Public Administration Theory in Canada Paper Example

Introduction

Public administration diversity is the process through which a public agency or organization can have employee diversity based on the country population diversity. Diversity in public administration is a necessity to ensure equal representation as well as reduce intentional bias to certain people. The public administration has different approaches to ensuring diversity in public placements such as name blinding and anonymous job applications with the aim of concealing personal information. A previous study on the same has identified different results that show that the method lacks any statistical significance in promoting diversity through an experimental case where random applications which had personal information concealed was carried out (Public Service Commission of Canada. 2018). This paper will assess the success of personal information concealing in promoting employment diversity in public agencies such as the police in Canada and the fairness of the Employment Equity Act.

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Name-Blind Recruitment

The concealing of personal information is one of the available initiatives that the public administration has tried to create diversity in the public working force. The primary aim of this initiative is to create greater representation while at the same time avoiding bias on the basis of race by implementing a merit-based recruitment approach that ensures high diversity (Public Service Commission of Canada. 2018). The name blinding approach assessed on the basis of the essential qualifications and visible minority's qualification was found to be insignificant and did not increase diversity.

Negative Perception of Various Diversity Initiative Hires in Ottawa

The perception of the name blind initiative in public service hiring is negative mainly because public organizations and hiring managers are used to the traditional hiring process where the personal information of the candidates are included. The personal information of the candidates is essential in the hiring process because it ensures that the hiring managers can be able to vet and assess the personality of their potential employees. Therefore, although there is a significant desire to increase representation, the concealment of personal employees leads to discrimination against the candidates who conceal their personal information.

This is primarily due to the safety issues accompanied by evaluating and carrying the background checks on the potential employees which is a necessity today to ensure the safety of the organization information and integrity. Therefore, whereas name blinding will not necessarily lead to bias and prejudice of a potential employee, it will reduce the chances of the application being evaluated due to the failure to follow the traditional hiring procedures as well as increase speculation against the potential employee with their identity concealed. Based on the negative perception and the case study results of a name blind hiring experiment the initiative does not have any statistical significance in terms of increasing diversity but instead reduces the opportunity of the application being reviewed. The experiment by the public service indicated that there was greater diversity in the traditional hiring process compared to the concealing of the applicant personal information.

Employment Equity Act fairness

The Employment Equity Act is significant legislation in Canada because it seeks to ensure equality in the federal employees and ensure that employers engage in proactive employment that aims to increase diversity and representation of women, aboriginal people, people with disabilities and the visible minorities (Public Service Commission of Canada. 2018). As such, the legislation is fair because it ensures greater representation in the public organizations and legislation are more practical compared to the initiative such as name blinding which are faced with scepticism especially by the employers. Without the legislation, the federal jurisdiction employers would be highly biased especially towards the four designated groups that should be protected. Since the legislation, there has been a great representation of the minorities and the special groups such as the disabled in Canada. However, it is important to ensure that the Employment Equity Act in federal jurisdiction employers is implemented on the basis of merit by ensuring that the special groups have the necessary qualifications so that it can be considered fair to the rest of the job seekers.

Canada Police Force Hires

The police force is a federal jurisdiction employer and should ensure diversity and representation especially in terms of racial and gender representation. There is a significant challenge in implementing the Employment Equity Act to ensure representation in the police force which majority of the force members are white (Trinh, 2018). There is a need to increase representation in the police force which will reduce race-related complaints against the police force. However, the Employment Equity Act has faced significant opposition especially from the police force who are against the change in transfer and promotion policy change which they believe in counterproductive. However, still, there is a poor representation of the minorities in the police force where a majority of the workforce is Caucasian and male. Therefore, there is more to be done regarding implementation to ensure greater representation of the minorities in the police force based on merit and to reduce internal opposition of the legislation.

What should be considered Merit?

Merit in the police force can be a significant approach to ensuring the fair internal promotion and also hiring the employees. Merit consideration should be based on academic and behavioral qualifications and not the race or background of the officers or potential officers (Trinh, 2018). Hiring based on merit while at the same time ensuring representation can significantly improve the police force service delivery and eradicate the cases of complaints against the police force. Merit in the police force should be based on the common identifiable characteristics that do not create an opportunity for bias and discrimination based on gender or race (Public Service Commission of Canada. 2018). The standardization of merit requirements for hiring and promotion in the police force can significantly improve diversity and representation in the police force without causing internal divisions within the police force (Osman, 2017).

Conclusion

The name blind initiative failure to create representation and diversity in volunteer public service hiring indicates the challenges faced by the public organizations in Canada to implement the Employment Equity Act which seeks to increase representation and diversity. In the police force, despite the implementation of the Employment Equity Act, there is poor representation especially of gender and race which is blamed by poor execution and opposition from the police force. The majority of the police force is white and male, and the merit-based hiring of the police force reduces the ability of the minorities to qualify even for promotion because most of them do not meet the set thresholds by the police force which are recognized as merit. Therefore, there is a need to tailor the implementation of the Employment Equity Act based on public agency needs as well as the standardization of the merits to be considered. Maintaining the traditional hiring process instead of the personal information concealment can significantly increase diversity and representation because it makes it possible to identify the minorities. However, the highest dilemma in this approach is the possibility of discrimination in favor of the minorities and people with special needs.

References

Osman, L. (2017, September 26). Ottawa police in a race with other forces to boost diversity | CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/police-diversity-gender-recruit-ottawa-1.4306873

Public Service Commission of Canada. (2018, July 20). Anonymized Recruitment Pilot Project Final report. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/public-service-commission/services/publications/Name-blind-recruitment-pilot-project.html

Trinh, J. (2018, November 01). Ottawa police census reveals deep rift over diversity | CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-police-service-census-divided-on-diversity-1.4885886