A line manager's guide to implementing equitable employment practices

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The Basic Conditions Of Employment, Employment Equity and Skill Development Acts in combination aim to:

• Eliminate direct and indirect discriminatory workplace practices to ensure equity for all

• Speed up the  advancement and development of designated groups of employees (blacks, women in general, and the disabled)

• Facilitate the (social) upliftment of disadvantaged groups

• Promote the management if diversity in the workplace

Line managers, and owner-managers are in a predicament. The Acts and associated regulations and codes of good practice (where they exist!) are
clear in their intentions and requirements. However, clear guidelines/how to's do not exist. Terminology found in (text) books are confusing and, proposed interventions and techniques are often vague, or difficult for  line managers and owner-owner-managers to implement with relative ease.

Very few real lessons can be learned from past attempts (before legislation was introduced) at implementing structural changes (like affirmative action, equitable management practices, and worker participation). To date, most efforts have been soft options or quick fix solutions that have usually been unsustainable or unacceptable to
management and/or the majority of the workforce.

This article presents a set of clear guidelines, and steps to assist line managers and owner-managers:

1. Formulate equity and development policies
2. Revise current business policies, procedures, rules, and standard
operating procedures to comply with legislation
3. Implement non-discriminatory selection procedures and techniques
4. Practice equity-based recruitment
5. Practice equity-based employment
6. implement equity-based development
7. Manage diversity in the workplace

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1. Formulate equity and development policies with the buy-in and participation of the key players responsible for implementing these policies.
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Participative policy making is the bedrock upon which any sustainable attempt to change an organisation rests. Unfortunately, most companies and line managers tend to omit this crucial step or dump the exercise on the
Human Resource function. This immediately disempowers mid-level line managers who are usually accountable for policy implementation.
The Human Resource function is caste as the "policy police and the health and wellness brigade" i.e as a control function overseeing line managers who come to believe that they are not trusted or resonsible enough for delivering  their human resource, development and change
management roles.

Action Steps:
A.Draw up a draft outline of the policy to enable line, staff and Human Resources to contribute towards its contents and, as a result, accept
ownership of the final product. This policy should include:

- A stated commitment by the chief executive and the top team,  which addresses its justification, the social imperative, the skills shortage, the
notion of change and development, and the need to manage a diverse workforce.
- A commitment to implementing and funding specific strategies related to these  goals
- An outline of the different equity and affirmative action strategies that will be implemented, including:

++ the equity and affirmative action strategy
++ the upliffment strategy
++ the development strategy
++ the management of diversity strategy

- An indication of the manner in which these strategies will be implemented.
- The people (positions) responsible and accountable for implementing and monitoring the progress of the different strategies.

B.To allow for possible revision and expansion of the policy, the draft must
be made available to the Equity Forum/Committee and other representatives by
means of an alternating top-down and bottom-up process. Group sessions can
be held for this purpose. Smaller task teams, comprising representatives of
the different parties, can be set up to fine tune the policy.

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2. Revise current business policies, procedures, rules, and standard
operating procedures to comply with  legislation
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The process may take a long time and may grind to a halt due to differences of opinion between line management and the trade unions. This can be averted by labelling the policy, at this stage of its development, as an interim policies, which can be printed and put to use during subsequent steps. The action steps represent the means by which the organisational culture is sensitised and prepared for the implementation of the policies

Action Steps:
A.The interim policy, together with a memo or letter explaining the rationale behind the policy, and preferably signed by the chief executive
officer, should be circulated to all members of staff.

B.The process should be assigned to a task team comprising representatives from human resources, labour relations, the trade union(s),
and a person (consultant) with legal qualifications.

C.The implications of the Affirmative Action (AA) policy and the provisions of the associated legislation should be taken into account and the various organisational policies and procedures revised accordingly. Emphasis should be placed on eliminating overt and covert discrimination. This process will have a bearing on a number of business processes, including:

- the recruitment process (advertising vacancies and the wording of application forms
- the processes involved in screening and selecting applicants for appointment and promotion (including the composition of selection panels; the criteria used in the selection process; the selection instruments used and the nature and availability of feedback to unsuccessful candidates
- employment contracts (including permanent, temporary and part-time appointments) and the benefits associated with the different appointment
categories
- conditions of service (including remuneration, salary increases, bonus systems, promotion policy, freedom of association, and grievance and
disciplinary procedures)
- leave regulations (including annual, sick, pa/maternity and compassionate leave, the accruement of leave, and the payment of leave credits on termination of service)
- fringe benefits (including housing subsidies, study assistance, medical aid, and group insurance);
- retirement benefits (including pension fund contributions, ordinary retirement benefits, benefits in the case of early retirement and death
benefits)

D.Care should be taken when specifying the mandate of the task team. Its function should only be to revise the issues relating to the existing
policies and procedures and not to renegotiate their entire contents. This will lead to prolonged delays in the implementation of the policies, and
should be referred to the normal negotiation process.

E.The revised policies and procedures should be made available to all employees.

F.Group training sessions must/should be conducted to inform and build line managers capacity to interpret and apply policy and manage the changes brought into play by these policies.

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3. Implement non-discriminatory selection procedures and techniques
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This relates to the legal requirements that the selection and promotion processes should be planned and tailored to eliminate discrimination and to give prospective candidates the opportunity to compete on an equal basis.

Action Steps:
A.The traditional functions of selection panels should be extended to include the following:

- participation in the process of drafting job descriptions
- identifying personal characteristics, abilities, qualifications and experience required for the effective execution of the job concerned
- compiling criteria and norms with regard to the particular job, to be applied in the selection process;
- extended accountability to defend non discrimination in the selection process, motivating the selection of a particular candidate, and supplying feedback to unsuccessful candidates as to why they were not appointed.

B.To reduce the volume of training required in this respect, departments and sections should designate a core group of employees to act as selection panel members. All selection panels should include representatives from the
trade union(s) and/or workplace forum. The trade unions and workplace forum should nominate key people to serve as selection committee members. These members should be trained in the same way as other selection panel members.

C.The training of selection committees should cover the following:

- the principles of non~discrimination
- the purpose of job descriptions and the techniques involved in drawing them up
- job evaluation (people who are trained can later serve on job evaluation committees)
- the process involved in translating job descriptions into job specifications
- structured interviewing
- competency-based selection procedures and assessment criteria

D.Refresher training should be conducted periodically, especially when new
members join selection panels.

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4. Practice equity-based recruitment
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The effectiveness of the selection process is limited to the extent to which potentially appointable applicants are recruited. Recruitment is therefore a crucial step in the process. Recruiting can be carried out by means of
recruitment advertising, recruitment agencies, head hunting and internal recruitment.

Action Steps:
A.Equity based recruitment advertising is a specialised process based on the following prerequisites:

- vacancies should be advertised internally, as well as externally
- external recruitment advertisements should be placed in publications most likely to be read by members of disadvantaged groups. (Obtain readership statistics from the different newspapers and plan the recruitment
advertising strategy accordingly).
- advertisements should not state that the vacancy is to be filled by AA or equity candidates. This tends to prevent potential candidates from
designated groups who would, in any event, qualify on the grounds of merit, from applying. (Competent people who would qualify on the grounds of merit prefer not to be associated with AA as they regard it as preferential treatment).
- the requirements stated in recruitment advertisements should be directly linked to the job description. (Line managers tend to inflate job
requirements to exclude potential applicants).
- to attract a large number of applicants, only the minimum job requirements should be included in advertisements

B.There are a number of disadvantages to using recruitment agencies in the AA and equity process:

- recruitment agencies usually only supply a small number of candidates
which limits the choice and can result in the appointment of overqualified
people who usually have a tendency to job hop
- people who have been retrenched often use recruitment agencies to obtain
work. (Such candidates are difficult to assess as their retrenchment could
have
 been due to incompetence).
- recruitment agencies can, however, be effectively used to recruit
candidates
representing scarce professional groupings.

C.Head hunting is a controversial practice and should be used with caution.
Bear the
following in mind when using head hunters:

- head hunting can be regarded as poaching
- if used to reach targets (fill quotas) by offering higher than normal
remuneration, it could lead to long term salary inflation.
- in the South African context the number of people targeted by head hunters
is relatively small; there are relatively few designated employees with the
necessary qualifications and experience to be appointed to managerial
positions); these people consider themselves part of an elite group and are
more inclined to job hop.
- people who have been employed as a result of head hunting seldom perform
as expected, and once offered the job, are offend difficult to discipline
- these problems can, to a large extent, be eliminated by not offering the
targeted persons a job, but by providing them with a copy of the recruitment
advertisement and allowing them to apply of their own accord.

D.The potential inherent in internal recruitment is often ignored. Many
organisations have a large number of potential AA candidates employed in
lower-ranked positions. These employees represent a valuable source of
potential candidates for upliftment and development. The advantages of
internal recruitment are clear:

- the abilities of internal applicants can be easily assessed.
- employees already in the organisation's employ are usually loyal to the
company and are less prone to job hopping, especially if the organisation
practises a system of career path development.
- the problems associated with head hunting are reduced because current
employees apply for vacant positions.

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5. Practice equity-based employment
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The employment process is a critical part of any equity-driven, AA
strategy.The organisation's employment processes should therefore be planned
in detail to meet the requirements of the Employment Equity and Skill
Development Acts. The employment process involves a)screening, b)selection
and c)placement.

Action Steps:
A.Screening represents the first cut-off point in identifying a short list
of potential applicants. Applicants eliminated by the screening process are
not considered for employment. In view of the skills shortage in South
Africa, this may represent a loss of potential candidates for the placement
process.

Equity-based screening should be carried out on the following
criteria:

- screening should be carried out by a selection panel and not only by a
line
manager. The line manager should, however, be a member of the selection
panel
- when compiling a short list, the selection panel should not only consider
potential candidates for the vacancy concerned, but all members of
designated groups who have abilities or potential in any field related
to the company's mission and operational goals

B.Screening is usually done by evaluating application forms and curricula
vitae supplied by applicants. The advertisement, as well as the application
form, should state that the applicant must supply a CV when applying.

The CV should detail current and previous appointment(s), as well as the
skills acquired during such appointments. All applicants who qualify in
terms of the minimum requirements listed in the recruitment advertisement
should be short-listed. Equity-based selection should be based on the
following:

- job-related competency and potential are the main criteria to be applied
- the competencies of applicants should preferably be evaluated by means of
outcomes-based selection techniques such as job simulation where possible
- interviewing is not considered an objective and valid selection technique
(should an interview, however, be used, it should be in the form of a
structured interview consisting of items which highlight aspects relating to
the successful execution of the particular job)
- selection panels should only use psychometric measures when supported by a
qualified psychometrist/psychologist; tests must be valid and reliable
measures of
job performance
- references supplied by the applicant should only be used to assess whether
the applicant is prepared to supply a list of references.
- In competency-based selection reports from previous supervisors are
essential.
Such reports should be targeted at supervisors in jobs previously held by
the applicant.
The current supervisor may inflate an applicant's abilities to get rid of
him or her)
- all inquiries to supervisors should be based on the minimum job
requirements of the  vacancy
- applicants should only be appointed if the person's skills or potential
match those required by the job specification
- selection panel members should guard against selecting the 'best'
candidate
(i.e. the candidate with the highest qualifications) instead of the right
candidate (i.e. the candidate best suited to the job)

C.Traditionally, placement was used occasionally during the employment
process. Placement, however, is a powerful tool in equity-based employment.
In view of the  stringent requirements of the Employment Equity Act, on the
one hand, and the relatively small number of people targeted by AA with the
potential to be appointed, on the other, no organisation can afford not to
appoint applicants on merit. Equity-based placement involves the following:

- place applicants who applied for a particular vacancy, but who were not
considered suitable for appointment, in other or future vacancies in the
organisation for which they qualify
- place applicants with exceptional merit in posts specially created to
accommodate them; these procedures is a costly process, but when applied in
tandem with succession planning, it can ultimately benefit the company in
the long run

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6. Implement equity-based development
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The development of members of groups targeted by AA is the basis of any
employment equity programme. This relates directly to the provisions of the
Skills Development and The Skills Levy Acts. Such development is beneficial
to companies as it creates a pool of employees from which candidates for
promotion to higher positions can be obtained. The Employment Equity Act
stipulates representativity of targeted groups on all levels in the
organisation.

The development of employees goes hand in hand with susceptibility to
poaching, and should take steps to guard against this. Companies should
therefore aim to empower the employees who have been developed to apply
their acquired skills. This can only be done by affording people the
opportunity to progress up the organisational ladder. Career pathing and
promotional opportunities are therefore integral to development strategies.
Empowering employees to achieve their goals is a viable strategy to hang
onto scarce talent.

Action Steps:
A.An equity-based development strategy should be outcomes and
competency-based (i.e. provide skills-oriented training)in accordance with
the requirements of the National Qualifications Framework (NOF).

B.An analysis of the workforce should be carried out to identify employees
who  have the potential to be developed. This analysis should be carried out
by a skilled person with the co-operation of  the supervisors of such
employees. The use of trained assessors will become increasingly important
when it comes to assessing whether employees have developed skills in prior
situations that can count towards obtaining a recognised qualification
within the NQF.

C.An analysis of the potential and development needs of each of these
identified employees should be carried out to determine the development
actions that should be taken. A development programme, tailored to the
individual needs of the targeted employee, should be carried out with the
full participation of the person concerned.

D.This programme should be in line with the individual's career path.

E.A coach should be assigned to each identified person, to assist him or
her, to monitor progress, and to take remedial action if necessary.

F.Each individual's progress should be monitored and recorded by the Skills
Development Facilitator (SDF).

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7. Manage diversity in the workplace
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The biggest challenge to any organisation implementing the requirements of
the Acts is managing the diversity it creates. This relates to changes in
the composition of the organisation's workforce and the resultant cultural
diversity represented by its employees. Managing diversity is a demanding
task. It is, however, necessary to deal with these requirements to ensure
the effective implementation of AA, and to harness the unique abilities of
the entire workforce in achieving business goals. Organisations should
strive
 to utilise the diverse nature of its workforce, to the benefit of
organisational
goal achievement, by implementing the following strategies:

Action Steps:
A.The organisation should be prepared for the implementation of equitable
workplace practices and affirmative action. To achieve ownership of the
process, sensitising sessions, to be attended by all line managers,
including managers of support services, should be held.

B.The typical reactions to the implementation of the Acts should be
neutralised in the following ways:

- the tendency to exclude or ostracise AA beneficiaries should be
counteracted by facilitating structured (forced) interaction between members
of the different cultures.
- this can be achieved by arranging job-related group activities that
require
cooperation in achieving a common goal.
- the tendency to deny or ignore diversity should be addressed by creating
situations that require people with such a disposition to help induct AA
beneficiaries into the positions they are to occupy.
- the tendency to suppress diversity by forcing AA beneficiaries to
assimilate First World styles and standards can be dealt with by
facilitating situations in which beneficiaries are allowed to demonstrate
their unique abilities (for instance in negotiation).
- the tendency among some white males to consider black people and women
inferior should be corrected by including Blacks and women in task teams in
which they are required to supply solutions to problems associated with
co-operation and organisational goal achievement. Such interaction should
help reduce negative stereotyping.
- the management of diversity is a challenge confronting line managers; line
managers (including managers of support services) should be trained in
leadership techniques, that they can widen their repertoire of
leadership behaviour and adapt to the differences among their subordinates.
- the coach assigned to beneficiaries also have an important role to play in
this respect as they have to ensure that their protégé~s are included in
work-related social activities.