The Use of Equal Opportunity or Employment Diversity in Walmart Inc - Paper Example

Introduction

Equal opportunity is a critical aspect in the organization management that prevents discrimination based on gender, disability, or race. It results in a diverse team of human resource with different capacities to achieve the organizational objectives (Caldwell, Truong, Linh, & Tuan, 2011 p. 176). Walmart is one of the corporates that have actively integrated the concept of equal opportunity and diversity in its human resource management. In its United States headquarters, Walmart has more than 1.5 million employees. 22% of this employee population consists of African American associates, 14% Hispanic or Latino Americans, 4 % Asian Americans, 1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander and 1% American Indian or Alaskan Natives. Furthermore, gender parity is at its best in Walmart with its US main outlet having 55% of workers some within the senior management.

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Contrast Between Different Forms of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management Policies

Equal opportunity and diversity management policies in organizations take different forms with the intention of creating socially conscious human resource base. Some of these include gender equality, disability policy, anti-racial policy, and affirmative action (Cheung, Tan, Ahn, & Zhang, 2010p. 409). The gender equality and affirmative action policies are both intended to prevent discrimination based on one's sex. For instance, it establishes a liberal frameworks through which both men and women with the required qualifications and expertise can rise to the top management without unnecessary limitations (Idemudia, 2011 p.16). The disability policy derives from the fact that disabled people are actually differently enabled hence the need to accommodate them. On the other hand, anti-racial policies prevent the organizations'' management from prejudice against people based on their skin color, heritage or origin.

How Equal Opportunity or Employment Diversity Policies are implemented in Walmart Inc.

Walmart partners with a wide range of renowned civil rights groups as well as smaller ones that conduct ongoing advocacy to ensure that the company's employee base is as diverse as possible. In essence, the company maintains productive relationships with the institutions that are reflective of the diversity of American society (Hart, 2006 p.355). Furthermore, the Walmart Foundation periodically awards the organizations that are committed to empowering the communities of color. As expressed in Torrington, Hall, Taylot, & Atkinson (2014), the recruitment process of associates in Walmart has been designed to strictly focus objectively on an individual's competence, skills, and knowledge in the activities performed by the organization. Within the company, every associate is afforded access to the skills and training required for a successful careers growth.

Reference List

Torrington, D., Hall, Taylot, S. & Atkinson, C. (2014). Human resource management. 9th European ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

Caldwell, C., Truong, D., Linh, P. & Tuan, A. (2011). 'Strategic human resource management as ethical stewardship,' Journal of Business Ethics, 98 (1), pp. 171-182.

Cheung, Y., Tan, W., Ahn, H-J. & Zhang, Z. (2010). 'Does corporate social responsibility matter in Asian emerging markets?' Journal of Business Ethics, 92 (3), pp. 401-413.

Hart, M., 2006. Learning from Wal-Mart. Emp. Rts. & Emp. Pol'y J., 10, p.355.

Idemudia, U. (2011) 'Corporate social responsibility and developing countries: moving the critical CSR research agenda in Africa forward,' Progress in Development Studies, 11 (1), pp. 1-18.