CONVOCATORIA EN EL ESTADO DE OAXACA PARA LA SOLICITUD Y ASIGNACIÓN DE APOYOS DEL COMPONENTE VI. PLANTACIONES FORESTALES COMERCIALES DEL PROGRAMA NACIONAL

The United States is diverse and its diversity is increasing.7 _{Understanding}

the implications of racial, national origin, and ethnic diversity is important in organizations because of our tendency to favor colleagues of our own race in hiring, performance evaluations, pay raises, and promotions.8

In the United States, people from minority backgrounds are more likely to feel stress, threatened by stereotypes,9 _{and perceive discrimination.}10 _{In the}

realm of skills assessment (like hiring assessments), they are less likely to per- ceive tests as being relevant, less likely to feel the situation is fair, and more likely to be concerned about performance. Although this can cause Blacks to underperform Whites on the mental ability tests commonly used in training, hiring, promotion, and other organizational outcomes, well-developed tests can predict job or training success equally well for members of both groups.

Due to subgroup members’ awareness of subgroup differences on standard- ized tests, the administration of such tests can produce a stereotype threat

that creates frustration among minority test takers and ultimately lowers test scores.11 _{Additionally, this threat lowers expectations and effort, thus pro-}

ducing lower scores among individuals affected by the stereotype threat. To- gether, these factors can lead to differences in test performance.12 _Individual

differences in perceptions of stereotype threat are related to lower test-taking

demographic characteristics

Physical and observable characteristics of individuals, including gender, ethnicity, and age

stereotype threat

Awareness of subgroup

differences on standardized tests creates frustration among minority test takers and ultimately lowers test scores

motivation and higher anxiety.13 _{One study found that greater anxiety and}

lower motivation predicted African Americans’ increased likelihood of with- drawing from a job selection process.14

Age

Four generations are currently represented in the workforce. According to date of birth, they are: seniors (1922–1943); baby boomers (1943–1963); Generation X (1964–1980); and Generation Y or the Millennial Generation (1980–2000). As each generation brings their unique experiences, values, and worldview, each also brings changes to workplace policies and procedures. For example, many seniors are staying in the workforce longer than previous generations, leading many firms to revamp their retirement policies and offer these expe- rienced workers part-time jobs. Baby boomers’ interest in wellness is chang- ing the fitness programs and wellness benefits many employers provide. Many Generation Xers are concerned about maintaining balance in their lives, in- creasing many companies’ interest in work-life balance programs. Generation Y members are technologically savvy, the most diverse of any generation, and are considered to be the biggest workplace influence since the baby boomers.

The U.S. workforce is aging at the same time Generation Y, the largest generation since the baby boomers, is entering the workforce. This increases the importance of understanding the role of age in organizations, and how to manage generational differences at work. Danielle Robinson, Director of Di- versity, Talent, and Organizational Design for global premium drinks company Diageo, believes that Generation Y’s entrance into the workplace “has added a layer of complexity to an already complex work environment.”15

Age tends to be positively related to job performance,16 _{although not all}

research has supported this relationship.17 _{The influence of age in training en-}

vironments has been extensively studied. Age was negatively associated with learning scores in an open learning program for managerial skills.18 _Older

trainees demonstrated lower motivation, reduced learning, and less post- training confidence in comparison to younger trainees.19 _{This suggests that}

age has a negative relationship with learning, and that part of its influence may be due to motivation. This could be because speed of processing slows as age increases.20 _{Such speed is likely to be most important in jobs requiring}

high levels of intense, rapid processing of information (e.g., air-traffic control- lers). It is important to note that this relationship does not hold for every- one—some older employees are likely to be good learners, and some younger employees are likely to perform poorly in training.

Increasing conscientiousness and knowledge counteract some of the neg- ative effects of aging that result from reductions in information processing speed and motivation to learn.21 _{It is likely that age is related to anxiety and}

other emotional variables, particularly in a complex or technologically oriented setting. Older trainees also may have concerns about their ability to rapidly process new complex information and as a result, suffer from a variation of the stereotype threat that ethnic minorities sometimes experience. Consistent with this view, older workers may not participate in learning and development activities as much as younger workers, in part due to a decline in confidence in their skills.22 _{Beliefs in one’s skill adequacy influence decisions to exert and}

maintain effort, particularly in the face of challenges. Older adults may ben- efit from self-paced learning environments, which may allow additional time. Additionally, confidence-boosting interventions can help to address the nega- tive effects of anxiety and reduced confidence.

so what

You will need to work effectively with coworkers from several differ- ent generations who have different values, skills, and expectations

Some organizations are using reverse mentoring to bridge generational differences and transfer the technology skills younger workers bring to the workplace to more senior employees. Reverse mentoring pairs a senior em- ployee with a junior employee, but unlike the top-down focus of traditional mentoring, the focus is on transferring the skills of the junior employee to the senior employee.23

Reverse mentoring was made popular by GE CEO Jack Welch, who re- alized that the web was going to transform business and knew that GE’s younger, “webified” employees had better Internet skills and e-business knowl- edge than did GE’s older and higher-ranking executives. He decided to pair an Internet savvy employee with one of GE’s 600 worldwide executives to share their expertise about the new technology. In addition to building the e- business capabilities of his managers, this unique “mentoring up” program made man- agers at all levels more comfortable with each other, and transferred a lot of technology knowledge throughout GE.24

Gender

Few, if any, differences between women and men are known that are relevant to managerial performance. No consistent differences in analytical skills, problem-solving ability, motivation, competitiveness, learning ability, or socia- bility have been found.25 _{Given the lack of research evidence and the legal}

risks of gender discrimination, it is best to assume that there is no meaningful difference in managerial performance between women and men.26