EQUAL TREATMENT IS GOOD, EQUAL PLACING IS BETTER
Why it is really worthwhile to give every employee the same chance
Diversity management and corporate social responsibility are chic new attributes for a modern image. Many large international firms, also in Austria, under pressure from their parent company are committing themselves strongly to diversity in the workplace.
Often this is simply a PR strategy and implementation is not really occurring. Most Austrian companies aren’t even that far. Economic pressure on human resources departments leads to a certain resistance in dealing with this topic, which at first sounds like cost intensive social romance (»everyone should love each other«).
> Diversity Management is more than just PR
But can this theme really be so disregarded? Is it really cost-intensive to deal with the heterogeneity of your employees? The answer is clear: »No!« Diversity management as well as strategy development gives employees who do not have the same previous qualifications the same chances. It creates new potential in business, improves communication structures and last but not least creates new customer groups. It is not about charity for underprivileged groups, but to present an implementable strategy for fair cooperation – and there are many interested in this.
> Equal treatment by law
Whether we like it or not, our society is changing into a ethnically, culturally, socially, religiously, and sexually heterogeneous society, which has to clearly demonstrate that all groups as well as individuals with physical or mental disabilities have the same right to participate in society. This is manifested also in laws that are meant to implement these ideals. Since July 2004 there is an equal treatment law in operation in Austria, which forbids discrimination on grounds such as sex, skin colour, ethnicity, religion or worldview, sexual orientation or age. The equal rights of disabled persons were enshrined in law in July 2005.
> Positive Balance
It is no longer of companies being nice and human when it comes to the topic of discrimination; it is now a question of law and a prevention of possible court claims – and businesses will notice that this is not the only reason to be fair. The discovery of language competences which lie dormant, as nobody has noticed them; and the discovery of specialized skills of employees with a migrant background for which there is no training in Austria are two examples. The motivation displayed, especially by disabled people if they are only given a chance – and last but not least the beneficial side effects of possible financial gains lead to a positive cost benefit analysis!
