An Organization Without Walls

An Organization Without Walls

Allyson Lindsey

Capella University

An Organization Without Walls: Boundaryless Behavior

“You want people that grab ideas, that share them, that grow with them, that’s what you want. You want culture that just thirsts for them and doesn’t care where they

come from. The stripes on the shoulder don’t determine the quality of the idea – the idea does. And the people that grab them are the heroes. The people who take

ideas from innovators…and take them to new levels are the people you want to have around you.”

- Jack welch, Chief Executive Officer, General Electric

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oMm7IyvYS8

An Organization without Walls: Keeping Bias Out

• Q - Is bias good or bad? And….what is it?

• A – Both.

Bias as a critical component of cultural intelligence (CQ)

A bias is an assumption made about a person or group based upon a perceived idea that is often the opposite of reality (Bucher, 2008, p. 202).

Bias allows individuals to interpret clues about other individuals’ personalities. Ultimately bias is also assessing what has been evaluated

and is often used to ‘judge’ others against perceived cultural expectations (Bielby, 2000).


Workplace biases are defined as variances in career outcomes that are not attributable to any one quality; for example, skills, interests, that individuals bring

to the workplace (Bielby, 2000).

• Who is the best candidate based upon qualifications?

• Who is the ‘best fit’ for the organization or department?

Think ‘personality.’ Hiring someone for a particular department or job with the same or similar personality traits and characteristics as others within that same department can have added benefits. Consider this: Would you hire a football player to work in a china store? Or a person who does not like dogs to work as a dog handler? The answer is NO.

• Does the candidate have a solid knowledge of the job requirements and responsibilities?

Hiring without bias and questions to consider:


How can individuals recognize bias when they see it? And is it possible to understand it?

Yes to both questions!

Individuals will learn to recognize bias when they accept that bias exists everywhere, even within themselves. Being self-aware while also being aware of the positive differences that exist in others, to include those that exist within the environment. Accepting that bias exists everywhere will allow individuals to manage, learn and unlearn, and accept responsibility for actions [of bias] that occur daily, whether at work or at home (Bucher, 2000, p. 202).


The Implicit Association Test (IAT) finds hidden bias through measurements of “strengths of automatic

associations” (Greenwald et al., 2003). The test is reminiscent of a lie detector test – it detects bias in anyone, anywhere –

whether known, or unconscious.

The IAT determines bias by:

• Gauging words and triggers for reaction

• Determining time as a factor of response(s) (Bucher, 2000, p. 210)


Unconscious biases are:

• Unrecognizable cultural cues that differentiate people and individuals

• Invisible assumptions about individuals or groups of people

Personal biases are:

• Often embedded within individuals

• Seek to disrupt by introducing factors which have the potential to indirectly affect others, or professional situations within the

workplace

An Organization without Walls: Understanding Prejudice and

StereotypingPrejudice is: An irrational, inescapable and inflexible

prejudgment

Stereotyping, while similar, is defined as:

• Overgeneralizing groups or individuals without taking into consideration any differences between them

• Stereotypes are based on assumptions

An Organization without Walls: Prejudice

Prejudice is: A general feeling of dislike towards a person or group that springs from a belief or following of a negative stereotype

Examples:

• An African American child who expresses a dislike towards all Whites after hearing about his father’s father’s stories about

growing up in the 1960s

• Hitler who was prejudiced against the Jewish people; Gloria Steinem who shows prejudice towards men because of her

parents’ volatile relationship and father’s chauvinism

An Organization without Walls: Stereotype

Stereotype is: An exaggerated idea about a person or group that can be both positive and negative; however, even positive

stereotypes can still produce negative outcomes

Examples of positive stereotypes

• All Asians are technologically savvy; the Marine Corps is the most elite fighting force in America; African American men are

the fastest runners

Examples of negative stereotypes

All football players are jocks without ‘book smarts’; all cheerleaders are ‘bimbos;’ all vegetarians are ‘tree-hugging hippies’

An Organization without Walls: Prejudice and Stereotype

Actions Affect Attitudes and Behaviors

How does prejudice affect others?

Attitudes of the individuals showing prejudice are always affected in some way. Typically, when an individual’s “attitudes and actions are opposed, we experience

tension” called cognitive dissonance (Milgram, 1978).


Actions Affect Attitudes and Behaviors

How do stereotypes affect others?

Stereotypes, as stated, can be both good and bad; thus the effects of stereotypes can also affect individuals or

groups both positively and negatively.


Overlapping Features

Though a “clear distinction” between prejudice and stereotypes exists, there are some features that have

tendency to intertwine.

Scholars suggest a correlation between prejudice and stereotyping as a reflection of an authoritative view of a well-socialized middle-class economic status [quo] (Fiske, 1998) .

An Organization without Walls: Strategies for Reduction

Doing Away with Discrimination in the Workplace

• Create an effective equal opportunity policy that will help to build a foundation for respect, productivity, and safety

• Develop a process for resolving complaints of discrimination

• Build a training curriculum that covers topics of discrimination,

prejudice, stereotyping, & diversity

• Encourage and establish cultural activity exercises

(The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission)


Stripping Stereotypes in the Workplace

• Much like discrimination, organizations can strip stereotyping by implementing workplace policies that discourage cliques, or other

exclusionary groups among employees

• Post written Equal Opportunity policies throughout high-traffic, visible work spaces

• Contact The Human Rights Commission for best practices for preventing stereotypes in a workplace


Stripping Stereotypes in the Workplace cont.

• Establish diversity training for all employees that includes leadership/supervisors; ensure that “stereotyping” is a topic of discussion,

and encourage participation

• Ensure that workgroups are culturally diverse

• Establish workplace affinity groups


Preventing Prejudice in the Workplace

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) (1999) has a web page devoted to ways in which businesses can reduce workplace prejudice. Here

are a few tips for organizations who want a fair and equal professional setting:

• Mentoring Programs• Incorporating diversity as a business goal

• Develop a list of core, with “Respect for Diversity” at the top of the list• Invite key speakers to provide discussions on topics of diversity

• “Publish and distribute…a list of ethnic and/or religious holidays and the meaning of the customs associated with celebrating them” (ADL, 1999)

References• Anti-Defamation League. (1999). 101 ways you can beat prejudice. Retrieved from

http://archive.adl.org/prejudice/prejudice_workplace.html

• Azar, B. (2008, July/August). IAT: Fad or fabulous? Monitor on Psychology, 39(7), p. 44.

• Bielby, W. T. (2000). Minimizing workplace gender and racial bias. Contemporary

Sociology, 120-129. Retrieved from http://69.56.156.193/images/members/...

• Boundarylessness Performance Consultancy. (n.d.). Boundarylessness: A State of

Mind. Retrieved on February 14, 2015 from http://bpconsultancy.be/...

• Bucher, R. D. ((2008). Building cultural intelligence (CQ): Nine megaskills. CQ megaskills:

Dealing with bias (pp. 201-227). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

• Fiske, S. T. (1998). Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. In, The handbook of

social psychology, 357-411. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books...

References• Greenwald, A. G., Nosek, B. A., & Banaji, M. R. (2003). Understanding and using the

Implicit Association Test: I. An improved scoring algorithm. Journal of Personality

and Social Psychology, 85(2), 197-216. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.197

• Mayhew, R. (n.d.). How to reduce workplace stereotyping. Chron. Retrieved on

February 15, 2015 from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/reduce-workplace-stereo...

• Milgram, S. (1978). Obedience to authority. Retrieved from

http://www1.psych.purdue.edu/~willia55/120/LectureSocialF10.pdf

• The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. (n.d.). Discrimination.

Retrieved on February 15, 2015 from www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au/...

• Ziegert, J. C., & Hanges, P. J. (2005). Employment discrimination: The role of implicit

attitudes, motivation, and a climate for racial bias. Journal of Applied Psychology,

90(3), 553.

Education

An Organization Without Walls