Stereotypes Can Influence Work Performance

Can stereotypes influence your employees' work performance? Recent studies suggest that stereotypes can actually decrease the performance of individuals, merely by the person knowing that they fit into a negative stereotype for a certain task. This is known as "Stereotype threat".

Stereotype threat is the fear that one's behavior will confirm an existing stereotype of a group with which one identifies. It is generally suggested that people are concerned with confirming negative stereotypes and because of this they may feel pressure and fear which distracts them from the original task at hand. This phenomenon has been discussed since approximately 1995, when Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson discovered that African American students performed worse on an intelligence test when they knew that the test was measuring intelligence. The theory behind the study is that these students were aware of the stereotype that African American individuals are not as intelligent as Caucasian individuals. When subjects were not aware that it was intelligence that was being measured, they performed much better. This stereotype threat has been confirmed over the years, and more recently, research has shown that the stereotype threat plays a role in the workplace.

Specifically, ReducingStereotypeThreat.org (www.reducingstereotypethreat.org) reported that stereotype threat negatively influences the performance of women in negotiations, women in driving, and the elderly in memory performance. Additionally, research has revealed that stereotype threat can alter females' professional identities. In fields that are typically dominated by males, such as mathematics and science, research demonstrated that females who reported a negative stereotype of females' ability in mathematics and science were less likely to feel as though they could succeed in the workplace. The females who did not report the negative stereotype were more likely to express continued interest in their fields and their future working in mathematics and/or science.

What can you do to prevent stereotype threat from influencing the work performance of your employees? Researcher Sian Beilock suggests that encouragement of their abilities to complete various tasks can help by promoting a sense of value and worth. In doing so, employers can reduce the perceived threat of confirming a negative stereotype which will hopefully lead to an increase in work performance.

For more information regarding stereotype threat, please visit www.reducingstereotypethreat.org

Corporate Tuition Assistance Programs

Corporate tuition assistance programs have a well-documented history of increasing employee loyalty and reducing turnover. And although most corporate executives may feel good about offering tuition assistance as an employee benefit it is becoming increasingly clear that organizations lack the necessary insight to administer them in a responsible manner. This lack of visibility has resulted in a misunderstanding of the return on investment, the amount of funds being distributed, and sometimes even the number of employees utilizing the benefit.

Examination of your tuition assistance program should evaluate the following features:

An audit should be performed on your programs to reveal the degree to which the programs contribute or retract from the overall corporate strategy. The organization is then better positioned to evaluate the program's effectiveness in meeting objectives, both on the corporate level and on the individual employee level.

The Background on Backgrounds

The development and growth of technology has made the past several decades a unique time of change in the age of information. The internet makes it possible to reach millions of people all over the world at the click of a mouse, and as more and more of the world goes online, there is a veritable mine of knowledge waiting to be tapped into.

The area of research and due diligence is an ever-growing field particularly in the area of pre-employment background screening. New technology has provided the field with an advantage in getting information to employers from all over the world. Many public records are now stored and available in online databases, or transmittable in electronic format. This is useful in making hiring decisions as it is possible to access a wider variety of information quickly and easy.

Pre-employment background investigation is a simple and valuable step that employers may take to ensure that job candidates will meet the needs of the business. In addition, employers can ensure that they are taking steps to prevent potential issues regarding asset protection, substance abuse, and even violence, by taking a thorough look at a potential employee's history.

Pre-employment screening is an effective screening tool for protecting your business. As technology continues to develop, it will be come simpler and faster to access the depth of information that may be useful to employers interested in retaining a background investigation.

Quote of the Month

"The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants them to do, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it."
    -Theodore Roosevelt

Product Diversion: How it Can Affect Your Bottom Line

Through interactions with our clients, it has become clear that product diversion has become increasingly prevalent within our client base. This widespread practice costs companies billions of dollars in lost revenue each year and has become more of a problem with the increases in technology and global communication. By definition, product diversion refers to the act of diverting, selling, or moving products, goods, or services through unauthorized places or channels in order to fraudulently receive discounts or revenue.

Some types of diversion serve positive marketing objections and when there is an oversupply of goods in one location, diversion can help create equilibrium. Most of the time, however, price drives the diversion market as opposed to availability.

Product diversion not only affects the ability to profit in primary markets, it also erodes brand identity and value. No product is safe from diversion as anything can be a target. Often this includes health and beauty aids, pharmaceuticals, electronics, food, technology and controlled substances. Generally, the perpetrators buy large quantities of a product for cash at significant discounts from the manufacturer. From here, the products are "diverted" to higher priced markets, often oversees, where they are sold at prices that are way above purchase value. Customers should be aware of prices that seem too good to be true, especially with products sold on the internet, as this is a common sign that diversion might be happening. Companies who work specifically to prevent diversion agree that these types of products occur most frequently at export sales, through promotional offers, excess merchandise "destruction", and charitable donations.

While there is more than one explanation as to why this problem is increasing, the easiest answer is that law enforcement did not take it seriously until after 9/11, when people started to stumble onto terrorist groups that were getting funding from smuggling goods across boarders. A continual increase in globalization and the use of the internet also create more opportunity for making diversion more accessible than it has been in the past. It is a misconception that the majorities of perpetrators are the most basic criminals, when in reality, most are highly educated and are well versed in international trade and finance.

Although detecting and proving diversion is not always an easy task, companies need to closely monitor transactions within their organization. The companies not willing to invest in such precautions may end up paying a much bigger price in the end. Advances in technology allow for goods to be tracked and traced, and high powered databases have taken the place of simple credit checks on customers. Another obvious sign that diversion may be occurring is when distributors purchase high quantities of goods that will never be used by their direct markets alone. It is beneficial to know your clients inside and out so it is easier to spot wrongdoing before it reaches an uncontrollable level.