SUMMARY DIVERSITY & INCLUSION AT WORK
THEME 1: BASIC CONCEPTS AND MEASUREMENTS (Ch1&2)
Chapter 1: Diversity and Inclusion in Organizations
Diversity = “differences among people that are likely to affect their acceptance,
performance, satisfaction, or progress in an organization.”
When the word diversity first became popular in the 1980s, it referred to changes in
demographic characteristics of the labor force and work organizations
- Narrow = race, ethnicity, and sex
- Broad = education levels, geographic background, language, value system, and other
attributes.
Employers must also consider processes and factors that lead people of difference to become
fully accepted and equally productive and rewarded at work. This state is called inclusion.
Narrow: race, ethnicity, sex, disability
= basis for important power differences and serious discriminations and hostility
Some of these differences are called
Protected categories because membership in these groups entitles one to legal protection
against illegal discrimination.
Surface diversity = attributes of people that can easily be seen and thus often become the basis
for stereotyping and misunderstanding.
Ascribed status: social position that is accorded to people because of who they are rather than
what they have achieved.
Differences are socially constructed, meaning that what we consider “different” arises from
social interaction and is context-relevant.
Diversity management refers to planned and systematic programs and procedures designed to
(a) improve interaction among diverse people; and (b) make this diversity a source of
innovation and increased effectiveness rather than miscommunication, conflict, or obstacles to
employees’ performance, satisfaction, and advancement.
Inclusion refers to one result of good diversity management practices: the acceptance,
satisfaction, and progress of different groups of people.
Equal Employment opportunity = EEO
Affirmative Action = AA
Why is diversity important?
Workforce diversity affects every HR function in the organization as well as outcomes
for employees.
,Job analysis: a list of tasks, including those considered essential functions, as well as the list
of the knowledges, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to be sought in applicants during the next
process of selection.
job analysis and KSAs may be suspect if they are not based on a representative sample
of incumbents of different demographic characteristics.
Selection: choosing people who have or can learn the necessary KSAs for the
job in question.
Diversity should be considered because:
- Sometimes organization actively tries to diversify its pool of employees to improve
product development or marketing (because different perspectives)
- Job-relevant attributes may be affected by test-takers backgrounds (e.g. cognitive
ability test scores are affected by things (such as test-taking skill) that are not
associated with job performance
- Applicant pools are more diverse than in former years
Training and Socialization
Training refers to learning experiences specifically designed to focus on the job and work
policies.
Socialization generally refers to the process of learning the culture, norms, and patterns of
work behaviors and usually applies to informal experiences of those entering a work setting.
One illustration is the culture assimilator (Fiedler, Mitchell, & Triandis, 1971), a training
program developed to prepare those assigned to work in another country to interact effectively
by learning how to behave appropriately and without giving offense.
Performance appraisal/evaluation
This term refers to the evaluation of work performance: how well people are doing their jobs.
In larger organizations, there may be an annual cycle of formal performance evaluation; often
it is part of a larger process that includes planning or goal-setting for a particular time period,
evaluation of performance with respect to those goals, and decisions about performance-based
monetary or other rewards (such as promotions, raises, bonuses, or awards).
Diversity the performance appraisal process should not be biased by the sex, race,
ethnicity, age, religion, or other attributes of workers that are not job-related. (unfair
evaluation can lead to dissatisfied and resentful and may respond with reduced effort and
Performance, poor attendance, or perhaps even dysfunctional behaviors such as theft).
Expectations should be clear.
Job evaluation and compensation
Job evaluation refers to a system for assigning worth to jobs, as distinguished from evaluation
of the work performance of employees previously discussed.
Larger organizations often system arranging jobs in hierarchy based on job factors such as
necessary skill and effort, difficulty of working conditions, or responsibility for people or
money.
This hierarchy is usually distorted by the fact of occupational segregation: in most
organizations there is a pattern of certain jobs, job categories, or departments being filled
predominantly by women or by men, or by people of color vs. Whites.
Wage gap refers to the well-documented difference between annual earnings of men and
women (or of Whites and ethnic minorities) working year-round and full-time.
, Influence of deliberate or unintentional bias based on demographic attributes of job
incumbents. (Examples abound: teaching, child or elder care, and secretarial,
janitorial, and housekeeping work).
Group processes and Leadership
Team composed of people who differ from one another in important ways can lead to:
- More effective work and a better product (more creative ideas etc.)
- Communication problems or conflicts related to different goals or expectations.
Leadership refers to processes of goal-oriented influence in group and organizational settings.
With respect to diversity, often there are differences in access to leadership positions or
behavior and success in that role among people who are male or female or vary in age or
racio-ethnicity.
Organizational development
Refers to processes and techniques that occur when leaders, consultants, or members of
organizations attempt to improve internal relationships and success in accomplishing
important goals.
Why is Diversity important now?
Actual demographic changes in the workforce
(Mis)perceptions of demographic change
Changes in the nature of work
o Globalization
o Shift from manufacturing to service work
o Electronic technology revolution = people increasingly connected
o More focus on teams (rather than individual jobs)
o Increased reliance on contingent workers
Short term contracts
Less stable employment
The Business Case for Diversity
Development of the D&I business case that good diversity management leads to increased
company profitability.
The value-in-diversity perspective, proposes that diversity is good for organizations, in
contrast to the view that diversity is harmful to cohesion, communication, and productivity.
Cox’s arguments (these are not just arguments in favor of diversity; they argue for good
diversity management):
1) Marketing strategy – more effective in understanding customer base
2) Resource acquisition – minority talent will be more likely to like the company
3) Better problem solving – diversity / wider range of ideas
4) More creativity and innovation – wider range of ideas
5) Greater system flexibility – adapts easily
Well-managed organizational diversity is cost effective:
1) Lower absenteeism and turnover
2) Reduced barriers to communication
3) More efficient and effective communications
4) Reduced harassment
5) Fewer discrimination lawsuits
, Difficult to establish convincing empirical evidence for the economic success of diversity
management initiatives in actual work organization (often archival, descriptive, complex
systems).
Diversity Research Network (Kochan et al., 2003): (a) racial diversity could enhance
performance if the organization encouraged learning from diversity; (b) gender diversity
sometimes had positive effects; (c) negative effects of diversity could be reduced by training
and development activities; and (d) gender diversity was associated with fewer problems than
racial diversity (however, women were generally more numerous than racial minorities).
Litvin (2006): make space for a better case: focus less on finance and more on happiness and
well-being (it’s the right thing to do.)
Bendick, Egan, & Lanier, 2010: “diversity without inclusion” show the problems that result
from failure to incorporate those from underrepresented groups on the same terms as majority
individuals. In an inclusive workplace, everyone is treated fairly and is equally able to access
resources and opportunity and thus contribute to the success of the organization as well as
themselves. Perhaps we should talk about the business case for inclusion as well as for
diversity.
Supermarket chain
- Recruited African Americans (entry level management)
- Assigned managers to minority neighborhoods
- Results:
- Not matched to customers in other aspects (SES, income, etc.) = reduced
effectiveness
- “Career killer” stores.
>> Law suit
Chapter 2: Conceptualizing and Measuring difference
I - Models: clarify what we mean
To understand a complex situation, a model can illustrate clearly and simply the variables
believed to interact in that situation
A good model helps by:
1) Identifying important factors and relationships
2) Communicating ideas clearly
3) Helping to remember important variables
4) Predicting results of changes and guide actions to alter the situation
5) Suggesting that have been overlooked or not fully understood
Culinary Model of Organizational Diversity
Jelly bean model – Roosevelt Thomas: some people identify the new colors as the
diversity in the jar. He said instead that diversity refers to the whole mixture of
different colored beans. (can be eaten one at a time, maintaining the separate flavor of
each color, do not influence other beans). Social settings do influence each ohther.
Thus this simple metaphor identifies an important aspect that has been omitted
Salad (ingredients usually eaten together, if you not like one, you can pick them out)
