Diversity in Organization, Lecture notes of Organization Behaviour

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Diversity in Organizations

Robbins & Judge

Organizational Behaviour

The Essence of Knowledge Is Having It To Apply It!

(Chinese Philosopher Confucius)

(551 B.C – 479 B.C)

Chapter Learning Objectives  After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

• Describe the two major forms of workforce diversity.
• Define the key biographical characteristics and describe how they are relevant to OB.
• Define intellectual ability and demonstrate its relevance to OB.
• Contrast the two types of ability.
• Describe how organizations manage diversity effectively.
• Show how culture affects our understanding of biographical characteristics and intellectual abilities.

Workplace diversity  Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization.  That sounds simple, but diversity encompasses race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education, background and more.  This allows an organization to have an employee base of very different people that can bring different ideas and thoughts to the table

Biographical Characteristics and their impact on turnover, absenteeism, productivity, and satisfaction Objective and easily obtained personal characteristics.  Age

• Older workers bring experience, judgment, a strong work ethic, and commitment to quality.  Gender
• Few differences between men and women that affect job performance. Race & Ethnicity hiring decisions, performance evaluations, pay, and workplace discrimination.
• Contentious issue: differences exist, but could be more culture based than race based.

Biographical Characteristics (Continued)  Biographical characteristics represent many of the surface-level aspects of diversity. These are characteristics that are very easy to identify.  Biographical characteristics typically include age, gender, and race. It can also include tenure, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Age is an increasingly relevant characteristic as the workforce is aging. Older workers bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experience, but the perception is that productivity often declines with age. Whether this is true or not, it is a perception people act upon and will impact the workplace.  In studying gender in the workplace, it has been found that there are very few differences between men and women that impact job performance. However, women, especially those with pre-school age children, do prefer flexible work schedules and will seek an employer who offers options in their schedules.

Biographical Characteristics (Continued)  Race and Ethnicity offers little explanation for differentials in workplace outcomes. It has been shown, however, that people in the workplace do identify more with people like themselves in some cases there may be opportunities given to people based on the fact that they are like their supervisor.  Tenure refers to the length of time people have been on the job and is tied to seniority. Often, tenure is seen as a positive as it signifies that people are happy with their employment because they have remained in their job for a long period of time. Therefore, employees with long tenure tend to be more productive, call in sick less frequently, and don’t leave the organization as readily.

Ability An individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks in a job.  Intellectual and Physical Abilities

Dimensions of Intellectual Ability Intellectual Ability Number Aptitude Verbal Comprehension Perceptual Speed Inductive Reasoning Deductive Reasoning Spatial Visualization Memory E X H I B I T 2– 1

Intellectual Ability  Number aptitude is the ability to do speedy and accurate arithmetic and will be effective in jobs requiring mathematical ability, such as an accountant.  Verbal comprehension is the ability to understand what is read or heard and the relationship of words to each other. This ability will be helpful in jobs where the manager needs to understand policies in order to carry out their job tasks.  Spatial Visualization is when someone can imagine how an object would look if its position in space was changed. An employee who needs to make decisions about office setup or interior design would need to have a high level of spatial visualization ability.  Memory is the ability to retain and recall past experiences. Individuals who need to act quickly in a situation, such as a paramedic or nurse, would need a significant degree of memory ability.

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Nine Basic Physical Abilities Strength Factors

• Dynamic strength
• Trunk strength
• Static strength
• Explosive strength

Other Physical Factors Other Factors

• Body coordination
• Balance
• Stamina

Role of Disabilities  When focusing on ability, it can create problems when attempting to develop workplace policies that recognize diversity in terms of disabilities.  It is important to recognize diversity and strive for it in the hiring process.  An organization needs to be careful to avoid discriminatory practices by making generalizations about people with disabilities.