Answer

Discrimination in the Workplace

            Thousands of employees report cases of discrimination in the workplace to the government on an annual basis (Ventrell-Monsees, 2019). A competent HR professional should know that the best way of avoiding discrimination is by first preventing its occurrence. To avoid discrimination in the workplace, a competent HR professional should consider the following steps. First, the professionals should familiarize themselves with anti-discriminatory laws such as the Title VII and subsequently establishing workplace policies which are a reflection of the laws. Ritenhouse (2013) suggests that an understanding of such laws will assist the HR professionals in navigating through the discrimination concerns likely to be experienced in the workplace. Moreover, with the anti-discriminatory policies make it clear for the employees to understand that discriminatory behaviors will not be tolerated within the workplace. For instance, outlining that discriminating peer as a result of their color is not permitted in the workplace will discourage such behaviors.

            Second, the HR professional should establish mandatory training sessions for all members of the workforce. The sessions are considered as effective since they will educate the people on the benefits of avoiding discrimination in the workplace as well as how they can follow policy rules (Fekedulegn et al., 2019). Third, the HR should be prepared adequately to take part in an investigation process whenever a discrimination case is reported. Additionally, the professional should have requisite knowledge of how to respond to the harassment or discrimination cases. For example, conducting interviews and reviewing evidence may be effective in this case. Rader Sipe, Larson, Mckay and Moss (2016) reiterate this fact by revealing that interviewing the responsible parties is effective as it aids in the process of data collection about the discrimination act and how it can be avoided in the future.