DIVERSITY IN

ORGANIZATIONS

NIDA KHURSHEED
CECOS UNIVERSITY OF IT & EMERGING SCIENCES
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
Workforce Diversity

 Similarities and differences among employees in terms of age, cultural background, physical abilities and disabilities,
race, religion and gender.

 No two humans are alike.

 People are different in not only gender,

culture, race, social and psychological
characteristics but also in their
perspectives and prejudices.

 Diversity makes the work force

heterogeneous. 
Workforce Diversity

 Managers need to recognize and capitalize on these differences to get the most from their
employees.

 Effective diversity management increases an organization’s access to the widest possible pool of
skills, abilities, and ideas.

 Managers also need to recognize that differences among people can lead to miscommunication,
misunderstanding, and conflict.
Levels of Diversity
Levels of Diversity

 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.
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.

Discrimination

 Employment discrimination is the unfair treatment of employees based on prejudices. 

 By understanding what diversity is

and helping employees with training and
development opportunities, the negative
impact of discrimination can be minimized.
 Forms of Discrimination
Types of Discrimination Definition

Discriminatory policies or Actions taken by representatives of the organization that deny equal opportunity to
practices perform or unequal rewards for Performance.

Intimidation Overt threats or bullying directed at members of specific groups of employees.

Mockery & Insults Jokes or negative stereotypes; sometimes the result of jokes taken too far.

Exclusion Exclusion of certain people from job opportunities, social events, discussions, or
informal mentoring; can occur unintentionally.

Incivility Disrespectful treatment, including behaving in an aggressive manner, interrupting the

person, or ignoring his or her opinions
Biological Characteristics

 Biographical characteristics represent many of the surface-level aspects of diversity. These are
characteristics that are very easy to identify.

 Variations in these surface-level characteristics may be the basis for discrimination against
classes of employees, so it is worth knowing how closely related they actually are to important
work out- comes.
1. Age

 Older workers bring experience, judgment, a strong work ethic, and commitment to quality.

 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.
Age

The relationship between age and job performance is likely to be an issue of increasing importance
during the next decade for the following reasons.

1. Belief is widespread that job performance declines with increasing age. Regardless of whether
this is true, a lot of people believe it and act on it.

2. Second, the workforce is aging. Many employers recognize that older workers represent a huge
potential pool of high-quality applicants.
2. Gender

 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.
3. Race & Ethnicity

 Race:

Biological heritage people use to identify themselves.

 Ethnicity:
Additional set of cultural characteristics that often overlaps with race.

Race and ethnicity have been studied as

they relate to employment outcomes such
as hiring decisions, performance evaluations,
pay, and workplace discrimination.
4. Disability

 Employers are required to make reasonable accommodations so their workplaces will be

accessible to individuals with physical or mental disabilities.

 The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission classifies a person as disabled who has
any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
5. Tenure

 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.
6. Religion

 Not only do religious and nonreligious people question each other’s belief systems; often people
of different religious faiths conflict.

 The greatest religious diversity issue in the United States today revolves around Islam. Schedules
may also conflict with the way work is typically done, such as a Muslim worker adhering to the
prayer schedule outlined in Islam.

 Faith can be an employment issue when religious beliefs prohibit or encourage certain behaviors.
Abilities

Now we turn to deep-level abilities that are closely

related to job performance.

 Ability:
An individual’s current capacity to perform the various tasks in a job.

Types of Abilities:
 Intellectual Abilities
 Physical Abilities
Intellectual Abilities

 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.
 Dimensions of Intellectual Ability
Dimension Description

Number aptitude Ability to do speedy and accurate arithmetic

Verbal comprehension Ability to understand what is read or heard and the relationship of words to each other

Perceptual speed Ability to identify visual similarities and differences quickly and accurately

Inductive reasoning Ability to identify a logical sequence in a problem and then solve the next time problem

Deductive reasoning Ability to use logic and assess the implications of an argument

Spatial visualization Ability to imagine how an object would look if its position in space were changed

Memory Ability to retain and recall experiences

Physical Abilities

 The capacity to do tasks demanding stamina, dexterity, strength, and similar characteristics.
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.
Implementing Diversity Management
Strategies

 Diversity management makes everyone more aware of and sensitive to the needs and differences
of others.

 Diversity is much more likely to be successful when we see it as everyone’s business than if we
believe it helps only certain groups of employees.
Attracting, Selecting, Developing, and
Retaining Diverse Employees

 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.
Working with Diversity in Groups

 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 Diversity Programs

 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.