Is it OK for employers to use ethnicity to disqualify candidates?

Q: I am a security officer with 16 years of experience who was recently declared redundant. Last week I attended an interview and agreed on a salary as an assistant security manager. Before I was to report to work, however, the security manager called and told me that the opportunity was given to the second best person to achieve tribal balance. If my ethnicity was an issue, why did they take me through the lengthy interview process? Might money have changed hands?

Indeed it can be disappointing to succeed in an interview and then have the job opportunity slip away under the circumstances you have described. Although the second best candidate may have been selected, it is important to understand that the organisation’s decision had more to do with its own internal considerations than your suitability for the job.

The approaches that organisations take in recruitment and selection of candidates differ. Some pay greater attention to the need for talent diversity than others. There are organisations that focus almost exclusively on merit, and therefore issues such as a candidate’s ethnic background do not form part of their concerns during recruitment. The important thing is to ensure that the attempt to achieve ethnic diversity through recruitment does not undermine the quality of talent. This balance is not always easy to achieve.

Although your skills should be a primary focus in recruitment, some circumstances call for additional considerations in the process to avoid unwelcome situations such as having an entire team or organisation comprising individuals from a single clan.

Every situation should however be judged independently, bearing in mind factors such as the nature and stage of growth of an organisation, its ownership, its aspirations and its purpose. In selecting a team of athletes for instance, merit might be the only applicable consideration, as no country wants to send a beautifully diverse Olympic team that brings home no medals.

Your situation is rather odd in that the issue of diversity came up much later in the day. If the HR function had reservations concerning your tribe, this would have been brought up early on. It would therefore seem that the issue of ethnicity emanated from within the security function. Even if diversity was crucial for the organisation in question, the matter could have been handled more professionally.

It is not be useful to speculate about what transpired in your situation. In fact, it is probably better that you faced disappointment immediately, rather than experience discrimination after joining the organisation. Keep up the job search. There are organisations that will value your skills regardless of your ethnic background.

Fred Gituku, Human Resources Practitioner ([email protected])