Assignment Questions Read the case study below and answer the questions that follow. Case study AGE AND ATTITUDES Mr John's company considers anyone who is 40 years of age or older to be an older worker. This means that no organisation has the right to discriminate against these individuals because of their age. Yet, as more and more organizations downsize and middle-aged workers are pounding the pavement looking for work, examples of age discrimination are happening every day in every profession. Statistics, for example, show that it takes older job seekers 64 present longer to find work than younger ones. Even though age discrimination is illegal, it appears to be such an ingrained part of our culture that we may not even recognise if and when we are doing it. When you talk with people who hire, they will tell you they do not discriminate. Then they list "certain criteria" to face about older workers. They get sick more often, they don't stay with the company as long as younger workers do, and they can't work as hard. Of course, these realities are all false, but they nevertheless influence hiring decisions. The actual performance of older workers is impressive. For instance, Days Inn deliberately recruited older workers to see how they performed. Day's inn found that the older workers stay with the company longer, take fewer sick days, and are just as productive as their younger counterparts. Negative attitudes towards older workers have subtle influences on the way we perceive and behave towards them. For instance, job interviews, differences can be seen in the treatment of younger and older applicants. In several staged interviews with pairs of applicants - one younger and one older, the younger women were accommodated more by the interviewer. The older women were subtle discouraged. In fact, in one-third of these 24 staged interviews, a startling difference in the way older and younger job applicants were treated could be seen. In another staged interview situation, one individual made up to look younger one time and older another found a job opening at a brokerage firm offered to his "younger" self even though this "person" had less job experience and didn't follow up on the interview with a letter or phone call. Although the interviewers didn't appear to purposefully discriminate against the older job applicants in the way they acted and in the questions they asked, differences in attitude could still be seen. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS 1. In your own words, describe the components of an attitude and relate them to views often held about older workers. (5) 2. Discuss the types of job related attitudes that employees hold about aspects of their work environment. (10) 3. Is stereotyping part of the problem with attitudes about age? Explain. (5) 4. What can organisations do to lessen the negative attitudes that managers and employees might hold towards older workers? (10) 5. Explain the relationship between job satisfaction and behaviour as well as the ways in which employees express dissatisfaction. (10) 6. Discuss the various factors, with relevant examples, that can influence job satisfaction in an organisation. (10) TOTAL MARKS FOR ASSIGNMENT 01:50 MARKS END OF ASSIGNMENT 01