Benefits and Challenges of Cultural Diversity in the Hospitality Industry - Essay Example

Cultural Diversity Issue Name Institution Course Date Cultural Diversity Issue Introduction Diversity can be defined as the differences that exist among people (Lim and Noriega, 2007). Diversity can take different dimensions such as gender, race, age, etc. Diversity problems in the workplace revolve around these core issues and can also exist in terms of communication style, relationship status, physical appearance, religion to name a few. These dimensions of diversity can generally be termed as cultural diversity. Hospitality industry over the years has been reported to have a cultural diverse workforce. The widespread of globalisation affecting the strategic planning of hospitality companies together with more immigrants’ workers making their way in the hospitality industry in Australia has contributed to multicultural challenges (Hudson, 2008). Cultural diversity in Australia has developed due to the increase of the immigrant population in the country. The following research project focuses on analysing the status of cultural diversity in hospitality industry in Australia; highlighting the benefits of cultural diversity including innovation, competitiveness and knowledge enhancement; exploring the challenges that result from cultural diversity such as communication and training difficulties; and establishing practical exercises that successfully manage cultural diversity issue in Australia. Cultural Diversity Current Status In Australia, due to globalisation, more and more hospitality companies have noted that they are not just competing for the local market but for global markets as well. Globalisation is a trend witnessed in the hospitality industry as development of international hospitality corporations continues to take-charge (Limand Noriega, 2007). For example, with the growing economic development, Australia has become one of vibrant markets for hospitality industry. As tourism in Australia increases, there has been reported depletion of experienced management staff. Companies are therefore competing for best talents who can successfully relate well with a diverse workforce as Australia has huge number of people from different cultures. Therefore, it is very essential for Australian hospitality companies to effectively manage cultural diversity and assist immigrants overcome cultural barriers. In the domestic market of hospitality industry of Australia, many immigrants’ employees are hired in the workforce. In the country, hospitality industry is short-staffed and according to the government, over 56, 000 workers are required to immigrate to the country by 2015 (Deloitte, 2015). With the increase number of immigrant hospitality workers in Australia, managing cultural diversity issue is paramount. As a result of the cultural diverse workforce, hospitality companies will be required to become more refined in solving cultural differences by providing language training for the purpose of overcoming language barriers. Many hospitality companies in Australia have adopted diversity programs. For instance, Hilton launched diversity program called the Elevator General Manager Program to yield a group of diverse and talented managers (Hilton Elevator, 2008). The program has helped in managing cultural diversity issue in the workplace (Hilton, 2008). Still, many hospitality companies in Australia encounter challenges in managing cultural diversity issue. Increasing discrimination in the workforce is still witnessed in hospitality industry among employees and even managers from different cultural backgrounds. There is an assumption that minority workers are low skilled and thus given positions in back-of-house units such as the housekeeping and kitchen. For this reason, a good number of immigrant workers in the hospitality industry are under-used (Baum et al, 2007). Therefore, mere language training is not enough to manage cultural diversity issues. Cultural diversity contains both positive and negative effects on a company. Clearly, the cultural differences would not be termed as threats but benefits if it is possible to manage them. Benefits of Cultural Diversity The benefits of cultural diversity include enhancement of innovation, increment of competitiveness and knowledge sharing, increase in retention rate, better workforce recruitment and labour cost reduction (Day, 2007). When cultural differences are managed effectively, they can also assist in diversifying the supply base by companies partnering with minority-owned organizations to improve on the quality and reduce cost. Companies can also develop their corporate images in other communities. Generally, among the opportunities cultural diversity offer to organisations, there are four fundamental benefits mentioned severally in literatures as the major contributors of why hospitality companies endeavour to be diverse. These opportunities include enhancement of innovation, image creation, enhancement of competitiveness and knowledge transfer (Baum et al, 2007). Challenges of Cultural Diversity Aside from the benefits and opportunities brought about by cultural diversity in Australian hospitality companies, hospitality industry faces adverse challenges of cultural differences. One of the challenges is the communication challenge (Baum et al, 2007). Different cultural backgrounds promote the difficulty of clear communication between individuals in the workplace. Language is considered the critical one among cultural characteristics that build cultural identity and language differences thus leads to miscommunication (Powell, 2006). Communication is a learned process like any other skills and thus increases the difficulty of individuals from different backgrounds in the workplace to understand each other correctly. With different knowledge and experience, cultural diverse people encounter challenges in interpreting other’s behaviour, thereby increasing uncertainty of how an individual will react to the communication (Baum et al, 2007). For instance, an immigrant worker from Africa might not have the knowledge and experience in conversing and dealing with a local Australian employee born and brought up in Australia. Another challenge due to cultural diversity in Australia is discriminatory issue. People often notice differences and prefer associating with their own. This is because, once a culture is developed, it refuses changes. Culture tends to identify and strengthen community sense of belonging. Direct and indirect discrimination in the workplace has many times been reported in cultural diverse companies. Discrimination issue does not take place between employees only but also can be witnessed among the employers (Baum, 2007). For instance, it has been reported that some employers in Australia hire minority, but fail to offer career progression to them. Minority employees may end up getting jobs in low-level departments such as housekeeping and is very difficult for them to be promoted to higher ranks like the management level. Discrimination issues may yield increased cases of lawsuits and claims that directly increase cost, lower productivity among the employees and reduce the rate of employee retention (Baum et al, 2007). Generally, hospitality companies will benefit from cultural diversity if they provide equal opportunities for its staff and minimize discrimination cases. Cultural diversity training is also a challenge to organisations (Lim and Noriega, 2007). Diversity training is done in order to build on respect and enhance sensitivity among employees and customers. For a culturally diverse workforce to be developed, it is very important to eradicate cultural ethnocentrism in employees. Cultural diversity plays a fundamental role of enhancing the awareness of multicultural differences in employees and create a culturally enhanced environment in an organisation. Training should be conducted among the employees in order to assist them understand the benefits and inevitabilities of cultural differences (Baum et al, 2007). The training is expected to increase the employee’s knowledge and skills of handling culturally diverse people. Language training is also paramount in assisting the minority group of people, especially the immigrant employees. However, no single action can wholly prepare employees for interaction with every individual from different cultures. Also, how to go about the training and the control of training cost are problems facing hospitality companies in Australia (Limand Noriega, 2007). In addition, a research done in Australia show that although a good number of hospitality companies have incorporated diversity-training programs, most of the programs only focus on increasing employees’ awareness of cultural differences and not on high-level managers. For diversity-training to be effective in the Australian hospitality industry, the program should be supported by the upper-level management. Management of cultural diversity issue Although cultural diversity is challenging to hospitality companies, there are a number of approaches and strategies that can be implemented to manage cultural diversity. Employee Relationship Management System Nowadays, leadership style is different from the style used in the past. Managers are today expected to be sensitive to cultural diversity in order to review and evaluate their perceptions and manage culturally diverse employees effectively (Clarke, 2007). Although cultural diversity is beneficial to performance and profitability of Australian hospitality companies, diversify workforces are difficult to manage. Relationship management system is aimed at creating a one-on-one relationship with all the employees in order to understand their origins and perceptions (Baum, et al, 2007). Increasing communication with the minorities and understanding and appreciating them often create trust and loyalty thereby solving any existing issue of multicultural differences. Diversity Training Program Diversity training program for not only the employees but also the managers should be imitated. To solve the cultural differences issues, hospitality organisations should be sensitive to cultural differences (Fernandez, Kleiner and Sturz, 2005). Diversity Training Program can assist hospitality industry managers to learn different cultures and acquire skills and knowledge to manage cultural diversity challenges. The diversity training program helps in enhancing communication between the managers and the minority and non-minority employees. Eradication Stereotyping and Increasing fairness Cases of discrimination and stereotyping are seen in culturally diverse hospitality companies (Ruggless, 2003). For instance, immigrants from Asia to Australia maybe perceived to be good learners and sharp, while immigrants from the Middle East may be perceived to be terrorists due to cultural stereotyping. Improving fairness in employment positions is essential. Managers should acknowledge the talent of the minority and should provide them with other employment position other than in the low-level department (Fernandez, 2006). Conclusion Immigration of people from other countries to Australia has diversified the hospitality industry. Cultural diversity has a number of benefits to organisations, but also the hospitality companies may face a challenge of managing multicultural workplaces. Therefore, a number of management programs should be put in place to solve the cultural diversity issue in hospitality industry in Australia. In many hospitality companies in Australia, the management and the staff have different national and cultural backgrounds. Due to this, hospitality companies have come across a number of serious questions of how to enhance fairness of the employees regardless of their cultural backgrounds; how to motivate contribution of the employees in a diverse team; and how to improve the working relationship between the diverse workforces. The answers to these questions lie on companies making efforts to addressing the existing cultural diversity issue. Therefore, managers have the responsibility for managing cultural diversity by minimizing the drawbacks and maximizing the benefits of cultural diversity in the workplace in order to enhance social cohesion and organisational effectiveness (Holaday, 2007). However, successful management of the cultural diversity issue is a challenge in the hospitality industry. References Baum, T., Devine, F. & Hearns, N 2007, The implications of contemporary cultural diversity for the hospitality curriculum. Education +Training, Vol. 49, no. 5, p. 350-363 Clarke, W 2007, Workforce in the 21 century, Corrections Today, Vol. 69, no. 1, p. 8-15. Day, R 2007, Developing the multicultural organization: Managing diversity or understanding differences? Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 39 no. 2, p. 214-217. Deloitte Feb. 2015, Tourism and Hotel market Outlook 2015, Deloitte Access Economics, Retrieved from www.deloitteaccesseconomics.com.au/.../DAE%20Tourism%20Hotel%2... Fernandez, A., Kleiner, B. & Sturz, D 2005, Effective management of cultural diversity in a classroom setting. Equal Opportunities International, Vol. 24, no. 5/6, p. 57-64. 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