Effective Ways To Manage A Culturally Diverse Workforce
Cultural sensitivity ensures that there is maximum productivity reaped by an organization. The impact of cultural sensitivity is that mistakes are not committed because there is no miscommunication between team members. There can be misunderstandings between team members resulting in conflicts and stoppage of work, which does not happen if the employees know and understand each other’s cultures. To accommodate talented people from different cultures in the organization, it's important to give them the respect they need.
Since information about each other’s cultures has increased, it can be used to create and enhance the company brand. Such knowledge can be used in product advertising and employee training. Today, companies are dealing with employees and clients on an international scale, hence knowledge about diverse cultures is important.
Interaction Through An LMS
One way to make sure that the employees are culturally sensitive is by ensuring that they talk with each other. When they have friends from other cultures, they understand their cultural sensitivity. However, in the times of COVID-19, when workers are working from home, an LMS can make sure that they interact with each other. These days an LMS features many tools, such as forums where employees can interact with each other. An LMS also has chat-based tools where employees have opportunities for interaction. Thus, employees have chances to interact with each other, hence they know how to deal with the other person in a culturally sensitive way.
Online Courses
Tell workers how COVID-19 is affecting the other workers. The people working in companies are not rude, but they know how COVID-19 is affecting other people. Hence, teaching workers to be empathic ensures that the workers are able to respond well to those from different cultures.
You can make sure that the employees are made aware of how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting those from other cultures who are working from home through online courses.
eLearning Courses
The courses can be designed in a special manner so that they are able to teach cultural empathy to people. They should include characters that represent people from different cultures. You can also ensure that culturally sensitive nuances are also taught to people through such courses. To ease the cultural gap, it’s better to teach the employees different languages. They can't be taught the language completely as it would involve a lot of time, rather some basic slang of the language can be taught to them. Translators are always available to help them in understanding a different language and communicating in it.
For example, for expatriates or those working from non-American countries, make sure American idioms are explained to them clearly. This kind of knowledge comes in handy for them when they are interacting with their American counterparts. For example, in American lingo, “Break a leg” means best of luck, but an Asian worker may not be aware of its meaning. Thus, you can make sure that the employees are sensitive to the needs of the other employees by preparing some courses on cultural sensitivity and include them in the LMS.
Educating Others
Education is the best way to build a culturally sensitive workforce. This education can be in the form of workshops. In such workshops, individuals make others aware of their own culture. Each business should design its training modules in a fashion that the needs of all the people from different cultures are included.
Celebrate Cultural Festivals
It’s also important to have cultural holidays and festivals. This way the employees of a specific culture won't feel isolated. If a person of a certain culture feels aloof, there should be a senior team member who should be ready to listen to their woes when they have been culturally disrespected. When people are heard, they know that they are working in an environment where they can have complete credibility in the team.
So, this is how companies can build a culturally sensitive workforce and get the benefits of a spirited working environment.
