Managing Cultural Diversity in the Workforce

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Abstract

Cultural diversity entails the experiences and characteristics of different people within an organization. It includes the whole spectrum of human beings including ethnicity, race, age, gender, disability, religion and the sexual orientation. Most importantly, the focus upon diversity ought to be on individual work style, communication technique, the role level, level of performance and economic significance.

Introduction

The main aim of diversity is to tap exceptional talents and unique qualities along these dimensions. It is an issue of the people focusing on the differences and similarities presented to the workplace. This influence over individual identity and perspective goes beyond legally specified dimensions to offer non-discriminatory opportunities and affirmative statutes within the work setting.

The workplace ought to have non-discriminatory programs supported by the organization culture. This is the key element representing dignity and respect for all to encourage knowledge or experience gain and team work. This paper addresses the proactive measures required to deal with workplace cultural diversity and caters for ways of fostering the practice.

Advantages and disadvantages of Cultural Diversity

To begin with, cultural diversity boosts the company’s competitive situation in the market. Unlike the early days when marketers thought that a good or service was universally acceptable, cultural diversification enables today’s marketers to recognize that different cultures demand for different taste of the same product or service. Large chain stores like Wal-Mart or Woolworths are in a position to establish the best way of presenting their products depending on location (Deresky, 7, 2008).

Today we see a business scenario where small and medium sized companies are able to give big company a run for their money because they have understood the concept of managing trade in a multi-cultural setting.

The twenty first century creates openings for engaging in technological aspects and resources such as the internet trading, which provides a wide world web that assists to overcome the physical boundaries. A culturally diverse company is rich in knowledge pertaining people from various vicinities, thus enough chances of enhancing trade (Lewis, 2, 1999).

A business with ethnic diversity can easily serve a wide base of clients easily, considering the ease of workers relating with clients. The clients have a diverse representation in the firm thus sharing of a lot of common ground with their service providers.

There is a wide and equally diverse and well-balanced pool of knowledge created by diverse cultures in the workplace. According to Lewis (3, 1999), knowledge is power to gain experience, creativity, customer support or participation, lasting results and eventually long-term high profit margins.

Denial and discrimination are the individual characteristics on the subject of the barriers to enhancing cultural diversity in the workplace. People from different background still have personal features hindering this form of development. The cultural diversity within an organization with such people can be the main source of conflicts, group-work failures and thus fall of business operations and eventually poor economical growth. The diversity issue can therefore be a negative aspect if it lacks proper implementation procedures.

Proactive measures of resolving diversification related conflicts at the workplace

Implementation of cultural diversity at the workplace should correspond to strategic planning. Execution or change management must entail employees’ inspiration through infusion or integration of aspects such as those involving diversification into the business procedures or requirements.

Diversity ought to apply from the top executives, who should show commitment and importance of diversity. Having the employees understand the importance of diversity as a main pillar for workplace management since it reduces any possibilities of conflicts.

The top leaders or managers must engage an upbeat measure of solving diversity related conflicts by regularly emphasizing on its benefits to the firm. The business cultural commitment to diversity requires legal gazetting with the external regulator body to emphasize on the consequences regarding those conflicts that break business rules.

In relation to Cornelius’ writing (81, 2002), a company need to have programs for performing prior training to employees on how to deal with counterparts from different cultural setting. Arguably, it is impossible for employees to grasp various complex cultural nuances in one sitting, therefore the need for them to be careful on issues regarding stereotyping, language differences, time differences and individual versus collective mindset, as a measure of avoiding or resolving diversity related conflicts.

Fostering cultural diversity at the workplace

Promotion of cultural diversity in the workplace ought to take place before commencement of hiring. This means that one should include diversity in the business plan. In line with Kirton and Greene (183, 2000), discovery of strengths or benefits of an action occur well prior to proper planning.

These calls for the management to be responsive over recognizing, respecting and capitalizing on various aspects of the society mainly regarding ethnicity, race and gender. A good manager and leader should note that even outside the work setting; one finds exposure of various cultural practices.

Practical Theories of Managing Culture and Cultural Diversity

The Hofstede Theory

Today the technological change has made the organizations to become more dynamic since companies are now investing in joint ventures, partnerships that span across borders and cooperation through unions such as the European Union partnership. This means that the leadership styles are also focusing attention to more vibrant, on-going and very important procedures. The leadership style that attracts the attention of others requires a leader who is focused on other’s attention.

The leader’s values must therefore be of substantive worth. It is important for a leader to have good solid knowledge and approaches to combat the cultural differences as well as engage continuous and alternative choices that steers organization forward in terms of development (Dowling and Welch, 38, 2008).

One of the most common theories concerned with cultural diversity is the Hoftede Theory. According to Dowling and Welch (38, 2008), Hoftede’s Theory indicates that culture is a collective of intangible distinctions found between people in a group, firm, organization or nation.

The four main commonly used values in management of cultural diversity include power distance, individualism/collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and femininity/masculinity. The theory divides culture into two groups through analysis of the internal values, which are invisible and external values that are visible such as the rituals that a certain group practices, symbols, language differences and procedures for solving a problem.

Power distance involves a firm’s ability to come up with procedures for handling societal inequalities, while individualism or collectivism is concern with the procedures that a firm takes to control a group. The masculinity or femininity entails the firm’s managerial behaviours concern with gender differences. Lastly, uncertainties are the unknown situation and the company must have extensive procedures of avoiding or minimizing the amount of threatening experiences for a member of a firm.

Hoftede Theory mainly focuses on issues concerning leadership especially the ability to address various differences through effective communication. A good leader must be in a position of convincing people from different cultural backgrounds on how to focus on the ideas perceived to be important and developmental for a firm. It therefore focuses on and caters for each group.

The Cross-Cultural Communication Theory

The methods and styles of communication lack good definition in most organizations. Every leader has a personal way of pronouncement, which varies from formal to casual in both written and spoken forms. The main aim eventually is the consistency and ability to attract awareness and command peoples’ actions.

Today the successful leaders need to know how to transverse a multicultural environment. In line with The Cross-Cultural Communication Theory, He /she must realize that there exists no single method of controlling leadership procedures (Deresky, 287, 2008).

The leaders must read a group’s situation and come up with the most appropriate leadership behavioral pattern to combat the situation at hand. This is the only right and most appropriate procedures for the leaders because it enables the groups involved to fit the competency level. Leadership styles have a close connection to behavior. In the assessment of a group’s leadership needs, there is need to translate skills to communicate behavior.

For instance, if a leader finds that a certain group needs strong guidance, it is then wise to suggest direction, make different assignments, and possibly vet unrealistic suggestions. Leadership skills calls for one to find and balance the member’s thought, support viable decisions, and give authority to act. All the leadership styles in a multicultural environment have a strong basis on communication, and not skills, experience, lack or personality.

The connection between group members brings about cooperation, and unique leadership styles that solve group problem effectively thus making the group to become more effective regardless of the cultural differences that may exist (Deresky, 287, 2008). A good or efficient group made of multicultural communities only requires a small, early but strong guidance to become and remain productive.

Social-Identity Theory

The social-identity theory indicates that people exist in two distinct classes identified by analysis of group categories or group functions. By considering category, a leader utilizes the scientific definition of leadership in a process that involves interpersonal communication to influence an outcome.

According to Schneider and Barsoux (43, 2003), leadership is symbolic to the human nature of modifying attitudes and behaviours of culturally different people in order to meet organizational goals and needs. The leadership styles therefore involve acts enacted through persuasion or communication as opposed to forcing people to abide to a certain categorized aspects or certain functions.

Current Key Issues in the Service Sector

Increase of culturally diverse people in the work force is a clear indication that firms or organization need to move out of the traditions that supported confinement to boundaries that were structured conventionally and hierarchically, to allow group work and team spirits.

The developments mainly affect leadership to allow strategies that influence behaviours of others through communication. Today, a designated leader is appointed or elected to a position, but she/he need to be an emergent leader because of exerting influences towards achievement of group goals.

Acceptance of culturally diverse groups supports the concept that every person in a group ought to be an emergent leader especially during various group tasks (Reynolds and Valentine, 13, 2004). A designated leader has to be acceptable in the group for better outcomes. Sharing of leadership among members in a group means that eventually, the cultural differences are put aside and everyone is responsible for coordination of communication among the members.

Melting Pot theory

Melting Pot theory is a procedure for enhancing active interaction among people to ensure utilization of cultural significance of diversity and smooth settlement. Ability to enhance and utilize diversity depends on influence of the leaders. The designated or emergent leader has the ability or power to known the interpersonal influences.

The power can be a reward, punishment, legitimate, referent and expert. Leaders can offer the followers the value for their need for them to exercise rewarding power. The reward value can be material or intangible products such as monetary resources, material goods, favours, acknowledgements, complements and special attentions.

The administration of punishment power occurs through implementation of similar favours. Coercion forces compliance with hostile tactics but in most instances breeds to resentment especially when there are cultural group differences within the organization. Legitimate power enables the leader to perform certain tasks within the group setting, such as call for the group meetings, analysis of work by the other group members, or preparation of agendas.

In order to manage diverse groups effectively, the leader must have referent power based on attractiveness, admirable and respectable aspects of leadership. Admiration brings about influence and charisma as an extreme type of referent power, which instigates a feeling of royalty and devotion from others. The more the admiration and respect for the leader, the more influence on the behaviours and power to influence the group.

Leaders experience and expert power, when others or the followers value their guidance or admires the leadership styles. Diverse group members have diverse experiences and therefore are in a position to offer expertise guidance in different groups setting. In such a scenario, members posses confidence to share expert power in guiding others, value them and one can easily influence their behaviours or acts because of the respect for the knowledge or experience.

Regardless of the cultural differences, all members of an organization have various abilities to influence others. It is possible to assist others because the expertise does not only emanate from the legitimacy (Kirton and Greene, 183, 2000). A widely cultural diverse group means that there are diverse sources of leadership influences other then the legitimate power. All the members have some degree of influence over each other and the legitimate leader must make use of all the potentials or capabilities to lead.

Democratic Leadership Styles and Approaches

The democratic regulations standard for an organization fosters applicable employees’ self-management procedures. One of the most important procedures regards performance. Rewarding performance in terms of good workmanship or discipline encourage understanding among employees from different cultural groups because it shows them the importance of unity.

The personnel policy and procedures ought to determine eligibility for performance appraisal and rating performance for satisfaction as a way of enhancing unity. Every employee has governing procedures for expectations specified in the job contracts; therefore, failure to meet demands or to manage the personal duties could have a link to the group performance. Freedom of the employees may facilitate personal definitions and foster team spirit.

In a combination of democratic and autocratic styles as a way of enhancing team performance from people of different cultural groups in an organization, the leader can implement capacity planning and control as an essential aspect. It entails the research techniques for addressing the issue of scheduling applications, planning the allocation of resources, controlling performance and, having the problem solving techniques in place (Cornelius, 83, 2002).

The planning and controlling approaches include optimization techniques for diminishing or maximizing involved elements, to meet the objectives within the operating environment. Employees are thus encouraged to work as a team to meet certain goals. For instance, a big problem is broken down to ease complexity and thus speeds up computation. Decomposing a problem allow efficiency in and ability to handle the uncertainties adequately.

Secondly, dynamic approach allows the management to make decisions sequentially in a multi-stage pattern. A conflict related problem is recursively mirrored into solutions to come up with the most effective conclusion. Teamwork involves decomposition of a complex problem into various sub-problems for individuals to handle. The solutions eventually enable creation of a sequentially dependent framework indicating the whole problem as one, broken into various parts to enhance unity among employees.

Conclusion

Today the issue of employee performance has a strong basis upon organizational policies and procedures as opposed to only the leadership qualities. The nature of these rules or regulations helps in establishing the significance of a task and the importance of ensuring good results.

People are naturally opposed to rules that hinder their freedom and are strenuous during performance. Although an integral to effective part of performance, team leadership may be the root course of conflicts in a multicultural organization as opposed to the cultural differences.

The most important element of performance is ability to resolve internal conflicts through the leadership styles because disagreements hugely affect team performance. Leaders have the role of facilitating the behavioural change that assists in moulding individual trails into teams to achieve the set goals (Schneider and Barsoux, 43, 2004).

According to Reynolds and Valentine (13, 2004), a good system capitalizes on the employees strengths while minimizing on their weaknesses. The differences between employees’ culture should entail proper usage, to strengthen understanding and enhancing stronger bonds through team works as a measure to capture global clientele. An entrepreneur should know that diversity is something more than mare moral obligation or a necessity for a business but is a business opportunity.

Bibliography

Cornelius, N. (2002). Building Workplace Equality. Ethics, Diversity and Inclusion London: Thomson Learning.

Deresky, H. (2008). International Management: Managing across Borders and Cultures. (Sixth Ed). London: Prentice Hall

Dowling, P.J. & Welch D.E. (2008). International Human Resources Management: Managing People in a Multinational Context. Fifth ed. London: Thomas Learning.

Kirton, G & Greene A. (2000). The Dynamics of Managing Diversity. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann

Lewis, R. D. (1999). When Cultures Collide – Managing Successfully Across Cultures. London, UK: Nicholas Brealey Publishing

Reynolds, S & Valentine, D. (2004). Guide to Cross-Cultural Communication. (2nd Ed) New Jersey: Prentice Hall

Schneider, S.C & Barsoux, J. (2003). Managing Across Cultures. London: Prentice Hall

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