L02 Diversity at Work

The term “employee” is a large tent concept. There is no one typical employee. Our own experiences suggest that employees differ in a wide variety of ways.

First, some of the differences are reflected in the law. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (EEOC, n.d.) identified certain groups that would be protected from discrimination based on:

• race
• color
• ethnic origins
• religion
• sex

Subsequent federal and state legislation protected others (e.g., age, disability and sexual orientation). These categories raise a variety of legal and ethical problems beyond the issues of personality discussed below. (A subsequent lesson will explore this dimension of diversity.)

In addition, organizations hire individuals, each of whom will be a unique contributor to the organization’s purpose. How will a person’s unique personalities, desires, values, background and/or motivations affect that individual’s ability and willingness to serve the organization?

Also, it isn’t enough to understand how any employee will contribute to the organization’s needs. How will the organization serve the unique desires and/or motivations of the individual? In this regard we have already discussed the way in which employment can serve the types of needs Maslow addresses (see Lesson 01).