TEAM 1

CHAPTER 2: DIVERSITY IN ORGANIZATIONS

Every organization will have both similarities and differences from many employees,
called diversity. Diversity consisting of surface-level and deep-level brings motivation and
effectiveness in organizations; however, it also causes conflicts. Firstly, surface-level diversity
is the differences in characteristics that are easily observed, such as race, gender, ethnicity, age
or disability, which do not reflect the feeling or thoughts but activates stereotypes. Otherwise,
deep-level diversity represents the differences that are more difficult to recognize, such as
values, personality, and work preferences. By understanding the importance of diversity,
managers should have sufficient variety to encourage an organization's accessibility to the
aspects of abilities, skills, and ideas.
On the other hand, discrimination needs to be engaged in diversity management.
Perception is the noting of differences between things; unfair discrimination is the judgment
about individuals based on stereotypes regarding their demographic group. These are some forms
of discrimination in the workplace: sexual harassment, intimidation, mockery and insults,
exclusion, incivility.

Biographical characteristics contain various factors namely age, gender, race and
ethnicity for the human resources department to predict the performance of individuals within
the workplace. Firstly, age indicates that older workers regularly accomplish jobs better with
their experience, judgment, strong work ethics, and commitment to quality, helping them avoid
unexpected risk and support juniors more effectively. However, older workers are less flexible
than the young one, which limits their ability to learn new technology. Moreover, gender creates
differences between men and women impacting performance at work, but there are no significant
distinctions in problem-solving knowledge, analytical skills, or learning ability.
Besides, while race is related to grouping based on physical & biological factors,
ethnicity is a collection of cultural characteristics that often overlaps with race. Indeed, people
tend to behave similarly to the same race coworker in terms of performance evaluations,
promotion decisions, and pay raises. Therefore, an organization has to consider discrimination
problem seriously to build a positive diversity climate, which not only increases creativity but
also protects employee rights.

In working environments, deep-level diversity cultivates the uniqueness of individuals

through tenure, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity, and cultural identity,
respectively. Firstly, tenure estimates the period a person holding a particular job position and
becomes seniority after years working in that field. Indeed, practicing permanent tasks long-term
accumulates working experience, which commonly leads to progressive job productivity
resulting in higher satisfaction, less absenteeism and lower turnover. Secondly, different
religions approach different dogmas & customs due to different perspectives, possibly causing
noticeable behavioral differences and even conflicts among workers. Indeed, those following
Islam tend to first impress employers with certain prejudices, which invisible limits the
development of diverse workplace.
Thirdly, since laws & companies inconsistently protect sexual orientation & gender
identity, most LGBT employees better remain confidential to avoid discrimination and have
equal chances to promote. Lastly, cultural identity spontaneously attaches to individuals so that
workers tend to devote loyally for organizations most understanding and respecting their race &
ethnicity. Generally speaking, to achieve organizational effectiveness, companies should be
 TEAM 1

concerned about the majority group's cultural norms rather than single ones to set up
organizational behaviors.

Ability, the skill of individuals to perform different tasks in their jobs, includes two main
factors that are physical and intellectual abilities. Physical skills are the abilities related to the
body, especially the stamina, dexterity, strength, and similar characteristics. The individuals
possessing excellent physical skills can perform essential functions with less injury to them and
other people. People can determine these abilities by watching how people use their strength.
Intellectual skills, on the other hand, are unseen which are related to human's mind – critical
thinking, reasoning, and issue solving. There are seven most essential dimensions of intellectual
abilities.
Firstly, number aptitude, the ability to work with numbers, is mainly needed for
accountants. Secondly, verbal comprehension using words to make people understand easily.
Thirdly, perceptual speed is the skill to hear the flow of pace and to distinguish the
characteristics of various things accurately and quickly. Fourthly, inductive reasoning is formed
by learning the letters and collecting small data to withdraw the lessons in jobs. Conversely,
breaking down the argument into pieces and then come up with the confirmations of the accurate
information is the main characteristic of deductive reasoning. Moreover, it is often related to
logical analyzing skills. Next, the ability to imagine things in various positions is spatial
visualization. Lastly, outstanding memory retention can playback most past experiences.
Physical and intellectual abilities are both crucial in the organization area. Managers should
thoroughly understand seven dimensions to provide the right job for the right employee. Since
only when the ability fits with the situation, the workers have job satisfaction and are willing to
devote themselves to the company.

As a result of cultural variety, controlling and handling all problems can be considered as
the most challenging part. Not only uniting the differences of various employees but also
structuring diversity management strategies to operate productively is the crucial point all
managers need to think to have the appropriate executive planning. To raise everyone's
awareness and make more sense to their demand, the director needs to attract, select, develop
and retain the diverse employees. Through the strategies on the recruitment process,
managerial and organizational development training programs, managers can obtain
multiple talent workforces to recreate the productive and energetic working environment.
In addition to these steps, managers have to provide tools such as technology devices,
expert limit courses, team bonding programs, and so forth to support people work in
simultaneous groups. Moreover, human resources in the global age are becoming diverse in
cultures, leading to discrimination exists in the workplace. Also, leaders should comprehend the
structures and measures of intellectual abilities to work with multiple cultures and use
intelligent approaches in different across fields.

In reflection, under three main perspectives approaching biographical characteristics,

ability and diversity management, we realize how essential people should be treated equally to
enhance creativity in workplaces. Indeed, due to global integration, the more diverse a company
gains through employees, the more suitable outcomes are created to reach social demands.
Therefore, managers should truly value the variety of workers and utilize these differences to
build up cultural diversity leading company to success in the marketplace.