HRM 201: ORGANISATIONAL

BEHAVIOUR
Issah Iddrisu, PhD
[email protected]
LH1
9:30-11:30

UNIVERSITY FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
 Diversity
in
Organizations
 Learning Objectives
 Describe the two major forms of workplace
diversity.
 Demonstrate how workplace discrimination
undermines organizational effectiveness.
 Describe how the key biographical
characteristics are relevant to OB.
 Explain how other differentiating characteristics
factor into OB.
 Demonstrate the relevance of intellectual and
physical abilities to OB.
 Describe how organizations manage diversity
2-3
effectively.
LO 1

Workplace Diversity

Diversity Management

Surface-Level Diversity

Deep-Level Diversity

2-4
LO 2
Workplace Discrimination and
Organizational Effectiveness

• Discrimination is to note a difference between

things.
• Unfair discrimination assumes stereotypes
about groups.
– Refusal to recognize individual differences is
harmful to organizations and employees.

2-5
LO 2
Workplace Discrimination and
Organizational Effectiveness

2-6
LO 3
Biographical Characteristics
and Organizational Behavior

• Biological characteristics are personal

characteristics that are objective and easily
obtained from personnel records.
– Variations in these can be the basis for
discrimination

2-7
LO 3
Biographical Characteristics
and Organizational Behavior
•Age

– Does job performance decline with increasing

age?
– Studies show that turnover and absenteeism
rates are lower among older workers, and
age is not associated with lower productivity.

2-8
LO 3
Biographical Characteristics
and Organizational Behavior
•Sex
– There are no consistent male-female
differences in problem-solving ability,
analytical skills, competitive drive,
motivation, sociability, or learning drive.
– But women earn less than men for the same
positions and have fewer professional
opportunities.

2-9
LO 3
Biographical Characteristics
and Organizational Behavior
• Race and Ethnicity
– Employees tend to favor colleagues of their
own race in performance evaluations,
promotion decisions, and pay raises.
– African Americans and Hispanics perceive
higher levels of discrimination in the
workplace.
– African Americans generally fare worse than
Whites in employment decisions.

2-10
LO 3
Biographical Characteristics
and Organizational Behavior
• Disabilities
– A person who has any physical or mental
impairment that substantially limits one or
more major life activities.
– Workers with disabilities receive higher
performance evaluations, but may have
lower performance expectations.

2-11
LO 3
Biographical Characteristics
and Organizational Behavior

• Hidden Disabilities
• Sensory disabilities, chronic illness or pain,
cognitive or learning impairments, sleep
disorders, and psychological challenges.
• Organizations must accommodate
employees with a very broad range of
impairments.

2-12
LO 4
Other Characteristics and
Organizational Behavior
– Tenure
• Tenure is a good predictor of employee
productivity.
• Tenure and job satisfaction are
positively related.
– Religion
• Law prohibits discrimination based on
religion, but it is still an issue.

2-13
LO 4
Other Characteristics and
Organizational Behavior
– Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
• Federal law does not protect employees
against discrimination based on sexual
orientation, but this may soon change.
• Most Fortune 500 companies have policies
covering sexual orientation and about half
now have policies on gender identity.
– Cultural Identity
• Need to accommodate and respect
individual cultural identities.
2-14
LO 5
Intellectual and Physical
Abilities and OB

• Ability is an individual’s current capacity to

perform various tasks in a job.
• Two types
– Intellectual abilities
– Physical abilities

2-15
LO 5
Intellectual and Physical
Abilities and OB
• Intellectual abilities are abilities needed to
perform mental activities – thinking, reasoning,
and problem solving.
– Most societies place a high value on
intelligence.
– General mental ability is an overall factor
of intelligence as suggested by the positive
correlations among specific intellectual
ability dimensions.

2-16
LO 5
Intellectual and Physical
Abilities and OB

2-17
LO 5
Intellectual and Physical
Abilities and OB

• Physical Abilities
– The capacity to do tasks demanding
stamina, dexterity, strength, and similar
characteristics.
– Nine basic abilities related to strength,
flexibility, and other factors are needed to
perform physical tasks.

2-18
LO 5
Intellectual and Physical
Abilities and OB

2-19
LO 6 Describe How Organizations
Manage Diversity Effectively
• Diversity management is the process and
programs by which managers make everyone
more aware of and sensitive to the needs and
differences of others.
– Diversity is more successful when it is
everyone’s business, not just for certain
groups of employees.

2-20
LO 6
Describe How Organizations
Manage Diversity Effectively
Attracting, Selecting,
Developing, and Retaining
Diverse Employees

Diversity in Groups Effective Diversity

Programs

2-21
LO 6
Describe How Organizations
Manage Diversity Effectively

• Attracting, selecting, developing, and retaining

diverse employees
– Target recruiting messages to specific
demographic groups.
– Ensure that hiring is bias free.
– Create a positive diversity climate.

2-22
LO 6
Describe How Organizations
Manage Diversity Effectively

• Diversity in groups
– Most people in groups need a common way
of looking at and accomplishing major tasks,
and they need to communicate well with
each other.
• Emphasize higher-level similarities among
people.

2-23
LO 6
Describe How Organizations
Manage Diversity Effectively
• Effective diversity programs
– Teach managers about the legal framework
for equal employment opportunity and
encourage fair treatment of all people.
– Teach managers how a diverse workforce will
be more effective at serving a diverse
customer base.
– Foster personal development practices that
bring out the skills and abilities of everyone.

2-24
 Implications for Managers
• Understand your organization's anti-discrimination policies
thoroughly and share them with your employees.
• Assess and challenge your own stereotype beliefs to
increase your objectivity.
• Look beyond readily observable biographical
characteristics and consider the individual’s capabilities
before making management decisions.
• 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 your employees; a fair but individualistic
approach yields the best performance.
2-25
THANK YOU