The problem with stereotyping staff in an organisation

Stereotypes become most inaccurate when people have less interaction with a particular group. Photo/FILE 

By Scott Bellows

Posted  Thursday, July 18  2013 at  16:31

In Summary

• The stereotypes lead to negative performance of the employee that collectively brings down overall firm profits.

Stereotyping often elicits deep emotions that upset many of us in East Africa. Unfortunately, stereotypes remain a prominent reality in cultures around the world and of course right here in Kenya.

How many remember feelings of frustration when denied a job or promotion while believing that stereotyping played a role in the denial of that opportunity?

Anyone remember feeling biased against by teachers, a neighbour or in the security queue at the airport by a security professional?

Thankfully, not everyone in a culture stereotypes.

Do you stereotype your neighbours, colleagues and friends? If so, what stereotypes do you hold about people?

Stereotyping fellow citizens undoubtedly causes numerous issues in a nation. American stereotypes exist between north versus south and black versus white.

Europeans often stereotype based on fat versus thin and immigrant versus native. South Asia struggles with stereotypes between light and dark as well as between castes, while East Asia scuffles with rural versus urban and beautiful versus plain.

Here at home, the epicentre of stereotypes revolves around ethnicity or rural versus urban orientation.

All of us know the stereotypes about tribes: Kamba, Maasai, Luhya, Digo, Kalenjin...

Prior to the 2007 elections, many stereotypes often received humorous attention on television and radio. We all remember the funny Redykyulass antics. Following the 2007-2008 post-election violence, however, celebrating cultural differences became more frowned upon and such differences gave root to more bitter stereotypes.

 In creating stereotypes, we develop categories and assign traits. Next we assign a person to that category based on our observations. Then, we make assumptions that since the other person belongs to that category, then they possess the traits of that category.

Since I am a professor, let me pick on my category as an example. First, people may believe that professors are absent minded. My students may assign the traits of that category to me by thinking that, therefore, Professor Scott is absent minded.

Unfortunately, assigning traits to all members of a particular group may lead to problems. Professional

Kenyans often stereotype Tanzanians as professionally lazy despite evidence of thousands of hardworking industrious Tanzanians.

So, suppose a Tanzanian, Mr Mruma, comes to work at a large bank in Nairobi. The first day on the job, his supervisor may begin to form expectations about him based on the stereotypes. The supervisor’s behaviour throughout Mr Mruma’s employment changes based on the earlier expectations.

Eventually, the supervisor’s behaviour begins to affect Mr Mruma. Finally, Mr Mruma might begin to stop working hard because he may feel “since everyone expects me to act lazily and treats me as such even when I am not, then I may as well just be lazy.”

The stereotypes lead to negative performance of the employee that collectively brings down overall firm profits.