Managing a Culturally Diverse Workplace - Literature review Example

Managing a Culturally Diverse Workplace A culturally competent manager of a multicultural workplace should be aware of the issues and concerns of his workers such as how their cultural differences can affect their interpersonal and working relationships with their colleagues. Communication between workers from different cultures may be affected, so the manager should be able to put into place effective practices in managing cultural diversity in the workplace to ensure that work relationships are kept harmonious. Modern human resource management has identified cultural differences to be one of the most crucial problems in organizations today due to various implications it has on work. Apart from psychological and political factors (Hofstede, 1994), it can also hinder the effective transfer of knowledge and information (Javernick-Will and Levitt, 2010), affect the development of trust amongst intercultural members (Fong & Lung, 2007) and being a risk factor in the establishment of harmonious working relationships (Bu-Qammaz et al., 2009). Hence, it is necessary to keep such possible threats to harmony under control. It is also possible, however, to view cultural diversity as a positive element in organizations. Members are exposed to various insights and perspectives from diverse cultures, enhancing their knowledge. In the long term, cultural diversity can bring about more creativity, better problem-solving skills with more effective and varied approaches (Miller et al., 2000). This can be seen in successful multinational companies employing teams of workers from a variety of cultures. These companies take pride in the productive outcomes of their culturally diverse teams. Organizations that embrace diversity of all kinds are also known as “inclusive workplaces”. These are places that: “values and us es individual and intergroup differences within its work force; cooperates with and contributes to its surrounding community; alleviates the needs of disadvantaged groups in its wider environment; and collaborates with individuals, groups, and organizations across national and cultural boundaries” (Mor Barak, 2000, pp. 339-340). Workers benefit from such inclusiveness but they would need an adequate understanding of the culture of others so that they can engage in good interactions with each other. They need to be able to adapt to the differences of others and make a conscious effort to learn from them so that elements of their culture may be integrated into their own (Lin, 2004). As a manager, promoting cross-cultural communication can be a challenge because it entails interpersonal skills, communication skills, sensitivity and a sense of inquisitiveness (Congden et al., 2009; Black & Gregersen, 2000). It goes beyond understanding another individual’s culture and language but also encompasses emotional and behavioral skills such as empathy, warmth, charisma and the efficient management of conflict, anxiety and uncertainty (Gudykunst, 1998). The manager himself should model competence in such kind of communication so that he can explain his instructions and policies clearly to the staff and avoid misinterpretations especially when he addresses their specific tasks. Being competent in cross-cultural communication ensures direct and positive outcomes regarding managers’ decision-making and problem-solving abilities (Matneev & Nelson, 2004). In promoting cross-cultural communication competence, four dimensions need to be remembered. The first is interpersonal skills. Culturally-diverse members are aware of the differences in the communication and interaction of other members of the team. Thus, they are flexible in settling conflicts and are not hesitant in communicating with people from other cultures (Congden et al., 2009). The next dimension is team effectiveness, which entails a team member’s critical skills since he should be able to understand and clearly communicate the team’s goals, roles , tasks, etc. to other members of the multicultural team. This is supposed to get the whole team together to collaborate together for a common purpose. Next is cultural uncertainty, which is the ability to maintain patience and tolerance in situations wherein uncertainty prevails due to cultural differences and yet workers are able to still work flexibly and harmoniously with others in a multicultural setting. The final dimension is cultural empathy. This is characterized by team members understanding others by putting themselves in the others’ shoes. Members are curious about the practices of other cultures, their communication patterns, etc. and appreciate the variety they contribute to the team (Matneev & Nelson, 2004; Matneev, Rao & Milter, 2001). Comu, Unsal & Taylor (2011) agree that in multicultural settings, aside from cultural diversity, linguistic diversity also affect s the job performance of teams. When members of a multicultural group learn to linguistically understand each other, they become more productive because they achieve the sufficient communication skills to coordinate tasks more efficiently. For example, learning a common language such as English keeps members on common ground (Gilleard and Gilleard, 2002). This reduces conflicts and misunderstandings that may sprout from linguistic differences which can make team collaboration difficult to achieve. More than verbal communication, non-verbal communication between people from different cultures may also be a source of misunderstanding so members from the same organization should exert an effort to understand the meaning of the gestures, facial expressions, posture, etc. of their co-members. For example, Butler et al. (2007) shared that Western European cultural values such as independence and self-assertion promote their expression of emotions, so they can be transparent with their facial expressions. On the other hand, East Asian cultural values such as interdependence and relationship harmony make them suppress their emotions to maintain the status quo (Gross and Levenso, 1997). Also, eye contact can be interpreted differently in various countries. Western cultures such as those from American and Arab countries value eye contact to indicate attentiveness, interest and honesty. However, in other cultures such as the Hispanic, Asian and Native Americans, eye contact is avoided or else it may be perceived as a sign of disrespect or rudeness especially if directed towards a person of authority (Ikeda & Tidwell, n.d.). Hence, managers should learn even the non-verbal communication differences in the cultural groups of his members and explain this to his team so that everyone is clear on it and not cause miscommunications and conflicts. The manager of a multicultural group should develop cultural intelligence (CQ) (Nafei, 2013). This is intelligence which emphasizes the capacity to grasp, reason and behave effectively in certain situations wherein cultural diversity takes place (Schmidt & Hunder, 2000). He should learn to deal with people from different cultural backgrounds in a respectful manner which does not offend anybody (Nafei, 2013). He should know how to motivate the members to complete their tasks and do them well. Understanding the norms, practices and traditions of his members’ culture helps a lot in relating to them appropriately. Cognitive strategies in coping with individuals who may not share the same cultural norms help a culturally intelligent individual to adjust his mental models during his intercultural exchanges with them so as to bring about positive outcomes. Finally, a good manager is sensitive enough to know how to behave appropriately towards his members in a way that they feel accepted and respected for their cultural differences (Nafei, 2013). In managing diversity in organizations, Mead (1994) suggests some guidelines in motivating workers to perform well in their tasks. One is to value the exchange of alternative points of view. Workers should be trained to be open to the ideas of others, fostering “out of the box” thinking. This results in the bringing fresh perspectives and creative thinking. Tolerating uncertainty in group processes is actually encouraged because it strengthens the bond of the members as they strive to find the best solutions to problems together. The manager should also instill respect for each member as they are encouraged to share their own experiences from their own cultural practices so it can enrich others’ knowledge as it consequently improves their understanding and tolerance of differences. Exposing members to the values of other cultures provides them with opportunities for learning. A culturally competent manager carries a huge responsibility on his shoulders. But being able to train his culturally diverse workers to embrace diversity and to relate to each other in harmony would make his load so much lighter in the long run. References Bu-Qammaz, A., Dikmen, I., and Birgonul, M. (2009). Risk assessment of international construction projects using the analytic network process. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering 36(7), 1170–1181 Comu, S., Unsal, H.I.and Taylor, J.E. (2011) Dual Impact of Cultural and Linguistic Diversity on Project Network Performance, Journal of Management in Engineering, 27 (3) Congden, S.W., Matveev, A.V. & Despiaces, D.E. (2009) Cross-cultural Communication and Multicultural Team Performance: A German and American Comparison Cox. Gilleard, J., and Gilleard, J. (2002). Developing cross-cultural communication skills. Journal of Professional Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 128(4), 187–200. Hofstede, G.(1994) Cultures and Organizations: Intercultural cooperation and it’s importance for survival –software of the mind, London: McGraw- Hill/HarperCollins Ikeda, J. & Tidwell, C. (n.d.) Cultural Differences in Non-Verbal Communication, Retrieved on 15 Oct.. 2014 from http://healthvermont.gov/family/toolkit/tools%5CF- 6%20Cultural%20Differences%20in%20Nonverbal%20Communic.pdf Javernick-Will, A., and Levitt, R. (2010). Mobilizing institutional knowledge for international projects. J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 136(4), 430–441 Mor Barak, M. E. (2000) The Inclusive Workplace: An Ecosystems Approach to Diversity Management, Social Work, 45 ( 4) Nafei, W.A. (2013) The Impact of Cultural Intelligence on Employee Job Performance: An Empirical Study on King Abdel-Aziz Hospital in Al-Taif Governorate, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, International Journal of Business and Management; 8 (1) Read More