Organizational behaviour

Lecture1-OBandDiversity.pptx

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Topic 1

What is Organisational Behaviour

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Organisational behavior is the study of people and what people think, feel, and do within organisations. People participate in organisations for various reasons, but organisations achieve their goals through individuals acting independently. Organisational behaviour is a field of study, meaning that it is distinct area of expertise with a common body of knowledge. It studies three determinants of behaviour: individuals; groups and structure. In addition, OB applies the knowledge gained about individuals, groups and the effect of structure on behaviour in order to make organisations work more effectively. In essence, OB is a study of what people do in an organisation and how their behaviour affects the organisations performance.

There are four dynamic organisational processes that offer insight into life in contemporary organisations. Individual processes describe the individual differences in characteristics, learning, and perceptions. Leading and leadership processes describe the factors that impact at the differences in leadership, motivation, persuasion, influence, impression management, and decision making. Interpersonal processes refer to the pattern of interactions among individuals that include groups and teams, negotiation, and communication and diversity. Finally, organisational processes include the ingrained patterns of acting and interacting at the organisational level and cover topics of culture, change, innovation, stress, corporate social responsibility, ethics, and sustainability.

Learning Objectives

Assess the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace

Identify and evaluate the major behavioural science disciplines that contribute to Organisational Behaviour

Identify and evaluate managers’ challenges and opportunities in applying Organisational Behaviour concepts

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Introduction

In today’s marketplace, managers must have good people skills.

Since human beings are complex, organisational behaviour principles must reflect situational and contingency variables.

By studying a general model that defines the field of OB, you will have a good picture of how the topics in this book can inform your approach to management issues and opportunities.

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Though all organisations share one key component, people interacting with each other, there are a number of types of organisations. For example, “community of practice” organisations are defined as a group of people who share an interest in a topic and interact together on the topic. A “hybrid” organisation is a form of organisation that combines two or more forms. For example, they may have a team structure embedded in a formal hierarchical structure. A “network” organisation has shared responsibility, equal status among members, and is shaped more by the activities of its members than by its hierarchy. A “bureaucratic” organisation has specialized roles, and a command and control structure with formal hierarchy. A “professional” organisation is either public or private and consists of people with strong professional norms and similar professions. A “representative democratic” organisation is based on the principles of employee autonomy, participation, and even profit-sharing, or shared ownership. The study of organisational behaviour looks at both the similarities and the differences – among people and their interactions in organisations.

An organisation is where people interact and coordinate in order to achieve a purpose. All organisations share one attribute: organisations require people interacting with one another. Organisations are varied, are formed for different lengths of time and different purposes

The importance of interpersonal skills

Developing managers’ interpersonal skills can help organisations to attract and keep high-performing employees.

Universities have begun to incorporate social entrepreneurship education into their curricula in order to train future leaders to address social issues within their organisations using interpersonal skills.

In today’s competitive and demanding workplace, managers can’t succeed on technical skills alone; they also need good people skills.

Interpersonal skills include

communication skills (verbal, non-verbal, listening)

Emotional intelligence

Teak-working

Negotiation, persuasion & influencing skills

Conflict resolution & mediation

Problem solving & decision making

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Interpersonal skills are the skills we use every day when we communicate and interact with other people, both individually and in groups. They include a wide range of skills, but particularly communication skills such as listening and effective speaking. They also include the ability to control and manage your emotions.

It is no exaggeration to say that interpersonal skills are the foundation for success in life. People with strong interpersonal skills tend to be able to work well with other people, including in teams or groups, formally and informally. They communicate effectively with others, whether family, friends, colleagues, customers or clients. They also have better relationships at home and at work.

You can improve your interpersonal skills by developing your awareness of how you interact with others and practising your skills.

What are Interpersonal Skills?

Interpersonal skills are sometimes referred to as social skills, people skills, soft skills, or life skills.

However, these terms can be used both more narrowly and more broadly than ‘interpersonal skills’. On this website, we define interpersonal skills as:

“The skills you need and use to communicate and interact with other people.” This definition means that interpersonal skills therefore include:

Incorporating OB principles into the workplace can yield many important organisational outcomes. Developing managers’ interpersonal skills can help organisations to attract and keep high-performing employees. Regardless of labour market conditions, outstanding employees are always in short supply.2 Companies known as good places to work—such as Mars Australia, Mecca, Salesforce, Birdsnest and SAS Australia—have a big advantage. A recent survey of hundreds of workplaces and more than 200 000 respondents showed that social relationships among colleagues and supervisors were strongly related to overall job satisfaction. Positive social relationships were also associated with lower stress levels at work and fewer people intending to quit.3 So, having managers with good interpersonal skills is likely to make the workplace more pleasant. Research indicates that employees who know how to relate to their managers well with supportive dialogue and proactivity will also find their ideas are endorsed more often, further improving workplace satisfaction.4 Creating a pleasant workplace also appears to make good economic sense. Companies with reputations as good places to work (such as the ‘100 best places to work in Australia’) have been found to generate superior financial performance.5

Management and organisational behaviour

Management functions

Planning: a process that includes defining goals, establishing a strategy and developing plans to coordinate activities.

Organising: determine what tasks to be done, who is to do them, how the tasks are grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made.

Leading: a function that includes motivating employees, directing others, selecting the most effective communication channels and resolving conflict.

Controlling: monitoring activities to ensure they are being accomplished as planned and correcting any significant deviations.

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https://epdf.pub/queue/management-and-organisational-behaviour.html

We live in an organisational world. Organisations of one form or another are a necessary part of our society and serve many important needs. The decisions and actions of management in organisations have an increasing impact on individuals, other organisations and the community. It is important, therefore, to understand how organisations function and the pervasive influences which they exercise over the behaviour of people.

Organisational behaviour is concerned with the study of the behaviour of people within an organisational setting. It involves the understanding, prediction and control of human behaviour. Common definitions of organisational behaviour (OB) are generally along the lines of: the study and understanding of individual and group behaviour, and patterns of structure in order to help improve organisational performance and effectiveness. There is a close relationship between organisational behaviour and management theory and practice. Some writers seem to suggest that organisational behaviour and management are synonymous, but this is something of an over-simplification because there are many broader facets to management. Organisational behaviour does not encompass the whole of management; it is more accurately described in the narrower interpretation of providing a behavioural approach to management.

Management and organisational behaviour

Management roles

Interpersonal

Informational

Decisional

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Management and organisational behaviour

Management skills

Technical skills: the ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise

Human skills: the ability to work with, understand and motivate other people, both individually and in-groups.

Conceptual skills: the mental ability to analyse and diagnose complex situations.

Effective versus successful managerial activities

Traditional management: decision making, planning, controlling

Communication: exchange routine information, process paperwork

Human resource management: motivate, discipline, manage conflict, staff, train

Networking: socialize, politicking, interact with outsiders

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Management skills

Still another way of considering what managers do is to look at the skills or competencies they need to achieve their goals. Researchers have identified a number of skills that differentiate effective managers from ineffective managers.

Technical skills

Technical skills encompass the ability to apply specialised knowledge or expertise. When you think of the skills of professionals such as civil engineers or oral surgeons, you typically focus on the technical skills they have learned through extensive formal education. Of course, professionals don’t have a monopoly on technical skills, and not all technical skills have to be learned in schools or other formal training programs. All jobs require some specialised expertise, and many people develop their technical skills on the job.

Human skills

The ability to understand, communicate with, motivate and support other people, both individually and in groups, defines human skills. Many people are technically proficient but may be poor listeners, unable to understand the needs of others or weak at managing conflicts. Because managers get things done through other people, they must have good human skills.

Conceptual skills

Managers must have the mental ability to analyse and diagnose complex situations. These tasks require conceptual skills. Decision making, for instance, requires managers to identify problems, develop alternative solutions to correct those problems, evaluate the alternative solutions and select the best one. After they have selected a course of action, managers need to be able to organise a plan of action and then execute it. Integrating new ideas with existing processes and innovating on the job are also crucial conceptual skills for today’s managers.

Fred Luthans and his associates looked at what managers do from a somewhat different perspective. They asked: ‘Do managers who move up the quickest in an organisation do the same activities and with the same emphasis as managers who do the best job?’ You might think the answer is ‘yes’. But that’s not always the case.

Luthans and his associates studied more than 450 managers. All of them engaged in four managerial activities:

Traditional management—decision making, planning and controlling

Communication—exchanging routine information and processing paperwork

Human resource management—motivating, disciplining, managing conflict, staffing and training

Networking—socialising, politicking and interacting with outsiders.

The ‘average’ manager spent 32% of their time in traditional management activities, 29% communicating, 20% in human resource management activities and 19% networking. However, the time and effort that different individual managers spent on those activities varied a great deal. As shown in Exhibit 1.2, among managers who were successful (defined in terms of speed of promotion within their organisation), networking made the largest relative contribution to success, and human resource management activities made the least relative contribution. Among effective managers (defined in terms of quantity and quality of their performance and the satisfaction and commitment of employees), communication made the largest relative contribution and networking the smallest.

More recent studies in Australia, Israel, Italy, Japan and the United States confirm the link between networking and social relationships and success within an organisation.15 And the connection between communication and effective managers is also clear. A study of 410 US managers indicates that those who seek information from colleagues and employees (even if it is negative) and who explain their decisions are the most effective.16

This research offers important insights. Successful managers give almost the opposite emphases to traditional management, communication, human resource management and networking as do effective managers. This finding challenges the historical assumption that promotions are based on performance, and it illustrates the importance of networking and political skills in getting ahead in organisations.

Exhibit 1.2

Allocation of activities by time

Source: Based on F. Luthans, R. M. Hodgetts and S. A. Rosenkrantz, Real Managers, Cambridge, MA: Ballinger, 1988.

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Management and organisational behaviour

Organisational behaviour (OB)

A field of study

Studies three determinants of behaviour in organisations

Individuals

Groups

Structure

Applies the knowledge gained about these determinants in order to make organisations work more effectively

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A contemporary approach to OB is providing individuals at all levels of an organisation a sense of how and why organisations function and why people behave in a particular manner. Managers need to develop their interpersonal/ people skills to be effective in their jobs. OB investigates the impact that individuals, groups and structure have on behaviour within an organisation, and it applies knowledge to make organisations work more effectively. OB focuses on how to improve productivity, reduce absenteeism, turnover and improve workplace behaviour, and increase organisational citizenship behaviour and job satisfaction.

Organisational behaviour is a field of study, meaning that it is a distinct area of expertise with a common body of knowledge. It studies three determinants of behaviour in organisations: individuals, groups and structure. In addition, OB applies the knowledge gained about individuals, groups and the effect of structure on behaviour in order to make organisations work more effectively.

To sum up our definition, OB is the study of what people do in an organisation and how their behaviour affects the organisation’s performance. And because OB is concerned specifically with employment-related situations, you should not be surprised that it emphasises behaviour as related to concerns such as jobs, work, absenteeism, employment turnover, productivity, human performance and management.

Although there is debate about the relative importance of each, OB includes the core topics of motivation, leader behaviour and power, interpersonal communication, group structure and processes, learning, attitude development and perception, change processes, conflict and negotiation, and work design.17

Complementing intuition with systematic study

The systematic study of behaviour is a means to making reasonably accurate predictions.

Evidence-based management (EBM) complements systematic study by basing managerial decisions on the best available scientific evidence.

Systematic study and EBM add to intuition, or those feelings we have about what makes others (and ourselves) ‘tick’.

Look at relationship

Attribute cause and effects

Base conclusions on scientific evidence

Systematic

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Behaviour is generally predictable, and the systematic study of behaviour is a means to making reasonably accurate predictions. When we use the term systematic study, we mean looking at relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects, and basing our conclusions on scientific evidence—that is, on data gathered under controlled conditions and measured and interpreted in a reasonably rigorous manner. Relying on intuition is particularly problematic because we tend to overestimate the accuracy of what we think we know. Surveys of HR managers have shown that many managers hold ‘common-sense’ opinions regarding effective management that have been flatly refuted by empirical evidence

Why is it important to complement intuition with systematic study? Intuition is just a gut feeling. Systematic study is to base your gut feelings on scientific evidences. Hence, complementing gut feelings with systematic study will make your feeling more reliable based on scientific evidence.

https://study.com/academy/lesson/understanding-behavior-systematic-study-evidence-based-management-intuition.html

Intuition, systematic and evidence-based management are three different ways that employees can be analyzed in an organization. The results of the studies allow companies to improve employee programs, training and daily work environments.

Understanding Behavior

Organizations need to study individual and group behavior in order to identify key elements to help improve overall work environments. Systematic study, evidence-based management and intuition are three ways to conduct this type of organizational behavior study.

Messy Chocolates is a chocolate bar company that has been in business for over ten years. They use all three ways to understand the behavior of their employees. Let's take a look at the simplest form of trying to decipher employee behavior and actions.

Intuition Study

Intuition can help aid in understanding employee behavior. Intuition is when an individual depends on gut feelings, basic observation and common sense. The biggest issue with using intuitive study is that it does not encompass the entire picture of employee behavior. Managers might be just assuming facts and not continuing to find proof of behavior.

For example, Carmela Bar is a marketing manager for Messy Chocolates. She is trying to understand why one of her assistant marketing managers is not performing very well. She has spent the last week watching her work and believes that her gut instinct will tell her what the issue is with her subordinate. Carmela believes that Susie is jealous of her coworker who was recently promoted and is not working to her potential out of protest and anger.

Unfortunately, Carmela did not understand the full picture and was incorrect in her observations. The real reason Susie was underperforming at work was that she was having marital problems at home.

Systematic Study

The second type of observation is more scientific in nature and is called systematic study. This observation helps provide a stronger way to accurately predict behavior. First of all, systematic study assumes that there is a pattern to the behavior and that it is not random. Systematic study believes that the patterns can be identified and cultivated to improve individual performance. The method of accomplishing this is by examining behavior, looking for cause and effect and searching for specific evidence.

Disciplines that contribute to OB

Psychology

Science that measure, explain and sometimes change behaviour

Social psychology

Blends concepts from psychology and sociology, focus on influence of people on one another

Sociology

Study of people in relation to their social environment or culture

Anthropology

Study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities

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The field of organisational behavior is interdisciplinary. It draws from psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, political science, strategy, management, and even the natural sciences. Psychology the science that seeks to measure, explain and sometimes change the behaviour of humans and other animals. Early industrial/organisational psychologists studied the problems of fatigue, boredom and other working conditions that could impede efficient work performance. Social Psychology: a branch of psychology that blends concepts from psychology and sociology and focuses on the influence of people on one another. Sociology – the study of people in relation to their social environment or culture. Anthropology – is the study of society’s to learn about human beings and their activities. OB emerged as a distinct field of study in the 1940’s. By 1971, OB had its own division in the prestigious academic organisation, the Academy of Management. Organisational behavior is an applied discipline because it seeks to improve organisations and to make positive impacts on people while solving practical problems that people face in the workplace. There are a number of positive organisational outcomes associated with organisational behavior as an applied discipline. Some of these include greater effectiveness, increased job satisfaction, higher organisational commitment, reduced absenteeism, and decreased turnover. For example, OB researchers offer a connection among interpersonal processes such as support, commitment and performance. Nearly all organisations, including Fortune 500 companies rely on OB principles for training curriculum for leadership development programs; management decision making and designing organisational processes.

What are the major behavioural science disciplines that contribute to OB? There are a number of disciplines involved including:

Psychology, which seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behaviour of humans and other animals. Those who have contributed and continue to add to the knowledge of OB are learning theorists, personality theorists, counselling psychologists and, most importantly, industrial and organisational psychologists.

Social psychology, generally considered a branch of psychology, is a discipline blends concepts from both psychology and sociology to focus on people’s influence on one another. One major study area is change and how to implement it, and how to reduce barriers to its acceptance. Social psychologists also contribute to measuring, understanding and changing attitudes; identifying communication patterns; and building trust. They have also made important contributions to the study of group behaviour, power and conflict.

Sociology studies people in relation to their social environment or culture. Sociologists have contributed to OB through their study of group behaviour in organisations, particularly formal and complex organisations. Perhaps most importantly, sociologists have studied organisational culture, formal organisation theory and structure, organisational technology, communications, power and conflict.

Anthropology is the study of societies in order to learn about human beings and their activities. Anthropologists study cultures and environments, helping us to understand differences in fundamental values, attitudes and behaviour between people within different organisations and in different countries. Much of our current understanding of organisational culture, organisational environments and differences between national cultures is a result of the work of anthropologists or those who use their methods.

Exhibit 1.3

Towards an OB discipline

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There are few absolutes in OB

Human beings are complex, and few, if any, simple and universal principles explain organisational behaviour.

OB concepts must reflect situational, or contingency variables.

We’ll best understand OB when we realise how general effects and contingencies guide behaviour.

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5. Why are there so few absolutes in OB?

Answer: Human beings are complex, and there are few, if any, simple and universal principles that explain organisational behaviour. Because human beings are not all alike, our ability to make simple, accurate and sweeping generalisations is limited. Two people often act very differently in the same situation, and the same person’s behaviour can change in different situations.

Laws in the physical sciences—chemistry, astronomy, physics—are consistent and apply in a wide range of situations. They allow scientists to generalise about the pull of gravity or to be confident about sending astronauts into space to repair satellites. Human beings are complex, and few, if any, simple and universal principles explain organisational behaviour. Because human beings are not alike, our ability to make simple, accurate and sweeping generalisations is limited. Two people often act very differently in the same situation, and the same person’s behaviour changes in different situations. Not everyone is motivated by money, and you may behave differently at a religious service from how you behave at a party.

That doesn’t mean, of course, that we can’t offer reasonably accurate explanations of human behaviour or make valid predictions. It does mean that OB concepts must reflect situational, or contingency, conditions. We can say x leads to y, but only under conditions specified in z—the contingency variables. The science of OB was developed by applying general concepts to a particular situation, person or group. For example, OB scholars would avoid stating that everyone likes complex and challenging work (the general concept) because not everyone wants a challenging job. Some people prefer routine over varied, or simple over complex. A job attractive to one person may not be attractive to another; its appeal is contingent on the person who holds it. Often, we’ll find both general effects (money does have some ability to motivate most of us) and contingencies (some of us are more motivated by money than others, and some situations are more about money than others). We’ll best understand OB when we realise how both (general effects, and the contingencies that affect them) often guide behaviour.

Challenges and opportunities

Economic pressures

Continuing globalisation

Workforce demographics

Workforce diversity

Customer service

People skills

Networked organisations

Social media

Employee well-being at work

Positive work environment

Improving ethical behaviour

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What are the challenges and opportunities for managers in using OB concepts?

There are dramatic changes taking place in organisations. The typical employee is getting older; more women have joined the workplace; corporate downsizing and the increased use of temporary workers are severing the bonds of loyalty that tied many employees to their employers; and global competition is requiring employees to become more flexible in order to cope with rapid change. The global recession has emphasised the challenges of working with people and managing them during uncertain times.

Understanding organisational behaviour has never been more important for managers. As noted in the opening discussion with Professor Julie Cogin, employers expect that graduates will have the skills to deal with multiple challenges in organisations today. The typical employee is getting older; more women have joined the workplace; corporate downsizing and the heavy use of temporary workers are severing the bonds of loyalty that tied many employees to their employers; and global competition is requiring employees to become more flexible and to cope with rapid change.

As a result of these changes and others, employment options have adapted to include new opportunities for workers. Exhibit 1.4 details some of the types of options individuals may find offered to them by organisations or for which they would like to negotiate. Under each heading in the exhibit, you will find a grouping of options from which to choose—or combine. For instance, at one point in your career, you may find yourself employed full-time in an office in a localised, non-union setting with a salary and bonus compensation package, while at another point you may wish to negotiate for a flexitime, virtual position and choose to work from overseas for a combination of salary and extra paid time off.

Managing employees well is equally difficult whether times are tough or good, but the OB approaches sometimes differ. In good times, understanding how to reward, satisfy and retain employees is at a premium; in bad times, issues such as stress, decision making and coping come to the fore.

The world has become a global village. In the process, the manager’s job has changed in many ways. For example, a manager is now more likely to be involved in assignments outside of the home country and to work with people from different cultures. In a global economy, jobs tend to flow where lower costs give businesses a comparative advantage, though labour groups, politicians and local community leaders see the exporting of jobs as undermining the job market at home. Managers face the difficult task of balancing the interests of their organisation with their responsibilities to the communities in which they operate. Longevity and birth rates have also changed the dynamics in organisations.

Global longevity rates have increased by six years in a very short time (since 1990), 25 while birth rates are decreasing for many developed countries, trends that together indicate a lasting shift towards an older workforce. OB research can help explain what this means for attitudes, organisational culture, leadership, structure and communication. Socioeconomic shifts have a profound effect on workforce demographics. The days when women stayed home because it was expected are just a memory in some cultures, while in others, women face significant barriers to entry into the workforce. We are interested in how these women fare in the workplace and how their conditions can be improved.

One of the most important challenges for organisations is workforce diversity, a trend whereby organisations are becoming more heterogeneous in terms of employees’ gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and other characteristics. Managing this diversity is a global concern.

Many organisations have been unsuccessful because their employees failed to please customers. Management needs to create a customer-responsive culture. OB can provide considerable guidance in helping managers create cultures in which employees establish rapport with customers, put customers at ease, show genuine interest and are sensitive to a customer’s individual situation.

Networked organisations allow people to communicate and work together even though they may be thousands of kilometres apart. Independent contractors can telecommute via computer to workplaces around the globe and change employers as the demand for their services changes. Software programmers, graphic designers, systems analysts, technical writers, photo researchers, book and media editors and medical transcribers are just a few examples of people who can work from home or other non-office locations.

Once employees are on the job, many organisations have policies about accessing social media at work—when, where and for what purposes.

As a result of their increased responsibilities in and out of the workplace, employees want more time off. Recent studies suggest employees want jobs that give them flexibility in their work schedules so they can better manage work–life conflicts.31 In fact, 56% of respondents in a recent study reported that work–life balance was their definition of career success—more than money, recognition and autonomy.32 Most university students say attaining a balance between their personal life and their work is a primary career goal; they want a ‘life’ as well as a job. Organisations that don’t help their people achieve work–life balance will find it increasingly difficult to attract and retain the most capable and motivated employees.

A real growth area in OB research is positive organisational scholarship (also called ‘positive organisational behaviour’), which studies how organisations develop human strengths, foster vitality and resilience and unlock potential. Researchers in this area say too much of OB research and management practice has been targeted towards identifying what’s wrong with organisations and their employees. In response, they try to study what’s good about them. Some key topics in positive OB research are engagement, hope, optimism and resilience in the face of strain. Researchers hope to help practitioners create positive work environments for employees.

Managers and their organisations are responding to the problem of unethical behaviour in a number of ways. They are writing and distributing codes of ethics to guide employees through ethical dilemmas. They are offering seminars, workshops and other training programs to try to improve ethical behaviours. They are providing in-house advisors who can be contacted, in many cases anonymously, for assistance in dealing with ethical issues; and they are creating protection mechanisms for employees who reveal internal unethical practices.

Developing an OB model

A model is a simplified representation of real-world phenomena

Three types of variables

Inputs

Processes

Outcomes

Three levels of analysis

Individual

Group

Organisational

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A model is an abstraction of reality, a simplified representation of some real-world phenomena. Exhibit 1.5 presents the skeleton on which we will construct our OB model. It proposes three types of variables (inputs, processes and outcomes) at three levels of analysis (individual, group and organisational).

https://ebrary.net/2814/management/models_organiational_behaviour

Models are frameworks or possible explanations why do people behave as they do at work. There are so many models as many are organizations. Varying results across the organizations are substantially caused by differences in the models of organizational behaviour. According to the research all the models of organizational behaviour are broadly classified into four types: autocratic, custodial, supportive and collegial.

Figure 1.5

A basic OB model

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Inputs are the variables such as personality, group structure and organisational culture that lead to processes. These variables set the stage for what will occur in an organisation later. Many are determined in advance of the employment relationship. For example, individual diversity characteristics, personality and values are shaped by a combination of an individual’s genetic inheritance and childhood environment. Group structure, roles and team responsibilities are typically assigned immediately before or after a group is formed. Finally, organisational structure and culture are usually the result of years of development and change as the organisation adapts to its environment and builds up customs and norms.

Processes :

If inputs are like the nouns in organisational behaviour, processes are like the verbs. Processes are actions that individuals, groups and organisations engage in as a result of inputs and that lead to certain outcomes. At the individual level, processes include emotions and moods, motivation, perception and decision making. At the group level, they include communication, leadership, power and politics, and conflict and negotiation. Finally, at the organisational level, processes include change practices.

Outcomes are the key variables that you want to explain or predict, and that are affected by other variables. What are the primary outcomes in OB? Scholars have emphasised individual-level outcomes such as attitudes and stress, task performance, citizenship behaviour and withdrawal behaviour. At the group level, cohesion and functioning represent some of the outcomes. Finally, at the organisational level, we look at overall profitability and survival.

Figure 1.6

Three level of analysis

‹#›

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Employability skills

Critical thinking

Communication

Collaboration

Knowledge application and analysis

Social responsibility

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People, along with their behaviours, differences, attitudes, emotions, moods, personalities, values, intentions, thoughts and motivations, are inextricably linked to life in the workplace. These employees interact and communicate with one another within and across work groups, departments, teams and organisations to help accomplish the organisation’s goals. Leaders within these organisations (along with the employees themselves) seek to effect change, establish an organisational culture, and set policies and procedures—processes that inevitably involve leadership, politicking, conflict and negotiation. Given the pervasiveness of OB in organisational life, entry-level employees and working professionals would therefore benefit from having solid foundational skills in OB, such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, social responsibility, and knowledge application and analysis.

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/employability-skills-list-and-examples-4143571

What are Employability Skills?

Employability skills are core skills and traits needed in nearly every job. These are the general skills that make someone desirable to an organization. Hiring managers almost always look for employees with these skills.

Summary

Managers need to develop interpersonal skills to be effective in their jobs.

Organisational behaviour (OB) investigates the impact that individuals, groups and structure have on behaviour within an organisation, and it applies that knowledge to make organisations work more effectively.

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Implications for managers:

Resist the inclination to rely on generalisations; some provide valid insights into human behaviour, but many are erroneous.

Use metrics rather than ‘hunches’ to explain cause-and-effect relationships.

Work on your interpersonal skills to increase your leadership potential.

Improve your technical skills and conceptual skills through training and staying current with organisational behaviour trends such as big data and fast data.

Organisational behaviour can improve your employees’ work quality and productivity by showing you how to empower your employees, design and implement change programs, improve customer service and help your employees balance work–life conflicts.

Class activity: Networked organisation

Networked organisations allow people to communicate and work together even though they may be thousands of kilometers apart. A manager’s job is different in a networked organisation. What specific skills are required for a manager to be effective in a networked organisation?

Type your answer in chat

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Topic 2

Diversity in Organisations

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Diversity in Organisations

Consider the importance of these for a manager trying to understand organisational behaviour.

Ability—Ability directly influences an employee’s level of performance. Given the desire to engage high-performing employees, what can a manager do about ability?

First, an effective selection process will improve the fit between employees and job requirements. A job analysis will provide information about tasks currently being done and the abilities individuals need to perform these adequately. Applicants can then be tested, interviewed and evaluated on the degree to which they possess the necessary abilities.

Secondly, promotion and transfer decisions affecting individuals already in the organisation’s employ should reflect candidates’ abilities. As with new employees, care should be taken to assess the critical abilities that incumbents will need in the job and match those with the organisation’s human resources.

Thirdly, managers can improve the fit by fine-tuning the job to better match an incumbent’s abilities. Often, modifications can be made that better adapt work to the specific talents of a given employee with no significant impact on the job’s basic activities, such as changing equipment or reorganising tasks within a group.

Biographical characteristics—We can readily observe biographical characteristics, but that doesn’t mean we should explicitly use them in management decisions. We also need to be aware of implicit biases we or other managers may have.

Diversity management—Diversity management must be an ongoing commitment that crosses all levels of the organisation. Group management, recruiting, hiring, retention and development practices can all be designed to leverage diversity for the organisation’s competitive advantage. Policies to improve the climate for diversity can be effective, provided that they are designed to acknowledge all employees’ perspectives. One-shot diversity training sessions are less likely to be effective than comprehensive programs that address the climate for diversity at multiple levels.

Learning Objectives

Review how discrimination undermines organisational effectiveness

Evaluate how the key biographical characteristics are relevant to organisational behavior

Evaluate how organisations manage diversity effectively

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Introduction

‘Workplace diversity’ refers to any characteristic that makes people different from one another.

Discrimination is one of the main factors that prevents diversity.

A positive diversity climate can lead to increased sales, commitment and retention.

Organisational leaders should examine their workforce to determine whether target groups have been under utilised.

gender, age, religion, race, ethnicity, cultural background, sexual orientation, religion, languages, education, abilities, etc.

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https://www.talentlyft.com/en/blog/article/244/top-10-benefits-of-diversity-in-the-workplace-infographic-included

What is diversity in the workplace?

Diversity in the workplace means that a company employs a wide range of diverse individuals.

In other words, a diverse workforce includes people with different characteristics.

Diversity in the workplace means that a company’s workforce includes people of varying gender, age, religion, race, ethnicity, cultural background, sexual orientation, religion, languages, education, abilities, etc.

Diversity

Demographic characteristics of the Australian workforce

The workforce participation rate for women increased to an all-time high of 59.4% in January 2016

Barriers: gap in pay, child-care

More than one-fifth of workers were born overseas

More workers are over the age of 55 than under 25

Levels of diversity

Surface-level diversity: demographics stereotypes and assumptions

Deep-level diversity: thoughts, feelings, personality, values

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Defining diversity

Valuing differences is easier said than done. It means relating and working with people who hold different perspectives and views; bringing different qualities to the work- place; having different aspirations and having different customs and traditions. Differences are challenging; they challenge people’s views, perceptions and attitudes and require individuals to see things from a different frame of reference. Managing diversity does not mean that managers champion their own values and try and shift other people’s values to conform and match their own! For Kandola and Fullerton diver- sity is defined as:

The basic concept of managing diversity accepts that the workforce consists of a diverse popula- tion of people. The diversity consists of visible and non-visible differences which will include sex, age, background, race, disability, personality and workstyle. It is founded on the premise that harnessing these differences will create a productive environment in which everybody feels valued, where their talents are being fully utilised, and in which organisational goals are met.

Encouraging individuality and at the same time expecting group co-operation and teamwork are potential triggers for tension. It requires managers to have greater reserves of emotional intelligence if they are to be successful managers of diversity. In turn this suggests that managers need to have an awareness of, and be able to get in touch with, their own attitudes, values and beliefs – what they are and where they come from. Clements and Jones recognise that the process can be uncomfortable:

A model of good diversity training will recognize that when people engage in an exploration of their attitudes, values, beliefs and prejudices, this may be an uncomfortable process. Some will find out things about themselves that will cause them emotional pain, and often the tension in learners will relate to how they should respond.

Although much has been said about diversity in age, race, gender, ethnicity, religion and disability status, experts now recognise that these demographic characteristics are just the tip of the iceberg. Demographics mostly reflect surface-level diversity, not thoughts and feelings, and this can lead employees to perceive one another through stereotypes and assumptions. However, evidence has shown that as people get to know one another they become less concerned about demographic differences if they see themselves as sharing characteristics such as personality and values, which represent deep-level diversity.

Discrimination

Discriminating: noting a difference between things

Stereotyping: judging someone on the basis of our perception of the group to which that person belongs

Stereotype threat

The degree to which we agree internally with the generally negative stereotyped perceptions of our group

Has serious implications for the workplace

Reduce stereotype threat

Increase awareness (esp when developing policies & practices

Reduce differential and preferential treatment through objective assessment

Confront microaggressions against minority groups

Adopt transparent practices that signal the value of all employees

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Although diversity does present many opportunities for organisations, effective diversity management also means working to eliminate unfair discrimination. Discriminating is noting a difference between things, which in itself isn’t necessarily bad. Noticing that one employee is more qualified is necessary for making hiring decisions; noticing that another is taking on leadership responsibilities exceptionally well is necessary for making promotion decisions. Usually when we talk about discrimination, though, we mean allowing our behaviour to be influenced by stereotypes about groups of people. Stereotyping is judging someone on the basis of our perception of the group to which that person belongs. To use a machine metaphor, you might think of stereotypes as the fuel that powers the discrimination engine. Stereotypes can be insidious not only because they may affect the perpetrators of discrimination but also because they can affect how potential targets of discrimination see themselves.

People become their own worst enemies when they feel stereotype threat. Ironically, they may unconsciously exaggerate the stereotype, like an older job applicant who talks about ageing, rambles during the conversation and discloses too much. Second, employees may engage in self-handicapping, in which they avoid effort so they can attribute their potential failure to other sources, such as stress or ‘having a bad day’. Third, people may overcompensate for the stereotype threat they feel or work to avoid confirming the stereotype. For example, an older worker who actively tries to engage with technology and uses it as much as possible in the workplace may be attempting to overcome a stereotype threat of older individuals as technologically inept. Stereotype threat can serve as a ‘brain drain’ for employees, causing them to deplete their working memories so they don’t perform as well on employment tests or training.

Stereotype threat has serious implications for the workplace. It can happen during pre-employment tests and assessments, performance evaluations and everyday workplace exchanges. It can lead to underperformance on tests, performance evaluations, training exercises, negotiations and everyday interactions with others as well as disengagement, poor job attitudes, a reluctance to seek feedback and poor performance in the employees experiencing the threat. We can combat it in the workplace by treating employees as individuals and not highlighting group differences. The following organisational changes can be successful in reducing stereotype threat:

increasing awareness of how stereotypes may be perpetuated (especially when developing policies and practices)

reducing differential and preferential treatment through objective assessments

confronting microaggressions against minority groups

adopting transparent practices that signal the value of all employees.

Discrimination

Discrimination in the workplace

Types

Policies and practices

Exclusion and intimidation of employees

Leads to increased negative consequences for employers

Reduced productivity and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB)

More conflict

Increased turnover and risk-taking behaviour

Leaves qualified candidates out of hiring and promotions

OCB: behaviour that contributes to psychological and social environment of the workplace

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https://www.humanrights.gov.au/quick-guide/12030

Discrimination happens when a person, or a group of people, is treated less favourably than another person or group because of their background or certain personal characteristics. This is known as ‘direct discrimination’.

Example: An employer refused to hire a suitably qualified person as a shop assistant because they were Aboriginal, and instead hired a less qualified person of a different racial background. This could be racial discrimination.

It is also discrimination when an unreasonable rule or policy applies to everyone but has the effect of disadvantaging some people because of a personal characteristic they share. This is known as ‘indirect discrimination’.

Example: A policy that says only full-time workers will be promoted could discriminate against women who are more likely to work part-time to accommodate their family responsibilities.

Discrimination can be against the law if it is based on a person’s:

age

disability, or

race, including colour, national or ethnic origin or immigrant status

sex, pregnancy, marital or relationship status, family responsibilities or breastfeeding

sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status.

Discrimination on these grounds is against the law in a number of areas of public life, including: employment, education, getting or using services or renting or buying a house or unit. Some limited exceptions and exemptions apply.

Employers have a legal responsibility to take all reasonable steps to prevent discrimination on these grounds. Employers can also be liable for the discriminatory acts of their employees. This is called ‘vicarious liability’.

Under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act, individuals can also lodge complaints with the Commission concerning discrimination in employment because of their religion, political opinion, national extraction, nationality, social origin, medical record, criminal record or trade union activity. Complaints will be reported to Parliament where the Commission finds a breach of the Act.

Biographical characteristics

Objective and easily obtained from personnel records

May be the basis for discriminations against classes of employees

Types

Age

Gender

Race and ethnicity

Disability

Invisible disabilities (eg impaired hearing, PTSD, ADHD)

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https://www.reference.com/world-view/define-biographical-characteristics-5c0f6b06e81557de

Biographical characteristics are personalities or characters that influence a person. These characteristics normally affect a person in one way or the other within an organization or within society.

Personal characteristics such as age, gender, race and length of tenure that are objective and easily obtained from personnel records are examples of biographical characteristics. Think of the word "biography," which means a story or detailed description of someone's life. To produce a biography, research on the subject of the biography must be done, and biographical characteristics are noted. Many employers do research on these characteristics to choose the best candidate for the job.

https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-981-287-080-3_30-1. Age stereotypes refer to overgeneralized expectations and beliefs about the characteristics and traits of individuals on the basis of age. In the workplace, age stereotypes often take the form of distorted and usually inaccurate perceptions of worker characteristics on the basis of age.

As the workforce becomes more age diverse, interpersonal exchanges between members of this multigenerational workforce will become more frequent. Considering this, understanding the mechanisms that contribute to positive and negative interpersonal interactions between individuals at different stages of the work-life span is essential (Rudolph and Zacher 2015)

The majority of studies have shown ‘virtually no relationship between age and job performance,’ according to Director Harvey Sterns of the Institute for Life-Span Development and Gerontology.27 Indeed, some studies indicate that older adults perform better. In Munich, a four-year study of 3800 Mercedes-Benz workers found that ‘the older workers seemed to know better how to avoid severe errors,’ said Matthias Weiss, the academic coordinator of the study.

https://www.wgea.gov.au/topics/about-workplace-gender-equality Workplace gender equality is achieved when people are able to access and enjoy the same rewards, resources and opportunities regardless of gender. Australia, along with many countries worldwide, has made significant progress towards gender equality in recent decades, particularly in education, health and female workforce participation. However, the gender gap in the Australian workforce is still prevalent. Women continue to earn less than men, are less likely to advance their careers as far as men, and accumulate less retirement or superannuation savings.The aim of gender equality in the workplace is to achieve broadly equal opportunities and outcomes for women and men.

Sex discrimination has a pervasive negative impact. Notably, women still earn less money than men for the same positions, even in traditionally female roles.Furthermore, the sex differences in promotions, bonuses and salaries (across 97 different studies and nearly 400 000 people) are 14 times larger than their differences on performance evaluations. Working mothers also face ‘maternal wall bias’, meaning they’re often not considered for new positions after they have children, and both men and women experience discrimination in relation to their family caregiving roles.Women who receive fewer challenging assignments and development opportunities from biased managers tend to curtail their management aspirations.Women who are assertive in the workplace tend to be liked less and perceived as less employable.

Race is a controversial issue in society and in organisations. We define race as the heritage people use to identify themselves; ethnicity is the additional set of cultural characteristics that often overlap with race. Typically, we associate race with biology, and ethnicity with culture, but there is a history of self-identifying for both classifications. Laws against racial and ethnic discrimination are in effect in many countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

https://www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au/the-workplace/workplace-discrimination/type-of-discrimination/race. It is against the law to discriminate against anyone in the workplace because of their actual or assumed race.

Employees are protected from discrimination at all stages of employment including recruitment, workplace terms and conditions and dismissal.

Race includes colour, descent, nationality, ancestry or ethnic background or any characteristics associated with a particular race.

Examples of race discrimination

George unsuccessfully applies for a position with a construction company. When he telephones the company’s personnel manager to ask why he did not get the position, George is told: ‘We’ve employed people from your country before. You lot simply don’t share our work ethic’.

Li-Huei unsuccessfully applies for a job as a receptionist with a large hotel. When she calls the human resources manager to ask why she did not get the job, she is told that the manager doesn’t want to employ a receptionist with an accent.

The elimination of discrimination against the disabled workforce has long been problematic. Similarly to Australia, for instance, policies in Europe to motivate employers have failed to boost the workforce participation rate for workers with disabilities, and outright quota systems in Germany, France and Poland have backfired.However, the recognition of the talents and abilities of individuals with disabilities has made a positive impact. In addition, technology and workplace advancements have greatly increased the scope of available jobs for those with all types of disabilities. Managers need to be attuned to the true requirements of each job and match the skills of the individual to them, providing accommodations when needed.

https://www.humanrights.gov.au/quick-guide/12028. Disability discrimination occurs when a person is treated less favourably, or not given the same opportunities as others in a similar situation, because of their disability. It can also occur when an unreasonable rule or policy is the same for everyone but has an unfair effect on people with a particular disability.

Example: It would be ‘direct disability discrimination’ if a nightclub or restaurant refused a person entry because they are blind and have a guide dog.

Unsurprisingly, many employees do not want to disclose their invisible disabilities, so they are prevented from getting the workplace accommodations they need in order to thrive in their jobs. Research indicates that individuals with hidden disabilities are often afraid of being stigmatised or ostracised if they disclose their disabilities to others in the workplace, and they believe that their managers will think they are less capable of strong job performance.67

Other differentiating characteristics

Tenure

Religion

Sexual orientation and gender identity

Cultural identity

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Except for gender and racial differences, few issues are more subject to misconceptions and speculations than the impact of seniority and tenure—meaning time spent in a job, organisation or field.

Religious and non-religious people question each other’s belief systems, and people of different religious faiths often experience conflict. There are few—if any—countries in which religion is a non-issue in the workplace. In the Australian context, discrimination in employment on the basis of religion happens ‘when someone does not experience equality of opportunity in employment because of their religion. This may include being refused a job, being dismissed from employment, being denied training opportunities or being harassed at work’. However, discrimination based on religion itself is not specifically prohibited under Commonwealth legislation, which has led to calls for a Religious Discrimination Act.

While much has changed, the full acceptance and accommodation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) employees remains a work in progress. In the Australian workplace, despite recent legislative changes, LGBTI employees still experience high rates of discrimination.77 A recent report found that six in ten LGBTI employees experienced homophobic verbal abuse at work, and 20% reported episodes of physical abuse.78 In the United States, a Harvard University study sent fictitious but realistic résumés to 1700 actual entry-level job openings. The applications were identical with one exception: half mentioned involvement in gay organisations during college, and the other half did not. The applications without the mention received 60% more callbacks than the ones with it.

https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/employers/sexual-orientation-gender-identity-and-intersex-status-discrimination. The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (SDA) makes it unlawful to treat people less favourably than another person in a similar situation because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status.

Sexual orientation discrimination happens when a person is treated less favourably than another person in a similar situation because that person has a sexual orientation towards:

persons of the same sex, or

persons of a different sex, or

persons of the same sex and persons of a different sex.

Same-sex couples are also protected from discrimination under the definition of ‘marital or relationship status’ in the SDA.

Gender identity discrimination happens when a person is treated less favourably than another person in a similar situation because of that person’s gender-related identity, appearance, mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics of the person. It does not matter what sex a person was assigned at birth or whether the person has undergone any medical intervention.

An organisation seeking to be sensitive to the cultural identities of its employees should look beyond accommodating its majority groups and instead create as much of an individualised approach to practices and norms as possible. Often, managers can provide the bridge of workplace flexibility to meet both organisational goals and individual needs.

Ability

Knowing how people differ in abilities and using that knowledge to increase the likelihood that an employee will perform the job well is important.

Types

Intellectual abilities

Ability to perform mental activities such as thinking, reasoning, problem solving.

Number aptitude, verbal comprehension, perceptual speed, inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, spatial visualization and memory.

Physical abilities

Tasks that demand stamina, dexterity, strengths, body coordination.

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https://study.com/academy/lesson/individual-intellectual-physical-abilities-in-organizational-behavior.html

mployees need to have certain abilities that will make them a valuable addition to an organization. Intellectual and physical abilities are two key types of traits that organizations look for employees to have depending on the job requirements.

Employee Abilities

Captain Perfect is the ideal superhero/employee for any company. He is not only brilliant, but he's capable of lifting entire factories with one hand. He can solve computer algorithms in 10 seconds and can complete his daily work in one hour. Unfortunately, Captain Perfect does not exist in the real work world.

Intellectual brilliance, physical strength, and common sense are three examples of highly sought-after abilities within certain companies. Ability is an individual's capacity to master numerous tasks in a job. Organizations need to identify key abilities of employees that will lead to success, and employees need to have certain abilities that will make them a valuable addition to an organization.

Finally, managers need to understand what abilities will lead to a good job fit with certain employees. Rodney Rico is a manager at Messy Chocolates. He has both the individual intellect and physical abilities to become a rising star within the organization. The human resource department has identified him as a key employee and will do everything to keep him satisfied with his career at Messy Chocolates.

Intellectual Ability

Companies view intellectual ability as one of the most valuable attributes in employees. This ability deals with mental capabilities such as excellent memory, verbal comprehension, reasoning, analyzing, and problem solving, which are all important elements of worker skill in companies.

Certain jobs require more intellectual ability than other types of jobs. For example, a factory worker that sews the same piece of pants each hour and day requires minimal intellectual ability. An employee such as Rodney requires a higher level of intellectual skill. He must communicate with different levels of management and look for creative ways to solve sales issues. He is also responsible for financial reporting, analysis, and sales presentations.

In general, it has been found that employees with more intelligence are usually more creative and can adapt to change and solve problems quicker. Rodney came up with an idea at a weekly meeting to make a chocolate bar with potato chip pieces embedded. He felt that his analysis showed a growing trend of sweet and salty treats. His bar was produced for the market and ended up being one of Messy Chocolates' best-selling candy bars.

One issue that companies have to be aware of about employees with high intellectual abilities is that those abilities do not necessarily translate to better job satisfaction, due to the fact that most high-intellect people are highly critical of their work.

Physical Abilities

Strength, flexibility, stamina, coordination, and balance are examples of physical abilities that workers can possess on the job. Specific physical abilities lend themselves to certain jobs.

Implementing diversity management strategies

Attracting, selecting, developing and retaining diverse employees

Targeting recruitment to specific underrepresented demographic groups

Diversity in groups

Need to establish common goals and how to achieve, how to communicate.

Can hurt or facilitate team performance

Expatriate adjustment

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Some companies have been actively working towards recruiting less-represented groups. Etsy, an online retailer, hosts engineering classes and provides grants for aspiring women coders and then hires the best. McKinsey & Co. and Goldman Sachs have also actively recruited women who left the workforce to start families by offering phase-in programs and other benefits. Similarly, the Australian Federal Police accepted applications from female applicants only during some of its 2017 recruitment periods in an effort to improve representation of women across the workforce.

Regardless of the composition of the group, differences can be leveraged to achieve superior performance. The most important factor is to emphasise the similarities among members.

According to a 2013 survey by Mercer, a global consulting firm, 70% of multinational organisations were expecting to increase short-term international assignments and 55% were looking to increase their long-term assignments. These organisations note that they do so in order to provide technical and managerial skills not available locally, provide career and leadership development opportunities, ensure knowledge transfer and fulfil specific project needs.107 The experience of moving to a different country and adjusting to its new cultural, interactive and work-related norms is a major undertaking for both the expatriate (i.e. the employee on international assignment) and the host country nationals. If it is not handled properly, poor adjustment can result in employee dissatisfaction, poor performance, prejudice and misunderstanding

https://www.servicefutures.com/best-implement-diversity-strategies-workplace. Diversity is hard to implement

Despite the importance, diversity strategies are difficult to implement. Once in place they often do not deliver the benefits they promise.

Why is this the case?

One reason is definitely the attitude of the company. Diversity programmes are likely to fail if they are set up because it is perceived to be the right thing to do without reflecting a true commitment to creating a work environment that fosters the best workforce.

The other thing is that many companies underestimate the time and effort required to implement such strategy. Rather than working towards integrating diversity into the organisation’s strategy and all HR activities, companies often see it as just another “stand-alone project”.

Finally, large companies especially often fail to address the more hard-wired aspects such as management style, hierarchy and culture. Because of that, the implementation often fails.

How to work around this?

Best practice experience suggests at least five crucial steps when implementing a successful and lasting diversity strategy. These are listed below:

1. Involve the entire top management team

The senior leadership must be involved and visible throughout the whole diversity project. Visionary speeches have little impact alone. The CEO and other senior leaders should be visible at workshops, training programmes and during Q&A sessions on diversity.

An important first step in showing the way is also to implement diversity at top management level.

2. Adapt the organisational structure

The organisational structure must support the diversity effort. This can be done by creating a diversity office and appointing a Chief Diversity Officer (CDO). If the organisational structure supports the diversity offers, it is more likely to be taken seriously across the whole business.

3. Communicate about the initiative on continuous basis

Communicating about why diversity is crucial for the success of your business is highly important. The communication must be plentiful and include variety of channels such as social media, newsletters, intranet, seminars, meetings, posters and so on.

4. Create a formal project plan

Create a formal project plan to support the diversity strategy with measurable objectives that is integrated with the rest of the company’s strategic objectives and operations.

During the years, various research has shown that if such project is not carefully planned in advance using tested and robust processes, critical elements will not receive the proper attention.

Such project plans should take into consideration the length of time taken to cultivate a mind-set that acknowledges that diversity is part of the overall strategy. The project should also include a performance evaluation programme that functions as an accountability mechanism.

5. Change all HR initiatives to include diversity

A company should consider how it can reach a wider talent pool by having a range of initiatives.

Implementing diversity management strategies

Effective diversity programs

Teach managers about the legal framework for equal employment opportunity and encourage fair treatment

Teach managers how a diverse workforce is better able to serve a diverse market of customers and clients

Foster personal development practices that bring out the skills and abilities of all workers

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Organisations use a variety of diversity programs in recruitment and selection policies, as well as training and development practices. Effective, comprehensive workforce programs encouraging diversity have three distinct components. First, they teach managers about the legal framework for equal employment opportunity and encourage fair treatment of all people regardless of their demographic characteristics. Second, they teach managers how a diverse workforce is better able to serve a diverse market of customers and clients. Third, 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.

https://www.cio.com/article/3262704/diversity-and-inclusion-8-best-practices-for-changing-your-culture.html. Diverse and inclusive companies drive innovative results. Yet the tech industry still struggles with diversity and inclusion, often failing to attract diverse talent due to inclusivity issues in the workplace. For organizations looking to shape up their diversity and inclusion programs and policies, the change can be challenging — and rewarding. Some considerations:

1. Establish a sense of belonging for everyone

For each individual to bring their best self forward, a sense of belonging must first be established. Having a connection to an organization or group of people that makes you feel you can be yourself not only results in greater engagement and creativity in the workplace, it’s a psychological need.

But these changes take time, and they aren’t always linear, Clark says. “A client once told me that you don’t just fast-forward to belonging. You have to go through the hard work of focusing on diversity and creating that inclusive culture so you can get to belonging,” she says.

It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, either — that’s why it’s so important to share best practices and be open to trying new things. “The good thing is that as you’re working on diversity, you can also work on inclusion, and vice versa. It’s all interconnected,” Clark says.

2. Empathetic leadership is key

Diversity and inclusion are often treated as a single initiative owned exclusively by HR. But for real change to happen, every individual leader needs to buy into the value of belonging — both intellectually and emotionally. Only when the entire C-suite steps up to own diversity and inclusion will a company’s D&I practices thrive.

“You have to make sure leaders are equipped to make the story their own, feel it within themselves and be able to explain why they care; why it matters, and why it should matter to their direct reports,” Clark says.

Part of this process requires tuning in to empathy; each person remembering a time when they were excluded, shamed, interrupted, and so on, so they can apply those lessons outwardly, she says. “Leaders have to feel it within themselves; then they can identify the relationship with feeling excluded or making others feel excluded. That’s a critical starting point,” Clark says.

Summary

There are three particularly important variables of diversity: biographical characteristics, abilities and diversity programs.

Diversity management must be an ongoing commitment that crosses all levels of the organisation.

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Implications for managers

Understand your organisation’s antidiscrimination policies thoroughly and share them with all employees.

Assess and challenge your stereotype beliefs to increase your objectivity.

Look beyond readily observable biographical characteristics and consider the individual’s capabilities before making management decisions; remain open and encourage individuals to disclose any hidden disabilities.

Fully evaluate what accommodations a person with disabilities will need and then fine-tune a job to that person’s abilities.

Seek to understand and respect the unique biographical characteristics of each individual; a fair but individualistic approach yields the best performance.

Workshop activity: Diversity in groups

“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 characteristics 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 individual who are highly intelligent, conscientious, interested in working in team settings are more effective. Thus, diversity on these variables is likely to be bad.”

To answer, go to:

LearnJCU

Subject homepage

Workshop Discussions

Workshop 1: Diversity in groups

Discussion board open for one week uptill 17/11 23:59 hrs

Discussion questions:

(1) Do you agree with the above paragraph that demographic diversity is not as important as other variables in influencing group performance? Describe a scenario where team diversity can hurt group performance and another scenario where team diversity helps in group performance.

(2) Respond to at least One of your classmates post.

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Exhibit 1.1 Mintzberg’s managerial roles

Source: Adapted from H. Mintzberg, The Nature of Managerial Work, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1973.