Work Force Diversity

Forty years ago, human resource management was considerably simpler because our work force was strikingly homogeneous. In the 1950s, for example, the U.S. work force consisted primarily of white males employed in manufacturing, who had wives who stayed at home, tending to the family's two-plus children. Inasmuch as these workers were alike, personnel's job was certainly simpler. Recruiting for these workers was done locally, if in fact, new employees weren't related to a current worker. Because those workers all shared the same interests and needs, personnel's responsibility was to get them in the door, sign them up, tell them about the standardized benefit program, and plan the company's annual Christmas party'. Then, when the time came, it was HRM's responsibility' to purchase the traditional gold watch, have it engraved, and present it to the employee in a gala event in honor of the employee's retirement. But times have changed.

The Work Force of Tomorrow

Much of the change that has occurred in the work force is attributed to the passage of federal legislation in the 1960s prohibiting employment discrimination. Based on such laws, avenues began to open up for minority' and female applicants. These two groups have since become the fastest growing segment in the work force, an accommodating their needs has become a vital responsibility for human resources managers. Furthermore, during this time, birthrates in United States began to decline. The baby boomer generation had already reached its apex in terms of employment opportunities, which meant that as hiring continued, there were few baby boomers left to choose. And as globalization became more pronounced, Hispanic, Asian, and other immigrants came to the U.S. and sought employment.

Projecting into the future is often and educated guess at best. Trying to predict the exact composition of workforce diversity is no exception even though one does not know it will be made up of "males, females, Hispanics, whites, blacks, Asians, Native Americans and the elderly." Nonetheless, one does have some excellent predictions available to him, the results of which give us a good indication of what is to come.

The Implications for HRM

As women - both natural born and foreign citizens - become the dominant employee in the work force, HRM will have to change its practices. This means that organization will need to make concerted efforts to attract and maintain a diverse work force. Like programs at many large organizations, a good diversity program means having customers looking inside the organization and finding people like them. One means of achieving that goal is through the organization benefits package. This includes HRM offerings that fall under the heading of family-friendly organizations. A family-friendly organization is one that has flexible work schedules and provides such employee benefits as childcare. Even organizations that use part-time and temporary help personnel have found that family-friendly benefits are needed by these groups to remain committed to the organization, and productive