1. Organizational Behavior Stephen P. Robbins & Timothy A. Judge
Essentials of
Organizational Behavior
13e
Stephen P. Robbins & Timothy A. Judge
Chapter 5
Personality and Values

2. Chapter 2
Diversity in Organizations

3. After studying this chapter you should be able to:
Describe the two major forms of workforce diversity and give examples of how workplace discrimination undermines diversity effectiveness.
Identify the key biographical characteristics and describe how they are relevant to OB.
Define intellectual ability and demonstrate its relevance to OB.
Contrast intellectual and physical ability.
Describe how organizations manage diversity effectively.
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4. Demographics of the U.S. Workforce
Today’s workforce:
Is more ethnical and racially diverse
Includes more women and older workers
Has a smaller wage gap between Whites and other racial and ethnic groups
The demographics of the U.S. workforce has changed over the last thirty-plus years. Today’s workforce is not only more ethnically and racially diverse, it also includes more women and older workers. Wage gaps persist across genders and racial and ethnic groups; however, the gaps have begun to shrink.
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Levels of Diversity
Surface-level diversity - differences in age, race, gender, etc.
Less significant over time
Deep-level diversity - differences in personality and values
More important in the long run
While surface-level diversity can initially lead to stereotypes and assumptions about others, as people get to know one another, these differences become less significant, and deep-level diversity such as personality and values becomes more important.
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Discrimination
To discriminate is to note a difference between things. While this in and of itself isn’t a bad thing, when we talk about discrimination, we’re usually referring to stereotypes about groups of people and assumptions that everyone in a group is the same. This type of discrimination can be harmful to organizations and employees.
Discrimination is one of the primary factors that prevent diversity, whether the discrimination is overt or covert.
Recognizing diversity opportunities can lead to an effective diversity management program and ultimately to a better organization.
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7. Biographical Characteristics
Biographical characteristics include:
Age
Gender
Race
Disability
Length of service
Biographical characteristics including age, gender, race, disability, and length of service are some of the more obvious ways in which employees differ.
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Age
The relationship between age and performance is important because:
The workforce is aging
Mandatory retirement is outlawed
The relationship between age and job performance is likely to be important during the next decade for two reasons.
First, the workforce is aging. Second, U.S. legislature essentially outlaws mandatory retirement.
Research shows that the older you get the less likely you are to quit your job, the more likely you are to have a lower rate of avoidable absence, the more likely you are to engage in citizenship behavior. Furthermore, job satisfaction increases among professionals as they age; however, that may not hold true for manual labor.
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Gender
Do women perform as well on the job as men?
Few, if any, important differences, but:
Women in male domains are perceived as less likeable, more hostile, and less desirable as supervisors
Women are less likely to be assigned challenging positons
Women often earn less than men in the same position
Women face maternal wall bias
Research shows that combatting age discrimination may be associated with better performance for the organization as a whole.
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Race and Ethnicity
U.S. Census Bureau:
Recognizes 7 racial groups
Distinguishes between native English speakers and Hispanics
Research shows that:
Individuals slightly favor colleagues of their own race in performance evaluations, promotion decisions, and pay raises
Racial and ethnic minorities report higher levels of discrimination in the workplace
African Americans tend to fare worse than Whites in employment decisions
Some industries are less racially diverse than others
The U.S. Census Bureau recognizes seven racial groups: American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Black or African American; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; Some Other Race; White; and Two or More Races. A distinction is also made between native English speakers and Hispanics.
Studies show that individuals slightly favor colleagues of their own race in performance evaluations, promotion decisions, and pay raises. In addition, racial and ethnic minorities report higher levels of discrimination in the workplace. Furthermore, African Americans tend to fare worse than Whites in employment decisions. Finally, some industries are less racially diverse than others.
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Disability
Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for people with physical or mental disabilities
After the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990, the number of individuals in the U.S. workforce rapidly increased. The Act requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for individuals with physical or mental disabilities.
Studies show that workers with disabilities receive higher performance evaluations, while at the same time, they also have lower performance expectations and are less likely to be hired.
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12. Other Biographical Characteristics
Tenure
Religion
Sexual Orientation
Gender Identity
Cultural Identity
Tenure expressed as work experience is a good predictor of employee productivity. Seniority is negatively related to absenteeism. In addition, the longer an individual has been in a job, the less likely the individual is to quit.
U.S. law prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on their religion. Even so, religion is still an issue in OB, especially when it comes to Islam. Evidence shows that people are discriminated against for their Islamic faith.
While federal law does not prohibit discrimination against employees based on sexual orientation, many organizations have implemented their own policies protecting employees on the basis of sexual orientation. In addition, many states and municipalities also have laws to protect employees based on their sexual orientation.
Companies are also beginning to establish policies regarding transgender employees. Today’s global companies do well to understand and respect the cultural identities of their employees, both as groups and as individuals. A company seeking to be sensitive to the cultural identities of its employees should look beyond accommodating its majority groups and instead create as much of an individualized approach to practices and norms as possible.
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Ability
Ability: An individual’s current capacity to perform the various tasks in a job
Intellectual abilities: Abilities needed to perform mental activities
General mental ability: general factor of intelligence
Physical abilities
Ability refers to an individual’s current capacity to perform the various tasks in a job. Abilities are made up of intellectual abilities - the abilities needed to perform mental activities - and physical abilities.
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Intellectual Ability
The seven most frequently cited dimensions making up intellectual abilities are number aptitude, verbal comprehension, perceptual speed, inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, spatial visualization, and memory.
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Physical Ability
Research on hundreds of jobs has identified nine basic abilities needed in the performance of physical tasks. Individuals differ in the extent to which they have each of these abilities.
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16. Implementing Diversity Management Strategies
Makes everyone more aware of
and sensitive to the needs and differences of others
Diversity management makes everyone more aware of and sensitive to the needs and differences of others. Diversity programs include and are meant for everyone.
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17. Attracting, Selecting, Developing, and Retaining Diverse Employees
Target underrepresented groups
Ensure the hiring and promotion is bias free
Develop a positive diversity climate
Workers prefer organizations that value diversity
To enhance workforce diversity, organizations should target underrepresented groups through ads in publications geared toward certain demographic groups, recruiting at universities and colleges with significant members of minorities, and forming partnerships with associations that represent women and minorities.
Organizations should also take care to ensure that hiring decisions are bias free, and that career advancement decisions are fair and objective. Research shows that individuals who share personality traits with their co-workers are more likely to be promoted, but that in collectivist societies, similarity to supervisors is very important to career advancement, while in individualistic cultures similarity to peers is more important.
Studies also show that a positive diversity climate is related to organizational commitment and lower turnover intentions among African American, Hispanic, and White managers.
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Diversity in Groups
Diversity can both help and hurt team performance
Leverage differences for superior performance
Transformational leaders are more effective in managing diverse teams
Does diversity help or hurt group performance? The answer is both – it depends on the characteristic of interest. Diversity in some traits can hurt team performance, but in other cases can facilitate it.
Transformational leaders are more effective at managing diverse teams.
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19. Effective Diversity Programs
Teach managers about the legal framework for equal employment opportunity and encourage fair treatment of all people regardless of their demographic characteristics
Teach managers how a diverse workforce will be better able to serve a diverse group of customers and clients
Foster personal development practices that bring out the skills and abilities of all workers
Effective diversity programs have three distinct components. First, they teach managers about the legal framework for equal employment opportunity and encourage fair treatment of all people regardless of their demographic characteristics. Second, they teach managers how a diverse workforce will be better able to serve a diverse group of customers and clients. Finally, they foster personal development practices that bring out the skills and abilities of all workers.
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20. Implications for Managers
Understand your organization’s antidiscrimination policies thoroughly and share them with your employees
Assess and challenge your stereotype beliefs to increase your objectivity
Look beyond observable biographical characteristics and consider the individual’s capabilities before making management decisions
Fully evaluate what accommodations a person with disabilities will need and then fine-tune the job to that person’s abilities
Seek to understand and respect the unique biographical characteristics of your employees; be fair but individualistic
Three variables - biographical characteristics, ability, and diversity programs - are of particular importance to managers. Biographical characteristics are readily observable, but have been shown to have only minimal effects on job performance. Diversity management must be an ongoing commitment that crosses all levels of an organization.
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Summary
Described the two major forms of workforce diversity and gave examples of how workplace discrimination undermines diversity effectiveness.
Recognized stereotypes and explored how they function in organizational settings.
Identified the key biographical characteristics and described how they are relevant to OB.
Defined intellectual ability and demonstrated its relevance to OB.
Contrasted intellectual and physical ability.
Described how organizations manage diversity effectively.
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