Delighting in Diversity, Essay Example

Delighting in Diversity: A Review of the Theories of K.T. Connor

Summarization

In her article “Delighting in Positive Discrimination or `Discernment’: A True Case History,” K. T. Connor suggests that managers sometimes go too far when they try to promote racial diversity in the workplace. This, says Connor, is commendable in some ways. However, in her view, it can be harmful when managers ignore employee qualifications and skills and look only at race when hiring or promoting workers. This method, she says, was particularly harmful one case, where, a food processing company was so eager to promote a minority to a traditional Caucasian position, that they promoted an African American gentleman to fill it, in spite of warnings from HR that the job was not a good fit for him.

The worker, says Connor, was soon fired from his new position, because the qualities that made him likable as a lab worker hurt him in his new position. He was extremely empathetic and afraid to bring bad news to superiors. Because of this, he failed to tell hire-ups about a problem that resulted in the risk of contamination. Thus, the company let him go, which, according to Connor, was bad for both the worker and the company. Connor argues that instead of acting in this way, businesses should consider the strengths and weaknesses of individuals and their fit to certain jobs, rather than focusing on hiring people based on skin color or diversity. They should, she says, use objective measurements to match their skills to particular positions (Connor).

Analysis

Connor’s purpose in writing this article is to encourage management professionals to look at hiring objectively and strategically, rather than using their positions only to promote diversity. Connor’s credentials are very relevant to the material she is covering. She not only holds a PhD, she is also the owner and founder of her own business, Applied Axiometrics. She speaks with authority, using actual case studies as the basis of her arguments. Her arguments are well evinced and believable.

However, Connor never mentions whether or not there were other African American workers who might have been a better fit for the position. If there were, the consideration of skin color might not have been the reason the hiring managers failed to exercise discernment. Perhaps the worker’s likability was more of a distraction from the consideration of his abilities. Furthermore, sometimes, hiring managers must make promotions based on race because of legal considerations. Charges of discrimination can be quite serious. And while Connor suggests that minorities will not be hurt if racial considerations are ignored, she also admits that only Caucasians had been promoted to the position the African American gentleman had been placed in.

Furthermore, Connor’s argument does not take personal responsibility into account. Although the worker’s inclinations might have been to delay the bearing of bad news, nothing prevented him from reporting to his superiors. The worker’s decision and behavior are, perhaps, more to blame for the harm done to the company than the decision of the manager to promote him. On the other hand, Connor does show how well minorities can perform when race is ignored. She gives the example of ABI, where workers constantly failed tests that were meant to determine job fit. Yet, when their actual performance was tested, minority candidates ended up performing as well as management workers. Therefore, there is much to be said for performance-based promotions and the consideration of “job fit.”

Application

Connor’s studies are important for managers to consider while promoting diversity in the workplace. Connor points out, for instance, that the employee who was fired so that his company could increase workplace diversity was actually worse off because of the promotion. Managers should consider the damage they can do to minority employees by placing them in jobs that exploit their vulnerabilities and ignore their strengths. Connor also points out that the company was hurt when it ignored employee qualifications and promoted an employee based on his likability and skin color. Not only did it face the threat of contamination, it lost a good employee. It was left no more diverse than it had been before. Managers ought to realize, therefore, that the failure to consider whether or not a job fits an employee can ultimately hurt their goal of promoting diversity in the workplace.

Managers can also look at the consideration of skills and abilities as a great way by which diversity can be promoted. Connor’s case study of AIB workers used Axiometrics to measures the actual thinking and skills of applicants who had been considered “marginally unemployable.” Not only did the unemployables passed, they scored as highly as some of the managers at AIB. They were, then, able to secure jobs that were previously off-limits to them. Managers reading this article can apply the lessons learned by employing axiometric measures to analyze whether or not workers are a good fit for their positions. In the case of AIB, the measure actually promoted diversity, as Puerto Ricans and African Americans who had low opinions of their skills, actually tested higher than anyone had expected them to. Managers can, therefore, promote diversity by measuring skills rather than attitudes.

Conclusion

Connor argues that trying to promote diversity by failing to exercise discernment is a mistake. She points out that failing to consider how well an employee fits a position can be detrimental, both to a company and its managers and to the employee who is put into a position that does not suit him. She also points out that the consideration of jobs skills and “job fitness” can allow managers to promote diversity while exercising discernment, as the testing of employee skills can reveal strengths that employees are unaware they have. Connor stresses the use of axiometric tests in determining whether or not an employee is good for a job. Using these, she says, and matching employees to jobs that truly fit them can allow managers and workers to “delight” in diversity, rather than hiding from it.

Works Cited

Connor, K.T. “Delighting in Positive Discrimination—or ” Discernment”: A True Case History.” Diversity Factor Summer 2009: 1-8.