...| | The benefits of having a diverse workforce Diversity is more than just a buzz-word. In today's workplace, it can hold the key to fostering new ways of thinking, reaching out to a wider range of customers and growing your business. Our workforce and working patterns are changing. Our working population is getting older, and increasing numbers of women and people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds are entering the workforce. Valuing diversity is becoming increasingly important for businesses. Publisher Malcolm Forbes once said that 'diversity is the art of thinking independently together.' Organisations can't thrive and grow if everyone in them thinks and behaves the same way. Having a diverse workforce with people from different racial, educational and social backgrounds and a diverse age range opens up a wealth of possibilities and helps to encourage creativity and foster innovation. There's also a clear competitive advantage to be gained from employing a diverse workforce. An organisation with a diverse range of employees is well placed to understand the needs of a wide range of customers, and can interact with a broad client base. Not only that, but it is also in a good position to recruit and retain staff in an increasingly diverse and competitive labour market. Embedding diversity of thought throughout an organisation also means that talent can be properly recognised and nurtured - wherever it may be. The best starting point for any organisation...
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...Groups and Teams According to Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Osborn (2008), a group is defined as a collection of people who interact with one another regularly to attain common goals whereas a team is defined as a small group of people with complementary skills who work actively together to achieve a common purpose for which they hold themselves collectively accountable. For this reason a group can only be a team if it meets the definition as mentioned (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2008, p. 192). Consequently there are three differences between a group and a team: 1. Complimentary skills 2. Accountability 3. Number of people. In order to create and maintain high-performance teams it is important to understand how workplace diversity in a organization relates to team dynamics in an workplace (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2008). Therefore the following will detail the three differences between a group and team in addition to explaining how workplace diversity in a organization relates to team dynamics in an workplace. Differences between group and team As previously mentioned, there are three key differences between a group and a team. To begin teams have people with complimentary skills whereas this is not a requirement for groups. Secondly people in a team hold themselves collectively accountable whereas this is not a required distinction for a group. Finally teams are classified as a small number of people whereas a group is not specific on the number of individuals (Schermerhorn...
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...denied opportunities on the basis of a personal characteristic that has no bearing on job performance. Discrimination causes great harm and is illegal in most cases. It's natural that tensions will arise among individuals in a diverse workforce, so it's important for employers to have diversity management policies in place. Most large organizations have taken steps to promote diversity awareness and understanding. These diversity initiatives contribute to a positive work environment that is free from discrimination. Let's look at some of the specific issues that arise among the diverse groups in the workforce. Race and Ethnicity - Racial and ethnic minorities may have different perspectives, customs, or approaches to communication in the workplace. These differences can pose challenges for organizations that seek harmonious employee relations. Such challenges can be...
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...Americans with Disabilities Act As a person with a disability, I felt it was only right for me to do my essay on the Americans with Disabilities Act and the way Human Resource management has to deal with it. I had my right leg amputated below the knee, which had a major impact on my life, but I refused to let it alter my life in a negative way. I was skeptical about going back into the workplace; for fear that I would not be able to perform the duties that I had once done. With a lot of research, I found that a prosthetic leg could improve my mobility and give me the confidence that I need to get back out there. After I received my prosthesis, I caught life by the tail and made it my own again. I learned how to put all of my weight on my prosthesis, which made it impossible for anyone to know it even existed. I decided that my disability was not going to hinder me; instead it was going to help me prove that a person with a disability could be a valuable asset to any company. The Americans with Disabilities Act is one of the most important regulations in the history of American. This act gives civil rights fortifications to persons with disabilities in public adjustments, employment, transportation, state and local government services, and telecommunications; this is comparable with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prevented discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. previous to this act being passed, employers were at liberty to disallow...
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...Critical Thinking in the Workplace Critical Thinking in the Workplace There is an art and craft to critical thinking and understanding the process can be very overwhelming. According to Paul & Edler, “Critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a view to improving” (p. 4). Retaining employees who use critical thinking skills in the workplace is vital for an organization to be successful. Critical thinking helps to improve the decision making process that occurs in the workplace. When staff use critical thinking skills they are better equipped to rationalize the situation presented and deal with it accordingly. When a person can identify, analyze, and evaluate a problem before creating a solution they are thinking critically. This paper will explore critical thinking in the workplace and how thinking challenges can obscure the process of critical thinking. Most people process their thinking based on how and where they were raised, their religious beliefs, values, and ethics. Critical thinking involves analyzing and evaluating ones thoughts while eliminating all the biases one may have acquired overtime. When critical thinking skills are practiced in the workplace mistakes are normally at a minimal. Critical thinking allows employees to make decisions in a clear and concise manner. In the workplace today, most organizations are successful as a result of employing personnel who possess critical thinking skills or by training staff on...
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...1. Employee participation is defined as a process of employee involvement designed to provide employees with the opportunity to influence and where appropriate, take part in decision making on matters which affect them in the context of their employment. Employee participation is part of a process of empowerment in the workplace. Empowerment involves decentralising power within the organisation to individual decision makers further down the line. Team working is a key part of the empowerment process and team members are encouraged to make decisions for themselves. Examples of employee participation include: i. quality circles or project groups in which employees work on projects where considerable responsibility is delegated to the team. You often see this in industrial manufacturing companies for assembling products ie. cars. ii. Suggestion system - where employees are given channels to provide suggestions or new ideas to managers within the organisation. iii. Team meetings or town halls where employees are encouraged to share ideas freely without retribution from management. iv. Delegation of responsibility within the organisation. In modern organisations the entry level employees need to be given considerable responsibility because they are often the face of the company. Their direct contact with customers on a day-to-day basis is where many customers form their image and opinion of a company. Furthermore, these employees feedback are often critical...
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...Team #2 Professor Eisner Team Case Analysis 11/16/10 Article N3/1: “Management Women and the New Facts of Life” Introduction: The main points of this article include the details of employing men versus women regarding cost of maternity and the two career paths that women are faced with; career-primary and career-family women. Key problem or opportunity related to managing gender at work in case: A key problem consists of the difficulties of establishing which women are career-primary or career-family at the beginning of their careers and how to make adjustments to suit the inevitable percent of women that have children. Key situational factor causing problem/opportunity: A key factor causing this problem is the need for talented women is the workplace today; there are simply not enough accomplished men to fill positions that require education within organizations today. It can be difficult to retain productive women that decide to have children, if accommodations are not made to keep women involved in the organization through the maternity process, companies will face difficulties filling the necessary positions. Recommended action management can take to solve problem/opportunity: Management needs to acknowledge the reality of maternity and the need for educated women in order to implement a process of measuring productivity instead of hours. Management can make improvements by providing more flexibility, training and education, and making sure men are...
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...company with very highly motivated sales teams. He pays them well and provides them incentives to sell even better with high salaries and bonuses. Salatino has a great sales team because he has given the perception of the importance of their skill level, customer service, and self- motivation. He has found that employing people with such attributes, they understand how to be” on top of their game.” He encourages finding common ground with his potential customers by requesting his sales team find out what’s going on locally. Mr. Salatino allows the salesmen to observe the other sales people in action and gives them motivation to sell, by offering sales promotions to potential or current clients. He keeps the workplace vibrant and full of energy. This energy allures other sales reps to respond by attempting to make more sales. The environment, along with winning personalities, attributes to the achievements of the individual, as well as the company. The perception the employees have, is success must be earned and it will be rewarded Learning Theory In Operant Conditioning, people learn behavior on their own. Many times it is through observation, that an idea is then repeated. In this environment, everyone understands the bottom line, whether it be good or bad. Joe uses the Operant Conditioning learning theory at Great Northern American. He does this by allowing his team to mimic each other by making sales in a fast paced, positive workplace. He presents antecedents, such as, develop...
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...Characteristics of The Sutton Business Environment In Sutton, there are multiple markets (Mass Markets being products that everyone buys, Product Markets being markets that control the supply and demand for those goods, while financial markets relate to buying and selling shares and stocks), from mostly the secondary and tertiary sectors. This includes banking (in the tertiary sector) and (manufacturing in the secondary sector). The Sutton area has the following markets in the secondary sector: * Manufacturing- Product Market * Construction- Product Market While, the Tertiary sector has the following markets: * Marketing- Product Market * Retail-Mass Market * Banking- Financial Market * Transportation- Mass Market * Health Care-Mass Market (If health care is private) * Education- Mass Market (Also if it is private) * Administration * Tourism- Mass Market In accordance with the Office of National Statistics, in the Sutton area, 11.29% of people aged 16-74 are economically active with part time jobs (they have jobs and contribute to the economy of the area), while 46.81% of people aged 16-74 are economically active with full time jobs. The average for people from London aged 16-74 with full time jobs is 42.64%, with the average for England being 40.81%. The unemployment rate in Sutton is 2.56%%, with the London average being 4.36%. The average household income per week is £700 with the London average being £840. This shows that while...
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...meet the demand of the business. This could either mean not employing any more people, hiring more people or even laying off some people. With the current form of government trying to cut back on unnecessary spending such as cutting back on the MOD e.g. ammunition, soldiers and vehicles. This means that the Dytecna company will need to cut back on a work force as less people are need to meet the demand of less products for the MOD in this case. Coordination of Team Resources to Meet Targets - At Dytecna, the company will want to coordinate different teams to do different jobs all at once, this is because the teams can then work together to make sure that the targets are met. By doing this, time is not wasted when members of the work force are working together instead of waiting to do something and that means more products can be made as the coordination of the teams can improve the time taken to complete the production of a product. As a result of this coordination, the company can then sell more products and therefore make a larger profit on the cost of running the company. For example, Dytecna will use their team resources wisely so that not too much time is wasted when they are producing their products for the defence industry, and therefore are able to supply enough products to their clients. Monitoring Team Performance - At Dytecna, the management of Human resource will need to monitor the performance of the teams working at the...
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...manage the diverse natures of individuals in their particular workplaces. Managing diversity is planning and implementing organizational systems and practices to manage people so that the potential advantages of diversity are maximized while the potential disadvantages are at a minimum. Having people with different cultural backgrounds can sometimes be as equally important to an organizations success and it is crucial that the right types of leaders with the proper trainings are in place to be able to utilize each individual’s skills and abilities to create a good working environment. In this study, aspects of individual differences including: Heredity factors, abilities and skills, different aspects of individual’s attitudes, and individual personalities and behaviors will be observed to test my theory of why individuals of different diversities are an asset in the workplace. The study objective is intended to determine just how individual differences are an asset in the workplace. The article that influenced my question the most was the article titled “Investigating Cultural Differences in Virtual Software Teams”. This particular articles title actually caught my eye much due to the fact that I work in a similar environment on a software development team. I thought that comparing an actual virtual software team to a traditional in-house software team would be interesting mainly because virtual teams operate under a networked structure and need structured communication...
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...Groups and Teams Benjamin Ogunde MGT/307 January 4, 2010 Bill Escue Groups can comprise of any number of people who interact with one another, are psychologically aware of one another, and who perceive themselves to be a group. Take for example a group of boys. Any number of boys can comprise the group, and there would be a sense of belonging amongst the boys as they are of the same sex. Groups are the building blocks of organizations and are designed to integrate job tasks and people effectively (Credo Reference). Teams in an organizational setting can be as simple as two people working together to write a white paper or technical document, or as complex as multiple businesses working together to bid a proposal or build the next generation destroyer for the Navy (Wienclaw, 2010). In general, groups in an organization comprise two or more individuals who are interdependent and who interact over time (Wienclaw, 2010). A group can be defined as a configuration of two or more interdependent individuals who interact over time. Groups work towards a common goal, are accountable to a manger, and may accomplish their goals. Groups also do not have a clear, stable culture, so conflict is frequent (Wienclaw, 2010). However not every group of people who work together can be considered a team. Teams on the other hand can be viewed as a specific type of group. In a team, there is differentiation of skills where one individual does a specific part of the task, and other...
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...Value Alignment for PepsiCo For organizations to attain a competitive advantage in today’s business environment they are employing a diverse and multicultural workforce. This diversification permits organizations to focus on developing products and services that reach numerous cultures. This diversification also allows various cultural and ethical standards to be integrated into their strategic plans. It is the duty of top level executives in an organization to impart ethical, moral, and the company vision to its employees. Executives must “walk the talk.” In this brief analysis, Learning Team D will examine the origin and subsequent evolution of both PepsiCo’s workplace values and personal values. An explanation of how individual values drive actions and behaviors will be reviewed along with an analysis of the degree of alignment between PepsiCo’s stated values and their plans and actions. Finally Team D will explain the differences and analyze the degree of alignment between our values and PepsiCo’s values as reflected in their plans and actions. Evolution of Personal and Workplace Values Most individuals derive attitudes relating to personal responsibility through their upbringing and family interactions. Many value concepts learned early in life influence individual perceptions and subsequently affect (through demonstrated traits) ‘learned’ behaviors that relate to speech, personal beliefs (faith), work environments, and interpersonal activities (Davis, & Keyser,...
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...“Do managers need emotional intelligence to manage successfully in the workplace? Why or why not?” Emotional intelligence (EI) is a key factor that contributes to the success of a manager’s abilities to coordinate and administer social relationships within the workplace. EI is one’s ability to recognize their behaviors, moods and thoughts, and to manage them under different circumstances-which in turn shapes one’s interactions and relationships with others. This zeitgeist concept addresses the importance of self-awareness, understanding, and the perceived imbalance between intellect and emotion in the life of the collective Western mind (Zeidner& Matthews& Roberts 2004, p.372). Popularized by Daniel Goleman through his bestselling book, ‘Emotional Intelligence in 1995’, which claimed that EI was a predictor of success at home, work, and in school (Ashkanasy& Daus 2002, p.77), it is highly regarded in the business world and among the workforce as an essential quality in which a successful manager entails. The five components of emotional intelligence at work include self-awareness – being aware of how our behavior is affecting others in a social environment, self-regulation – the ability to regulate moods to conform to adverse situations, motivation – an inner desire to achieve a higher level of performance, empathy – the general willingness to feel compassion, and social skills – which is the ability to interact with various individuals without causing an emotional...
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...Our Strength Is In Our Diversity: Fact Or Fancy? Effective management of diversity is based on recognition of commonalities and awareness of differences. Role modeling behaviors of those who readily accept the differences could help alter the organizational culture, and thereby improve perfonnance outcomes. Globalization and diversity have increased the need for investigation into workplace attitudes towards diverse others. In a study of topical relevance, Strauss and Connerley (2003) explored the relationships between race, gender, agreeableness, openness to experience, contact and cognitions, feelings & behaviors. The Universal-Diverse Orientation (UDO) construct was employed as a measure of attitudes towards diversity. This metric has three components: realistic appreciation (cognition), comfort with difference (feeling) and diversity of contact (behavior). Based on a survey of 252 undergraduate business students from two different institutions in the US, the study found partial support for the hypothesis that women and non-Whites have more positive UDO attitudes. Gender plays a role only as a first step. Persons who rate high on openness to experience would have more positive UDO attitudes. Surprisingly, the findings did not support the view that people living in more heterogeneous environments would have more positive UDO attitudes. Contact, gender and race would interact with openness and agreeableness to predict UDO attitudes. Women had more favorable...
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