Managing Cultural Diversity: Impact and Strategies

Impact of Diversity on Work and Work Relationships

Discuss about the Work Diverse People and Managing Cultural.

Diversity refers to varied number of individuals that work together with similar objective. The success of an organization highly depends on its caliber to embrace diversity and enjoy its benefits[1]. Apart from this, it has been given in the report that how diversity should be valued and accommodated to get its greater benefits. Also, it is extremely important to have effective and transparent communication to manage cross cultural issues and work with unity and some of the effective ways have been discussed in this report to reduce the barriers of communication[2].

Diversity can be defined as the presence of people from different backgrounds who possess various different kinds of traits and it has a major impact on work and work relationships. Modern businesses must be aware of the impact of cultural diversity so that it may not impact a business in a negative manner[3].

It has been determined that workplace diversity provides strengths as well as challenges to an organization. It helps employees to learn various things from each other with the main aim to understand each other’s differences. Without any doubt, cultural diversity impacts the business in several different ways which may include the activities like employee recruitment, retention, management styles and relationships within organization. When organization embraces diversity with open arms then, it enjoys its advantages as it becomes efficient to compete in the market more effectively[4].

In addition to this, some disputes occur among the employees which even strain their relationships among each other. It is extremely important to understand cultural diversity issues in order to manage them before they persist. Different employees from varied cultures bring different talent to an organization and this is like another feather in the cap of those organizations who adapts cultural diversity with open arms. On the contrary to this, cultural diversity can also disturbs the relationships among the employees as they may feel inferior among each other due to different cultural backgrounds[5]. Henceforth, an organization must take it in a positive manner as cultural diversity helps organization to provide services on global platform with the help of diverse collection of experiences and skills.

Benefits of diversity

In the modern era of globalization, maximum numbers of organizations are working very hard to attain workforce diversity. This is the main reason that organizations hire employees and workers from different cultural and geographical backgrounds with the main aim to provide tangible and intangible advantages to an organization. In this regard, one of the foremost benefits of diversity is that it increases productivity as employers can offer better solutions to customers because of new ideas that they got to organization as a result of diverse workforce[6].

Benefits of Diversity

Also, diverse workforce increases creativity as employees from different backgrounds provide variety of solutions to help them to attain common organizational goals. On the other hand, companies that plan to expand into global markets have a great merit from language diversity in the workforce. For instance, companies that have employees who are fluent in Chinese and understand Chinese culture do not find difficulty to communicate with representatives from china. Therefore, it can be stated that heterogeneous group of employees can contribute more for the successful growth of an organization.

Inclusivity makes sure that all the people in an organization must feel valued as well as their basic needs should be met. It is so true that everyone has difference of opinions but their differences must be respected in an organization. Basically, it means to involve and welcome every employee’s ideas, creativity, knowledge and styles in order to maximize the success of a business. Nowadays, inclusion is needed in an organization as it enhances organization’s caliber to attain better results by properly engaging individuals from different backgrounds and perspectives with the help of participatory decision making[8].

Besides this, cultural safety is a procedure of ensuring respect for cultural and social differences in regard to health and education services. This aspect provides personal satisfaction to employees that their interests are rights are saved in their workplace despite of their different cultures[9]. Cultural safety makes employees feel protected which make them to work more effectively to attain organizational aims and objectives. On the other hand, cultural competence refers that organizations should have a defined set of ethics and principles to work in a global environment effectively and work properly in a cross cultural environment[10]. Organizations who commit to cultural competence, diversity, cultural safety and inclusivity as important core competencies of the organization will be successful to get the utmost benefits of a diverse, culturally competent and inclusive workforce[11].

When employees from different cultural backgrounds work under the same roof then, it is important for them to reflect their own individual and cultural characteristics. This can help them to make direct contact with each other and reduce the assumptions of general biasness to encourage unity among them. Also, it would provide them mental satisfaction that their culture is respected in their organization[12].

It is so evident that each individual has a unique lifestyle that is inherited in them due to their cultural belief. There is need to reflect on their own individual and cultural characteristics, biases and prejudices to develop cultural competence in other regions too[13]. This would help people to encourage unity in diversity in workplace so that they can work properly without any kind of disputes. On the other hand, it is true that mental satisfaction is extremely important among employees to make them work with an ease so that they can work effectively. In this regard, mental satisfaction is possible when employees feel that their own culture is valued and this can be made possible if they reflect on their own individual and cultural attributes[14].

Need for Inclusivity, Cultural Safety and Cultural Competence

Diverse workforce helps employers to attain organizational goals by engaging with different kinds of people in an appropriate manner. Diversity is good for the sound health of an organization but as the diversity increases, so the differences among the individuals increase. Some differences are resolved with an ease but some of them need lot of efforts to make sure to maintain harmony among employees. In such circumstances, it is the duty of an employer to accommodate those employees. Cultural differences are something which may ensure growth of an organization or they can even ruin its reputation[15].

In context to this, diversity should be valued and accommodated in an organization by encouraging communication as lack of communication may lead to misunderstanding, if diverse employees communicate with each other regularly then, their relationship would become more healthy which would ultimately strengthen their bond[16]. Apart from this diversity can be accommodated by encouraging employees to learn from each other’s countries and cultures as they would help them to get to know each other in a much better manner. On the other hand, festivity and celebrations are the most appropriate ways to learn more about each other’s cultures[17].

Hence, having lunch with each other where they can share some traditional food, cuisines and discuss what their festival actually means and why it is celebrated would help them to respect each other’s culture. In this manner, diversity should be valued and accommodated to strengthen the bond of employees so that they value all the cultures and work with unity to attain the objectives of an organization[18].

It is important that employees have fruitful and healthy relationship among each other so that they can work without any grudges. In this regard, effectively and mutually beneficially relationships can be built with work mates, clients and clients’ families by welcoming their suggestions with open heart as it would give them sense of belongingness. If an employee is juggling with a personal issue then, organization should support him and sympathizes with him. Besides this, encouraging a positive, effective and supportive culture in which employees can work with integrity and discuss their problems freely among each other[19].

Arrangement of project parties and other such events help employees and clients to communicate with each other and develop mutual and sound relationship with families as well. It is crucial to maintain healthy relationships with clients and their families as it makes them to retain with the services and products of an organization for longer time. Some other significant tips that help to build positive relationships with clients and their families may include positive atmosphere, open communication and arrangement of social gathering events. Open communication help clients to discuss their needs and requirements with company in a better manner. In this way, all the workmates, clients and their families can have fruitful relationship among each other[20].

Importance for Staff to Reflect on their Own Individual and Cultural Characteristics, Biases and Prejudices

In a diverse workforce, communication is always a major issue as most of the problem persists due to lack of communication or ineffective communication. In order to ensure an effective diverse workforce, it is extremely important to overcome communication barriers which can be done by making the use of simple language and use of jargons and other difficult words may create ambiguity[21]. Communication barriers mostly occur when an organization has a diverse workforce as they possess different attributes and might have different accents. Apart from this, selection of proper media is extremely important as written mode of communication must be used to deliver complex and significant set of information[22]. Thus is because employees from different cultural backgrounds may have different accents which may even lead to misinterpretation of information. Therefore, the methods must be used effectively to overcome communication barriers with an ease.

Organizations need to consider the diversity of their clients’ values, perceptions and cultural expectations in order to ensure healthy and sound workforce which is free from all kinds of disputes. This can be made possible by working harder to eliminate biases, discriminatory practices and other prejudices. In this way, the needs of clients will be accommodated and respected properly in an effective manner[23].

It is true that when an organization hires individuals from different cultural backgrounds then, employers must be respectful of their cultural and religious perception to make them feel as a part of single family. Apart from this, there are some events that may distress these individuals like addressing them by their first name can be disrespect to some of them. This shows that an organization must address individuals as they want to be addressed to satisfy their needs. In some cultures male staff feels bad if they are supervised by female staff and hence, this case must be avoided[24].

Apart from this, there are different ways in every culture to greet each other and it is not possible for an organization to implement each way in the working environment. To overcome this, one common method should be adopted to greet each other as this may not hurt the sentiment of any employee. With the help of these effective ways, the individual and cultural needs of clients can be accommodated and respected without any kind of major difficulty[25].

Cultural conflicts can be a major hurdle for organizational growth and this is the main reason that organizations must make efforts to prevent, overcome and manage cultural conflicts with an ease. From a business point of view, it is good to have a diverse workforce as it helps to understand the market and potential needs of different kinds of customers in a better manner[26].

Value and Accommodation of Diversity

In this regard, come of the methods that can be helpful to manage and prevent cultural conflicts may include generation of respect among the employees for every culture and religion. Some other significant tips to prevent such kinds of disputes may include self awareness, taking responsibility, empathy and taking action. It is important for workmates to resolve the issues as early as possible that they have among each other rather than ignoring them[27]. Ignorance may increase the possibilities of misunderstanding and bitterness among co workers. Apart from this, empathy is another significant option to overcome and reduce cultural conflicts as this helps an individual to put himself in other person’s shoes. This help to get a better understanding of a problem in order to resolve the issue as soon as possible. The overall analysis shows that the above mentioned methods are really effective to prevent and manage cultural conflicts[28].

Strategies that people can use to improve their own self and social awareness

Self and social awareness plays a crucial role in the management of cross cultural diversity. Some of the significant strategies that can be really lucrative to enhance self and social awareness may include evaluation of self assessment and not committing the same mistake again. Sometimes, the best way to improve self and social awareness is to impose questions on your own self as this helps to revise the deeds that the person has committed[29]. This allows a person to pick the right things and analyze where the things went wrong. With this assessment, a person is able to realize his own mistake which help him to adapt to the culturally diverse workforce in a better manner. On the contrary to this, when variety of individuals works under the same roof may have some issues among each other and they might commit mistakes but making the same mistake twice can be disastrous[30]. In order to improve self and social awareness, one must be peculiar about making the mistakes and should not repeat the mistakes over and over again. In nutshell, another effective way to improve their own and social awareness is to find common ground as this would help people to understand each other’s culture in a better manner[31].

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it can be stated that diversity is one of the most significant aspect to ensure global growth of an organization. There are several benefits of diversity that makes sure that an organization can achieve its goals with an ease which are discussed in the above mentioned section.

There are many events and occasions in which cultural conflicts occur among the employees which strain their relationships and impact the organizational growth as well. This creates mental stress and deteriorates their working efficiency which deviate the path of employees to attain cultural competence. In this regard, some of the significant strategies have been discussed in this report to manage and prevent cross cultural issues in the most effective manner.

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