Communications and Media

Gender is a term that is applied often by both academics and practitioners in discussions of organizational behavior and theory. Because it is so usual, however, the term carries a variety of importance, most of which serve to puzzle rather than explain issues of gender in the workplace. The primary focus of this paper, however, is on the gender issues that have evolved within the broad field of organizational behavior particularly in American society. The goal is to provide an understanding of challenges posed by gender issues and thus to determine what ways in which management can overcome these challenges.

In point of fact, we all participate in various organizations such as companies, schools, hospitals etc. throughout our lives, and we dedicate a large percentage of our time to such participation or organizations. Most individual would like to function more effectively in organizations and contribute to more efficient functioning of the organizations themselves. It appears reasonable that the more we recognize about organizations and the way they operate, the better the chances of managing with them adequately and of accomplishing our own goals within them and for them. This process of creating knowledge is what theories of organizational behaviour attempt to do.

Gender Issues
The changing gender, color and society of the workers open new windows of opportunity for many women. At the same time, these particular changes particular gender create various challenges to both private and public sector organizations. Real prospect, of course, depends on having access to meaningful and well-paying jobs. Moreover, the increasing representation of women in the work force, particularly those with children or of childbearing age, creates a challenge for American society. Employers need to expound a family friendly practices and policies that guarantee the health and well-being of children and aging parents. As the population ages, more and more families need help in caring for elderly parents and other relatives. And as our labor force ages here in US, children will become an even more valuable and useful resource. The nations failure to boost productivity and efficiency over the last 20 years can be blamed, in several parts on US government lack of attention to the education and health of our youth.

Moreover, the significance of work has developed noticeably over the centuries, and our current notion of work as a set of planned paid activities is somewhat new. Simply put, women as well as men have always worked. However, the varieties of activities and for whom one works have also changed considerably. The different world views of women lead to very different perceptive regarding the relationship of the personal and the professional, both on their own lives and the lives of others. Women see the world as a system of connections each part of that system is closely and intricately related to the other functions, setting up both stability and community (Cleveland et al 2000).

Women seldom organize their professional and personal lives. The professional and personal represent different backgrounds, with different relationships, but they are not classified and ordered in relation to each other. In its place, they form a whole that corresponds to similar surfaces of a womans life, with each surface adding dimension and depth to the whole. This particular sense of stability and relationship between professional and personal means results to women dont leave their personal concerns at home. They keep on worrying about their sick child and after they arrive at the office their conversation with co-worker still in connection with their spouses, children, and other residence issues they are expected to rearrange a meeting just to take their child to a swimming lesson or to get home in time to see a class play.

Women does not account for their actions when it comes to choosing one over the other. Their lives are classified by means of their personal loyalty rather than their public institutional loyalty and those interpersonal loyalties provide to position their precedence. Women take care of their spouses, children, parents, and relatives not because society tells them that it is their job to do so, but since they respect and recognize the interpersonal relations that are characterized by those relationships. Indeed, the fact that man generally does not take full responsibility to take care of their family and friends presents an additional motivation and enthusiasm for the women to do so.

This commitment to interpersonal relationships leads women to insist that organizations become more helpful and cooperative to families. The demands for on-site daycare or community daycare, flexible work schedules, job sharing, and family leave guidelines and practices stand for the expectations of women and not their dreams. Work and family are not opposing interests instead a balancing ones. When Schwartz (1989) made her contentious proposition in the Harvard Business Review that organizations start mommy tracks for women who want to raise a work and family, she evidently stated that such a path was not for women who wanted to progress in the organization. Those women should, instead, stay on the traditional fast-track, a career opportunity that leaves no time for family and relatives.

These different issues on the relationship between work and family lead to conflicts between men and women in the workplace. For example, men and women often disagree regarding whether an organization should implement job policies and procedures that familiarize the family needs of workers. Men argue that these policies and procedures are too costly. Women do not recognize the issue in financial terms. They consider that organizations have a responsibility to guarantee that workers can passably meet their family needs. The gender issues over making firms more family friendly, both within particular organizations and in the state public guidelines arena, frequently get delayed due to fundamental level each side is unable of understanding the others issues. Men demand quantitative proof that these guidelines increase firm productivity while women conclude that firms are aggressive environments for them.

Approach to Gender Issues on Organization
Diversity schemes that focus on gender issues are intended to develop working relationships among workforces to ensure equity in evaluation, hiring, working, and promotion decisions and to develop individual and organizational productivity. The interpersonal focus on greater knowledge and understanding of other people and cultural backgrounds leads to better acceptance among employees and respect for each other as individuals whatever the gender is. Individual respect and acceptance are supposed to be transformative, finally creating more comprehensive organizations that care for and respect all employees, regardless of gender.

Moreover, several training materials are available to companies in overcoming the gender issues, including books, magazines, online sites and cd, dvd, and even newsletters. Beardwell and Holden (2003) stated that further technological improvements have led some companies to the understanding that success relies on the skills and abilities of their employees, and this means important and nonstop venture in training and development regardless of culture or gender. While the loads of materials, most companies choose to hire external consultants in order to develop and resolve gender issues. Diversity training has become more and more well-liked among experts.

Diversity consultants come from an extensive range of backgrounds and provide many different theoretical and instructive approaches to understanding gender issues. This paper provides one perspective for understanding gender issues and thinking about its implications in the workplace. There are, of course, other perspectives. In spite of theoretical perspective and pedagogy, however, consultants usually provide companies one of two kinds of promoting change leadership to develop equality in organization development and building an enabling environment for developing womens participation in decision-making process in organization.

My approach to gender issues in workforce is grounded in a cultural analysis of differences. One way to overcome the challenges of gender issues in workforce is through continuously promoting leadership and involving womens in decision-making. Assessment is a critical first step. All too often, companies assume to identify what workforce need or want with regards to division of work between women and men. Companies can take a practical position by surveying employees, either through oral interviews or written questionnaires, utilizing focus groups, making suggestion boxes available to all departments, andor building opportunities for worker dialogue in departmental newsletters and other internal communications.

For workforces to believe that company is committed to gender issues, the company must not only address or resolve issues, but also practice it. On the outward that appears an obvious point. But it is one that companies all too often overlook or ignore. Companies must conduct themselves in means that are ethically consistent with the values. They must show, both internally and externally, that they are committed to gender issues. Internally, companies need to hire and promote individual regardless of gender, and they need to allow and encourage individual to retain their differences. Employees need to perceive proof of the companys commitment to gender issues. Hiring people of different backgrounds is not sufficient if those individuals are required to correspond to a pre-existing position of company standards of how work gets done. In addition, employees also need to distinguish that the company rewards different ways of accomplishing work regardless of gender.

Conclusion
When individual from different backgrounds (i.e. gender) come together, set of attitudes, beliefs and practices are the usual outcomes. It is concluded that because different gender have different patterns of thinking, acting, feeling, and interpreting, we would expect to interpret and evaluate their experiences through their own experiences and lenses. It is vital to analyze the role and position of women and men in workplace to guarantee an equitable distribution of the benefits of supportive and company development. One of the essential standards of American companies is the elimination of all types of discrimination, as well as that centered on gender. It is, as a result, essential to work for better gender equity in American society.