Following on from the comments by Trevor Phillips that diversity issues should be seperated off from HR I thought I would ask what people views are?
I personally totally disagree with him. By separating it out I personally believe that it will go further it isolate it from a majority of the workforce. Already it is seen by many staff as a reason for beating them up just because they are “white & male” or “white and middle class”, the clichés could go on and on.
This view is not helped by the predominance in the Equalities field of anything but white males etc.
I am aware of one Non departmental Public Body who in the late 90’s had an equality forum made up entirely of West Indians.
Diversity is not and should not be about making any one group more special than any other. Just because someone is white it does not mean that they don’t have diversity issues.
My parents come from Scotland but a few years ago when they had the opportunity to buy a business in Scotland they turned down the opportunity because they were Protestant and the area the business was based in was predominately Catholic and they knew that the locals would not have supported the business.
Similarly just because someone is Black it is not right to assume all their issues are going to be the same.
During my Army career I and some freends were on a course and were talking to an individual who came from the West Indies and asked why he didn’t associate with some other West Indians from his Regiment and he relied that any true West Indian would have nothing to do them as they came from London and the culture they were mimicking was that adopted by the drug gangs back in the West Indies. In fact he was quite insulted that because he was of the same race that he would be lumped with these type of people.
We should speak less time looking at people as groups and more time about them as people.
People are an HR Issue and diversity is about people so it is in the right place. I am not saying we in HR are always getting it right but putting it in a position where it is liable to further isolate a majority of people is not the way forward either.
Iain Young
