Self-Assessment 4.2: Assessing an Organization’s Diversity
Climate
Feedback:
Feedback is calculated by sum
Feedback score:
Score : 35 pts.
Range-based feedback:
28 - 44 pts.
Feedback: Your organization has a moderate diversity climate.
Interpreting the Result
The three conceptually distinct factors of an organization’s diversity climate comprise the following:
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Organizational Fairness – This measures the extent to which employees perceive there is equal
treatment in policies and practices for persons regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion and age.
Organizational Inclusion – This measures the extent to which the organization supports activities
such as diversity networks, mentoring, and diversity training programs.
Diversity Promises – This measures the extent to which the organization is perceived to have
followed through on commitments with respect to the elimination of bias and being receptive to
hearing concerns raised by employees who are members of minority groups.
If your score is in the low or moderate range, this indicates you do not perceive the organization is
committed to having a good diversity climate. If your score is in the high range, it is likely you think your
organization is strong in this respect. Research suggests that you are more likely to be unhappy, dissatisfied,
and less likely to give the organization your best effort if you work in a low diversity climate. Sometimes, you
may need to look for other job opportunities if the climate is inconsistent with your values and needs.
Action Steps
Since this assessment measures your perception of an important part of organizational life, there are limits to
what you as an individual can do to alter the organization. However, there are several things you can do to
improve the diversity climate of your individual workgroup.
In particular, if you are a minority, you should take advantage of programs that many organizations offer to
help improve the standing of underrepresented groups. If the organization offers a mentoring program, you
should enroll and participate. Some organizations sponsor networks to enable members of underrepresented
groups to more easily connect with each other. And, of course, if you think you are being treated unfairly,
you should speak with someone in the human resources department about steps you can take to address the
problem.
All employees should be concerned about fit. Generally speaking, you should try to find an organization
whose values and perspectives match your own. If you find yourself severely out of step with your colleagues
and leadership, perhaps you should look for another organization. On the other hand, there are certainly
times when the right thing to do is to take a stand if you see or experience injustice. Wisdom is required to
know when to stay and when to move on. There are no firm guidelines or rules.
In addition to these specific actions, the textbook contains a number of ideas all employees can consider. In
particular, employees who are not minorities should be sensitive to diversity issues and work to create
psychologically safe environments for persons to raise concerns and to have honest discussions.
Survey Caveat
Remember your score on this assessment, while helpful for understanding, should not be over-interpreted.
You are not necessarily in the best position to respond to these items. Certainly, your perspective is
legitimate and valuable, but you should also recognize that other people, some of whom have more
experience and knowledge of the organization, may have different views. Surveys such as this are almost
always best when they represent the compilation of the assessment of many people, all of whom have their
own views of the organization. You might want to check your perceptions of the organization with other
people. The discussions that result may be very helpful to you in understanding how your organization works.
Self-Assessment 1.2: Assessing My Perspective on Ethic
Idealism
Score : 27 pts.
23 - 30 pts.
Feedback: You have high idealism.
Relativism
Score : 22 pts.
14 - 22 pts.
Feedback: You have moderate relativism.
Interpreting the Result
There are many systems that attempt to capture ethical values. This self-assessment measures one possible
approach to ethics. You are classified along two dimensions, and then these are used to create four
categories of people.
First, let’s define the two dimensions.
Idealism – This is the extent to which you think there is always a clear “right” or “good” action.
Relativism – This is the extent to which you think there are, or are not, absolute moral rules when making
ethical judgments.
This then leads to the following four categories:
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Situationists – Persons who are high on both idealism and relativism scales. The typical attitude is to
“reject moral rules” and advocate that each situation should be analyzed individualistically.
Subjectivists – Persons who are low on idealism, but high on relativism. The typical attitude is to
approach moral situations “based on personal values rather than universal moral principles.”
Absolutists – Persons who are high on idealism but low on relativism. The typical attitude is to
approach moral questions with the assumption that “the best possible outcome can be achieved by
following universal moral rules.”
Exceptionalists – Persons who are low on both idealism and relativism. The typical attitude is to
think there are moral absolutes but to be “pragmatically open to exceptions.”
If your score is in the moderate range on one or both scales, you do not fit neatly into these categories. This
is not a problem. It just means that your views are a bit more nuanced than those of other people. You can
still place yourself in one of the four categories by moving your moderate score to the low or high range
based on which is closest.
Action Steps
You will be faced with many ethical problems over the course of your lifetime. Some of these will be
relatively easy to address. Others will be very difficult. Sometimes, you will see clearly what you should do,
but you find it very difficult to follow through on what you know you should do. Other times, you will have
two (or more) ethically ambiguous choices in front of you and you will not know how to choose.
Because you are a college or university student, you have the benefit of having an extended period of time to
develop your ethical sensibility. You can do this in several ways. First, you should be in touch with your
religious or philosophical perspective. One of the purposes of religion and philosophy is to allow for the
development of a deeply thoughtful system of ethics. If you are required to take courses such as humanities,
history, religion, and literature, you should not view these courses merely as something to be “gotten out of
the way,” but rather you should use them to develop your ethical compass. Ethical problems are as old as
humanity. Courses in these disciplines will expose you to some of the great questions in life, and allow you to
think deeply about what the answers can and should be.
Second, you can do current reading. The business press is filled with stories of people who are dealing with
ethical situations. Sometimes, there are dramatic illustrations of ethical failures, such as the fallacious
accounting practices that led to the collapse of Enron or the decision by some Volkswagen employees to
write software that would allow their cars to avoid detection of illegal levels of pollutants. However, there
are also many less well known or dramatic stories. Read these and think about what you would have done if
you were placed in a similar circumstance.
Third, talk with your fellow students, your faculty, and others about ethical situations they have faced and
how they were handled. Some of the best learning comes from hearing stories from people who describe
their ethical failures and the consequences that resulted from their decisions.
Finally, you should use your time as a student to practice your ethical standards. If, for example, you think
people should not cheat on their taxes and they should not lie on their resumés, then you should practice not
cheating and lying as a student. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. If you cut corners now,
you will likely cut corners in the future. Now is the time to develop good habits.
Survey Caveat
Remember your score on this self-assessment, while useful for self-understanding, should not be overinterpreted. First, every person is complex and it is impossible to fully capture your uniqueness in a short selfassessment. Second, you may well find your approach to ethics may change over time, or you may come to
understand what your ethical perspective actually is only later in life. Third, there are many ways to capture
ethical sensibilities. If this one is not helpful, you should investigate other resources that will help you
navigate the ethical problems you will inevitably face.
Self-Assessment 3.1: What Is My Big Five Personality Profile?
Extraversion
Score : 4 pts.
2 - 4 pts.
Feedback: You are low in extraversion.
Agreeableness
Score : 9 pts.
8 - 10 pts.
Feedback: You are high in agreeableness.
Conscientiousness
Score : 8 pts.
8 - 10 pts.
Feedback: You are high in conscientiousness.
Emotional stability
Score : 7 pts.
5 - 7 pts.
Feedback: You are moderate in emotional stability.
Openness to experience
Score : 8 pts.
8 - 10 pts.
Feedback: You are high in openness to experience.
Interpreting the Result
Personality measurement can be fun and informative—but it can also be challenging if the results are not as
you might expect. There has been a great deal of research and thought given to how best to categorize
persons in personality terms. Much of this research and writing has coalesced around the view that the most
helpful categorization scheme involves five dimensions of personality. These have come to be known as “The
Big Five.”
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Extraversion – Persons who score high on this dimension tend to be outgoing, talkative, sociable,
and assertive. Research has shown that people in sales (think of a coach who recruits college athletes
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or a car sales person) tend to be more successful if they are on the high end of the extraversion
scale. Likewise, managers tend to be more successful if they behave in extroverted ways. In contrast,
persons who score low on extraversion (introverts) tend to like more solitary activities such as doing
office support, research and development work, working with data, and so on.
Agreeableness – Persons who score high on this dimension tend to be trusting, good-natured,
cooperative, and soft-hearted. Surprisingly, while all of us would like to have work colleagues who
are agreeable, research shows agreeableness is less connected to general work success than are
extroversion and conscientiousness. Of course, this does not mean you should not work at being as
agreeable as you can be!
Conscientiousness – Persons who score high on this dimension tend to be dependable, responsible,
achievement-oriented, and persistent. Research shows people who score high in conscientiousness
tend to be more successful in all types of employment settings than their less conscientious coworkers. It is easy to see why. What employer would want to hire someone who sees themselves not
always prepared (item 5) or someone who does not pay attention to details (item 6)? If your score
on this dimension is not as high as you would like, you can expect a high payoff from working on
becoming stronger in this area.
Emotional stability – Persons who score high on emotional stability tend to be relaxed, secure, and
unworried. In contrast, persons who score low tend to experience more highs and lows in terms of
their emotional life. Research shows this dimension has less to do with success at work than
extraversion and emotional stability.
Openness to experience – Persons who score high on this dimension tend to be intellectual,
imaginative, curious, and broadminded. Research shows there is not a strong relationship between
scores on this dimension and success at work. However, certain types of jobs are certainly better fits
for people who are strong in this area. For example, people who have to work across cultures are
likely to be more successful if they are more open to experience because it is easier for them to
imagine that people are different from them without having to draw conclusions about whether
these differences are good or bad.
Action Steps
There are many, many resources you can use to follow up on these results. Informally, you can talk with
your friends and family members to see if your self-assessment is consistent with their assessment of you.
There are many on-line resources including longer versions of the Big Five assessment as well as a great
deal of information on other types of personality assessments (such as the popular Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator). More formally, your campus probably has a career development office. Typically, professionals
in those offices are familiar with the connections between personality and the kinds of jobs you might find
to be most suitable. Finally, if you find you are struggling to cope with either short-term or long-term
emotional issues, we strongly encourage you to seek support from a campus counseling office, a religious
professional, or a close confidant who can help you work through the issues you face.
Remember, the personality dimension which has the strongest relationship with job performance is
conscientiousness. Employers like employees who are dependable, responsible, achievement-oriented,
and persistent. This is something you can work on improving in yourself. For example, if you notice you
have a tendency to procrastinate in completion of certain kinds of tasks, you can work on fighting that
tendency by working on those tasks first so they are no longer hanging over you. Then, you are in a
position to derive greater enjoyment from doing tasks you more naturally want to do. Setting goals and
action plans to achieve those goals are proven ways to improve your chances of success in any endeavor.
College is a great setting in which to begin to develop strong and positive lifetime habits. Don’t miss the
opportunity!
If you introverted (that is, low is extroversion) you have a particular challenge when it comes to
management and leadership. Successful managers and leaders are often seen to be outgoing and talkative.
This is not a natural tendency for introverts. However, there are plenty of introverts who are quite
successful in management and leadership positions. Typically, these folks learn to act energetically even
when they may not feel that way, particularly in important business and work meetings. So, if you are
introverted, do not write off the possibility of being in management and leadership. You will just need to
work at some aspects of the work more than others. However, you may well have analytic and vision
casting abilities that will more than compensate for this particular characteristic.
Survey Caveat
Remember your score on this self-assessment, while useful for self-understanding, should not be overinterpreted. First, every person is complex and it is impossible to fully capture your uniqueness in a short
self-assessment. Second, you may well find your personality may change over time, or you may come to
understand what your personality actually is only later in life. Third, this self-assessment is useful to the
extent it helps you to understand both your own personality as well as the fact that other people will get
different patterns of results. Good managers understand people are different, unique and complex, and
therefore try to get to know their employees as well as possible.
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