Characteristics of employee

Age

• Treating people differently because of their age
• Performance does not decline with age
• Older employees show better judgment, and are less likely to quit, show up late, or be absent
• Age discrimination is more pervasive than managers think.

Gender

• Treating people differently because of their gender
• Glass ceiling
• invisible barrier that keeps women and minorities from advancing to the top of the organization
• Can be diminished by: mentoring and stopping unintentional behavior

Race / Ethnicity

• Treating people differently because of their race or ethnicity
• Employment disparities do exist
• Legislation has lessened the problem
• Reduce by:eliminating unclear selection and promotion criteria and training managers who make hiring and promotion decisions.

Mental or Physical Disabilities

• Disability is a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities
• Disability discrimination means treating people differently because of their disabilities
• Reduce by: educating to address incorrect stereotypes, committing to reasonable workplace accommodations, and recruiting qualified workers with disabilities.

Work-Related Personality Dimensions

• Authoritarianism that means the extent to which an individual believes there should be power and status differences
• Machiavellianism that means believe that virtually any type of behavior is acceptable if it leads to goal accomplishment.Type A/B personality dimension
  the extent to which people tend toward impatience, hurriedness, and hostility
  
  Type A personalities
  hard driving, competitive, perfectionist, angry, unable to relax
  Type B personalities
  Easygoing, patient, able to relax, engage in leisure activities
• Locus of control: the degree to which people believe that their actions influence what happens to them
• Internal locus of control (what happens to you is under your control) and External locus of control (what happens to you is beyond your control)
• Positive affectivity
• consistently focusing on the positive aspects
• Negative affectivity
• consistently focusing on the negative aspects
• Mood linkage
• a phenomenon where one worker’s negativity spreads to others.

Organizational Plurality
A work environment where:

• All members are empowered to contribute in a way that maximizes the benefits to the organization, customers, themselves
• The individuality of each member is respected by not segmenting or polarizing people based on their membership in a group.

Benefits of the Learning and
Effectiveness Diversity Paradigm

• Values common ground
• Makes a distinction between individual and
• group differences
• Less likely to encounter conflict, backlash,
• and divisiveness
• Focuses on bringing different talent and
• perspectives together.

Diversity Principles

1. Carefully and faithfully follow and enforce all equal employment opportunity laws
2. Treat group differences as important,
3. but not special
4. Tailor opportunities to individuals, not groups
5. Reexamine, but maintain, high standards
6. Solicit negative as well as positive feedback
7. Set high but realistic goals.