Diversity Working Today: June 2006

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Down With La Difference

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Like most people these days, you're getting combat fatigue from the gender wars. You'll grasp at any shred of evidence that men and women have enough in common to someday be capable of inhabiting the same planet peacefully.

The latest dispatch from the gender front offers a glimmer of hope in the office. A team of Louisiana psychologists has found that, faced with stress in the workplace, men and women actually employ identical coping strategies.

Linda Brannon, Ph.D., of MacNeese State University, and Kathleen Fontenot, Ph.D., of CITGO Petroleum Corp., both in Lake Charles, Louisiana, surveyed 21 men and 21 women performing similar jobs at similar pay. All were asked to recall a stressful situation involving tasks and one involving other people at work.

There were no gender differences in the ways those surveyed handled stress, the researchers reported. The only differences were in the coping strategies by type of stress situation.

In the face of interpersonal stress, both men and women made more attempts to aggressively alter the situation--so-called confrontive coping---and to control their own emotions. When experiencing task-oriented job stress, both were equally likely to analyze and change the situation, so-called planful problem solving.

If there are gender differences in coping with job-related stress, conclude the researchers, it's due to the nature of the job, not to gender.

The Downside of Diversity

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More and more companies are asking employees to leave the isolation of their cubicles to collaborate with co-workers, spawning innovative ideas, increased productivity--and, surprisingly, friction.

According to Debra Connelley, Ph.D., who teaches organizational behavior at the University of Buffalo, increasing diversity and team-based work structures can spark office conflict. This is typical, she says, of any environment in which very different types of people are forced to interact closely while attempting to assert their own goals and personal values.

Ethnicity, religion and gender are just a few of the major factors that lead people to clash over opposing viewpoints. Even one's work or education background can influence one's personal perspective. People tend to shut out information that doesn't mesh with their own beliefs, especially when it comes from someone they don't like or trust, says Connelley. Moreover, people define problems differently and attribute the causes to different sources.

But employers can watch for warning signs that conflict is mounting: Arguments arise regularly during meetings; a work team fails to reach a consensus; team productivity wanes in comparison to individual output; or employees make themselves unavailable for group meetings by taking a sick day or booking appointments during those times.

Bosses can boost poor group morale by training employees in conflict management as well as by emphasizing the importance of communication with co-workers. Most importantly, employees must learn to be flexible. Says Connelley: "People have to learn to respond to others' perspectives not with a kneejerk reaction but by waiting to hear out information before they make a decision."

Loosely Interpreted Arabic Terms Can Promote Enemy Ideology

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

BAGHDAD, June 22, 2006 – The pen is mightier than the sword, and sometimes in the war of words we unwittingly give the advantage to the enemy.

In dealing with Islamic extremists, the West may be giving them the advantage due to cultural ignorance, maintain Dr. Douglas E. Streusand and Army Lt. Col. Harry D. Tunnell IV. The men work at the National Defense University at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, D.C.

The two believe the right words can help fight the global war on terror. "American leaders misuse language to such a degree that they unintentionally wind up promoting the ideology of the groups the United States is fighting," the men wrote in an article titled "Choosing Words Carefully: Language to Help Fight Islamic Terrorism."

A case in point is the term "jihadist." Many leaders use the term jihadist or jihadi as a synonym for Islamic extremist. Jihad has been commonly adapted in English as meaning "holy war." But to Muslims it means much more. In their article, Steusand and Tunnell said in Arabic - the language of the Koran - jihad "literally means striving and generally occurs as part of the expression 'jihad fi sabil illah,' striving in the path of God."

This is a good thing for all Muslims. "Calling our enemies jihadis and their movement a global jihad thus indicates that we recognize their doctrines and actions as being in the path of God and, for Muslims, legitimate," they wrote. By countering jihadis, the West and moderate Muslims are enemies of true Islam.

The men asked Muslim scholars what the correct term for Islamic extremists would be and they came up with "hirabah." This word specifically refers to those engaged in sinful warfare, warfare contrary to Islamic law. "We should describe the Islamic totalitarian movement as the global hirabah, not the global jihad," they wrote.

Another word constantly misused in the West is mujahdeen. Again, in American dictionaries this word refers to a holy warrior - again a good thing. So calling an al Qaeda terrorist a mujahid legitimizes him.

The correct term for these killers is "mufsidun," Streusand and Tunnell say. This refers to an evil or corrupt person. "There is no moral ambiguity and the specific denotation of corruption carries enormous weight in most of the Islamic world," they wrote.

People can apply other words instead. "Fitna/fattan: fitna literally means temptation or trial, but has come to refer to discord and strife among Muslims; a fattan is a tempter or subversive," they wrote. "Applying these terms to our enemies and their works condemns their current activities as divisive and harmful."

The men also want officials to stop using the term "caliphate" as the goal of al Qaeda and associated groups. The Caliphate came to refer to the successors of the Prophet Mohammed as the political leaders of the Muslim community. "Sunni Muslims traditionally regard the era of the first four caliphs (A.D. 632-661) as an era of just rule," the men wrote. "Accepting our enemies' description of their goal as the restoration of a historical caliphate again validates an aspect of their ideology."

The men point out that an al Qaeda caliphate would not mean the establishment of just rule, but rather a global totalitarian state where women would be treated as chattel, music banned and any kind of difference severely punished. "Anyone who needs a preview of how such a state would act merely has to review the conduct of the Taliban in Afghanistan before Sept. 11, 2001," they wrote.

The correct term for the al Qaeda goal is global totalitarian state - something no one in the world wants.

Finally, the men urge Westerners to translate Allah into God. Using Allah to refer to God would be like using Jehovah to refer to a Hebrew God. In fact, Muslims, Christians and Jews all worship the God of Abraham. Using different names exaggerates the divisions among the religions, the authors say.

The men have launched an education effort. "Our work is an attempt to educate the interagency community about the challenges of communication with Islamic audiences," they wrote in answer to written questions. "Our particular effort is in its infancy, but is showing some level of success."

Scholars at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College use the essay in class, and the Marines are using an earlier version of the essay as part of their lessons-learned Web site. The final version of the essay is on the National Defense University's Center for Strategic Communications Web site.

Article Source: Department of Defense Newsletter

How Men and Women Communicate at Work

I just found one of my articles, How Men and Women Communicate at Work, republished in the General Information for Youth site. Thanks to Maneh Mamyan who blogs from Yeravan, Armenia. I am reposting the article here for your perusal.

How Men and Women Communicate at Work

Men and women communicate differently. They may use the same words, but they place different connotations and emotional emphasis on them. This gender difference often leads to misunderstanding and can unintentionally hurt each other’s feelings. In order to develop harmonious work relations between sexes, each gender must first understand where all this miscommunication stems from.

One of the major differences in how men and women communicate is in their emphasis on task vs. relationship. Men primarily are task-oriented. They communicate to convey information, to solve a problem or to get things done. They use fewer words to get to the point and appear more competent to other men. Each point is essential and in a linear sequence to form a logical conclusion. This quality presents men to women as impersonal and insensitive, thus risking losing the trust of women in working with them.

Women, on the other hand, communicate to build and maintain relationships, and also as a means to generate and share creative ideas. They need to talk about the job before working, to feel assured they have the facts right before assuming responsibility. This quality presents women to men as incapable of doing the job right, thus risking losing the respect of men in the course of working together.

John Gray, the author of Mars and Venus in the Workplace, has identified four reasons why women talk. Men have only one reason and that is to convey content. This places the burden on them to adjust to how women communicate.

The following are the four reasons:

1. Talking to make a point: In this regard both sexes agree. However, women use talking to convey more than facts, figures and logical derivations.
2. Talking to give and receive emotional support: Women often use language to inform each other of their emotional state, similar to an FYI note. They do not expect anything to be done about it, or that someone should be blamed for it. As a result the degree of rapport and trust is increased, and stress is minimized.

3. Talking to relieve tension: Women talk to relieve normal stress and job pressures, and also to share ideas on how to manage stress. Men, on the other hand, internally strategize how to manage stress and gain more confidence.

4. Talking to discover a point: Men generally know what they are going to say before they speak, but a woman may just begin talking and gradually discover what she has to say. Actually, most creative people, either male or female, work this way. They start vaguely on something, and later develop focus on a certain point of expression. Men, however, lose patience with this roundabout way of getting to the point.

Gray also gave suggestions on what men can do to earn the trust of women and create a more harmonious work atmosphere. He emphasized actively listening to what women were saying and not saying. Listen to their tone of voice, look at the way they move their hands and body, and think of what they really meant. Demonstrate whenever and wherever possible the message that you care, understand and respect. A simple statement that shows you relate to her emotional state helps.

Minority+Diversity+Immigrants=?

Scrounging around the web, looking for scraps of info on diversity and its role in career development? This very informative site, DiversityWorking.com, can help you. It can be useful for a lot of people, particularly job seekers belonging to minority groups. For example, those with non-Caucasian ethnic/racial backgrounds like Asians, Hispanics, African Americans, Native Americans; 'minor' gender groups like women, gas and lesbians, transgenders and transsexuals; and physically handicapped, military related, or age oriented groups like veterans, disabled and mature workers.

What is a minority group?
The word 'minority' being used here does not refer to a number or percentage in the populace, but a status in the social hierarchy. Anyone who feels disadvantaged and underrepresented in the ruling majority is part of a minority group. The division of ethnicity, age or gender is to facilitate categorization. It's not to perpetrate the norm of labeling people as this and that, and then boxing them in with a stereotype of that group.

A minority group is any group of individuals who belong to the same race, age group or gender class. That they may appear to have the same physical characteristics is coincidental. A minority person can only feel part of a minority group when they identify with the ideals and subculture of such group. Thus we have Asians, gays and lesbians, disabled persons and war veterans as examples.

What is Diversity then?
Diversity as a concept is not new. It's been used to refer the variety of species found in the biosphere. But with the onset of globalization comes the gradual blurring of geographical and cultural boundaries. Businesses today have workforces composed of people from different cultures and nationalities. The rise and fall of world economies have brought migrants from as far as Asia to the West. To survive this economic phenomenon called globalizatin, companies have to change and adapt their workplaces to a more diversified workforce.

Some have shown resistance at first. Why change what is not broken in the first place, right? Later, however, many of the companies who first resisted change relented from the onslaught of migrant workers from the eightioes to the early nineties and even until today. Companies always seek lower labor costs to lessen expenses without sacrificing quality of service, so they seek workers who are willing to work for low pay and still deliver the same level of work performance.

U.S. Immigration
The ongoing controversy regarding US immigration policies and security issues arising from lax border patrols down South is just the tip of the iceberg. There is, I suspect, beneath that an underlying drama at play with prejudices and biases playing primary roles. Maybe the majority of Americans think they are open-minded when it comes to diversity, but it seems we haven't explored yet how far we have accepted the different people of color and nations coming and staying to work and build new lives in the Land of Opportunity.

Dos and Donts for Mature Job Seekers

Summer is here and with it a lot of leisure time to spare. My time, however, is spent more and more in front of the computer than out there under the warm summer sun and perhaps, an hour or two in the surf. Often when I look at the images of summer I see kids playing and resting on the beach. Why is it that summer is more commonly associated with youth rather than the well-baked maturity of the thirty-something-and-above crowd...?

I've always considered aging as a transition from the reckless and impulsive rocky world of youth to the calmer and steadier country of maturity. This is why mature workers remain to be valuable employees for any company who'd hire them. Their experiences and the wisdom they have accumulated as a result of those experiences can be used to teach the younger employees and even, younger bosses, not to repeat past mistakes and to change ineffective and inefficient methods in the career field they're involved in.

But for those who have become mature workers and are seeking new paths to take in their career, here are some good career advice from the University of Kansas site:

Do's and Don'ts for the Mature Worker

In the employment of mature workers, there isn't a more important person than the individual worker. Obtaining a job frequently means adjustments on the part of the applicant to change in the world of work, in pay, in working conditions and in location.

Too frequently mature job seekers face personal stumbling blocks, particularly in age and technological skills. Instead of emphasizing their advanced work experience and skills when applying for a job, mature workers sometimes attract more attention than necessary to their age and health. Often mature workers feel they were not chosen for the position because of age -- never realizing that they might have fallen short of the job requirements or lost the opportunity because they misrepresented themselves as incapable workers.

To help the mature job seeker, the "National Association of Manufacturers on Employment of the Mature Worker" has compiled these Do's and Don'ts. This list is not all inclusive. Locating a suitable job takes time and thought. These suggestions from a group of employment specialists, however, are worth careful consideration.

Do's

Stress your qualifications for the job opening
Recount experience you have had which would fit you for the job.
Talk and think, so far as possible, about the future rather than the past.
Indicate where possible, your stability attendance record, and good safety experience.
Remember that older employees are capable, dependable, trainable, careful, and steady.
Try to learn ahead of time about the company and it's products.
Assume an air of confidence.
Approach the employer with respectful dignity.
Try to be optimistic in your attitude.
Maintain your poise and self-control.
Try to overcome nervousness or shortness of breath.
Hold yourself erect.
Answer questions honestly and with straght forwardness.
Stress the contribution you can make to the enterprise.
Be well-groomed and appropriately dressed.
Have available a list of former employers, time and period of service.
Apply for the job in person.
Let as many people as possible know you are job hunting.
Know the importance of getting along with people.
Recognize your limitations.
Apply at plenty of places.
Indicate your flexibility and readiness to learn.

Don'ts

Keep stressing your need for a job.
Discuss past experience which has no application to the job situation.
Apologize for your age.
Be untidy in appearance.
Cringe or beg for consideration.
Speak with muffled voice and indistinctly.
Be one of those who can do anything.
Hedge in answering questions.
Express your ideas on compensation, hours, etc….early in the interview.
Depend upon the telephone for a job.
Hesitate to fill out applications, give references, take physical examinations or test on request.
Go to the interview without a record of your former work connections.
Arrive late and breathless for an interview.
Be a "know it all" or a person who can't take instructions.
Isolate yourself from contacts who might help you find a job.
Feel the world owes you a living.
Make claims if you cannot deliver on the job.
Display feelings of inferiority.

Practically some of these Dos and Donts can be applied as well on younger job seekers. Advice such as "Don't be late" or "Exude an air of confidence" works on any person seeking for employment no matter what age or level of academic achievement he may have.

For older workers, it seems these things become more vital since aging is viewed as a weakening of abilities and capacities as an effective worker. More often than not older job seekers are bypassed in favor of younger ones whose skills and technological know-how are freshly learned and can easily be developed. Their youth also encourages a more flexible work ethic which can be molded according to company rules.

Corporate culture also is another reason that younger job seekers are sought. In the fast-paced frantic race to success in the workplace, more of the work-eat-sleep routine is to be expected. Much of the physical afflictions that workers suffer from were due to the stress they experience at work everyday. A young man of thirty can unsurprisingly suffer from a heart ailment these days. What more of a guy pushing fifty or sixty?

But it is also important for human resource managers to focus on the inherent requirements of the job rather than whatever future complications they foresee in hiring a mature worker. As long as there is a clear-cut definition of the job description, human resource managers need not worry of future consequences. What's important is that mature workers are given an opportunity to contribute in their own way to the company, thereby proving themselves worthy as employees.