HRM activities: OH&S and Diversity
Case study: Rio Tinto
In the face of an economic downturn and an environment of increased competition, Human Resource Managers (HRMs) must link traditional HR activities with the organisation’s overall strategic objectives. It is crucial that HRMs are change agents and manage employees effectively to ensure that work is carried out productively. Diversity and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) activities should not be considered add on objectives within an organisation. Instead, they should be the central focus of managers and leaders within industries, such as Rio Tinto. It is important that during a time of slow economic growth that these activities are not compromised for the achievement of short-term profit objectives. Furthermore, it is crucial that HRMs conjure relevant and beneficial methods of guaranteeing that these activities help to counter the …show more content…
Sexual harassment comes in many forms including physical, verbal or visual. Any unwelcome or uninvited conduct of a sexual nature that a normal person would find disturbing, humiliating or offensive will be deemed as sexual harassment. This may include uninvited physical contact, sexual comments, intrusive questions as well as staring or leering (Fredman, 1997). In order to avoid this issue, Rio Tinto has set up a professional counseling service through the ‘Employee Assistance program’ for employees of Rio Tinto who believe that they have been subjected to any form of this inappropriate behavior. (REF?) In 2012, Kylie Thompson, a secretary in Rio Tinto claimed to have been sexually harassed by her manager (Rusell, 2012). This still being investigated and is a perfect example that sexual harassment is indeed an issue for Rio Tinto. Rio Tinto needs to be sure to enforce stronger sexual harassments regulations to uphold a positive and reliable reputation within the