Page 341 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

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potentially small numbers of minority applicants, organizations should
engage in cooperative efforts with educational institutions and training
centers in order to develop their own pool of potential applicants. This in­
cludes sponsoring special classes, mentoring programs, or apprenticeship
programs in order to develop a skilled pool of applicants.
The advertising message should create a sincere impression that mi­
norities are valued by the organization. Using minority images as part of
the recruitment package may help in building an organization's reputation
as having a minority-friendly workplace. Studies suggest that recruitment
advertisements that include minority workers (e.g., African American, fe­
male) create positive organizational images among minorities (Avery, 2003;
Perkins, Thomas, & Taylor, 2000). Also, using minority recruiters tends to
increase the interest of minority applicants (Thomas & Wise, 1999). The
presence of successful minority employees sends a signal to applicants
that the organization is committed to diversifying its workforce, that po­
tential role models exist within the organization, and that minorities have
a strong likelihood of success.
Individuals are likely to apply to an organization if it is viewed as socially
responsible (Turban & Greening, 1997). However, the effects of advertising
an affirmative action policy on the recruitment of minorities are less clear
and given that one of the main goals of any affirmative action program
is to increase the recruitment of minorities, it is somewhat surprising that
relatively little research attention has been directed toward the question of
the effects of affirmative action policies on the attraction of applicants to an
organization (Doverspike, Taylor, & Arthur, 2000). In order to successfully
recruit applicants, affirmative action procedures must be perceived as both
fair and emphasizing merit. Thus, communications regarding affirmative
action should emphasize that affirmative action is a means for decreas­
ing discriminatory barriers (Slaughter, Sinar, & Bachiochi, 2002; Stanush,
Arthur, & Doverspike, 1998). Minorities are more likely to respond in a
positive manner to an affirmative action program in which the emphasis is
on creating a climate of achievement in which all individuals can compete
fairly.
Once the organization has attracted the applicant and demonstrated the
potential match between the applicant and the organization, it must then
maintain the motivation and interest of the applicant during the initial
exchanges of information and throughout a sometimes lengthy selection
process. Because applicants use information about and from the selection
process to make inferences about organizational attributes (Rynes, 1991),
it is important to communicate to applicants that minorities are valued
by the organization and that the selection procedures are fair and reflect
merit. Furthermore, specific characteristics of the selection procedure such
as time lags between selection procedures (Arvey, Gordon, Massengill, &