UNIVERSITY OF RIZAL SYSTEM

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UNIT II – THE INDIVIDUAL

MODULE 2: DIVERSITY IN ORGANIZATIONS

At the end of the module, the student is expected to be able to:

1. Describe the two major forms of workforce diversity;
2. Recognize stereotypes and understand how they function in organizational
settings;
3. Identify the key biographical characteristics and describe how they are relevant
to OB;
4. Define intellectual ability and demonstrate its relevance to OB;
5. Contrast intellectual and physical ability; and
6. Describe how organizations manage diversity effectively.

In this module, we look at how organizations work to maximize the potential

contributions of a diverse workforce. We also show how demographic characteristics
such as ethnicity and individual differences in the form of ability affect employee
performance and satisfaction.

DIVERSITY

Effective diversity management increases an organization’s access to the

widest possible pool of skills, abilities, and ideas. Managers also need to recognize
the differences among people can lead to miscommunication, misunderstanding, and
conflict. In this module, we will learn about how individual characteristics like age,
gender, race, ethnicity, and abilities can influence employee performance. We will
also see how managers can develop awareness about these characteristics and
manage a diverse workforce effectively.

Levels of Diversity

1. 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.
2. Deep-level Diversity – differences in values, personality, and work
preferences that become progressively more important for determining
similarity as people get to know one another better.

Discrimination

Although diversity does present many opportunities for organizations, effective

diversity management also means working to eliminate unfair discrimination.
Discrimination is noting of a difference between things; often we refer to unfair
discrimination, which means making judgments about individuals based on
stereotypes regarding their demographic group.

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Table 2-1 FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION

Type of Definition Examples from
Discrimination Organizations

Discriminatory Actions taken by Older workers may be

policies or representatives of the targeted for layoffs because
practices organization that deny they are highly paid and
equal opportunity to have lucrative benefits.
perform or unequal
rewards for performance

Sexual Unwanted sexual Salespeople at one company

harassment advances and other verbal
or physical conduct of a
sexual nature that create a
hostile or offensive work
environment
went on company-paid visit to
strip clubs, brought strippers
into the office to celebrate
promotions, and fostered
pervasive sexual rumors.

Intimidation Overt threats or bullying African-American employees

directed at members of at some companies have
specific groups of found nooses hanging over
employees their work stations.

Mockery and Jokes or negative Arab-Americans have been

insults stereotypes; sometimes asked at work whether they
the result of jokes taken were carrying bombs or were
too far members of terrorist
organizations.

Exclusion Exclusion of certain people Many women in finance claim

from job opportunities, they are assigned to marginal
social events, discussion, job roles or are given light
or informal mentoring; can workloads that do not lead to
occur unintentionally promotion.

Incivility Disrespectful treatment, Female lawyers note that

including behaving in an male attorneys frequently cut
aggressive manner, them off or do not
interrupting the person, or adequately address their
ignoring his or her opinions comments.

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BIOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Biographical characteristics are personal characteristics – such as age,
gender, race, and length of tenure – that are objective and easily obtained from
personal records. These characteristics are representative of surface-level diversity.
Diversity is a broad term, and the phrase workplace diversity can refer to any
characteristic that makes people different from one another. The following are some
important surface
level characteristics that differentiate members of the workforce.
1. Age
2. Sex
3. Race and Ethnicity
4. Disability
5. Tenure
6. Religion
7. Sexual orientation and Gender Identity
ABILITY
Previously, we have covered surface characteristics which unlikely, on their
own, directly relate to job performance. Now we turn to deep-level abilities that are
closely related to job performance. Of course, just because we are not all equal in
abilities does not imply that some individuals are inherently inferior. Everyone has
strengths and weaknesses that make him or her relatively superior or inferior to
others in performing certain tasks or activities. From management’s standpoint, the
issue is not whether people differ in terms of their abilities. They clearly do. The
issue is using the knowledge that people differ to increase the likelihood an
employee will perform his or her job well.
Ability is an individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks in a job. Overall
abilities are essentially made up of two sets of factors namely:
1. Intellectual abilities – the capacity to do mental activities such as thinking,
reasoning, and problem solving. General Mental Ability (GMA) is an overall
factor of intelligence, as suggested by the positive correlations among specific
intellectual ability dimensions.

Table 2-2 DIMENSIONS OF INTELLECTUAL ABILITY

Dimension Description Job Example

Number Ability to do speedy and Accountant: Computing

aptitude accurate arithmetic the sales tax on a set of
items

Verbal Ability to understand Plant manager: Following

comprehension what is read or heard corporate policies on hiring
and the relationship of
words to each other

Perceptual Ability to identify visual Fire investigator:

speed similarities and Identifying clues to
differences quickly and support a charge of arson
accurately

Inductive Ability to identify a Market researcher:

reasoning logical sequence in a Forecasting demand for a
problem

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and then solve the product in the next time
problem period
 Deductive Ability to use logic and Supervisor: Choosing
reasoning assess the implications between two different
of an argument suggestions offered by
employees

Spatial Ability to imagine how Interior decorator:

visualization an object would look if Redecorating an office
its position in space
were changed

Memory Ability to retain and Salesperson:

recall past experiences Remembering the names
of customers

2. Physical abilities – the capacity to do tasks that demand stamina, dexterity,

strength, and similar characteristics.

Table 2-3 NINE BASIC PHYSICAL ABILITIES

Strength Dynamic Ability to exert muscular force
Factors strength repeatedly or continuously over
time

Trunk strength Ability to exert muscular strength

using the trunk (particularly
abdominal) muscles

Static strength Ability to exert force against

external objects

Explosive Ability to expend a maximum of

strength energy in one or a series of
explosive acts

Flexibility Extent flexibility Ability to move the trunk and

Factors back muscles as far as possible

Dynamic flexibility Ability to make rapid, repeated

flexing movements

Other Factors Body coordination Ability to coordinate the

simultaneous actions of different
parts of the body

Balance Ability to maintain equilibrium

despite forces pulling off balance

stamina Ability to continue maximum

effort requiring prolonged effort
over time

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IMPLEMENTING DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT
After the discussion on a variety of ways in which people differ, we now look at
how a manger can and should manage these differences. Diversity management is
the process and programs by which managers make everyone more aware of and
sensitive to the needs and differences of others.
One method of enhancing workforce diversity is to target recruiting messages
to specific demographic groups underrepresented in the workforce. This means
placing advertisements in publications geared toward specific demographic groups;
recruiting at colleges, universities, and other institutions with significant numbers of
underrepresented minorities. These efforts can be successful, and research has
shown that women and minorities do have greater interest in employers that make
special efforts to highlight a commitment to diversity in their recruiting materials.
Advertisements depicting groups of diverse employees are seen as more attractive to
women and racio-ethnic minorities, which is probably why most organizations depict
workforce diversity prominently in their recruiting materials. Diversity advertisements
that fail to show women and minorities in positions of organizational leadership send
a negative message about the diversity climate at an organization.
The selection process is one of the most important places to apply diversity
efforts. Managers who hire need to value fairness and objectivity in selecting
employees and focus on the productive potential of new recruits. Fortunately,
ensuring that hiring is bias-free does appear to work. Where managers use a well-
defined protocol for assessing applicant talent and the organization clearly prioritizes
nondiscrimination policies, qualifications become far more important in determining
who gets hired than demographic characteristics. Organizations that do not
discourage discriminatory behavior are more likely to see problems.
Similarity in personality appears to affect career advancement. Those whose
personality traits are similar to those of their co-workers are more likely to be
promoted than those whose personalities are different. There’s an important qualifier
to these results: in collective cultures, similarity to supervisors is more important for
predicting advancement, whereas in individualistic cultures, similarity to peers is
more important. Once again, deep-level diversity factors appear to be more
important in shaping people’s reactions to one another than surface-level
characteristics.
Evidence from a study of more than 6,000 workers in a major retail
organization indicated that in stores with a less supportive diversity climate, African
Americans or Hispanics made significantly fewer sales than White employees, but
when the diversity climate was positive, Hispanics and Whites sold about the same
amount whether there was a positive diversity climate or not, but African Americans
and Hispanics sold far more when there was. There are obvious bottom-line
implications of this research: stores that fostered a positive diversity climate were
able to capitalize on their diverse workforce and make more money.
Some data suggest individuals who are demographically different from their co
workers are more likely to feel low commitment and to turn over: women are more
likely to turn over from predominantly male work groups and men from predominantly
female work groups; non-Whites are more likely to turn over from predominantly
White work groups and Whites from predominantly non-White work groups.
However, this behavior is more prominent among new hires. After people become
better acquainted with one another, demographic differences are less consistently
related to turnover. One very large-scale study showed a positive diversity climate
was related to higher

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organizational commitment and lower turnover intentions among African-American,

Hispanic, and White managers. In other words, all workers appeared to prefer an
organization that values diversity.

DIVERSITY IN GROUPS
Major contemporary workplaces require extensive work in group settings.
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. If they feel little sense of membership and cohesion in their groups, all these
group attributes are likely to suffer.
Does adversity help or hurt group performance? The answer is “yes”. In some
cases, diversity in traits can hurt team performance, whereas in others it can facilitate
it. Whether diverse or homogeneous teams are more effective depends on the
characteristic of interest. Demographic diversity (in gender, race, and ethnicity) does
not appear to either help or hurt team performance in general. On the other hand,
teams of individuals who are highly intelligent, conscientious, and interested in
working in team settings are more effective. Thus diversity on these variables is likely
to be a bad thing – it makes little sense to try to form teams that mix in members who
are lower in intelligence, conscientiousness, and uninterested in teamwork. In other
cases, differences can be a strength. Groups of individuals with different types of
expertise and education are more effective than homogeneous groups. Similarly, a
group made entirely of assertive people who want to be in charge, or a group whose
members all prefer to follow the lead of others, will be less effective than a group that
mixes leaders and followers.
Regardless of the composition of the group, differences can be leveraged to
achieve superior performance. The most important way is to emphasize the higher
level similarities among members. In other words, groups of diverse individuals will
be much more effective if leaders can show how members have a common interest
in the group’s success. Evidence also shows transformational leaders (who
emphasize higher-order goals and values in their leadership style) are more effective
in managing diverse teams.

Effective Diversity Programs

Effective, comprehensive workforce programs encouraging diversity have
three distinct components, namely:
1. They teach managers about the legal framework for equal employment
opportunity and encourage fair treatment of all people regardless of their
demographic characteristics.
2. They teach managers how a diverse workforce will be better able to serve a
diverse market of customers and clients.
3. They foster personal development practices that bring out the skills and abilities
of all workers, acknowledging how differences in perspective can be a
valuable way to improve performance for everyone.

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Researchers also suggest that diversity experiences are more likely to lead to
positive adaptation for all parties if:
1. The diversity experience undermines stereotypical attitudes.
2. The perceiver is motivated and able to consider a new perspective on others. 3.
The perceiver engages in stereotype suppression and generative thought in
response to the diversity experience.
4. The positive experience of stereotype undermining is repeated frequently.
Diversity programs based on these principles are likely to be more effective than
traditional classroom learning. Organizational leaders should examine their workforce
to determine whether target groups have been underutilized. If groups of employees
are not proportionally represented in top management, managers should look for any
hidden barriers to advancement. They can often improve recruiting practices, make
selection systems more transparent, and provide training for those employees who
have had not adequate exposure to certain material in the past. The organization
should also clearly communicate its policies to employees so they can understand
how and why certain practices are followed. Communications should focus as much
as possible on qualifications and job performance; emphasizing certain groups as
needing more assistance could well backfire.

REFERENCE

ROBBINS, STEPHEN P and JUDGE, TIMOTHY A., 15th Ed. Organizational

Behavior, Pearson Education Inc., Prentice Hall, 2013

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SAQ 1
Directions: Identify the following.
1. 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 achieve certain stereotypes.
2. Differences in values, personality, and work preferences that become
progressively more important for determining similarity as people get to
know one another better.
3. Noting of a difference between things; often we refer to unfair discrimination,
which means making judgments about individuals based on stereotypes
regarding their demographic group.
4. Personal characteristics – such as age, gender, race, and length of tenure
– that are objective and easily obtained from personal records. These
characteristics are representative of surface-level diversity.
5. An individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks in a job.
6. The capacity to do mental activities – thinking, reasoning, and problem
solving.
7. An overall factor of intelligence, as suggested by the positive correlations
among specific intellectual ability dimensions.
8. The capacity to do tasks that demand stamina, dexterity, strength, and
similar characteristics.
9. The process and programs by which managers make everyone more aware
of and sensitive to the needs and differences of others.

SAQ 2

Directions: Classify each of the following as intellectual ability or physical ability.

1. Perceptual speed
2. Balance
3. Verbal comprehension
4. Body coordination
5. Spatial visualization
6. Static strength
7. Stamina
8. Memory
9. Number aptitude
10.Dynamic strength

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ASAQ 1
 1. Surface-level diversity
2. Deep-level diversity
3. Discrimination
4. Biological characteristics
5. Ability
6. Intellectual abilities
7. General Mental Ability
8. Physical abilities
9. Diversity Management

ASAQ 2

1. Intellectual
2. Physical
3. Intellectual
4. Physical
5. Intellectual
6. Physical
7. Physical
8. Intellectual
9. Intellectual
10.Physical

ACTIVITY 1

Cite one example (your own) for each form of discrimination indicated below.
Your example should be scenario in the organization or workplace.
Form of Examples from Organizations
Discrimination

Discriminatory policies
or practices

Sexual harassment

Intimidation

Mockery and insults

Exclusion

Incivility

ACTIVITY 2

Cite a company of your choice and research on its Diversity Management

Program. Discuss how do they go about it and cite evidences that said program has
been effective.

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RUBRICS

Directions: Please refer to the RUBRICS as your guide in answering the activities.
CRITERIA EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR

Accuracy All of the Most of the Some of the Few to none

answers are answers are answers are of the
correct correct correct answers are
correct

Completion All of the Most of the Some of the Student did

assigned assigned answers are not
work is work is correct accomplish
complete complete the assigned
work

Timeliness Assignment Assignment Assignment Assignment

was received was received was received was received
on the due one day late two days late 3 days late
date

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