For your Signature Assignment, you will engage in a role— one that will require you to integrate the topics from the course.
You have been brought in as a consultant to assess a team. You immediately notice that the team members refer to each other in a stereotypical manner. This workforce team consists of John, a 75-year-old Caucasian who describes himself as ‘hip, street, and tech savvy’; although the team sees him as old and forgetful. Jill is a 22-year-old African American who describes herself as shy and feels she is too young to bring anything productive to the group; the team reports that s her youth implies that she does not have the experience to do what the job requires. Joe, a 35-year-old immigrant with limited English language proficiency reports that he often feels misunderstood and teased because of his heavy accent; the team reports that it has great difficulty understanding him and sometimes teases him, in a ‘good-natured’ manner, about his accent. Mary is a 30-year-old with an ADA accommodation due to childhood trauma (which her family denied ever happened); the team reports that she is often preoccupied. Ahsan is a 50-year-oldwoman who is strongly committed to her Indian culture; the team reports that it feels that she has not fully embraced the American culture.
As a consultant, the organization has asked you to assess the team, and then offer specific suggestions and guidance to help this team to become more functional and productive.
As a consultant, you must assess the team on the following:
Support your findings with the five peer-reviewed articles found in Week 6 plus an additional five peer-reviewed articles for a total of 10 articles.
Length: 10-12 pages
Your paper should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course by providing new thoughts and insights relating directly to the topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards. Be careful to adhere to Northcentral’s Academic Integrity Policy.
Upload your document and click the Submit to Dropbox button.
I Have worked on this assignment.....I really did not understand so below is my submission'...............................................................................
Case study for corporate team
The purpose of this case study is to assist the team and on for specific suggestions and guidance to help the team to come here functional and productive. One of the key issues that were present before the group is assessed was the inability to function as a unit and the team due to several different varying issues that were noticed among the team members in order to understand that dynamic one. Assess each group member individually and then assess him or her as the team. This team was hand-picked to help bring a cultural diversity to the corporate level each member brings about valuable information to help further and strengthen the cohesion in this corporation.
This team consists of John who is a 75-year-old location mail Jill who is a 22-year-old African-American female Joe 35-year-old immigrant Hispanic Mary 30-year-old Caucasian female and Alhson a 50-year-old Indian female.
John identifies himself as a hip, tec savvy individual who feels he is in touch with all of his younger counterparts. John sees himself as a very up-to-date and tries too hard to fit in his desire to be an important part of the group, however, makes him come off as pushy. John cognitive functioning allows him to see himself other than who he is. His coworkers to some degree discriminate him because of his age, which makes him feel devalued.
Age discrimination, like every other form of discrimination, is rooted in stereotypes. In this case, the stereotype is that older workers are inflexible, resistant to change, uncomfortable with technology, tied irrevocably to older approaches and possessed of inflated opinions of their own worth. (Woodridge, 2015) Statically, older worker are having to stay on the job longer to make ends meet and now there are several generations that can be represented in one company. What Older Workers Can Teach Younger Workers
Hard Times: “Younger workers didn’t go through the recession of the 1970s, and there are still people in the workplace who remember the Depression,” says Ben Dattner, an industrial and organizational psychologist and consultant. “They can pass along wisdom about economic cycles and provide a long-range view of things.” Loyalty: It may be out of fashion these days, but sticking with one employer or boss has its own rewards. Older workers know what it means to commit through thick and thin, Dattner says. Experience: Whether it’s corporate policies, company politics or industry knowledge, older workers know the ropes, Dattner says. Most of them are happy to pass along what they know about people, jobs, and success. Interpersonal Skills: “Older workers are social animals [who are] very skilled at one-on-one relationships,” says consultant Chuck Underwood, author of The Generational Imperative: Understanding Generational Differences in the Workplace, Marketplace and Living Room.
Regrets: “Older workers usually have a good understanding of what they regret in their career choices,” says Penelope Trunk, blogger and author of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success.
Independence: “For years, younger workers have been taken care of by parents and their communities, but now they’re on their own,” Trunk says. (Woog, 2017)
Proposed strategies; John presents a wealth of information for his team he has seen many years in cooperate America helping him to see how important his wisdom is to the team will go a long way to helping him fit in with the team.
Allowing him to share his wealth of information as a seasoned employee will allow him to feel valued as an employee and allow his coworkers to experience his wisdom.
Jill is a 22-year-old African-American female very shy and withdrawn. Jill feels that her age discounts her as anyone to who is able to give good information. She exhibits little confidence in her education or her knowledge of the job. That feeling is shared by her coworker who sees her as young and inexperienced in therefore unable to contribute to the team.
Much like John, Jill is being judged by her age, many people believe that the young have little to offer because they have not lived long enough. This stereotype has caused many young workers to leave and look for other work.
Stereotypes can create destructive communication. Team members may be prejudiced against each other. It may take longer for a team to perform. Once the team bonds, the diversity makes it more innovative and raises performance (Freeberger, 2013)
It is common for older workers to see younger workers as a threat, and take the easy way out by labeling them as somehow different. Millennials are broadly painted with none-too-flattering terms, which causes conflict in the workplace. (Woodridge, 2015)
Proposed strategies;
Although Jill may be young, but she is able to bring much information to the table. Including an understanding of the millennials, that may be untapped in the cooperation. Allow her to strategize ideas that would appeal to her age group. Recent research from Gallup’s study How Millennials Want to Work and Live reveals that what Millennials are really looking for in the workplace is a sense of purpose. For many Millennials, a sense of purpose shows up in the form of training and development opportunities. Nearly 60% say the chance to learn and grow is extremely important to them in looking for a new job (compared to only 44% of Gen-Xers and 41% of Baby Boomers). (Leadership, 2017)
Joe is a 35-year-old immigrant who feels misunderstood because people have a difficult time understanding him due to his accent. His coworkers tend to disregard him due to their lack of understanding because of his accent. Joe also experiences teasing by his coworkers, which they find good-natured, but it tends to bring a wedge between him and his coworkers and can ethically borderline on bullying. One of the main differences between schoolyard bullying and workplace bullying is that it tends to be less physically harmful and more psychological and verbal in nature. It is subtler than schoolyard bullying but is quite distinctive from normal workplace stress. “Bullying is characterized by:
• Repetition (occurs regularly)
• Duration (is enduring)
• Escalation (increasing aggression)
• Power disparity (the target lacks the power to successfully defend themselves) (Institute, 2017)
Proposed Strategies:
Develop training, which incorporates information about bullying for the staff.
Allow Joe access to translators that which would allow him the ability to communicate with the team. Make a conscious effort to recognize your Hispanic employees on a personal level. They will appreciate your effort to make small talk, show us your “unguarded” side, and be down to earth, even if it is only for a short while. Develop workers through leadership programs, mentoring and coaching, and training. (Tornoc, 2007)
Mary is a 30-year-old female who has qualified for ADA Miracle disabilities act for a trauma that she experienced due to her trauma she seems disconnected from the team and preoccupied mini of her team feel that her trauma is not real and only in her head because of this disconnect she has not been able to have input. Her coworkers have limited understanding of her disability and how to interact with her.
Definitions. The ADA defines disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. When job applicants or employees have a mental health condition that meets these criteria, they have workplace rights under the ADA. The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) recently broadened the definition of disability to provide legal protections against employment discrimination for more individuals with disabilities, including people with psychiatric disabilities.
Proposed Strategies:
For this individual referencing to the ADA website for information would be essential. Approach each employee with an open mind about his/her strengths and abilities, clearly delineate expectations for performance, deliver positive feedback along with criticisms of performance in a timely and constructive fashion, make sure supervisors are available regularly during the workday for consultation with employees, supervisors should demonstrate flexibility and fairness in administering policies and work assignments. (Monahan, 1992)
Concentration or distraction issues: More frequent reminders of tasks and due dates; a quieter work environment; more frequent short breaks; work from home (if this doesn’t cause undue hardship to the employer).
Managing treatment and medication: Flexible schedule to allow for appointments; more frequent breaks for medication; allow for use of water bottle during worktimes; part-time schedule until medication plan stabilizes.
Anxiety: Use of white noise earphones; attend meetings remotely; work from home part or full- time; exchange non-essential job tasks with another employee; change in the management style of supervisor. (Monahan, 1992)
Alhson is a 50-year-old female of Indian descent and she is very committed her culture. Lack of understanding of her cultural norms has caused her to be perceived as rejecting American culture. Moreover, her perception of her coworkers is that they will only accept her if she assimilates with American culture. Her teammates expect “when in Rome do as the Romans do” this practice of non-acceptance of each sides cultural norms has created an unhealthy work environment.
Diversity within a product development team is very powerful. When it is in accord with diverse target markets, the team creates new products that satisfy the markets' needs. That is because a diverse workforce better understands diverse markets.18 Research has suggested that men, women, and people of color in the agency do not share a common culture of organizational life; instead, each group organizes its experience in the agency in different ways.
Proposed Strategies for the team;
Create training that focuses on;
Bullying, cultural diversity, cultural sensitivity, team building, acceptance of the different generations that are presented in the team Host an annual cultural appreciation day event at your workplace. Here you give employees downtime to welcome each other’s cultural backgrounds through display boards, activities, and food. Ask each staff member to post something that reflects their culture on their door or desk with a statement that summarizes what it is such as a map of Spain and a statement that reads, “My family is from Spain, and each year we take a trip back to visit old friends.” During lunch, allow everyone to bring in a food dish that represents his or her culture even if it is a deep-dish pizza from the new guy from Chicago. Allow staff to express their differences in appropriate ways without imposing restrictions on what and how they choose to share. (Juliet Bourke, 2017) Allow translation teams to be made available to any member who needs them. Dissuade any amount of teasing even good-natured is unacceptable. Allowing each team member to have the freedom to speak or express himself or herself without judgment.
Summary;
After the assessment of this team, it is the recommendation that the team continues to work together, with accommodation’s as long as they follow proposed strategies that have been assessed.
Works Cited
Freeberger, P. (2013, June 09). Opinion: Young workers must fight age discrimination in the workplace. Retrieved from The New Reporter.
Institute, W. B. (2017). 20 years workplace. Retrieved from WBI.
Juliet Bourke, S. G. (2017). Diversity and Inclusion: The Reality gap. 2017 Global Human Capital trends.
Leadership, C. f. (2017). The University of Notre Dame. Retrieved from Attract Emerging Leaders with purpose, not perks.
Monahan, J. (1992, April). Mental Disorder and Violent Behavior: Perceptions and Evidence. p. 519. Retrieved from DBTAC-ilru- Southwest ADA Center.
Tornoc, J. (2007, May 02). Understanding and Managing Hispanic Employees. Retrieved from Hispanic Culture at work.
Woodridge, S. (2015, September 30). Millennial: The New Victim of age discrimination.
Woog, D. (2017). What older worker and younger workers can learn from each other. Retrieved from Monster.
