Diversity in organizations can be defined as the inclusion of people from different races, cultures, and religions. There are two levels of diversity - surface-level which includes visible characteristics like gender, age and race, and deep-level which includes less visible characteristics like personality and work preferences. Discrimination in organizations based on stereotypes can negatively impact productivity and increase turnover. Effective diversity programs teach managers about equal opportunity, capitalize on a diverse workforce's ability to serve diverse markets, and develop all workers' skills.

1. Diversity in Organizations
Key Concepts
• Biographical Characteristics
• Ability
• Implementing Diversity Management Strategies
• Global Implications

3. What is Diversity?
Diversity can be defined as the inclusion of people belonging to
different races, cultures and religions having different set of norms,
values and concepts.

4. Level of Diversity
• Surface-level diversity:
Difference in easily perceived characteristics. It can lead employees to
perceive one another through stereotype and assumption.
Such as race, age, gender…
• Deep-level diversity:
More important for determining similarity as people get to know one
another.
Such as values, personality, and work preferences.

6. Discrimination
Discrimination means we are allowing our behavior to be influenced by
stereotypes about groups of people.
Unfair discrimination is often very harmful to organizations and its
employees, and results in reduced productivity, negative conflicts, and
increased turnover rates.
Discrimination type:
• Discriminatory policies or practices
• Sexual harassment
• Intimidation
• Mockery and insults
• Exclusion
• Incivility

7. Biographical Characteristics
Biographical characteristics means personal characteristics that are
objective and easily obtained from personal records.
• It comes under Surface-level diversity.
• It includes age, gender, race, and length of tenure.

8. Does age and job performance have
relationship?
• Older employees are less likely to quit.
• Older workers bring positive qualities to their jobs, such as
experience, judgment, a strong work ethic, and commitment to
quality.
BUT…
• Older workers are also perceived as lacking flexibility and resisting
new technology.
• Young employees are less experienced than older workers but they
tend to have more flexible attitude, and an energy or passion to move
forward.

9. Does age and job satisfaction have
relationship?
• Young employees seem to have less satisfaction and have higher turn
over rates.
• Satisfaction tends to continually increase among professionals as they
age.
• However, satisfaction tends to decrease among nonprofessionals
during middle age and then rises again in the later years.

10. Whether women performs as well on jobs as
men do?
There are few differences between men and woman in job
performance.
• Work schedules seem to differ between genders.
• One study point out woman are more likely to turn out than men.
• Parents were rated lower in job commitment, achievement striving,
dependability than individuals without children.

11. Race and Ethnicity
Race means biological heritage of people.
Ethnicity is additional set of cultural characteristics that often overlaps with
race.
This factor often causes discriminative behavior among employees.
o People tend to favor colleagues of their own race.
o Substantial racial differences exist in attitudes toward affirmative action.
o African Americans generally fare worse than Whites in employment decisions.

12. Disability
• Workers with disabilities receive higher performance evaluations.
• But they also encounter lower performance expectations and are less
likely to be haired.

13. Tenure
Tenure means seniority as per time on a particular job.
• It is a good predictor of employee productivity.
• Tenure on an employee’s previous job is a powerful predictor of that
employee’s future turnover.

14. Religion
Not only do religious and non-religious people question each other’s
belief systems; often people of different religious faiths conflict. Faith
can be an employment issue when religious beliefs prohibit or
encourage certain behaviors. Religious individuals may also believe
they have an obligation to express their beliefs in the workplace, and
those who do not share those beliefs may object.

15. Ability
Ability is an individual’s current capacity to perform the various tasks in
a job. These are of two types:
1. Intellectual abilities
Intellectual abilities are abilities needed to perform mental
activities ─ thinking, reasoning, and problem solving.
2. Physical ability
Physical ability is the bodily work done by employees. There are nine basic
physical abilities.

17. Implementing Diversity Management
Strategies
Diversity management is a process and programs by which
managers make everyone more aware of and sensitive to the needs
and differences of others.

18. Attracting, Selecting, Developing, and
Retaining Diverse Employees-1
Attract diverse employees : target recruiting messages to specific
demographic groups underrepresented in the workforce.
The selection process is one of the most important places for
diversity efforts.
• It should be fair and objective, qualifications are more important.
Similarity in personality does appear to affect career advancement.
• Collectivistic cultures & individualistic cultures
• Deep-level diversity is more important than surface-level diversity.

19. Attracting, Selecting, Developing, and
Retaining Diverse Employees-2
Individuals who are demographically different from their co-works
are more likely to feel low commitment and turn out.
All workers appeared to prefer an organization that values diversity.

20. Does diversity help or hurt group
performance?
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 characteristic 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 individuals who are highly intelligent, conscientious, and
interested in working in team settings are more effective.

21. Effective Diversity Programs
Organization use a variety of efforts to capitalize on diversity.
oTeach managers about the legal framework for equal employment
opportunity.
oTeach managers how a diverse workforce will be better able to serve a
diverse market of customers and clients.
oFoster personal development practices that bring out the skills and ability
of all workers.