So many people think diversity is determined solely on a person’s complexion and race; this video really demonstrates this. In the hit show The Office, Michael Scott, the manager of a regional branch of Dunder Mifflin, takes it upon himself to train his employees on the significance of diversity in the workplace. This is of course a noble and worthwhile endeavor in which at one point Michael shows his workforce a video he made in attempts to explain the significance of diversity. See link below to view the video Michael Scott made:
In this video Michael starts by saying “Diversity…is the cornerstone of progress.” Now of course diversity management is crucial to businesses, Michael’s correct about that, but only if understood and applied correctly. In Michael Scott’s limited view of diversity, he automatically thinks of racial divides and skin color. The fact is though, many other managers, while they might not fabricate such ridiculous “quotes” from Abraham Lincoln, still have just as limited a view of what diversity truly is and how it impacts a business.
Judging people by purely their race of origin or other outward features does not address any sort of deep-level diversity or its effects on performance. When in management, you need to recognize more than just outward appearance and racial background. For instance, is the employee positive or negative affective, and how might that impact the workplace? If you have several employees that are rather negative individuals, it might be prudent to not have them working on projects together. Being a positive or negative affective is not correlated to any surface level diversity.
Also, as a manger, one must be wary of potential faultlines that could develop leading to strife and disunity amongst employees. Now, sometimes faultlines can arise due to surface-level diversities, but those are easier to overcome than the alternative, deep-level diversities. Two groups of people divided on politics, religion, or ethical codes, are much more difficult to manage than two groups of peopled that are divided by race, age, or gender.
Even knowing what an employee’s level of self-esteem is can be important. Some employees might need to be praised and encouraged frequently or else they will quickly become discouraged, while other employees have very high self-esteem and are aware of their own self-efficacy. This again has very little to do with surface-level diversity and has everything to do with the specific individual and their unique characteristics.
So don’t manage like Michael Scott and stereotype people based on minor, surface-level differences, but consider the more complex characteristics of people, the deep-level factors, and manage people accordingly.
Posted by Josh Throop
I love this show but obviously know how wrong this activity was. This was a pretty hysterical clip. I also agree how surface level diversity is easier to overcome than deep level diversity. There's a reason we don't like to openly talk about our political beliefs and our religion.
ReplyDeleteAlec
Surface level diversity is a touchy subject and a problem that will always be around. This is something that we will never overcome because you must have diversity in the workplace. I personal can't stand surface level diversity and i feel that you should always hire the more qualified candidate. Having a quote for certain ethnic groups can really hurt you just for the fact that your not hiring based on qualifications but purely based on looks alone. I understand that if it's a tie that the minority receives the job but that's just not fair. They have to come up with a better way of sorting it out.
ReplyDeleteBrian