0. Diversity in Organizations2
Diversity in Organizations
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

1. Topics that we will cover
Chapter 2
Diversity
Ability
Implementing diversity management strategies .
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

2. Diversity Management Diversity
Surface-level diversity
Deep-level diversity
Diversity Management
Everybody brings differences to an organization where they work. These differences can create energy and excitement in the workplace, but they can also cause conflict. So it is important that we have an understanding of how diversity works in organizations.
When we look at the workplace we can recognize two levels of diversity. Surface-level diversity represents the characteristics that are easily observed such as race, gender, age etc. Deep-level diversity represents the aspects that are more difficult to see at first glance such as values, personality, and work preferences.
Organizations need to engage in Diversity Management to eliminate unfair discrimination. By understanding what diversity is and helping employees with training and development opportunities, the negative impact of discrimination can be minimized.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
(c) 2008 Prentice-Hall, All rights reserved.

3. Diversity Examples Surface Deep Level -Demographic characteristics
Personality and Values:
Young-Old, language, Gender
Way of thinking
- New hire
Work collaboratively
- Tenured
Similar interests
Introverted vs. extroverted
Risk Taker, Assertiveness
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

4. Discrimination
Diversity management allows to work to eliminate unfair discrimination
To discriminate:
To note a difference between things.. Is this really bad?
To unfairly discriminate:
Allowing our behavior to be influenced by stereotypes about groups of people
Assumes everyone is the same
Negative consequences
Reduced productivity, turnover, eliminate qualified job candidates, unfair promotions
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

5. Forms of discrimination
Type
Definition
Discriminatory policies or practices
Actions that deny equal opportunity to perform or unequal rewards for performance
Sexual harassment
Unwanted sexual advances and other verbal, physical condct of sexual nature that create a hostile or offensive work environment
Intimidation
Threats or bullying
Mockery and insults
Jokes or negative stereotypes
Exclusion
Left out of opportunities, events, discussions, mentoring- check intention
Incivility
Disrespectful treatment: aggressive behavior, interrupting, or ignoring
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

6. Ability
An individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks in a job.
Intellectual and Physical Abilities
Ability is defined as an individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks associated with the job. When ability is dissected, two key factors are found. The first factor set apart is intellectual ability. This is the ability to perform mental activities.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
(c) 2008 Prentice-Hall, All rights reserved.

7. Ability Made up of two sets of factors: Intellectual Abilities
The abilities needed to perform mental activities.
General Mental Ability (GMA) is a measure of overall intelligence.
Wonderlic Personnel Test: a quick measure of intelligence for recruitment screening.
No correlation between intelligence and job satisfaction.
Issue: use the knowledge that [people differ to increase the likelihood an employee will perform his/her job well
Physical Abilities
The capacity to do tasks demanding stamina, dexterity, strength, and similar characteristics.
There are a number of measures of intellectual ability available for use by organizations. Two representative measures are the GMA (General Mental Ability) measure and the Wonderlic Personnel Test. The GMA takes a look at overall intelligence and is generally recognized by researchers. The Wonderlic is generally used as a quick measure of intelligence in the hiring process. Often, it takes less than ten minutes to complete. Depending on the requirements of the job, intelligence tests can be used to predict success on certain job tasks. However, there has been no correlation found between intelligence and job satisfaction.
Physical Ability is the second factor of ability and represents the capacity to do tasks that demand stamina, dexterity, strength, and other characteristics related to performance of physical tasks.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
(c) 2008 Prentice-Hall, All rights reserved.

8. Dimensions of Intellectual Ability
Number Aptitude
Verbal Comprehension
Perceptual Speed
Inductive Reasoning
Deductive Reasoning
Spatial Visualization
Memory
Intellectual ability is made up of many dimensions. They include number aptitude, verbal comprehension, perceptual speed, inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, spatial visualization, and memory. 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.
Perceptual speed is the ability to identify visual similarities and differences quickly and accurately. This particular ability is helpful when an employee needs to take in a lot of information and make decisions about the patterns, such as a detective or inspector.
Inductive reasoning is present when an individual can identify a logical sequence in a problem in order to help find a solution. An employee who needs to make decisions about the future based on historical information will need the ability of inductive reasoning.
Deductive reasoning is the ability to use logic and assess the implications of the argument. When making choices between two different possible solutions to a problem, a manager would need to call upon their deductive reasoning skills.
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.
E X H I B I T 2–1
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
(c) 2008 Prentice-Hall, All rights reserved.

9. Nine Basic Physical Abilities
Strength Factors
Dynamic strength
Trunk strength
Static strength
Explosive strength
Flexibility Factors
Extent flexibility
Dynamic flexibility
Other Factors
Body coordination
Balance
Stamina
Physical abilities are needed when performance requires physical activity to complete a task. There are three main categories of physical ability – strength, flexibility and other.
Strength factors include dynamic strength, trunk strength, static strength, and explosive strength.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
(c) 2008 Prentice-Hall, All rights reserved.

10. Role of Disabilities
It is important to recognize diversity and strive for it in the hiring process.
It is discriminatory to make blanket assumptions about people on the basis of a disability
An organization needs to be careful to avoid discriminatory practices by making generalizations about people with disabilities.
When an organization discusses abilities, it can cause difficulty when developing policies that recognize diversity in terms of disabilities. While it is important for the organization to strive for diversity in the hiring process, it is important to be careful to avoid discriminatory practices during hiring by making generalizations about people with disabilities.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
(c) 2008 Prentice-Hall, All rights reserved.

11. Implementing Diversity Management Strategies
Making everybody more aware and sensitive to the needs of others.
Attracting and Selecting/developing/retaining employees
Target recruiting messages to underrepresented groups
Value fairness and objectivity in selecting employees.
Have a well-defined protocols for assessing talent.
Prioritize non-discriminatory policies.
New hires: demographically different staff are more likely to feel low commitment + to turn over
= Preference for organizations that value diversity
Knowing that people are different is not enough for organizations to operate effectively with differences. Managers must work to develop strategies to develop ways to utilize differences to achieve work outcomes. Managers start by attracting, selecting, developing, and retaining employees who can operate and excel in a workplace with diverse individuals, viewpoints, and ideas. Gaining a diverse workforce through the selection process and developing that workforce through organizational training and development programs will help to provide for an environment that fosters creativity and effectiveness by tapping into the potential of all employees.
More and more organizations are requiring employees to work in groups. Diversity can aid in group effectiveness and it can diminish it. Organizations must provide the tools to leverage the differences to obtain superior performance.
Effective workforce programs that encourage diversity contain three components. First, they teach managers about the laws they need to follow and equal employment opportunity requirements. Second, they help managers and employees to see that a diverse workforce is better able to serve diverse markets. Third, they take into account personal differences and approach the differences as strengths that can be utilized to enhance performance.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
(c) 2008 Prentice-Hall, All rights reserved.

12. Diversity in groups Group settings is a normal job requirement
Does diversity help or hurt group performance?
It can do both
Demographic diversity does not appear to help or hurt
Groups of individuals that are Intelligent + Conscientious + Interested in group work = effective
Diversity on these variables is not a good idea
To make a group more effective:
Emphasize the higher-level similarities among members
Transformational leadership (higher order goals + values)
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

13. Effective diversity programs
Teach managers about the legal framework and encourage fair treatment
Teach managers how a diverse workforce will be better able to serve a diverse market of customers/clients
Foster personal development practices
That bring out the skills and abilities of all workers
Differences can improve performance
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall