Whatever the intention, that is what many of these groups become. Minority, female and gay people are just as interested in professional advancement and just as capable of playing office politics and taking advantage of access as anyone else. Or do you think Minority, female and gay persons don’t act in accordance with human nature? :dubious:
I agree with even sven, that companies, mine specifically, are encouraging these groups from a corporate perspective, with an eye on recruiting and retaining top talent. It also helps with the whole diversity thing - basically proving the company actively promotes these groups as an indicator of a diverse working environment. I have no problem with that at all. However, I also agree with AK84 that people tend to act in their own interests, and that managers also tend to favor people like them.
These groups promote gathering of targeted people and enhance networking opportunities where there otherwise may not have been any. That’s all good, too, except for the non-targeted people who may not have a space of their own. It just feels a bit wrong that we are promoting the segregation of people into these niche groups based on race, sexuality, ect., while at the same time promoting “diversity” in the work force. I thought we were supposed to me moving past all that and try to consider people as equals where differences in race, gender, etc. is frowned-upon. Heck, every jobs board advertisement for a major company usually prominently indicates that these things are not to be considered in hiring - why is it OK to break things down along these lines after people are hired?
Thanks for the comments - I am encouraged to check out the next meeting of one of these groups when they have one in my office. No fear.
Bumping this thread, since diversity programs are front and center of the current issue going-on over at Google.
Does the current Google situation change anyone’s view from what they posted earlier?
I still feel they are a net positive overall for a company, altho I can easily see how they can be irritating to those that are not being represented at that level.
When I worked at a large bank corporation, we had several of these employee groups. I attended meetings of one of them while there.
It was clear that employees attended to help themselves, via mentorship, networking, etc., and advocating for changes in corporate policies that affected us.
But it also became clear that the company saw a different purpose for them: They used the group as a test group for marketing materials aimed at this minority group.
So I guess each group was trying to make use of the other for their own purposes.
And for the OP, your company probably doesn’t have one for “hetero, white, old(er) guys” because they think they already know how to appeal to that market, and how to attract employees from that group.