Creating an Affirmative Action Plan

Creating an Affirmative Action Plan

An affirmative action plain is a formal plan created by employers to address the disparity of minorities and women in the employer's workforce. Affirmative action plans are also implemented by organizations to meet a requirement for doing business with the federal government. An employer may also look to implement a plan to rectify past discriminatory practices. This paper will examine several of the key factors that are needed in creating an effective affirmative action plan.

Before any deficiencies can be addressed a job group analysis needs to be conducted. This analysis is used to show each job classification and if it is held by a woman or minority. The objective of the analysis is to show the availability of women and minorities for a particular category. The data retrieved from the analysis will be used by the organization to identify where the underrepresentation is occurring. The data from the analysis can be compared with census data to gain a better understanding of the area's demographic and the organization's workforce makeup in relationship to the area's demographic. Once a class is identified as being underrepresented steps can be taken to fill vacancies in that classification with individuals from the protected classes. An affirmative action program is justified if an employer can show a disproportion in a job classification that has previously been segregated (Eisaguirre, 1999, p. 84).

Recruiting practices must be examined to show that they demonstrate fairness and equal accessibility. Use of an online recruiting website that requires all applicants to apply via the site will demonstrate equitable treatment for all applicants. In order to reach as many women and minority job applicants as possible the organization should advertise in particularly female oriented job sites, veterans job banks, and minority focused job fairs. Hiring goals should also be established so that the employer can hire towards meeting that goal.

The plan should also include some type of monitoring and reporting mechanism that is used to report and track every facet of the program to ensure that the plan is having the desired effect. Periodic monitoring should include but not be limited to compensation and pay records, records that relate to the recruitment and hiring of new personnel, turnover reports and records that reflect the promotions from within the organization. Conducting annual analysis of job descriptions will help ensure that the descriptions accurately reflect the job duties (Sample affirmative action, nd). Reporting of the plan's effectiveness to senior management is also imperative if the plan is to be successful . A commitment to diversity has to be shown by senior management and embraced by them if the plan is to be implemented across the organization.

The plan must also reevaluate every human resource policy