Harassment of Underage Staff in MacDonalds - Case Study Example

Harassment of underage staff in MacDonald’s University Student Id Course Date SCENARIO Peter is the human resource manager in McDonald's where he has been working for the last five years. He embraces workforce diversity where he has been working towards making sure that the working environment is accommodative. Peter has ensured that the workplace can accommodate the diversity of the employees. In the process of making sure that the employees are in a position to relate well with each other, he has developed a working environment that respects the different cultural backgrounds. The employees are made to recognize and appreciate the differences existing among themselves. As a result, he managed to eliminate the conflicts among the employees due to the cultural differences. However, Peter has been receiving complaints from the underage staff that they are being harassed in their places of work. Peter has been thinking of creating a separate working place for the underage employees to avoid harassment and increase their productivity. However, the managers from different departments are considering the idea to result in workplace discrimination. The employees in any organization are expected to be expected to be treated in the same way with any aspects of discrimination regardless of their race, ethnic background or any other aspect of discrimination. Besides, separating the underage employees from the other staff is likely to escalate the level of discrimination as the conflict is likely to increase. However, Peter perceives his idea as the best strategy of eliminating the harassment of the underage staff in their workplace. Besides, creating separate working places for the underage employees is likely to affect the motivation levels of the other staff. The other employees are likely to feel discriminated hence affecting their commitment to work due to decline in morale. As a result, their productivity can decline hence affecting their organizational performance. The situation is leaving Peter in a dilemma on what to do in the process of addressing the situation as he has tried to talk to the employees concerning the dangers of harassing the underage employees but in vain. The continued bullying of the underage employees is giving Peter a headache as he has to come up with the best solution that cannot affect the morale of the other employees. Peter is looking for the best way to address the problem in an ethical way. The ethical dilemma entails making the decision on whether to create a separate working place for the employees or stop employing the underage employees. The question is; what should Peter do to eliminate the aspects of harassment among the underage employees? It is through the role play represented in the group and script that the question will be answered. Main arguments Peter is facing the challenge of the action to take as he has realized that the productivity of the underage employees was declining. Providing separate working places for the underage workers is likely to result in discrimination. Besides, separating the underage employees can lead to decline in the productivity of the other employees as they will feel discriminated hence reducing their morale. Therefore, he is worried on which action to take to address the problem in a way that is ethical. Reasons and rationalizations Employees need to be treated without any aspect of discrimination at the workplace. The employer is expected to provide a working environment that is fair and equal to all employees where no employee should be treated as special. Therefore, Peter cannot provide a separate working environment for the underage employees as that can result in workplace discrimination that can affect the productivity of employees. Peter can be considered unethical for keeping underage employees in the organization. Therefore, it is unethical for Macdonald’s to recruit employees who are underage as just like any other company that is socially responsible should be ethical enough to consider the age of the employees before recruitment. Any organization that embraces corporate social responsibility has to ensure that it does not employ minors as they lack the capacity to engage in employment. Employees in an organization have the right to be provided with the necessary working environment. The underage workers have the rights of being provided with the necessary working environment that can guarantee improvement in productivity. What is at stake for key parties including those with who disagree? The future performance of Macdonald’s is likely to face some challenges due to the harassment of the underage employees. Providing a separate working environment for the underage employees is likely to demotivate the other employees. Peter has the responsibility of making sure that the working environment is conducive for all the employees regardless of the diversity. Employing the underage workers is likely to affect the reputation of Macdonald’s as it is viewed as an unethical practice. What leverage could be used to influence and argue to those who disagree? Peter need to make the top management understand the implications of employing minors to the organizational performance. Peter should come up with strategies for managing the diversity existing in the workforce to help to address the challenges. Peter has the responsibility of making sure that the recruitment process of McDonald's adheres to the ethical considerations. Most rational and powerful response It can be noted that the reputation of MacDonald has become poor because of being unethical by employing minors. As a result, MacDonald has lost its image of a good corporate citizen leading to the decline in its market share. I think there is the need for the issue to be addressed before it affects the competitiveness of the company. Who to make the argument to and in which context The argument should be made to John where it should be presented to her verbally in a way that is professional and convincing. INDIVIDUAL SCRIPT In the script, the narrator is used in the process of providing the necessary details of the scenario. The conscience of Peter is used in demonstrating the thoughts of Peter concerning the available options that he could take in addressing the problem. Peter, John who is the general manager and two colleagues of Peter who are Paul and Jane are the major characters. Narrator: Peter as the human resources manager has realized the need to give voice to values. He has been the human resources manager at MacDonald for the last five years, and all those years he has been bothered by the employment of the minors, which has formed part of the Macdonald’s culture. Peter has been thinking about the issue of employing the minor and tried to talk with other managers, but he has feared to discuss the matter with the general manager. As a result, he has asked his colleagues to assist him to address the problem by taking it to John who is the general manager. He has the feeling that taking the matter to John with his colleagues can assist in convincing him to address the issue of recruiting minors in the organizational workforce. The ethical issue affecting Peter is employing employees who are not at the right age of employment. Some employees are at the age of 13 years making MacDonald unethical as it should not employ school going children. However, that has been part of the culture of the organization that Peter found existing hence he is in a dilemma in addressing the issue as the harassment the underage employees face because of being minors yet in the employment sector. Even some managers have the idea of retrenching the underage employees as they are not at the right age required for one to be employed. Most of the underage employees are expected to be in schools hence the company is considered unethical. Peter as the human resources manager has the duty to choose whether to continue employing underage employees. However, Peter as the human resources manager has the duty of working towards ensuring that the underage employees are provided with the necessary environment that can improve their productivity. The supervisors in different departments have reported the decline in productivity of the underage employees where their morale has declined. The working environment for the underage employees in MacDonald has not been motivating, and Peter is looking for the best ways of eliminating the aspects of harassment in the organization. The issue of harassment has been attributed to the diverse cultural background of the employees where the employees have different beliefs and values that are contributing to the continued harassment of the underage employees. The co-workers are reluctant as they lack the necessary confidence that they can be in a position to change a culture that has been in existence for a long duration. However, Peter is determined to change that culture for it has been affecting the reputation and image of the company. Despite the fact that the co-workers do not consider that as an essential issue to be voiced out, Peter is determined to voice it out as he considers the matter as unethical. Besides, the co-workers were claiming that it was not among their responsibilities to address the matter hence leaving the issue for Peter to address alone. They thought that no benefits could be realized for them by dealing with the matter as they were afraid that they could be fired for speaking out concerning the matter. As a result, the co-workers declined to help Peter in the process of addressing the issue. Peter: why do I care if no one else is interested in addressing the problem? Peter’s conscience: is it really what is required of me? It unethical for Macdonald’s to employ underage employees hence that is a sign of failure on the side of the management to ensure it embraces corporate social responsibility. Some managers are considering stopping employing underage employees as the possible solution to the problem, but that has become part of the organizational culture. Peter: will John listen to me surely? Peter’s conscience: you need to make the co-workers see the implication of the problem in the long run. The management has the duty to ensure the working environment provided is in a position to motivate the employees by improving their morale to work. The working environment is important in the process of determining the productivity of the employees where the management needs to make sure that the environment at the workplace can motivate the employees. Peter: I need to try to address the problem no matter the outcome. I do not think the company will succeed in the market if we do not address the problem. The harassment has led to the decline in the productivity of the staff as they are not provided with a necessary environment that can make them active and motivated to work. In the process of addressing the issue, Peter has tried to meet with the departmental heads with the aim of seeking their opinion on how to solve the problem. The departmental heads have tried to talk with the employees in their departments, but the problem has persisted. The underage employees have continued reporting cases of harassment by the other employees. An action needs to be taken to secure the future of the organization. Narrator: Peter tries to discuss the problem with the co-workers to address their fear concerning taking to the general manager. Finally, they were convinced to take the matter to John. Jane: Hello John. John: Hello Jane Jane: we have an issue we wish to talk about if you do not mind. John: what is it? Narrator: Jane looks at Peter Peter: the issue of employing underage has led to many challenges in the workplace due to harassment. John: it is an organizational culture Paul: yes, but it if negatively affecting the company performance. John: what do you think we should do? Peter: I believe that the company needs to stop recruiting underage employees as it is unethical. Narrator: John seemed to be convinced the need for the change. John to Peter: can you come up with the new recruitments rules that can make the organization ethical and improve its reputation. Narrator: John considered the change important for the future of the company. The management of Macdonald’s supported the implementation of the change. Peter, Jane, and Paul were very happy for the successful change. Read More