SURFACE LEVEL DIVERSITY, DEEP LEVEL DIVERSITY, AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS ABSTRACT Surface level diversity is the mixture of people who differentiate by sex, race or ethnicity, and the observably physically disabled. These differences typically cannot be changed and are easy to measure because they are visual. Deep level diversity are differences such as personality and attitudes that can be communicated through verbal and nonverbal behaviors. Diversity can be affiliated with socio-economic factors such as education, profession, job function, and social class. These three components of diversity affect how individuals operate in the workplace. Diversity can channel a sense of competitiveness, which has pros and cons. The …show more content…
This article will discuss the different implications of surface level diversity and deep level diversity, inclusion, effects of competitiveness , and managers ability to efficiently direct an organization to success using those factors. Surface/Deep Level Diversity Diversity research traditionally has focused on the relation between “surface-level” diversity (demographic differences among employees, such as gender, age, or race) and the level of corporate performance (Harrison, Price, and Bell 1998; Harrison et al. 2002). Deep-level diversity may refer to attributes not easily observed, including technological and educational abilities, socio-economic background, knowledge, skills, values, attitudes, beliefs, and personality (Milliken and Martins 1996; Harrison et al. 1998). In today’s society it is said that deep level diversity now holds more of an influence of how we perform in the workplace because of internal traits. Deep-level diversity refers to differences among team members’ psychological characteristics, including personalities, values, and attitudes (Harrison, 1998). Information about these factors is communicated through verbal and nonverbal behavior patterns and is only learned through extended, individualized interactions and information gathering. Deep-level diversity may influence verbal and nonverbal modes of communication and the way in which people
The closest definition to individual behavior is personality which is "the totality of an individual's behavioral and emotional characteristics. Personality embraces a person's moods, attitudes, opinions, motivations, and style of thinking, perceiving, speaking and acting. It is part of what makes each individual distinct" (Answers, 2007). Diversity within organizations can positively or negatively impact individual behavior. Diversity includes all the ways in which individuals differ including race, gender, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and child/elder care responsibilities (Census bureau, 2007). Organizations can create opportunities to draw upon people with different
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Organizations are made up of man & woman, many cultures & races, and multiple generations. Some of the organizations are also comprised of disable employees. This is what we called diversity. Diversity is something that has been around in the organizations for decades. Diversity in Collins Dictionary means, the state or quality of being different or varied and range of different things. It is synonyms to variety, mixture, range, and multiplicity. According to Queensborough Community College in its website define diversity as “Understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies.” Diversity is the mixture of people, culture, race, ethnicity, and more. Diversity can somehow affect the employees and can be challenges to the managers.
Before we move on it is important to take the time and think what diversity means to your organization. How does your company define diversity? A simple definition of diversity is that every individual is unique, and has differences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, mental abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, personality, cognitive style, or other ideologies. Your organization’s success and competitiveness may depend upon its ability to embrace diversity and realize the benefits.
Diversity is a wonderful asset to an organization and brings with it many benefits. Employees bring in their own personal experiences and knowledge to the team (Burns & Kerby, 2012). Having diverse teams allows for the possibility to fix a problem or perfect a process by using different employee’s experiences and past knowledge to find solutions. A diverse workforce can drive economic growth and capture a greater share of the consumer market (Burns & Kerby, 2012). With diversity as a core value, the recruitment pool is widened to find the most qualified candidate and reduces employee turnover as a result. An organization can be highly competitive with a diversity initiative by adapting to a changing environment (Burns & Kerby, 2012).
With a shift in demographics in the last decade, workplace diversity has become one of the main concerns for companies. Diversity is now based upon race, gender, ethnicity, disabilities, and sexual orientations. A diverse company will seek individuals who bring “unique perspectives or outlooks to the organization” (Shackelford, 2003). Workplace diversity allows for each individual to have an equal chance no matter what his or her demographic is. Diversity in the workplace also shows that the company is not discriminatory.
The way in which an organization tackles diversity determines its negative or positive outcome. All the 5 companies agreed that diversity has contributed to their success. Some barriers were identified in managing diversity like the difficulties faced by women in managing the work and family, fear of discrimination, resistance to change, diversity is not seen as an organizational priority, resistance to change and unsupportive working environment for diverse employees. Diversity contributes to more productivity but if not properly managed could hinder success.
Diversity is simply the different people of opposite races in one place. Diversity has much a positive impact on a group because it improves the quality of goods made by one company, and it opens your eyes on how others of a different ethnicity act in their surroundings.
Are today's corporation’s diversity programs really successful? The idea of diversity going well past the traditional work environment and implanting diversity programs that allow a welcoming work environment. Diversity requires the acknowledgment of commitment that every employee is their own individual, not similarly as individuals from administrative assigned gatherings. Diversity calls for administration of associations to be extremely comprehensive enduring the individuals who are diverse as well as praising those distinctions. It requires the opening of non-conventional occupations to men and ladies of all ideologies, backgrounds, religions, races and ethnicity. University Hospital (UH) diversity and inclusion concepts creates a work
Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization. Workplace diversity is about acknowledging differences and adapting work practices to create an inclusive environment in which diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds are valued. It is about understanding the individual differences in the people we work with that arise from a broad range of backgrounds and lifestyles, and recognizing the value of using those different perspectives, ideas and ways of working to enhance the quality and outcomes of work. Our diversity is shaped by a variety of characteristics including age, ethnicity, gender, disability, language,
A critical concept all businesses or companies should strive for is diversity. It’s been lacking for earlier parts of history and still can be an issue in today’s world. Diversity in the workplace focuses on the differences and similarities that people bring to an organization. Differences or similarities including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies. For many companies, diversity of the workplace is an enormous strength that can attract job seekers, create a competitive advantage, resolve or prevent many internal conflicts, and helps give a better approach to many obstacles in every-day
As companies become more diverse in the work field employees are getting harder to manage and understand. One issue in the global market today is workplace diversity. Workplace diversity is defined as all characteristics and experiences that defined each employee as individuals, but it can also be misunderstood as discrimination against employees. Diversity can include race, ethnicity, sex, religion, disability and sexual orientation discrimination. One reason why workplace diversity is important is because when you respect your employees productivity rate rises and many companies do not know that. A diverse workplace targets to create an inclusive culture that values and uses the talents of all employees.
Deep-level diversity promotes team performance by giving opportunities for authentic interaction with different personalities, learning styles and character traits that would provide opportunities for optimal team performance. To begin, a definition of surface level diversity is helpful; surface-level diversity is a dynamic that people are keenly aware of in our society. We are taught at an early age to “play” well with others regardless of traits that are highly visible to us and those around us, such as race, gender, and age (Phillip and Gulley, 2014). Hubbard (2004) uses the term “workforce diversity” as another identifier for surface-level diversity to include the following aspects: “gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual
Many organizations are beginning to view diversity as an organizational change. This could possibly mean changes in the power dynamics and organizational structure, the way decisions are made, and the way an
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