Robbins & Judge Organizational Behavior 14th Edition

1. Robbins & JudgeOrganizational Behavior14th Edition Chapter 2: Diversity in Organizations By: Faiza Amir

2. Diversity • Effective diversity management increases an organization’s access to widest possible pool of skills, abilities and ideas. • Surface Level Diversity: Differences in easily perceived characteristics, such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, or disability, that do not necessarily reflect the ways people think or feel but that may activate certain stereotypes. • Deep Level Diversity: Difference in values, personality, and work preferences that become progressively more important for determining similarity as people get to know one another better.

3. Discrimination • Noting of differences between things; often we refer to unfair discrimination, which means making judgments about individuals based on stereotypes regarding their demographic group. • Discriminatory policies or practices • Intimidation • Mockery & insults • Exclusion • Incivility • Harassments

4. Biographical Characteristics 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(the biological heritage used to identify oneself) • Contentious issue: differences exist, but could be more culture-based than race-based.

5. Other Biographical Characteristics • Tenure • People with job tenure (seniority at a job) are more productive, absent less frequently, have lower turnover, and are more satisfied. • Religion • Islam is especially problematic in the workplace in this post-9/11 world. • Sexual Orientation • Federal law does not protect against discrimination (but state or local laws may). • Domestic partner benefits are important considerations. • Gender Identity • Relatively new issue – transgendered employees.

6. What causes job satisfaction? • Work itself – the strongest correlation with overall satisfaction • Pay – not correlated after individual reaches a level of comfortable living • Advancement opportunities • Supervision • Coworkers • A person’s personality

7. Ability An individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks in a job. Is a current assessment of what one can do! Employee performance is enhanced when there is a high ability-job fit

8. 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. • Intellectual ability is one of the best predictors of performance • No correlation between intelligence and job satisfaction. • Physical Abilities • The capacity to do tasks demanding stamina, dexterity, strength, and similar characteristics.

9. Dimensions of Intellectual Ability • Number Aptitude: (Accountant) • Verbal Comprehension: (Plant Managers) • Perceptual Speed: (Fire Investigator) • Inductive Reasoning: (Market Researcher) • Deductive Reasoning: (Supervisor) • Spatial Visualization: (Interior Decorator) • Memory: (Sales Person)

10. Nine Basic Physical Abilities • Strength Factors • Dynamic strength (Exert Muscular force) • Trunk strength (Exert Muscular Strength) • Static strength (Exert Force against external Object) • Explosive strength (Energy in explosive Acts) • Flexibility Factors • Extent flexibility (Move trunk & Back Muscles) • Dynamic flexibility (Rapid Repeated Movement) • Other Factors • Body coordination • Balance • Stamina

11. Diversity Management Strategies • The process and programs by which managers make everyone more aware of and sensitive to the needs and differences of others. • Attracting, • Selecting, • Developing and • Retaining Diverse Employees.

12. Methods • Targeted Recruitment to specific demographic groups • Value fairness and objectivity in selection, focusing on the productive potential of new recruits. • Data Suggest individuals who are demographically different from their co-workers are more likely to feel low commitment and turn over rate is high. • All workers appeared to prefer an organization that values diversity.

13. Diversity in Groups • When people work in groups they need to establish a common way of looking at and accomplishing the major tasks, and they need to communicate with one another often. • Regardless of the composition of group, differences can be leveraged to achieve superior performance. • Groups of diverse individuals will be much more effective if leaders can show how members have a common interest in the group’s success.

14. Effective Diversity Programs • Effective, comprehensive workforce programs encouraging diversity have three distinct components: • First they teach managers about the legal framework for equal employment opportunity and encourage fair treatment of all employees. • Second, they teach managers how a diverse workforce will be better able to serve a diverse market of customers and clients. • Third, they foster personal development practices that bring out the skills and abilities of all workers.

15. Learning Any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience • Learning components: • Involves Change • Is Relatively Permanent • Is Acquired Through Experience