The four types of diversity and demographic characteristics we have chosen to talk about are ethnicity, age, sexual affinity and differences in skills and abilities. These diversity and demographic characteristics have a great impact on an organization. Each of these characteristics impacts personal behavior based on my personal experiences and will therefore relate them to my organization. Ethnicity First, let's look at ethnicity. Its impact on individual behavior can be positive or negative. It all depends on the way a person does it. It can be positive if an individual educates others about his or her ethnic background and helps others understand and accept differences. Educating others can also help reduce barriers in the workplace. In my workplace, employees from different ethnic backgrounds are treated equally and are also accepted and treated with the utmost respect. Just like our senior employees in my organization. Age In an organization, age can become an issue. Many large companies today offer early retirement to eligible older employees. This can happen for various reasons. The main reason is downsizing or restructuring. Older employees are offered early retirement packages and asked to retire. Another reason could be that technology is changing and older employees are finding it difficult to cope with the change. Changes such as learning to use the computer. Most companies today are practically completely computerized. In workplaces past and present, I have observed that older employees have difficulty adapting to change. They also have difficulty acquiring new skills. In the previous organization where I worked, the most senior doctor in the office, who was also the owner, had difficulty learning to turn on the computer and open and send emails. He had another assistant do it until he realized he eventually had to learn. It took him about six months to finally learn how to use the computer. Another example is my current workplace. There is a senior employee who is very intimidated not only by the computer, but also by the telephone system. Cannot open or send emails. It also cannot retrieve a page on our telephone paging system. This leads to the second reason why age is an issue in an organization. Many organizations are starting to look for younger, “fresher” people to do the work. Not only will younger employees be hired at lower wages, but younger employees will learn and adapt more quickly to changes, especially in technology..