Biological Characteristics of Organizational Behavior

Gomez-Mejia, L., Balkin, D., & Cardy, R. (2012). Managing Human Resources (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.

It is commonly believed that people differ in various ways, and these individual differences play a detrimental role on their behaviour at work. To be more specific, individual differences include two kernel factors which refers to intelligence and personality. It is clear that individual differences are important in determining behaviour, however, there are other external factors which are equally important, such as working environment or culture within an organisation.

Religion in the workplace can introduce some of the most challenging concerns employers have to tackle. Solving these issues involves an understanding of the law as well as attempting to balance the business 's needs with an employee 's desire to practice his or her religion. One of the most controversial conflicts when dealing with religion in the workplace is between an employee 's desire to take time off to acknowledge religious days or holidays and the potential reduction in productivity and profitability.

Since our country has a great diversity, employers may decide to hire their employees from a great variety of countries and different religious backgrounds. In an ideal work environment, the religious beliefs of a given employee, or the employer, do not have a conflict. Each individual is free to believe as he or she chooses and, as the work gets done right, neither of them will encounter difficulty with religion. However, in the real world, a good bit of issues can arise to create problems. An employee and employer may discuss, or even argue over, religious principles. What is more, religion is not always simply a matter of belief. The faithful practice their religion through various actions – styles of dres, manner of keeping or wearing one’s hair, follow certain diets, trying to recruit others to their faith, fasting, praying, avoiding certain language or behavior, and observing certain religious holidays.

In this article, the author gives detailed information about how employers should accommodate religious practices in the workplace for Muslim workers. The article has four sections on accommodations: terms of their clothing, prayer breaks, restroom practices, and limits to interactive process. For example, they mentioned how Muslims should be given flexible schedules for their religious festivals such as Ramadhan. It is a very clear and well-written article.

Organizational behavior is the study on how organizational structures affect behavior of its employees within the organization. Organizational systems is the structure that an organizations uses to organize its functions and assign responsibility to its employees. Organizational behavior in any criminal justice organization is how the superiors and the employees relate

Cultural differences in the workplace can sometimes become a challenge in the work environment. In order to facilitate these differences, there must be some form of cultural awareness. Cultural awareness can help employees face the challenge of responding to individuals with different religions in the workplace, expose religious practices, and eliminate stereotyping in the workplace. Awareness of religions, and the beliefs associated with different religions, can be accomplished in many ways, such as training courses, workshops or company handouts (Thomas Kochan, 2003, p. 4). Companies must embrace multiculturalism and diversity.

A person’s personality trait can define who they are. Some can tell these traits by the way a person reacts to certain situations, personal or on the job. A person develop traits from the way they were raised and the environment that surrounded them. Everyone carries some type of personality trait, but no one carries any that are identical. Managers have personality traits just like everyone else. Traits are linked personally and indicates a person’s character. No one has the same feelings or thoughts. So it is vital for manager to understand their personal traits and figure a way to use them in management. These

Faith in the workplace and the level of accommodations employers should allow is an increasing problem. Moreover, the influx of people from different backgrounds bringing with them different religious practices has caused organizations to seek help from organizations such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the courts, and legal firms on how to deal with this new reality. Thus, the complexities surrounding religion and spirituality in the workplace and recommendations on the cause and solutions were examined.

Although many organizations forbid religious express, it is almost impossible to stop an employee from thinking about their religious commitments (Hick, 2003). Understanding how individuals are influenced by their religion and how that affects the work environment is vital for leaders to avoid conflict within the workplace. In higher education, practicing religious pluralism at work is essential because of the diverse groups of people that are involved in the higher education workforce.

Allport defines personality as ‘the dynamic organisation within the individual of those psychological systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment’ (Allport, 1937). An individual’s unique personality traits and attributes are a powerful indicator of how he/she will interact with the work environment. The difference between average and outstanding employees can often be solely personality related. As the employee is the most valuable asset to the company, ‘selecting the right employee during the process is critical’ (Carbery and Cross, 2013, pp. 41-53)

Religion in the workplace can bring up some of the most difficult issues employers have to face. Resolving these issues requires understanding the law and balancing the business's needs with an employee's desire to practice his or her religion. One of the most contentious conflicts is between an employee's desire to take time off and the potential reduction in productivity and profitability. In ruling on Title VII religion cases, the courts have held that employers aren't required to accommodate employees' religious activities when it involves increased financial costs, transferring supervisory personnel or employees from other departments resulting in inefficiency, or discriminating against other employees or violating seniority systems. Accommodations that don't constitute undue hardship to the employer include voluntary substitutions or employee "swaps," flexible work schedules, floating or optional holidays, staggered work hours, and allowing employees to make up lost time. Transfers and job changes also are options if they don't cause reduced efficiency or

Personality traits reflect people’s characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Motivation is a factor that is highly dependent upon personality and because of this, managers must be able to recognize and respond to the different traits. Personality has been studied extensively throughout the years and researchers have found five distinct personality traits that are most relevant to organization; agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, extraversion and openness. Because of the way personality influences a person’s performance, these are

Personality has been inherently defined as possession of a particular set of characteristics possessed by people which influences their behaviour and reactions in different situation along with their motivation level to react to difficulties at the workplace. However, understanding personality traits and their development has been a contentious matter. Nonetheless, various theories have been forwarded to rather contribute to this contentious debate. For example employers set goals and encourage involvement with the company to have a better employee performance, which would result in higher motivation level subsequently leading to increased efficiency. Studies regarding the relationship between personality traits of a particular employee

Because Sonia’s co-workers are gossiping and raising concern, and as a consequence Sonia’s work performance is falling, management needs to personally address Sonia and discuss the comments that are being made. Another steps that management should take in this situation is to encourage a culture that is more accepting and understanding of religious diversity. It seems as if the culture of this organization does not understand the importance of recognizing and accepting religious diversity and management could address this through the creation of religious affinity groups. This would offer an effective strategy to help employees better understand the existence of religious diversity and the importance of respecting one another’s beliefs.