1. Workplace Affinity Groups

Employee affinity groups are based on social identities, such as gender, race, religion, or shared interests, and are organized within companies to focus on the concerns of employees from that group. Human Resource Executive Online shares that federal agencies deciding whether or not to acknowledge affinity groups, should weigh the following factors: Will the proposed affinity group help its members achieve the agencys mission and goals? Will the proposed affinity group increase inclusion and personal or professional development among the involved individuals? Do other affinity groups or programs already exist that address the same areas of interest? These same questions can be used by companies and organizations as well, not just federal agencies.

Considering the questions presented in the article, answer the question that follows.

Which of the following examples shows an affinity group that is not helping its members achieve the companys mission and goals?

A. L&R Co. recognizes the Stop War affinity group at their organization. Two new affinity groups that are seeking recognition by L&R Co. are L&R Against War group and Peace, not War groups.

B. Employees at an oil refinery would like to start an affinity group called Green Power which would stress the importance of using solar and wind power and not depleting the earths fossil fuels.

C. The Asian-American networking group at Miller Associates sends email notifications of their meetings to members who are of Chinese and Japanese descent but not to Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, or Cambodian employees.

2. Unconscious Bias at Work

Suppose you are the Hiring Director for a local computer software design firm. Your company has experienced significant growth over the last two quarters and as a result, your company will be hiring for 30 new positions in the next several months. The Vice President of Human Resources feels this is a perfect opportunity to incorporate unconscious bias training at your company as managers from several departments will be interviewing and hiring candidates for the new positions. Your company, unfortunately, suffers from a lack of diversity, especially among the engineering, coding, and designing positions. She has asked you to conduct this training for the department managers in advance of any interviews being conducted.

As the hiring director, which of the following are effective in removing bias from the recruiting, interviewing and hiring process? Check all that apply.

A. Ask department managers to supply a set of minimum criteria that candidates must meet

B. Remind managers that their first or gut instinct is often the right choice

C. Final hiring decisions can be made individually as long as the manager has followed a set of criteria in evaluating the candidate

D. Filter all job applications through the HR department, and submit only blind resume devoid of names and personal information to the managers to review