Diversity in

Organizations

Report by: Jeselyn Requioma

Diversity
• it refers to differences in various defining personal traits
such as age, gender, race, marital status, ethnic origin,
religion, education and many other secondary qualities
Discrimination
• often we refer to unfair discrimination, which means
making judgments about individuals based on
stereotypes regarding their demographic group.
Levels of Diversity
• Surface-level Diversity – differences in easily
perceived characteristics.

• Deep-level diversity – differences in values,

personality, and work preferences.
Types of Discrimination
• Discriminatory Polices or Practices, actions taken
by the representatives of the organization that deny
equal opportunity to perform or unequal rewards for
performance.

• Sexual Harassment, unwanted sexual advances and

other verbal or physical conduct of sexual nature that
create a hostile or offensive workplace environment.

• Intimidation, over threats or bullying directed at

members of specific groups of employees.
Types of Discrimination
• Mockery and 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 formal
mentoring; can occur unintentionally.

• Incivility, disrespectful treatment, including behaving

in aggressive manner, interrupting the person, or
ignoring his or her opinions.
Biographical Characteristics
• 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.

• Sex, few issues initiate more debates, misconceptions,

and unsupported opinions than whether women perform
as well on jobs as men do.

• Race and Ethnicity, Race is a controversial issue.

Evidence suggests that some people find interacting
with other racial groups uncomfortable unless there are
clear behavioral scripts to guide their behavior.
Biographical Characteristics
• Disability, on the one hand, a review of the evidence
suggests workers with disabilities receive higher
performance evaluations. However, this same review
found that despite their higher performance, individuals
with disabilities tend to encounter lower performance
expectations and are less likely to be hired.

• Tenure, tenure is also a potent variable in explaining

turnover. 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.

• Religion, not only do religious and nonreligious people

question each other’s belief systems; often people of
different religious faiths conflict.
Biographical Characteristics
• Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, employers
differ widely in their treatment of sexual orientation.
Ability
an individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks in a
job.
Two Sets Factor of Overall
Abilities
• Intellectual abilities are the capacity to do mental
activities—thinking, reasoning, and problem solving.

• Physical Abilities are the capacity to do tasks that

demand stamina, dexterity, strength, and similar
characteristics.
Dimensions of Intellectual
Ability
• 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 problem.
Dimensions of Intellectual
Ability
• 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 past experiences.

Nine Basic Physical Abilities

Strength Factors

• Dynamic strength - ability to exert muscular force

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 strength - ability to expend a maximum of

energy in one or a series of explosive acts.
Nine Basic Physical Abilities

Flexibility Factors

• Extent flexibility - ability to move the trunk and back

muscles as far as possible

• Dynamic flexibility - ability to make rapid, repeated

flexing movements
Nine Basic Physical Abilities

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.
Diversity Management
the process and programs by which managers make
everyone more aware of and sensitive to the needs and
differences of others.
Methods of Enhancing
Workforce Diversity
• Attracting, this means placing advertisements in
publications geared toward specific demographic groups.

• Selecting, 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.

• Developing, it also includes shaping the people’s

reaction to one another. Similarity in personality
appears to affect career advancement.

• Retaining, all workers appeared to prefer an

organization that values diversity.
Components of Effective
Diversity Programs
• Teaching the managers about the legal framework for
equal employment opportunity and encourage fair
treatment of all people regardless of their demographic
differences.

• Teaching the managers how a diverse workforce will be

better able to serve a diverse market of customers and
clients.

• Fostering 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.