The workplace is a social avenue that gives people an opportunity to interact with others from different racial, ethnic, religious, and political groups. As a result, the workplace faces a great deal of issues ranging from interpersonal to organizational management problems. Among the most pestering issues that face many organizations are whistleblowing cases, gender, race, and interpersonal conflicts (Swift & Law Society of South Australia, 2016). The treatment of whistle blowers in organizations is a major dilemma facing managers today. It is unclear how to treat a person who goes public in the case where organizations they work for are using unethical and immoral procedures to deal with their clients or the public. In addition, gender, race, and interpersonal conflicts are also posing great discomfort in the modern workplaces, especially in the highly globalized and civilized business society. This paper will discuss whistleblowing, race, gender, and interpersonal conflicts as some of the major issues experienced at the workplaces in the modern society.
Organizational often attempt to work based on self-interested behavior by trying to do everything possible to maximize profits even if that would mean engaging in unethical activities (Tittle, 2010). Within the same organizations, there happens to exists ethical individuals who do not agree with acts of immorality their managers want them to execute. Often such people will come out and go public on what goes on behind the scenes. In other cases, the need to protect one’s source of income and the fear for losing a job makes it difficult for potential whistleblowers to execute their mandate. In both cases, someone suffers the actions and inaction of the whistleblower and the potential whistleblower (Tittle, 2010). If an employee goes public by exposing a rogue employer, the institution suffers, if they fail to expose the rote, the clients and the public suffers sustained unethical and immoral behaviors by their bosses.
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"Workplace Issues".
Therefore, to protect the interests of the public and the whistleblowers, regulatory bodies and the government should create laws and policies that protect the act of whistleblowers. They should be empowered to expose the rote within the institutions they work for to protect the interests of the innocent public (Tittle, 2010). This could be a good way of dealing with unethical management practices in organizations, as workers will have nothing to worry about when considering exposing immoral behavior by the managements.
Racial discrimination in the modern workplaces is another issue that needs to be addressed. Globalization has brought about diversity in the workplace by bringing skilled and unskilled workforces drawn from diverse races in a single workplace. Often, the minority groups suffer cases of discriminations of various forms. For example, some employers are likely to give higher wages to dominant races compared to the pay given to employees from the minority races doing the same work (Tittle, 2010). In some cases, the dominant group tries to oppress the minority race in the workplace by trying to overexploit its members by assigning most difficult tasks to accomplish. Racial discrimination in the modern workplace also leads to cases of modern slavery.
Solving racial issues at the workplace is not easy, even when governments are trying all their best to enact laws such as equal opportunities for all people irrespective of their races. An attempt by organizations to create favorable working employments for everyone is also not helping as much to cure the problem (Bredeson & Goree, 2012). As a result, it is time organizations realized that the problem lies within individuals. People choose how they relate with others even in the face of laws and policies. For this reason, other relying on government laws and internal policies to reduce discrimination, organizations and governments should educate workers and managers on the need for racial tolerance at the workplace and outside in other realms of life. This could help people appreciate others who do not belong to their races.
Other than racial discrimination and whistleblowing, gender wars at the workplace are becoming common. Historically, the place of the women in the workplace has lacked a definition for long. Some states in the world still do not recognize women when it comes to selecting them for superior managerial roles. In other states, the persistent advocacy for gender equality at the workplace now threatens the existence of men, as women are given special considerations during the recruitment processes (Tittle, 2010). Women face different forms of gender-based discrimination and violence at their places of work. For example, some organizations pay less compared to the wages of men when dealing with women in the same job. In other cases, women face sexual abuse at the workplaces.
Different parties have come up with different solutions to gender issues in the workplace. Some of these solutions aim at empowering women by giving them special considerations during recruitment activities. The one-third gender role is an example of the widely used policy that seeks to ensure that both genders are represented at a workplace. Other organizations have policies that put first the interests of women by protecting them against all forms of injustices including sexual harassment (Tittle, 2010). However, overprotection of women could to mediocrity in the workplace. It is high time people allowed experience and qualification to define the workplace. Employees should be hired and fired based on their ability to produce the desired outcome. No gender should be treated as superior to another, men and women should be equal at the workplace.
- Bredeson, D., & Goree, K. (2012). Ethics in the workplace. Mason, OH: South-Western/Cengage Learning.
- Swift, J., & Law Society of South Australia,. (2016). How to handle ethical issues in the workplace.
- Tittle, P. (2010). Ethical issues in business: Inquiries, cases, and readings. Peterborough, Ont: Broadview Press
