Gender and Cultural Differences in Organizations - Essay Example

Issues in Communication: Topic: Gender and Cultural Differences in Organizations Name Institution Date Gender and Cultural Differences in Organizations Introduction My area of interest in communication is gender and cultural differences. This is an issue that has seemed to create barriers amongst workmates in many organizations for many years. The issue even goes forth to inhibit the growth and nurturing of young potential employees who even leave their work stations due to the fact that they are unable to contend with the existing trends. In most cases the least unable to bear with these challenges are the new employees. My presentation focuses on the various angles of analyzing this issue and also a suitable practice that can be adopted to counteract the menace (Jandt, 2007). Communication refers to ways in which human beings are able to interchange and express ideas, opinions and thoughts in relation to certain subjects. In work places, persons exchange ideas and opinions concerning their works and the activities in which they are involved in. Communication is thus a vital subject which cannot be done away with in any organization. Therefore, in order to be able to understand the issues in communication it is essential to first understand the basis of their variations. Oral exchanges between persons of different genders and cultural backgrounds, is often characterized with conflicting reactions. Firstly it is essential to understand that gender and sex is not one and the same thing. Sex actually, is just the differences in physical appearances and or in the distinguishing traits that categorize one as male, female or being of intersex. On the other hand, gender refers to behaviors and attitudes that associate an individual with a specific sex type. Secondly is that there is a distinct relationship between gender and culture. Culture refers to the different customs and behaviors of individuals. Culture is therefore related to gender in that different genders behave differently in the occurrence of certain events (Pearson, 1985). The proposed learning program that would efficiently bring effective communication and getting rid of barriers in any organization is workshop programs and orientations. These are programs that bring people together to engage in the same activities. They could be games, retreats, social outs among others. Orientation is the process by which new employees are familiarized with operations in an organization. These create awareness and give information on what one is to expect. For individuals to work together there has to be communication. Differences in communication come about when the purposed message in not correctly interpreted or understood. For efficient interpretation of these differences, it is essential to first understand what the communication process entails. There are normally two parties engaged in the process of communication that is the sender and the receiver. It is therefore a two way channel. For clarity and proper understanding between the two parties involved, they both must be familiar with the language being used. Gender and cultural differences are thus inevitable for effective communication. Expression Communication problems in relation to differences in cultures, originate from the differences in norms between the different cultures. For instance, in some cultures, the mode of communication is characterized with a lot of expressions that is as pertains to facial and the tone used. Other cultures do not use a lot of expressions in their speeches while others put emphasis on the emotions. In certain countries, even in business they show a lot of feelings and emotions. In this case, when an individual who comes from a culture that uses a lot of emotions, is conversing with yet another who is not used to, chances are that one of them will end up being upset. In any organization therefore, work mates should be able to understand the cultures of different individuals. Gender comes in, in the sense that modes of expressions between different genders must be put into consideration. For instance, when a male individual smiles at a female the smile may be taken to mean a different perspective on the relationship of the two. Programs such as workshops can be induced to increase the interactions of people and this is a way of solving the barrier between the different cultures. The workshops will enhance the possibilities of individuals appreciating the different cultures. Mode of dressing Different cultures embrace varying modes of dressing and depending on their religion. For instance, Individuals from the Muslim religion nullify dress codes that are characterized by short shirt and those that display most of the body parts. In the other case, in countries like Japan people embrace dark colored wares. It is important to be able to understand the cultures of people whom one works with. For instance in any office, if there are individuals who dislike short sleeveless dressings, it is not advisable to go on putting on such, as this will make them uncomfortable and some even get to a point of wanting to resign. This feeling is mostly when the dressing is provocative and the parties involved are not able to inform each other of their values and norms. Initiation of the workshop program will promote interaction and in the process people get to learn each other. Body Contact It is very easy to cause a discomfort for instance, when meeting new individuals in the work place. Some cultures greatly discourage exchange of hands while in some other when meeting a new person and one fails to share a hand shake it is a show of rudeness (Wood, 1996). For example, in any organization it is essential that persons share their business information and contact details through paper form cards or pamphlets. Some cultures for instance the Chinese and Japanese origins, value exchange of such cards using both hands. In the Arabic nations, the right hand is what shows respect. To be able to create cohesion in the work place, it is important and necessary to understand the norms that come in handy from one culture to the other. A workshop program is thus efficient in order to get people to interact and share such valuable information. Language differences Language barriers are created from the existence of individuals coming from different cultures mostly working in the same organization. These barriers bring about a rift in any communication amongst individuals. In any case, there is communication and people are using different languages, the chances of misunderstanding each other are very high. Some cultures have individuals with traits (Hall, 1984). An example is of speaking loudly and this may unknowingly cause offense. Different languages even have individuals having varying pronunciations. When individuals get to understand each other the rifts of misunderstanding each other get minimized. Adopting the workshop program get people to interact and therefore, being in a position to appreciate even the differences in the cultural languages. Exchanging of presents Some cultures embrace offering of presents to be a means of communication, for example to imply the act of being thankful. Gifts may turn out to be misleading when individuals are from different cultures and to them the gift offered may have a different meaning, and thus communicating the unintended purpose. It is therefore essential and necessary to understand the cultures of different individuals and hence getting to know what certain gifts imply. This helps avoid communication of a wrong message. For instance in an organization, when a lower level employee starts offering gifts to higher category individuals, some people may interpret this as a means of corruption in order to gain for promotion purposes. Holding of workshops will enable facts as this to be made clear to avoid miscommunication amongst individuals. Time Consciousness Some customs do not comprehend the act of not being on time. Others happen to be strict clock-watchers. Time is a factor that has the potential of causing disagreements and also be a stronghold to building among different individuals. For example in some cultures, meeting time is normally considered to be in a thirty minutes range of the agreed time. For example, Canadian individuals value on time punctuality. In some cultures, it is normally people of the higher ranking who have the privilege of airing their views during any meeting. In an organization for instance, it is necessary to understand the reporting protocol to avoid certain information from getting to the unintended persons. It is therefore in essence to implement workshops and orientation programs which provide gateway to learning the reporting flow (Maltz, 1982). Hierarchy The hierarchical concept in communication is also a major source of competing arguments. This pertains to matters of gender as relates to culture. In some cultures, it is the male figure that is supposed to hold the higher positions. Mostly, the males are considered to have the tendency of wanting to establish and exert control. Differences in hierarchy thus create rifts because those in the higher positions want to be respected and adored. Further men seem to direct their attention to being dependence in their communication. In other case women tend to base their communication focused on affection. This difference makes cross-gender communication to be problematic. In addition according to research, women tend to use lots of generalizations in their speeches and unlike men who are direct. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that misunderstanding due the differences in gender and culture cause conflict in the workplace. Information is perceived differently and this causes a feeling of exclusion and discrimination. This kind of situation can be solved through organized training and development of initiatives with the main focus on creation of awareness on cultural and gender related issues. Jandt, F. E. (2007). An introduction to intercultural communication: Identities in a global community. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Wood, J. T (1996). Gendered lives: Communication, gender and culture (2nd ed). Belmont, CA;Wadsworth. Pearson, J. C. (1985). Gender and communication. Dubuque, I A: William C. Brown. Maltz, D. N., & Borker, R. (1982). A cultural approach to male-female miscommunication. In J. J. Gumpertz (Ed.), Language and social identity. Cambridge; Cambridge University Press. Hall, J. A. (1984). Nonverbal sex differences: Communication accuracy and expressive style. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. Read More