Xerox
HRM 530
April 24, 2011

Xerox Xerox was originally founded in 1906 as the Haloid Company, which later became Haloid Xerox in 1958 and finally Xerox Corporation in 1961. Xerox currently has 136,000 employees in 160 countries (www.xerox.com/about-xerox, 2011). With over 130,000 employees, human resources is vitally important to the corporation. This paper will examine how human resource professionals can ensure that top organizational leaders encourage managers and employees to follow laws and guidelines. It will also discuss how hiring women and minorities improved Xerox’s profitability. In addition, the changes that Xerox made to become a more attractive employer for women and minorities will be identified. Finally, there will be an evaluation of whether or not hiring and promoting women and minorities has been unfair to Caucasian men.
Ensuring Top Organizational Leaders Encourage Managers and Employees to Follow Laws and Guidelines Human Resource professionals play a major role in ensuring that top organizational leaders encourage managers and employees to follow laws and guidelines. A human resource professional is responsible for educating those within the organization the laws and guidelines that must be followed in order to prevent any legal compliance issues that could potentially cost the organization exorbitant amounts of money. A human resource generalist is expected to be knowledgeable in all areas of the law and compliance, though it may be difficult to stay abreast of the constant changes within the law (www.workplace-dynamics.com, 2011). To ensure that managers and employees are following the laws and guidelines, there should be encouragement from top organizational leaders to do so. Human Resource professionals should suggest that employees and managers be required to attend training classes that cover all new laws and how the laws impact the organization. If top organizational leaders make these classes mandatory, all employees and managers would be fully aware of the laws and guidelines that need to be followed by everyone in the organization.
Discuss how hiring women and minorities improved Xerox’s profitability.
As noted in the reading, Xerox has done a great deal with regards to diversity within their organization which has contributed to the success of their organization. They learned the value of having a diverse organization and the benefits they can enjoy by doing so. An excellent article was written by Josh Greenberg entitled, Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions, where he clearly noted the benefits of having a diverse workforce. It is known that individuals are all different and they bring their talents and experiences to an organization (Greenberg, 2011, para. 4). If an organization had only one viewpoint then they could expect to reach a limited customer base. Employers allow their employees to work to devise business-level strategies to address the needs of the numerous customers they serve as well as look for ways to expand it. Therefore, Xerox realized the importance of that and worked to capitalize on that concept.
The manner in which Xerox has embraced diversity was obvious in their culture. It noted that they were flexible in working to accommodate employees who had families and the manner in which they worked with them on maintaining that balance. It should always be noted that when an employee knows that their family is safe and happy they can be more productive at work. A true picture of this would be Xerox’s new CEO, Anne Mulcahy, who was a mother and early on in her career elected not to travel due to her family obligations was still seen as an asset to the organization and accommodations were made in order to utilize her expertise in the business.
During the times when there may have been unrest in society such as the Black Movement and feminism, Xerox looked for ways to be proactive and address these issues within the workplace. They diversified their workforce by hiring individuals from these protected groups and formed a caucus and alliance to show its support (Stewart and Brown, 2009).
A compilation of these actions allowed Xerox to increase its profitability. An organization’s best advertisement is its employees. When one is proud of where they work and their company values, they will share that information with family, friends and anyone who will listen about the great and diverse organization they work for. This would peak the interest of others who would also like to bring their skills and competencies to Xerox. Next, customers are more likely to purchase products and services from people who look like them. So to have a diverse workforce would mean that people from all walks of life and nationalities will patron your company. Lastly, Xerox was proactive in its attitudes towards diversity and developed programs and initiatives to address it. By promoting an inclusive environment they took steps to alleviate and/or avoid potential complaints and lawsuits related to discrimination in the workplace. All of these action plans added value to the organization.
Changes that Xerox Made to Become a More Attractive Employer for Women and Minorities
The National Employment Lawyers Association was so concerned about the abuse many workers were experiencing in a work environment filled with discrimination, harassment, and “capricious” employment decisions (About the Institute - History, 2011, para.1) that they decided to become an advocate “for employees rights by advancing equality and justice in the American workplace” (About the Institute – Mission Statement, 2011, para.1). Xerox has been exemplary in being an advocate of employee’s rights by avoiding inequality in its employment opportunities and racial discrimination in its hiring practices. The company listened to and learned from the concerns of its female employees and discerned along the way that its attitude towards black employees needed to change also if it was to remain competitive in attracting new talent and compete in the marketplace.
In the case of Leslie Varon, Xerox listened to her plea to take her work home instead of working very long hours in her office in order to get her job done. By doing so, Xerox displayed their support of the female employees who contributed a great deal to the organization’s success. As a result of this decision, she and other female employees were able to advance to high level management positions in their careers with Xerox as well as care for their family obligations.
The case relates that this change in their attitude toward female employees also allowed Xerox to become more interested in what they doing to support their African-American employees. By the 1970s the organization aggressively employing African-American job seekers and provided them with support via a network and grievance process. This change made it easier for Xerox to adapt to changes during the birth of feminism. The CEO during that time reported that the promotion of women was not due to “fairness or altruism” (Stewart & Brown, 2009, p 109) but it helped to form a larger labor pool from which it could draw to compete. A Women Alliance network was formed by female employees in order to lobby for the promotion of more women. Due to this initiative Anne Mulcahy advanced up the career ladder in spite of her refusal to relocate her husband and two children to get a bigger and better position. Management accepted her proposal to commute and she took her career to new heights. In 2001 she was responsible for bringing Xerox out of a severe financial crisis and in 2005 was ranked higher than Oprah Winfrey on Forbes list of powerful women (Stewart and Brown, 2009, p.109).
Has Xerox Promoting Women and Minorities Been Unfair to White Men?
The hiring and promoting of women and minorities has not been unfair to Caucasian men. The injustice to minorities, mainly among African-Americans people caused Congress to sign the Civil Rights Act in 1964. This act was an attempt to improve the quality of life for African-Americans and other minority groups, by providing more job opportunities and strengthening voting laws (The Dirksen Congressional Center). Affirmative action gives preferential treatment to members of protected classes who have historically been victims of discrimination (Stewart & Brown 2009, p. 97). For many years, minorities were denied advancement opportunities because they were not Caucasian males. Due to the Civil Rights Act and Affirmative Action, opportunities for women and minorities changed drastically since the days of our parents and grandparents. Xerox’s CEO, Mulcahy is a prime example of the effects of the Civil Rights Act and the Affirmative Action because these laws allowed her the opportunity to advance in her career, and today she is ranked as one of Forbes’s 2005 list of powerful women.
Conclusion
Stewart and Brown (2009, p. 76) state that “ensuring that people are treated fairly” is a major part of employee advocacy. They go on to say that organizations that understand and comply with legal issues can save money that they may otherwise need to spend on resolving legal issues or maintaining an untarnished business image. Xerox made several changes which resulted in developing and maintaining a diverse workforce and a prolific work environment for female and African-American employees. As a result of the changes Xerox made, the organization made itself a more attractive place to work for female and African-American job seekers.

References
About Xerox, (2011), retrieved from http://www.xerox.com/about-xerox/enus.html
General Human Resources (HR) Compliance, (2011), retrieved from http://www.workplace-dynamics.com/general%20human%20resources%20compliance.php Greenberg, J. (2011, April). Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions. The
Multicultural Advantage. Retrieved from http://www.multiculturaladvantage.com/recruit/diversity/Diversity-in-the-Workplace-Benefits-Challenges-Solutions.asp
Stewart, G., & Brown, K. (2009). Human resource management: 2010 custom edition (1st ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

The Employee Rights Advocacy Institute for Law & Policy (2011). About the institute. Retrieved from http://www.employeerightsadvocacy.org/article.php/lawpolicy
The Dirksen Congressional Center “Major Features of the Civil Rights Act of 1964” (1964).
A Case History: The 1964 Civil Rights Act. Retrieved http://www.congresslink.org/print_ basics_histmats_civilrights64text.html