Diversity, Personality and Values: 1.What are individual differences and why are
ID: 391478 • Letter: D
Question
Diversity, Personality and Values:
1.What are individual differences and why are they important?
Individual differences determine our preferred behaviors.
By studying and understanding these tendencies, OB can more accurately predict individual and group interactions.
Self awareness - a conscious understanding of ourselves (personality, talents, preferences and biases).
Awareness of others - recognizing and being attuned to the styles, moods, and personality of others.
Components of Self
Self-concept- The view individuals have of themselves as physical, social, spiritual, and moral beings.
Self-esteem – belief in one’s self-worth based on overall self-evaluation.
Self-efficacy-belief in one’s ability accomplish a specific task.
Heredity and environment
Heredity sets the limits on the development of personality characteristics.
Environment determines development within these limits.
About a 50-50 heredity-environment split.
2. What is personality?
Personality: Combination of characteristics that comprise the unique nature of a person as that person reacts and interacts with others.
Big Five” personality dimensions
Extraversion- Being outgoing, sociable, assertive.
Agreeableness- Being good-natured, trusting, cooperative.
Conscientiousness- Being responsible, dependable, persistent.
Emotional stability- Being unworried, secure, relaxed.
Openness to experience- Being imaginative, curious, broad-minded.
Social traits- Surface-level traits that reflect the way a person appears to others when interacting in various social settings
Evaluation in problem solving
Making judgments about how to deal with information once it has been collected.
Styles vary from an emphasis on feeling to an emphasis on thinking.
Proactive Personality – Actively influence making a change in their environment.
Persevere until change occurs
More receptive to organizational change
Authoritarianism- Tendency to adhere rigidly to conventional values and to obey recognized authority.
Dogmatism- Tendency to view the world as a threatening place.
Machiavellian personality:
Approach situations logically and thoughtfully.
Are capable of lying to achieve personal goals.
Are rarely swayed by loyalty, friendships, past promises, or others’ opinions.
3. How are personality and stress related?
Emotional adjustment traits
How much an individual experiences distress or displays unacceptable acts.
Type A orientation- tend to be impatient, achievement, oriented and competitive.
Type B orientation- tend to be easygoing and less competitive.
Stress- A state of tension experienced by individuals facing extraordinary demands, constraints, or opportunities.
Source of stress
Stressors- The wide variety of things that cause stress for individuals
Types of stressors
Work-related stressors
Life stressors
Work-related stressors:
Task demands
Role ambiguities
Role conflicts
Ethical dilemmas
Interpersonal problems
Career developments
Physical setting
Life stressors
Family events
Economic difficulties
Personal affairs
Coping responses
Problem focused- Make a plan to deal with the problem
Emotion focused-Change your attitude
Personal wellness- Take responsibility to enhance and maintain wellness through disciplined self management (weight, diet, smoking, alcohol use, physical fitness).
Employee assistance programs- Provide help for employees who are experiencing personal problems and related stress
4. What are individual values?
Values
Broad preferences concerning appropriate courses of action or outcomes.
Values influence behavior and attitudes.
Terminal values
Reflect a person’s preferences concerning the “ends” to be achieved.
Instrumental values
reflect a person’s beliefs about the means for achieving desired ends
Maglino’s categories of workplace values
Achievement
Helping and concern for others
Honesty
Fairness
Current trends in the workplace:
From valuing shared values such as duty, honesty, organizational loyalty.
To valuing meaningful work, self-fulfillment, and pursuit of leisure.
5. Why is diversity is important in the workplace?
Culture- The learned and shared way of thinking and acting among a group of people or society.
Hofstede’s five dimensions of national culture values are:
Power Distance- How willing are people to accept status and power?
Uncertainty avoidance- How strongly to people preferred structured organizations?
Individualism-collectivism- Which is more valued – the individual or the group?
Masculinity-femininity- Are stereotypical m/f traits valued?
Long-term/ short-term orientation- Save for the future and be persistent, or ‘live for today’
Workforce diversity
The presence of individual human characteristics that make people different from one another.
Practices and policies that seek to include people who are considered in some way different from the prevailing group.
Benefits of focusing on diversity:
Diverse talents and backgrounds contribute to competitive advantage.
Promotes creativity and innovation.
Workforce better reflects customer base.
Increased employment increases productivity and benefits larger community.
Reduced legal noncompliance costs.
Social Identity Theory
Developed to understand the psychological basis of discrimination.
Categorizing yourself as a member of a social group leads to ‘in-group’ identification.
Important lessons for valuing and supporting diversity.
Appreciate differences.
Acknowledge that diversity shapes the organization.
Respect the needs of all.
Practice inclusion.
Avoid linking differences to stereotypes.
Commit to social responsibility.
Required: Consider you're a owner of a business and write something about how diversity, personality, and values influence organizational success based on above content. What values do you expect fellow employees to demonstrate in the workplace? What differences do you expect? What will you do to promote an ethical and diverse workforce? Why will this be helpful to you and your organization? How might the current political values climate influence the workplace and your role as manager? What role does personality play in your workplace? Write 350-400 words.
Please write in your own words. Please don't copy from anywhere.
Explanation / Answer
Workers personality, values and attitudes define how a person will interact with others in the organization. It builds social interaction within the organization. People with different personalities and values have different opinions in a team, considering all a team could be able to reach a particular decision without leaving any perspective unopened. The more diverse and organization the more opportunity of learning something new in the organization. The values of individuals shape their mind about what they think about diversity in their workplace. Motivating diversity in organization bring innovation and creativity which ultimately results in competitive advantage for the company. The employees should show respect for all people in the organization. there may not be two persons of the same kind, so employees must learn to appreciate each other’s differences .in order to promote diversity and ethics in the organization developed a future pool of leaders that is representative of the diverse cultures, values, races, genders, sexual orientation, and religious beliefs. Make work arrangement flexible catering to the needs of all employees because an employee who is feeling personally and professionally fulfilled is a productive employee. Make sure to involve members of all genders working towards creating a fair and equal work environment. Make an inclusive workplace fostering the principles of fairness, respect, equality, dignity and autonomy. there is a positive political power in the organization that helps improve productivity as clear policies and chains of command makes it easier for employees to give quality work. There can Abe a negative political power resulting from favoritism, dishonest or unethical behavior to get ahead which leads to decreases in productivity and higher turnover rates. Personality is that characteristic of an individual which when influenced in the right direction would take the company towards success. If the manger is able to appeal to employee’s personality, it will help increase job satisfaction and reduce employee turnover.