Why are Diversity Initiatives Important Census Canada 2001

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Why are Diversity Initiatives ImportantCensus
Canada 2001
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Diversity Initiatives in the Workplace

• Negative inter group relations in workplace still
  prevalent
• E.g., employment discrimination lawsuits in
  Ontario
• In 2002-2003, 337 were due to race colour, 177
  were due to ethnicity, 153 were due to place of
  origin
• In 2001-2002, 520 were due to race colour, 228
  were due to ethnicity, 126 were due to place of
  origin

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Psychological Consequences of Negative
Inter-group Relations

• Poor communication
• Conflict
• Stress
• Dissatisfaction
• Lowered Commitment
• Intentions to Quit

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Physical Consequences of Negative Inter-group
Relations

• Cost of Employee Withdrawal
• replacing employee, days absent, sick days
• Mental health care costs
• Lowered employee productivity
• Health care costs
• Legal costs
• defending settling lawsuits
• Lowered stock value

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Positive Effects of Diversity

• Higher annualized returns
• Minority group members collectivism
  (group-orientation) interpersonal skills
  collaboration, cohesion, teamwork
• See also Cox
• Diverse groups decision making, creativity,
  marketing
• Women tolerance for ambiguity cognitive
  complexity
• Bilinguals cognitive complexity

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Types of Diversity Initiatives

• Managing Diversity
• Changing org structure, policies, norms
  practices to create fairness
• Valuing Diversity
• Changing employee attitudes and behaviors via
  emphasizing equality/fairness values and/or
  providing training

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Managing Diversity

• Changing structure by changing composition of
  organization at all levels via
• Recruitment, hiring, promotion
• Compensation for diversity-based performance
• Grievance procedure
• Encouraging communication across and within all
  levels

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Managing Diversity

• Other strategies
• Sponsoring caucus, advisory, and support groups
  for different groups
• Offering benefit packages that appeal to
  minorities
• Being more flexible in social norms (see also
  Cox)
• Ensuring minority representation on internal
  committees
• Creating career development programs for
  minorities (e.g., mentoring)
• Community outreach to enhance organizations
  image and attract minority applicants

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Valuing Diversity

• Org emphasizes fairness/equality values
• Provides training to
• Increase awareness (sensitivity)
• Cultural historical information about groups
• Know about, and counteract stereotypes
• E.g., Diversophy board game
• Improve skills
• Interpersonal, conflict management, language,
  mentoring
• Change attitudes feelings
• Hardest to do

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Types of Diversity Training

• What is culture?
• Beliefs, norms, customs, knowledge, habits of a
  group
• Why is learning about cultural differences
  important for diversity training?
• Increases awareness of role of culture in social
  behaviors
• Awareness can improve interactions between people
  of different cultural groups

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Goals of Diversity Exercises

• Highlight differences in communication styles
• Culture-clash
• Inter cultural conflict resolution
• Owl sensitivity
• Increase cultural identity
• Pie chart, Backgrounds, Cultural circles
• Interpersonal stereotyping
• Diversity and perception, Car radio etc.
• Group stereotyping
• Gender language, Cross-gender role-play
• Understand power differences Gain empathy
• Disability Exercise

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Evaluation of Diversity Training Programs

• Tansik Driskill 1977
• 20 hrs of lectures, case studies, role-playing
• Small changes right after, positive changes 5
  weeks after, negative attitudes 12 weeks after
• Sorcher Spence 1982
• 10 week prog of watching videotapes of effective
  behaviors, role playing with reinforcement
• No changes immediately or 6 weeks after, but
  positive changes 20 weeks after

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Evaluation of Diversity Training Programs

• Dunnette Motowildo (1982)
• 3-days of small group discussions, readings,
  seminars, videos on sexist attitudes behaviors
• No changes for men, but positive changes for
  women
• Alderfer (1992)
• Upward mobility program, balanced composition of
  promotion committees, workshop had lectures,
  role-plays and experiential activities
• Increases in minorities in management ranks
• Dominant group members evaluated program more
  negatively than minority group members

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Evaluation of Diversity Training Programs

• Ellis Sonnenfield (1994)
• 1 day of watching videos of culturally
  insensitive behaviors and discussing them
• 59 evaluated seminar positively
• Tan, Morris, Romero (1996)
• 3 days of case studies, simulations, videos,
  discussions
• Increased knowledge of
• diversity issues
• barriers to change
• sensitization to and knowledge of how to prevent
  negative effects of prejudice stereotypes

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Evaluation of Diversity Training Programs

• Hanover Cellar 1998
• Videos, role playing, examination of diversity
  practices, action planning
• Increased ratings on diversity practice measures
  (e.g., open discussions of group differences,
  discouraging comments perpetuating stereotypes)
• Rynes Rosen 1995
• 33 of HR managers surveyed rated diversity
  programs as successful but 18 rated them as
  unsuccessful
• Mandatory prog were rated as more successful

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Evaluation of Diversity Training Programs

• Layng 1998
• Analysis of commonly used video in diversity
  training programs
• Introduced new stereotypes to replace old ones
• Too much focus on incompetence of White male
  managers can alienate intended audience
• Suggests that diversity leads to communication
  problems

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Why such few Evaluations of Training Programs

• Trainers do not like sharing techniques
• Trainers do not know evaluation techniques
• Evaluation requires time and money
• Some evaluations take more time away from
  trainees jobs, are resisted by organizations
• Showing no change (or negative change) is
  disadvantageous to trainer

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Challenge for Diversity Trainers

• Changing established norms practices of adults
  in organizations is difficult
• Limited time for change to occur
• Teach legal inter group aspects of diversity
• Participants are resistant to change

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Processes underlying Managing Diversity

• Changes in structure, practices, incentives,
  norms to promote fairness changes behavior and
  (maybe?) attitudes
• Reinforcement theory
• Cognitive Dissonance Theory
• Theory of reasoned action
• Negative sanctions toward discriminatory behavior
  reduces it
• Reinforcement theory
• Theory of reasoned action

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Processes underlying Valuing Diversity Organizatio
nal Values

• When authority figures emphasize fairness or
  equality values (e.g., in mission statement) and
  follow up with own behavior or implement relevant
  rules, behavior changes
• Theory of reasoned action

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Processes underlying Valuing Diversity Training

• Change knowledge of and understanding about
  different groups
• Provide historical information about groups
• Info on group differences in values, behaviors,
  norms, beliefs
• Self-insights into own biases increased
  motivation to regulate discriminatory behavior
• Provide experience or information that
  contradicts stereotypes
• Create empathy (via role playing) positive
  changes in attitudes behavior

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Processes underlying Valuing Diversity Difficultie
s with Training

• Adult attitudes and behavior hard to modify bec
• Lifelong exposure and experience with mass
  medias stereotypes
• May react with defensiveness and avoidance to
  info that creates change
• May feel they are being attacked or blamed during
  training

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Resistance to Diversity Initiatives Individual
Barriers

• Mandatory nature can be positive and negative
• People who need it most get it vs. popularity is
  reduced
• Change is experienced as threatening, provokes
  anxiety , resentment, hostility
• Majority members may feel additionally threatened
  (as being attacked)
• Minority members may feel uncomfortable when
  focus of attention during training

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Resistance to Diversity Initiatives Organizational
Barriers

• Traditional hierarchical structures
• Standardized procedures, conformity norms
• Selection promotion based on fit
• Informal networks of communication
• Token representation of minorities
• Perception of demographic change in org
  composition as zero-sum game

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Implementing a Managing Diversity Initiative

• Need cultural audit to examine climate, history,
  current practices, need for new policies
• Plan should be comprehensive, be in collaboration
  with labor, have clear objectives, measure
  progress toward objectives, specify which
  programs address which issues
• Plan should fit with organizational climate
• Anticipate and plan for resistance
• Include training (valuing diversity)

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Issues to Consider for Diversity Training

• Include
• Majority and minority members
• Members from all organizational ranks
• Diverse trainers on teams
• Emphasize similarity within groups and
  differences
• Know legal issues
• Anticipate
• Conflict between majority minority groups
• Resentment from dominant groups
• Negative reactions re slow pace of change from
  minorities
• Avoid displays of favoritism
• Present diversity policies in ways palatable to
  all participants

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Issues to Consider for Diversity Training

• Focus on training skills bec employers are
  legally responsible for employee behaviors
• Cover a broad range of groups
• Attend to trainees
• inter group relations
• Age, status, strength of ethnic identities
• Decide on how to confront
• Prevalent organizational values
• Value differences between groups
• Be thoroughly prepared