Transcript for:
Managing Workplace Diversity Effectively

[Music] the workplace as we know it is changing so managing diversity is critical for all managers and organizations predictions from the US Census Bureau of how the US population will change over the next 40 years are staggering the percentage of white non-hispanic Americans in the general population is expected to decline from 61.7% in 2015 to 43.7% by 2060 by contrast the percentage of black Americans will increase from twelve point four to thirteen percent as will the percentage of Asian Americans from five point three to nine point one percent meanwhile the proportion of Native Americans will slightly decline from 0.7 to 0.6% the fastest-growing group by far though will be Hispanics who are expected to increase from seventeen point seven percent of the total population in 2015 to twenty-eight point five six percent by 2060 other significant changes have already occurred for example today women hold forty six point eight percent of the jobs in the United States up from thirty eight point two percent in 1970 furthermore white males who composed sixty three point nine percent of the workforce in 1950 hold just forty two point eight percent of today's jobs these rather dramatic changes have taken place in a relatively short period of time and as these trends clearly show the workforce of the near future will be increasingly Hispanic Asian American and female it will also be older as the average baby boomer approaches the age of seventy around 2020 because many boomers are likely to postpone retirement and work well into their 70s to offset predicted reductions in Social Security and Medicare benefits the workforce may become even older than expected diversity means variety therefore diversity exists in organizations when there's a variety of demographic cultural and personal differences among the people who work there and the customers who do business there affirmative action is purposeful steps taken by an organization to create employment opportunities for minorities and women organizations that fail to uphold affirmative action laws may be required to hire promote or give back pay to those not hired or promoted reinstate those who were wrongly terminated pay attorneys fees and court costs for those who bring charges against them and take other actions that make individuals whole by returning them to the condition or place that they would have been had it not been for discrimination despite the overall success of affirmative action in making workplaces much fairer than they used to be many people argue that some affirmative action programs unconstitutionally offer preferential treatment to females and minorities at the expense of other employees a view accepted by some courts research shows that people who've gotten a job or a promotion as a result of affirmative action are commonly viewed as unqualified even when clear evidence of their qualifications exists this effect is so robust that those benefiting from affirmative action experience doubts about their competence so while affirmative actions have created opportunities for minorities and women they've unintentionally produced persistent doubts and self doubts regarding the qualifications of those who are believed to have obtained their jobs as a result of affirmative action surface-level diversity consists of differences that are immediately observable typically unchangeable and easy to measure in other words independent observers can usually agree on dimensions of surface level diversity such as another person's age sex race or ethnicity or physical capabilities most people start by using surface level diversity to categorize or stereotype other people but those initial categorizations typically give way to a deeper impression formed about the knowledge of others behaviors and psychological characteristics such as personality and attitudes when you think of others this way you're focusing on deep level diversity deep level diversity consists of differences that are communicated through verbal and nonverbal behaviors and our learned only through extended interactions with others if managed properly the shift from surface to deep level diversity can accomplish two things first 95% of studies on this issue show that getting to know and understand each other reduces prejudice and conflict second it can lead to stronger social integration social integration is the degree to which group members are psychologically attracted to working with each other to accomplish a common objective or as one manager put it working together to get the job done because age sex race or ethnicity and disabilities are usually immediately observable many managers and workers use these dimensions of surface level diversity to form initial impressions and categorizations age discrimination is treating people differently for example in hiring and firing promotion or compensation decisions because of their age the victims of age discrimination are almost always older workers and the discrimination is based on the assumption that you can't teach an old dog new tricks sex discrimination occurs when people are treated differently because of their sex or gender sex discrimination and racial or ethnic discrimination are often associated with the so called glass ceiling the invisible barrier that prevents women and minorities from advancing the top jobs and organizations sexual orientation indicates an individual's attraction to people of the same and/or different sex sexual orientation discrimination occurs when people are treated differently because of their sexual orientation racial and ethnic discrimination occurs when people are treated differently because of their race or ethnicity to what extent is racial and ethnic discrimination a factor in the workplace every year the EEOC or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission receives between 26,000 and 36,000 charges of racial discrimination which is more than any other type of discrimination charge according to the Americans with Disabilities Act @ww ata govt a disability is a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities disability discrimination occurs when people are treated differently because of their disabilities what accounts for the disparities between those with and without disabilities contrary to popular opinion it has nothing to do with how well people with disabilities can do their jobs studies show that as long as companies make reasonable accommodations for disabilities for example changing procedures or equipment people with disabilities perform their jobs just as well as people without disabilities when we think of others this the way we're focusing on deep level diversity deep level diversity represents differences that can be learned only through extended interactions with others stop for a second and think about your boss or the boss you had in your last job what words would you use to describe him or her is your boss introverted or extroverted emotionally stable or unstable agreeable or disagreeable organized or disorganized open or closed to new experiences when you describe your boss or others in this way what you're really doing is describing dispositions and personality a disposition is the tendency to respond to situations and events in a predetermined manner personality is the relatively stable set of behaviors attitudes and emotions displayed over time that makes people different from each other extraversion is the degree to which someone is active assertive GAR gaseous sociable talkative and energized by others in contrast to extroverts introverts tend to be focused thoughtful quiet reserved and energized by ideas emotional stability is the degree to which someone is not angry depressed anxious emotional insecure or excitable people who are emotionally stable respond well distress in other words they can maintain a calm problem-solving attitude in even the toughest situations agreeableness is the degree to which someone is cooperative polite flexible for good-natured tolerant and trusting conscientiousness is the degree to which someone is organized hard-working responsible persevering thorough and achievement-oriented openness to experience is the degree to which someone is curious broad-minded and open to new ideas things and experiences is spontaneous and has a high degree of tolerance for ambiguity deep level diversity is critical for managers to understand the differences that make a difference there are several different methods or paradigms for managing diversity the discrimination in fairness paradigm the access and legitimacy paradigm and the learning and effectiveness paradigm the discrimination in fairness paradigm which is the most common method of approaching diversity focuses on equal opportunity fair treatment recruitment of minorities in strict compliance with employment law under this approach success is usually measured by how well companies achieve recruitment promotion and retention goals for women people of different racial or ethnic backgrounds and other underrepresented groups the access and legitimacy paradigm focuses on the acceptance and celebration of differences to ensure the diversity within a company matches the diversity found among primary stakeholders the basic idea behind this approach is to create a demographically diverse workforce that attracts a broader customer base the primary benefit of this approach is that it establishes a clear business reason for diversity like the discrimination in fairness paradigm however it focuses only on surface level diversity dimensions of sex race and ethnicity furthermore employees who are assigned responsibility for customers and stakeholders on the basis of their sex race or ethnicity may eventually feel frustrated and exploited while the discrimination in fairness paradigm focuses on assimilation having a demographically representative workforce and the access and legitimacy paradigm focuses on differentiation having demographic differences inside the company match those of key customers and stakeholders the learning and effectiveness paradigm focuses on integrating deep level diversity different is such as personality attitudes beliefs and values into the actual work of the organization one sign that a company hasn't yet created a learning and effectiveness paradigm is that people withhold their opinions for fear of being seen is different the learning and effectiveness paradigm is consistent with achieving organizational pure ality organizational pure ality is a work environment where all members are empowered to contribute in a way that maximizes the benefits to the organization customers and themselves and the individuality of each member is respected by not segmenting or popularizing or polarizing people on the basis of their membership in a particular group the learning and effectiveness diversity paradigm offers four benefits first it values common ground second this paradigm makes a distinction between individual and group differences when diversity focuses only on differences between groups such as females versus males large differences within groups are ignored third because of the focus on individual differences the learning and effectiveness paradigm is less likely to encounter the conflict backlash and divisive 'no sociated with programs that focus only on group differences finally unlike other diversity paradigms that simply focus on surface level diversity the learning and effectiveness paradigm focuses on bringing together different talents and perspectives that is deep level diversity together to make the best organizational decisions and produce innovative competitive products and services whenever diversity paradigms a manager chooses diversity principles will help managers do a better job of managing company diversity programs begin by carefully and faithfully following and enforcing federal and state laws regarding Equal Employment Opportunity diversity programs can't and won't succeed if the company is being sued for discriminatory actions and behavior faithfully following the law will also reduce the time and expense associated with EEOC investigations and lawsuits start by learning more at the see website at WWE Osito the law also means strictly and fairly enforcing company policies treat group differences as important but not special surface-level diversity dimensions such as age sex gender orientation and sexual identity and race ethnicity should be respected but should not be treated as more important than other kinds of differences that is deep level diversity remember the shift in focus from surface to deep level diversity helps people know and understand each other better reduces prejudice and conflict and leads to stronger social integration with people wanting to work together to get the job done also find the common ground although respecting differences is important it's just as important especially with diverse workforces to actively find ways for employees to see and share commonalities tailor opportunities to individuals not groups special programs for training development mentoring or promotion should be based on individual strengths and weaknesses not group status instead of making mentoring available for just one group of workers create mentoring opportunities for everyone who wants to be mentored maintain high standards companies have an obligation to make sure that their hiring and promotion procedures and standards are fair to all at the same time in today's competitive markets companies should not lower standards to promote diversity solicit negative as well as positive feedback diversity is one of the most difficult management issues no company or manager gets it right from the start set high but realistic goals just because diversity is difficult doesn't mean that organizations should try to accomplish as much as possible the general purpose of diversity programs is to try to create a positive work environment where no one is advantaged or disadvantaged and where we is everyone where everyone can do his or her best work where differences are respected and not ignored and where everyone feels comfortable even if progress is slow companies should not shrink from these goals there are two basic types of diversity training programs skill-based and awareness skill based diversity training teaches employees the practical skills they need for managing a diverse workforce such as flexibility and adaptability negotiation problem-solving and conflict resolution by contrast awareness training is designed to raise employees awareness of diversity issues and to challenge underlying assumptions or stereotypes we may have about others some companies use the implicit association test known as the IAT for awareness training the IAT measures the extent to which people associate positive or negative thoughts that is underlying assumptions or stereotypes with blacks or whites men or women homosexuals or heterosexuals young or old or other groups companies also use diversity audits diversity pairing and minority experiences for top executives to better manage diversity diversity audits are formal assessments that measure employee and management attitudes investigate the extent to which people are advantaged or disadvantaged with respect to hiring and promotions and review company's diversity related policies and procedures mentoring is a common strategy for creating learning and promotional opportunities for women diversity pairing is a special kind of mentoring in diversity pairing people of different ages cultural backgrounds sexes or races or ethnicities are paired from entering the hope is that stereotypical beliefs and attitudes will change as people get to know each other as individuals because top managers are still overwhelmingly white and male a number of companies believe that it's worthwhile to have top executives experience what it's like to be in the minority this can be done by having top managers go to places or events where nearly everyone else is of a different sex or racial or ethnic background so what works in terms of diversity training ironically the least too frequently used programs diversity mentoring and appointing diversity managers responsible for diversity programs were among the most effective [Music]