20 August 2007

There is the glass ceiling, now there is the glass cliff

It is not just women who are facing discrimination at the workplace – discrimination is affecting a host of diverse groups, said Org Geldenhuys, a director of IT recruitment company, Abacus Recruitment. Geldenhuys said this invisible barrier is being referred to as the glass cliff. It is affecting a host of groups, based on age, ethnicity, parental status and religion.

A new report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) suggests that women are not the only group to be discriminated against in the workplace. “Women are not the only one facing the spectre of a glass ceiling,” said Geldenhuys. “The glass cliff, as it is called, appears to be discriminating against a host of potential candidates –and the further up the chain you go the more likely you are to find jobs filled by heterosexual white males.

“Although,” he added, “this is not quite the case in South Africa due to our government’s affirmative action and black empowerment goals. The days of the stereotyped white male sitting in top positions in SA are not exactly gone – but it is being increasingly challenged by upwardly mobile black business men.”

But Geldenhuys said the international study, entitled Managing Diversity and the Glass Cliff, still “has a bearing on the employment and career advancement situation in South Africa”.

The study suggests that there is an an invisible barrier to advancement at work faced by some groups. This is based on criteria such as age, disability, religion, ethnicity and parental status. “This expands the entire work discrimination concept. It is not just based on your gender and your race. All these groups face challenges in the work place in terms of career advancement. And this is also true of SA. It is definitely not just restricted to race and gender – although, in this country, race is arguably the most critical factor.”

Only 19 per cent of the poll's respondents said they felt it was easy to move ahead in their careers, saying that leadership positions were not easily opened to them.

Dianah Worman, CIPD Diversity Adviser, said: "The 'glass cliff' is not specific to women but also affects those who do not meet the standard idea of a heterosexual, white male workforce.

"This new research helps us to better understand why the representation of diverse groups declines higher up the career ladder and why simply seeking to fix the numbers through targets, will not deliver lasting results in creating a more diverse workforce."

Geldenhuys said that although the government is pushing to ensure that the workplace offers opportunities across the population spectrum, including for the disabled and women, “there is still a long way to go in SA”.

Abacus Recruitment recently launched a division that focuses on placing disabled people, but Geldenhuys said that while the division is “picking up speed”, there is still a “mental blockage” on the part of SA companies when it comes to hiring disabled personnel.