Unlawful Discrimination

Mello (2011) points out -in his book Strategic human resource management- that discrimination itself means to make a distinction and it only becomes illegal when it is directed against some  classes or groups protected by the law. 

The EEOC is the agency charged with the enforcement of federal laws against discrimination in the workplace. It reports that each year there are approximately 80,000 complaints of discrimination. 

Federal laws prohibit different types of discrimination based on age, disability, salaries, genetic information (never imagined this one exists), national origin, pregnancy, race / color, religion, retaliation, sex, sexual harassment and there are many others that are not covered by the law. Those ones are not considered as unlawful discrimination.

It seems like humans have a high creativity to find ways to humiliate others. 

In my opinion, the only reason why illegal discrimination persists nearly 50 years after the passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is resumed in one phrase: Feeling of superiority (or inferiority). Humans are ruthless when we are in positions of advantage over others. The only antidote that cures to suffer the evil of superiority or inferiority is the education in values. We should educate values to our children, and even educate ourselves on values such as respect, justice, love, mercy, etc. Who said adults can not learn values?

It is sad to see unlawful discrimination at all levels within human institutions, within firms, schools, church... No matter age or level of education. As a Latin-American, I have seen cases in which employers discriminate against employees from his/her same culture and that's even more painful. Let's plan to acquire values. We can learn from others, read about it, join a religious group, watch YouTube videos (yes, videos). Let's make something to be better people and we are going to see a change!

Emilsis Féliz

Mello, J. A, (2011). Strategic human resource management (third ed.). Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning.

The Value Of Human Resource Against Other Resources

Let's be honest. Shareholders are really interested in a unique goal: get their money back and the profit generated. 

There are many measurement methods that reveal information of how well managers are complying with this task, through the measurement of assets that generate results in the short term.  

CEO’s are often focusing on short-term results at the expense of longer-term performance. 

Therefore, management often fails to realize the value of human assets versus other assets because the value of human resources are very difficult to measure.

Whether a company does not measure the effectiveness of their human capital, never will know the economic contribution that people generate for the business, and when it does, the result can be seen in the long term, which is not very attractive today.  

Therefore, employees are viewed as expenses rather than as investments. However, employees want to feel that they are valued in the market and valued by their shareholders.

In today's workplace it’s required to consider employees as investments in terms of getting they feel committed to the organization strategy.

Emilsis