Shreya Jaggi

Self Assignment-1

Q 1- What is Diversity?
Ans- Diversity means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing their individual
differences. These differences can be along the dimensions of race, gender, ethnicity, gender and sexual
orientation. Diversity is more than tolerating differences, it is a set of conscious practices that involve:
● Understanding and appreciating the interdependence of humanity, cultures, and the natural
environment.
● Exercising mutual respect for qualities and experiences that are different from our own.
● Understanding that diversity includes not only ways of being but also ways of knowing.
● Understanding that personal, cultural and institutionalized discrimination shapes and provides
privileges for some while creating and nurturing disadvantages for others.
● Forging alliances across diversity so that we can work together to destroy all forms of
discrimination.

Q 2-Mention the types of Diversity seen at a workplace with examples.

Ans 2- There are 4 different types of diversity
Internal diversity- Internal diversity is related to what a person is born into. These demographics are
something a person is born with, and are a part of one’s inner concept of self. Examples of internal
diversity include race, ethnicity, age, nation of origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, or physical ability.
External diversity- External diversity types are characteristics a person is heavily influenced by. These are
demographics that a person has the option to change through external action.
Examples of external diversity include education, personal experiences, socioeconomic status, spirituality,
religion, citizenship, geographic location, or family status.
Organizational diversity- Diversity and a diverse work environment positively impact the entire organization.
These factors belong to the work we do or the organizations where we work.
Examples of organizational diversity include job function, management status, seniority, department, or
union affiliation.
Worldview diversity- Each of our worldviews is different and shaped by our past experiences. Events in our
life affect our worldview diversity on a day-to-day basis.
Examples of worldview diversity can come from cultural events, political beliefs, knowledge of history, and
one’s outlook on life. As organizations increase their workplace diversity, they may find many employees
will have different world views and experiences that may not feel relatable to their peers.

Q 3- What is discrimination?
Ans 3- Discrimination is the unfair or prejudicial treatment of people and groups based on characteristics
such as race, gender, age or sexual orientation.
Q 4- What kind of discrimination can be seen in India or even abroad? State as many examples as you
can.
Ans 4- Discrimination in workplace can be in different forms; there might be a single reason or a
combination of multiple grounds of discrimination. Discrimination in a workplace may constitute in form of:
1. Age, 2. Sex, 3. Qualification, 4. Disability, 5. Pregnancy, 6. National origin, 7. Race/ Colour, 8. Religion,
9. Sexual harassment, 10. Equal pay or compensation, 11. Region/Place of origin, 12. Caste and 13.
Ethnicity.
According to a survey, 48 % of Indians have faced some kind of discrimination or the other at the
workplace. Most of the biases are based on gender (25%), age (22%) and caste/religion (18%). Amongst
the cities, employees in Delhi, Pune and Chennai faced the highest rate of discrimination, while employees
in Ahmedabad faced the lowest amount of discrimination. Surprisingly, only 30 % of the surveyed
companies stated that they have a clear policy on discrimination.

1. Race Discrimination
It is no secret that racial discrimination exists both in society and in the workplace. Racial discrimination is
so common that more than a third, of claims to the EEOC each year are based on racial discrimination.
Certain minority groups are often passed over at all stages of the employment process—they aren’t hired,
they aren’t mentored, they aren’t promoted, they’re subjected to coded and unfair scrutiny, and then, in
some cases, they’re wrongfully terminated (especially when they complain about it).

2. Disability Discrimination
Disability discrimination has become one of the most common forms of discrimination claims made before
the EEOC. For example, in 2019, a third of all discrimination claims alleged disability discrimination or
failure to accommodate a disability. This kind of discrimination can take the form of assumptions about a
disabled person’s ability to do the job, outright hostility, or unfair policies (for instance, so-called “no-fault
attendance policies”) that have a disparate impact on disabled workers.

3. Religious Discrimination
It’s also illegal under both state and federal law to discriminate against someone for their religious beliefs.
This kind of discrimination often takes the form of harassment at work about your beliefs, retaliation for
taking off religious holidays or for observances, or “hiding” an employee from public-facing roles due to
religious clothing.

4. Gender Discrimination
Gender discrimination occurs when you are treated differently because of your gender, and the evidence
shows that it’s rampant in the workforce. Gender discrimination takes many forms: it can be failure to hire,
but more often, women aren’t trained for leadership, they aren’t promoted, they are sidelined when they
have kids, they’re paid less, or they are penalized for being “aggressive” or “persistent”—traits that most
managers love in their male employees. To see that gender discrimination is alive and well, one only has to
look at the country’s biggest companies to see that less than 5% of their CEOs are women.

5. Age Discrimination
Age discrimination—discrimination against someone over 40 years old—is one of the fastest-growing
examples of discrimination in the workplace today. Each year, more and more age discrimination charges
are filed with the EEOC as the “baby boomer” generation ages and faces financial insecurity into
retirement. Age discrimination has a few common patterns. First, it’s much harder for older job-seekers to
get hired; they have to apply for more jobs and are typically unemployed for longer than younger workers.
6. Sexual Orientation Discrimination
Discriminating someone due to their sexual orientation or gender identity should never be tolerated in the
workplace, yet it still occurs. We hear from clients who are harassed for their sexual orientation, who are
made to feel unsafe at work, and whose supervisors deny them promotions because of who they are.

Q 5- Even though all employees are aware of the dangers of discrimination, why do still some employees
(almost at all levels of hierarchy ) participate in some or the other kind of discrimination ?
Ans 5- Why it happens is complicated. The human brain naturally puts things in categories to make sense
of the world. Very young children quickly learn the difference between boys and girls, for instance. But the
values we place on different categories are learned – from our parents, our peers and the observations we
make about how the world works. Often, discrimination stems from fear and misunderstanding.

Q 6- Why do we need teams in a business or a workplace?

Ans 6- Organizations are much more likely to perform well when their people work effectively as a team.
This is because good teamwork creates synergy – where the combined effect of the team is greater than
the sum of individual efforts. Working together a team can apply individual perspectives, experience, and
skills to solve complex problems, creating new solutions and ideas that may be beyond the scope of any
one individual.
As well as enhancing organizational performance , good teamwork benefits individuals too. It enables
mutual support and learning, and can generate a sense of belonging and commitment.
Businesses thrive when they have a diverse team of people who can contribute individual ideas. Teamwork
helps solve problems. ... Brainstorming is a good opportunity for the team to exchange ideas and come up
with creative ways of doing things. By working together, teams can find the solutions that work best.

Q 7- What are some common behaviors of people or team members?

Ans 7- There is a fundamental dilemma in working in teams: each individual contributes, but the result is
attributed to the team. If the team is successful, individual contributions may not be recognized, regardless
of how hard the individual worked. On the other hand, if the team fails, it is likely that the leader or other
important members of the team will receive the blame. This leads to some behaviors that can either help or
hurt a team effort. Although some of these behaviors are characteristic of groups in general, they all apply
to teams in the business environment.

Social Cohesiveness
Social cohesion is defined as the willingness of members of a society to cooperate with each other to
survive and prosper. In work teams, social cohesiveness means the members want to be part of the team
and want to contribute to its success. Members of cohesive teams have social and emotional bonds to
each other and to the overall team, which motivates higher commitment and performance. Airlines, for
instance, work hard to develop cohesiveness in its organization. As a result, everyone is willing to work
toward the success of the organization. That is why it is not unusual to see people pitch in, even when it is
not part of their job. For example, pilots may help to load luggage if it helps maintain on-time performance.

Social Loafing
Social loafing is when one or more group members fail to do their fair share of work within the group. You
may have witnessed this behavior firsthand on a team or school project. One group member finds an
excuse for not doing his or her job. There are two main consequences of social loafing. The free-rider
effect is when one or more team members do not put in their share of the work, assuming others will cover
their shortfall. The other is the sucker effect, where other team members reduce their effort in response to
the free rider’s behavior. A good manager should monitor employees to watch out for these social loafers
or “slackers.” The manager is responsible for making sure all team members are carrying their fair share of
the work they have been assigned.

Collective Efficacy
Collective efficacy is the team’s belief that it is capable of organizing and working together to reach its
goals. Creating collective efficacy is a bit of a balancing act. If goals are perceived as being too easy to
reach, members may not feel they have to put in their full effort. On the other hand, if goals are perceived
to be too difficult, members may feel their effort doesn’t matter because the goal cannot be reached
regardless of how hard they work. In either case, social loafing may result. But when the goal is “just right,”
difficult but not impossible, the team will believe it can reach it only if it works hard together.

Q 8- Mention any 5 important do's and don'ts for someone working in a team
Ans 8 Do's
1. Be considerate. Stimulate others, by asking questions and making suggestions without pressuring
them.
2. Support the ideas of other people vocally. Silence may be understood as tacit approval or may be
interpreted as apathy or disdain. When you like someone's idea, say so.
3. Be aware of others' feelings. If feelings are getting in the way of the issues, address the feelings
first and the issues second.
4. Listen actively. Make sure that you understand the ideas of others. Paraphrase these ideas, as you
understand them, in order to make sure you've got the message-and to help spur others on to
refinements and new ideas.
5. Invite criticism of your own ideas and work You can help to establish an open and therefore
productive atmosphere by making it clear that you know your ideas are tentative and not
necessarily pefect. Give permission to others to help you refine your ideas and writing.
6. Accept that others are imperfect too. Particularly, be aware that communication breaks down in the
best of groups. If someone misunderstands you, don't get exasperated or angry, and don't try to
assign blame for the breakdown in communication. Simply restate your idea: "I guess I didn't make
myself clear. What I meant to say was . . . ."
7. Feel free to disagree with the ideas of others and to critique the work of others but lay off the
people. Don't identify peoples' names with ideas that you are criticizing.
8. Remember that any non-obvious ideas initially appear strange, but that most of the best ideas are
not immediately obvious.

Don'ts
1. Don't continually play the expert. Play a variety of roles.
2. Don't pressure people unnecessarily.
3. Don't punish people for their ideas.
4. Don't continue an argument after it becomes personal-either for you or for your fellow group
member.
5. Don't give in too easily when your ideas are criticized. The excellence of the group is a product of
constructive conflict. Don't fall prey to "groupthink" sacrificing high level thinking for the sake of
group cohesiveness.

Q 9- How to manage differences of opinions among team members?

Ans 9-
1. Be Respectful, Patient, and Empathetic
You cannot create an environment in which everyone feels comfortable expressing their opinions without
building respect and empathy between all team members.
While it’s ok to disagree, no one’s input should be scoffed at or dismissed. Remind your team that by
listening to — and striving to understand — a new perspective, they haven’t automatically prescribed that
idea. Rather, they’ve shown their colleagues the courtesy they deserve.

2. Give Everyone a Chance to Speak

Managing strong personalities is perhaps the biggest challenge when it comes to supervising a
constructive debate between team members. The confident, extroverted, and more naturally
confrontational amongst them will not only be the dominant voices in the room, and quick to express
themselves, but they’ll also be the most likely to double down on their opinions — unafraid of, and
unperturbed by, any escalating tensions.
Be prepared to rein in louder voices and elevate the quieter ones, particularly if certain team members will
likely back down at the first sign of confrontation.

3. Set Boundaries
Empowering your employees to express themselves doesn’t mean your Monday morning team catch-ups
should regularly descend into blazing arguments.
Make it clear that raised tones, aggression, or personal jibes have no place in a constructive discussion
and will not be tolerated. If a debate between two team members does start to get heated, try to steer the
conversation in a new direction, invite other employees to wade in on the discussion, or interrogate why
they have such opposing views.
In some cases, you might need to give your team a cooling-off period by taking a break or returning to the
contentious topic at a later date.

4. Invite Constructive Criticism

Effective communication and collaboration require honesty and transparency. Your employees will not
learn to question their deep-rooted biases and opinions, or grow as professionals, if they are never called
out by their colleagues and managers.
Inviting team members to provide their peers with constructive criticism will challenge them to do better. As
a leader, it’s your role to ensure feedback is executed with compassion and no individual feels targeted by
the group at large.

5. Never Suppress a Conflict

When a conflict feels impossible to resolve, it might be tempting to put it to one side and hope that the
problem goes away by itself — but this is never advisable. An unresolved dispute quickly becomes the
elephant in the room and only serves to breed deep-rooted resentment and frustration between team
members.
If you’ve struggled to resolve a conflict during a team meeting, you might need to conduct follow-up
sessions with specific employees. In a more intimate setting, team members might find it easier to listen to
one another and find a way to reconcile their differences.

6. Ask for Opinions in Advance

Some people might never feel comfortable speaking out against their colleagues in the middle of a team
meeting, which is why forward-planning is key.
It’s good practice to send out an agenda ahead of important meetings and ask attendees to share their
input in advance. That way, you can lead a balanced discussion that successfully incorporates everyone’s
opinions and ideas. This also gives employees the chance to do research and think carefully about their
position, rather than blurting out an ill-considered viewpoint in the heat of the moment.

Q 10 What is Social media & give examples of the same ?

Ans 10 Social media is any digital tool that allows users to quickly create and share content with the public.
Social media encompasses a wide range of websites and apps. Some, like Twitter, specialize in sharing
links and short written messages. Others, like Instagram and TikTok, are built to optimize the sharing of
photos and videos.

Q 11 Mention 2 examples where using social media can be risky for you or lead to wrong usage of it from
Capgemini point of view.
Ans 11 a.) Posting confidential information about a project you’re working on.
b.) Posting an employee’s data without permission.

Q 12 Mention 2 examples where using social media can be used effectively as an employee of Capgemini
Ans 12 a.) Communicating with your colleagues and strengthening workplace relationships.
b.) Social media can create learning opportunities for employees, expand knowledge, and develop
personal skills. We can find excellent research, business statistics, debates, and news stories to
dive in and flourish.

Q 13 Present a real life story from any industry or company or case study where an employee of a
company misused social media and state the consequences.
Ans 13 There was a police shooting in an area a couple of years ago. Multiple officers were brought into
our ER. One officer was DOA and a number of hospital employees posted condolences on their Facebook
pages with the name of the officer before the family was officially informed. Seven or eight employees were
rightfully fired for that one.

Q 14 What are gossip, backbiting & slandering ?

Ans 14 Gossiping is not just talking or expressing oneself. It's saying something that's either unnecessary,
scandalous or untrue about another person's personal business. Backbiting is a harsher version of
gossiping that involves more spiteful intent and more slanderous content. Slander, basically meaning to
make up lies that hurt a person’s reputation.

Q 15 Do employees indulge in the above 3 things at a workplace ? State reasons for your answer
Ans 15 People gossip because If people don’t have information that they want, they fear the unknown and
will try to garner it from others – especially if that information appears to be hidden. This is why closed-door
conversations are so detrimental. Moreover, people want to belong and be included. If people believe they
don’t have information that others have, they will feel excluded and on the outside of the “inner circle”.
It’s only natural for employees to get to know each other. In fact, it’s great for business if staff members get
along. But over time, during idle hours or through casual conversation around the water cooler, office
gossip can start to rear its ugly head. The bad news is it’s a toxic part of working life. And it can have a
knock-on effect for business. Gossip at work can ruin productivity, spread paranoia, and hinder your
ongoing success.

Q 16 Mention any 3 types of subjects or scenarios where gossiping or back biting or slandering can take
place at a workplace, state clear examples.
Ans 16 a.) Information about the company: A new project opening up, an employee getting fired etc.
b.) Spreading false rumors about a colleague’s personal life,like their marriage or family.
c.) Badmouthing a colleague you had a fight with or due to other personal grudges, creating a false
narrative by stating bad things about the other’s personality.

Q 17 State its disadvantages & dangers.

Ans 17 a.) Can Negatively Impact Company Culture: If gossip is common within a workplace, it can
negatively impact company culture. The mood and tone of gossip can cause an attitude shift that may
make a company feel less harmonious. Employees that are the subject of gossip or that haven’t been
included in the conversation may also feel isolated or outcast, which can lead to increased turnover.
b.) May Contradict Formal Communications
In some cases, gossip about employees may lead to misunderstandings or contradictions of formal policy.
For example, if an employee is being mocked because they go “by the book,” it may cause other
employees to shy away from following policies and rules for fear of being gossiped about. This can lead to
general communication breakdowns and behavioral problems.
c.) Can Cause Conflict between Employees
Gossip can be hurtful and embarrassing, so sometimes the employees that are the subject of gossip will
become angry upon finding out about rumors. Conflicts including arguments and even physical altercations
may erupt between the subjects of gossip and the people spreading the rumors. This can create turmoil
within the organization that may even impact the bottom line.
d.) Could Undermine Productivity
When employees are gossiping, they are likely not working productively. Further, employees that are
interested in a rumor being circulated may be distracted from their work and have trouble focusing on daily
tasks and interactions with customers. Employees that are the subject of gossip may also be distracted by
emotions or may fear attacks by coworkers.