Introduction to Management

BUS102 Introduction to Management

Individual Differences

Week 7

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Activity

• Let’s begin this class with an activity.

• In groups, see if you agree or disagree with the following statements:

– Men are stronger leaders than women.

– Older workers don’t learn as quickly.

– People with disabilities call in sick more often.

– People who work part-time are less committed.

Individual differences

• If you agreed with one or more of those statements, you have engaged in stereotyping.

• Each of those statements has been proven by research to be factually incorrect. In the workplace, these stereotypes are a source of conflict and tension.

• The purpose of this lecture is to explore these in more detail. In particular:

– Culture

– Age

– Gender

– People with disabilities

Discrimination

• Australian employees are protected by law from employment-related discrimination.

• This means employers must treat employees fairly and objectively in regards to:

– Recruitment

– Remuneration

– Promotion

– Training

– Termination

– And every other factor of the workplace

Discrimination

• There are two forms of discrimination.

• Overt discrimination is direct and intentional. One group is clearly prioritised over another.

• Covert discrimination is subtle and is usually conducted by people who do not even realise they’re discriminating.

Activity

• In groups, categorise each of these statements as either overt or covert.

– “Construction work is for men; not for women.”

– “This job requires a lot of energy so let’s hire someone young.”

– “I don’t employ foreigners. They can’t be trusted.”

– “Hiring someone with a disability would make the rest of the team feel uncomfortable.”

– “My entire team consists of men. I just can’t seem to find any suitable women.”

Diversity

• Making an effort to build a diverse team generates many advantages.

• Research indicates these advantages include:

– Greater creativity

– More innovation

– Better problem solving

– Stronger competitive advantage

Women

• Despite comprising half the Australian workforce, there are fewer women in management positions here than in any other developed country.

• Women earn approximately 17% less than men, and female graduates have a salary that is $2000 less than male graduates.

• This disparity occurs for a variety of reasons:

– More women are employed part time

– Discrimination and harassment

– Undervaluation of ‘women’s work’

– Women’s unpaid work unrecognised

Activity

• Each group will be allocated one of the following remedies:

– Affirmative action

– Quotas

– Payroll audits

– Family friendly policies

– Education on unconscious bias

– Transparent measurement of diversity

• Using your smartphone device, find out more about your allocated remedy and share your findings with the class.

People with disabilities

• One in five people in Australia has a disability. That’s more than 2 million individuals.

• You, too, have an 18% chance of becoming disabled at some stage in your life.

• Disabilities include physical injuries, psychological conditions, neurological illnesses, intellectual difficulties, and more.

• People with disabilities are the largest minority group in Australia.

People with disabilities

• Only about 50% of people with disabilities are able to find employment.

• This can worsen their low feelings of self-worth.

• Research shows they are as productive as employees who don’t have disabilities.

• People with disabilities report lower levels of absenteeism, higher rates of retention, and fewer workplace accidents.

Activity

• Each group will be allocated one of the following individuals:

– A construction worker with depression

– A wheelchair-bound employee in an office

– A retail shop assistant with Down Syndrome

– A blind history teacher

– A waiter with anxiety

– A taxi driver with hearing difficulties

• Identify three adjustments you could make in the workplace to help your employee to belong and to be successful.

Culture

• Australia is one of the most multicultural

countries in the world. Over 200

languages are spoken here.

• People of varying cultures sometimes

clash because their values, behaviours,

customs, communication styles, and

expectations differ so much.

Culture

• Being ‘culturally aware’ means that you no longer see your own culture as normal or better.

• Cultural intelligence is the term that describes people who are able to understand those from other cultures and to adapt their own style to suit.

• This then reduces miscommunication and conflict.

Culture

Activity

• Working individually, identify where you

belong on each of Hofstede’s dimensions.

• Compare your answers with your group

members. What do you have in common?

What differentiates you?

• Can you see how these differences may

cause tension in the workplace?

Age

• The ageing population means there are more generations working in Australia than at any point in history.

• Workplace tensions tend to arise because generations have different expectations, skill sets, attitudes, ethics, and motivators.

• As a potential manager, you need to be flexible enough so that you get the best out of every generation in your team.

Age

• There are currently five generations working

in Australia:

– Traditionalists: born before 1946

– Baby Boomers: born between 1946 and 1964

– Generation X: born between 1965 and 1980

– Generation Y: born between 1981 and 1995

– Generation Z: born after 1995

Activity • Each group will be allocated one of those five

generations.

• Your task is to educate the rest of the class on the following:

– Give an overall description of the generation.

– List key events that influenced that generation while it was growing up.

– What is that generation like in the workplace?

– How does that generation like to be managed?

Summary

• This lecture has introduced you to some of the individual differences that exist among employees in the workplace.

• These are especially prominent in regards to culture, gender, age and disability.

• There are many others, too, such as sexual orientation, religion, marital status, and more.

• It is therefore important to value diversity and to be conscious of overt and covert discrimination.

TUTORIAL

Tutorial - Academic Development

• Tutorial handout - Writing Paragraphs

– Lead-in sentence

– Supporting sentences

– Evidence

• Evaluate your own writing:

– Use assessment 2

Tutorial – Academic Development

• Tutorial handout - Referencing Activity

– Intext

– Reference list

Should be now be working on your second

assessment – due Monday week 9