Case Analysis: The Memo Every Woman Keeps in Her Desk
Introduction
In this case study, Liz Ames has come up against an all too common problem in business today: gender bias. Effectively managing racial, ethnic and gender diversity is not just a human resources issue; it is a serious business issue.
Background
The recent departure of several senior-level women at Vision Software has significantly elevated Liz’s concern for gender bias at the company. She has arrived at a point where she feels compelled to communicate her frustration to their CEO, John Clark. She has experienced some uncertainty on whether or not she should send him a memo, and has asked for advice from a colleague whom she trusts.
Problem Statement
Liz’s
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If Clark is just starting to recognize the high cost of losing these seasoned employees, he should be receptive to Liz’s message and wide open to strategies for resolving the issue. However, it would most likely be a mistake for Liz to communicate the message in a memo that she alone has authored. The one-way communication channel afforded by a memo does not provide Liz with the ability to tweak her message on the fly as she receives feedback from Clark.
Recommendations
Liz absolutely needs to communicate the important points of her memo to Clark, but this is far too important and complex of a subject to effectively address in a memo. A subject of this level of importance and involvement is much better suited for interactive communication. Liz’s colleague should advise her to work with him and other like-minded co-workers to develop a strong business case for gender diversity that will effectively persuade Clark, convincing him that Vision will lose out on the best executives, senior-level talent and potentially new business and customers if it continues to operate in an environment of exclusionism. Then, taking it a step further, they need to convince Clark that Vision will be able to capitalize on diversity by integrating it into their business strategy and company culture. Clark needs to be able to relate to their cause and adopt it as his own. They should be
It was a great testament to management that this employee felt at liberty to be direct with Liz, there are few companies which can claim the same open door success. This employee did a great job of outlining her concerns but ended up dismissing her entire argument with the statement "You're a hit, you can move on from here." This is a little discouraging because it indicates that Liz's downfall with planning and strategy is being approved and affirmed by her employee base, this is dangerous for a company.
Robyn should draft or dictate a memo to be sent to all employees. The memo will include a brief introduction, acknowledge the sad news, and make a request for their support during the transition period. Even though this was not identified as Ms. Gilcrist’s priorities, the act will connect Robyn to her most important audience: her employees.
In the article “If There’s Only One Woman in Your Candidate Pool, There’s Statistically No Chance She’ll Be Hired”, the authors Stefanie K. Johnson, David R. Hekman, and Elsa T. Chan discuss how unconscious bias toward the status quo hinders diversification in the workforce despite diversity initiatives. To provide a potential solution for the workforce’s diversity problem, the authors conducted three studies which they changed the status quo among final job applicants. The authors concluded that when there are at least two minorities or women in the finalist pool instead of just one the status quo is changed resulting in the favorable candidate being a minority or a woman.
Gender bias has continued to be constructed in communication through marked forms. In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg discusses, “When people talk about a female pilot, a female engineer, or a female race car driver, the word “female” implies a bit of surprise”(Sandberg, 140). If everyone continues not to discuss gender bias then the world will continue to use marked forms, which Sandberg sees as a tool for people to be-little others (Sandberg, 140). She concludes this thought by saying “We can no longer pretend that biases do not exist, nor can we talk around them. The result of creating a more equal environment will not just be better performance for our organizations, but quite likely greater happiness for all”(Sandberg, 158).
Being about to deal with diversity effectively means behaving in a way that creates trust and respect among people, and gains benefits from their differences (Manning & Curtis, 2008). In our text, Manning points out that in order for a workplace eliminate diversity they need to turn their minds and hearts into bridges that join together that make the structure stronger than individuals (Manning & Curtis, 2008). I think as we start to see new generations enter the workforce we will seeing more and more of the acceptance of the diversification than in the past. Currently though there are proverbial “Glass Ceilings” for several minorities. One of the main ones I believe is the women in leadership roles in the workplace. “Women make up the majority of college graduates in the United States and many other developed countries, accounting for more than 40 percent of the workforce worldwide” (Hayzlett, J., 2015, para 1.). I think there is progress, but it is slow moving. One of the things that I believe we will starting seeing as it relates to the number of women in the workforce and we will start to see them growing in leadership positions. Currently, only about 15% of the women in the Fortune 500 companies hold leadership positions (Haylett, J.,
Restifo, Roscigno and Qian (2013) introduced an exploration study that indicated evident holes that exist for women in light of gender and race. The center of the study was discrimination inside of the organization. The outcomes demonstrated that discrimination influences women's elevation to upper and senior executive/administration positions. African American women encountered a larger amount of discrimination, particularly with respect to executive level positions (Restifo et al., 2013).
In 2015, the United States civilian labor force rose to 157.4 million (Unemployment rate nears prerecession level by end of 2015: Monthly Labor Review: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016). About half of the workforce were women and of the 157.4 million, about thirty-eight percent were non-white workers including Asian, Black, and Hispanic ethnicities. By 2024, it is projected that women will make up more than half of the United States labor force, in which, roughly twenty-three percent of the women will be of non-white ethnicities (Women 's Bureau (WB) Latest Annual Data - Labor force by sex, race and Hispanic ethnicity, 2015 annual averages and 2024 projections, n.d.). As women start to dominate the workforce, and younger workers continue to enter labor force, organizations in the United States are becoming more and more diverse. What was once dominated by white males, organizations are now a rich combination of different cultures, backgrounds and different belief systems. To ensure an ongoing efficient and productive work environment, a diversity training program should be put in place to address the tension and conflicts that arise from diversity in the workplace.
The topic of minorities in the workforce and how the struggle to accomplish equal treatment in today’s workforce is nothing new to our society. For centuries we have been concerned that by bringing together our different backgrounds, skills, and experiences, as well as the many businesses of this great
Harvard Business Review September, 1996 / October, 1996 HEADLINE: MAKING DIFFERENCES MATTER: A NEW PARADIGM FOR MANAGING DIVERSITY BYLINE: by David A. Thomas and Robin J. Ely; David A. Thomas is an associate professor at the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts. Robin J. Ely is an associate professor at Columbia University 's School of International and Public Affairs in New York City. Their research and teaching focus on the influence of race, gender, and ethnicity on career dynamics and organizational effectiveness. ABSTRACT: MAKING DIFFERENCES MATTER: A NEW PARADIGM FOR MANAGING DIVERSITY DAVID A. THOMAS and ROBIN J. ELY Diversity efforts in the workplace have been undertaken with great goodwill, but, ironically, they often
As America moves towards a multicultural mosaic, we are not a melting pot as we are much more of a salad bowl. The mosaic is one of different genders and cultures, each unique in its own way. Learning to understand each of these flavors gives way to doors in the world of sociology. Although there are many aspects of sociology for the topic of the assignment, we will discuss the importance of understanding diversity (cultural, ethnic, gender) by managers and professionals in the workforce. According to Forbes magazine, “Mixed gender executive boards have outperformed all-male ones by 26% over the last six years, according to research by Credit Suisse, while global studies have shown that organizations with diverse and inclusive cultures are
Gender, ethnicity, and race inequalities and the issues surrounding them in the workplace have been on the forefront of society’s mind for decades. The problem of inequality in the workplace has become one of the most important and vital issues in our society today. In order to understand fully the reasons for these inequalities, one must try to understand the factors that cause gender, ethnicity, and racial issues within the workplace, yet in this case, we will tend to focus mostly towards gender inequality in the workplace. One typically thinks locally
There are two major cultural divisions, Hispanic and Caucasian, to further complicate the work environment the ratio of Male to female workers is 20 to 1. No effort from either group of being sensitive to the others existence is apparent. (DuBrin, 2004, p. 67). Management’s main concern is for “ethnic diversity” to the point of not having issues with the equal employment opportunity act.
I intend to learn that diversity is beyond employees being different, but extends to gender, education background, ethic, and social status. In ?True to Myself? (Daft,2014) this case study address diversity in the area of gender. I learned that racism, nor harassment is not always men to women, but it can be woman to woman. As a future, business woman I have to be mindful that diversity in the workforce must be alive and vibrant among women and men. To minimize the gender, generation gaps, and cultural differences. I learned that diversity training and inclusion is needed to build diversity.
Representation of the sexes in the decision making process is a benefit of having both men and women in the group. Decisions will be made based on discussions coming from the prospective of males and females of the group. There were female partners within the firm that could have sat on the committee to voice their opinion from a woman’s perspective. Their point of view was crucial because the decision of the committee was a subjective decision of the committee members. The all-male committee decision could appear to be bias.
Ogasawara’s article takes an interesting approach in analyzing the behavior of office ladies. She starts out by saying that women are the ones that are working under the men and that they have to be subordinate. She also talks about how men have more power and room to grow in their careers while the office ladies are stuck in their positions as they are and aren’t expected to try hard and do well since there is no room to be promoted. It seems as if the article is going in the direction of talking about the hardships of office ladies at this point. However, the article takes a sharp turn and starts talking about how the office ladies actually have an advantage. Although they are at the bottom they actually have the most power over what