers information with which to evaluate

future job assignments and compensation. (Levinson, 2014)

CBS’s Performance Management System’s (PMS) goals should be Specific, Measurable,

Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound (SMART) also objective in nature. The PMS should not

be based on one’s skin color or ethinical backgrounds. It should be based on the criteria set for

each job to be seen as exemplary service and should be categorized based on levels such as,

managerial, administrative, or technical.

Policies and Procedures

A policy is a law, regulation, or voluntary practices of government or private institutions.

(Definition of Policy | Policy, Performance, and Evaluation | CDC, n.d.). In this case CBS can

opt to create or amend policies to make them more inclusive. For example, CBS’s dress code

policy speaks to the proper grooming of a man’s hair and describes such as being “closely shaved”

to the head. This automatically disqualifies other religions such as Rastafarism and Islam. Given

the fact that CBS is located in a country that has mixed religion, it would be very useful for CBS’s

policies to be more accommodating to the environment it resides in.

 Community Engagement

One way to be more inclusive is to actually be inclusive. This means that there should be

some outreach from CBS to members of the public. This type of outreach can also increase its

brand awareness and reputation which in turn could increase its value. CBS should also think of

this practice as representing a community that is underrepresented.

Monitoring

CBS should also implement a monitoring and evaluation policy or practice that would

allow for regular revisions of these practices that have been instituted to ascertain whether or not

these practices or policies have adequately addressed the company’s concern of inclusion. Only

through monitoring will CBS get a true picture of the progress made and how to address or amend

their efforts. Since the aim is to promote inclusivity within the company, one method of evaluation

that can be utilized is staff survey. This will give a first-hand view into how the policies or practices

implemented have benefited staff or if there is genuine need for improvements.

Conclusion

The strategic advantage of CBS's dedication to diversity and inclusion is that it will spur

innovation and raise general performance. Through the integration of diversity initiatives into all

major operations, the organization may establish a more dynamic, inclusive, and prosperous

work environment. This plan lays out a strategy for achieving these objectives, guaranteeing that

CBS will stay at the forefront of inclusion and diversity in the tech sector.
 References

Anete. (2023, May 25). Preventing Discrimination in Recruitment & Selection: Strategies for

Fair and Unbiased Hiring - Equalture. Equalture - Unbiased, Competency-based Hiring

Through Gamification. https://www.equalture.com/blog/preventing-discrimination-in-

recruitment-and-selection-strategies-for-fair-and-unbiased-

hiring/#:~:text=Use%20objective%20and%20job%2Drelated,tests%2C%20rather%20tha

n%20subjective%20assessments.

Can your business be sued over an employee’s discriminatory comment to a customer? - findlaw.

(n.d.-b). https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/small-business/can-your-business-be-sued-

over-an-employees-discriminatory-comment-to-a-customer/

Definition of Policy | Policy, Performance, and Evaluation | CDC.

(n.d.). https://www.cdc.gov/policy/paeo/process/definition.html

Levinson, H. (2014, August 1). Appraisal of What Performance? Harvard Business

Review. https://hbr.org/1976/07/appraisal-of-what-
performance#:~:text=Performance%20appraisal%20has%20three%20basic,judge%20fut
ure%20job%20assignments%20and

Summary of public sector salary scales. (n.d.-c). https://www.mof.gov.jm/wp-

content/uploads/Salary-Scale-26.5.23-Final-Outlined.pdf

Team, S., & Team, S. (2019, October 11). Recruitment. SmartRecruiters.

https://www.smartrecruiters.com/resources/glossary/recruitment/#:~:text=Recruitment%20

refers%20to%20the%20process,of%20a%20range%20of%20workers.

The Role of HR in Facilitating Cross-Cultural Competence and Communication. (2024, March

22). Alignmark. https://www.alignmark.com/the-role-of-hr-in-facilitating-cross-cultural-

competence-and-

communication/#:~:text=Furthermore%2C%20HR%20plays%20a%20critical,thrive%20in

%20diverse%20work%20environments