February 5
Cultural diversity – Ineffective management could ruin your company
Companies and employees are leaving themselves open to legal action where there is discrimination and bullying in the workplace. Ignorance of another person’s culture is no excuse as most of the information is at our finger tips. Just ask Google! In this article I discuss the following points:
- Lessons from the United Nations for employers and employees
- 7 Questions to think about…
- Many companies boast about their cultural diversity but that is all they do
- Getting the best possible performance from your employees
- Why is diversity management so important? Wikipedia summarises it as …
Lessons from the United Nations for employers and employees
Nowhere in the world is cultural diversity more evident than at the United Nations. UNESCO’s Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity Article 3 – “Cultural diversity as a factor in development” states:
“Cultural diversity widens the range of options open to everyone; it is one of the roots of development, understood not simply in terms of economic growth, but also as a means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual existence.”
7 Questions to think about…
- Are you promoting inclusive cultural principles at your office?
- Do you do ongoing training regarding cultural diversity?
- Do you or your staff still cling to outdated stereotype thinking regarding other cultures?
- Do you know that the requirement for personal space in other cultures is different to yours?
- Do you want to get the best possible performance from every employee?
- Did you find out what the believe systems and the values of your employees from other cultures are?
- Do you know that “bonding” should come before “boundaries” as explained by Authors Henry Cloud and John Townsend in their book “Boundaries?”
Many companies boast about their cultural diversity but that is all they do
The question to ask is if the managers and upper management treat employees or even customers according to the diversities? We are sure you know about IQ (intelligence quotient), EQ (emotional quotient) but do you as a company really appreciate / understand CQ (cultural quotient)?
“You’re fired!” These are not nice words to hear from The Donald or from your manager. Why would this happen? Usually it is miscommunication that would lead to this step. Many people have not been travelling extensively and they are not well informed about acceptable and unacceptable practices in other cultures. Even if they receive basic training on different cultures, it is often seen as just another training exercise but the daily steps and standard operating procedures are lacking specifics on how it has to be done.
I have experience of such managers making rulings based on their limited view of the world. If it is not their or the company way, then the employee must be wrong. This assumed wrong conduct might even end up on the employee’s performance review. It is irrelevant to these managers to check for cultural differences or even to check the offending conduct on Google. Should these managers do a Google search, they would find that the specific conduct they took exception to is accepted as standard good behaviour in other parts of the world.
Getting the best possible performance from your employees
Some communication experts at UCLA said that 80-90% of communication is non-verbal. When you show irritation or anger to someone of another culture it is impossible for that person to do their best. Your actions trigger a very emotional response in that person’s limbic brain and it is therefore out of their control. It will trigger a fight/flight/freeze response. Once this is triggered, how could you then negatively rate their performance?
Make sure you have in your Policy and Procedure or Standard Operating Manual a template where an aggrieved person could make a complaint when treated in a culturally insensitive way. If you don’t have this standard document, the aggrieved employee’s letter or email could be interpreted as “passive-aggressive.” Once again this opinion is based on ignorance.
Train, train and train your employees. Why not organise a book reading session where each employee report back after reading a book regarding cultural differences? It could be fun if you add pizza and drinks. Make sure what you learn, is turned into practical steps to follow each day.
Cultural competence means that you as the manager and/or top management are effective in operating in culturally diverse environments. The onus to make it work is on you.
Why is diversity management so important? Wikipedia summarises it as …
“Diversity management is becoming more common in the overall strategy of many successful companies today. If diversity is not managed the business may experience dysfunctional turnover; when a talented employee leaves because they feel as though they do not fit and are not being supported. Businesses can also experience many legal complaints if diversity is not managed properly, as well as a lack in innovation and creativity in their new products and ideas.”