Leveraging Diversity for Interaction and Creativity

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Leveraging Diversity for Interaction and
Creativity

• Melissa Davies, Pres.
• Wise Ways Consulting
• September 10th, 2008

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From Tolerance..

• Embracing diversity entails more than tolerance.
  
• The term tolerance implies judgment or that
  something must be endured, or put up with
  like the unpleasant side effects of a medication.

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To Embracing

• When genuine acknowledgement, appreciation of,
  and interest in diversity is experienced,
  respectful relationships develop.
• Apart from avoiding the occurrence of
  disrespectful behaviors, engaging in respectful
  relationships means demonstrating a positive
  appreciation of people and their cultural values.

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• An inclusive culture is one in which people with
  fundamental differences in values, preferred work
  styles, goal priorities and behavioral norms can
  work together with maximum effectiveness.
  
• Burton, 1997

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Workforce Trends Affecting Organizational Change
(Over the next 5 to 10 years)

• Changes in organizations due to mergers and
  acquisitions.
• Changes in local workforce demographics by
  nationality, religion, age, ethnicity, and
  gender.
• Changes in the workforce educational level in
  gender and ethnicity.
• Changes in workers needs.
• Changes in the number of new workers in the
  organization by skill level such as unskilled,
  semi-skilled, managerial professional, and/or by
  type of work.
• The increase or decrease of employees in your
  organization by department or function.
• Changes in the skill requirements of employees.
• Changes in the tools needed to assess individual
  skill levels and job requirements.
• Changes in the basic and job-specific skills
  employees needed to be taught.
• Changes in the managerial structure, make up and
  competencies.

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Culturally Competent Professionals have an
ability to

• empathetically consider the unique perspective of
  identify groups in the organization.
• listen deeply to others, especially when cultural
  differences pose challenges.
• notice subtle, but important, nonverbal cues.
• lead people in ways that members of different
  groups feel supported and able to bring their
  whole selves to the organization.
• tolerate ambiguity that results from not knowing
  what the rules are or what is expected of you in
  unfamiliar situations.

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Culturally Competent Professionals have an
ability to

• know when someones personal limitations
  interfere with his/her ability to interact with
  someone who is different.
• lean into the discomfort of feeling misunderstood
  or rejected as they practice new cultural
  competence behaviors.
• take risks in order to be empowered when
  practicing new intercultural skills.
• see value in each culture to the point that
  learning about cultural differences becomes a way
  of life.
• focus on problems, rather than personalities, in
  addressing inclusion gaps.

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Think about..

• Do you know someone at your workplace who fits
  those criteria?
• How are they viewed by others?

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• We perceive the world through cultural filters
  and it is important to realize that the fact
  people from other communities and cultures may
  have different perspectives from our own on
  certain issues does not necessarily mean they are
  wrong.
• Kandola et al, 1994

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Diversity can be Defined as

• Individuals social identities including age,
  gender, sexual orientation, physical disability,
  socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, workplace
  role/position, religious and spiritual
  orientation, and work/family concerns.

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Inclusion can be defined as

• a sense of belonging feeling respected, valued
  for who you are feeling a level of supportive
  energy and commitment from others so that you can
  do your best work.
• Diversity describes the spectrum of human
  similarities and differences. It refers to the
  composition of people associated with the
  organization. Inclusion, on the other hand,
  describes the way an organization configures
  opportunity, interaction, communication,
  information and decision-making to utilize the
  potential of diversity. It refers to the
  organizational environment. Workplace
  Diversity Network, 2000

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Characteristics of Inclusive Organizational
Cultures

• A demonstrated commitment to diversity.
• A holistic view of employees.
• Access to opportunity.
• 360 degree communication and information sharing.
• Staff members eat lunch and spend breaks together
  in mixed groups.
• There are few if any, cultural or racial cliques
  among staff.
• Employees do not blame each other for problems.
• There is low absenteeism.

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Characteristics of Inclusive Organizational
Cultures

• There is low turnover. The organization is high
  functioning.
• There is laughter and good-natured humor in the
  workplace.
• Employees go out of their way to understand
  colleagues whose English is limited or accented.
  They understand that differences are an asset,
  rather than a barrier.
• Employees continuously learn how to identify
  cultural barriers and how to overcome them in
  order to work out their differences for
  work-related purposes.
• Employees celebrate accomplishments together.
• Employees of different groups help one another
  without being asked.

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Think about..

• Consider your own workplace how inclusive is
  it?
• How is it viewed by those who work there?

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What are the Benefits of a Culturally Inclusive
Workplace?

• Diversity enhances the brain power and creative
  output of the organization.
• Diverse organizations attract the best talent.
• Diverse organizations foster closer ties and
  better relationships with their clients
• Diversity enhances an organizations reputation.

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• Managing a diverse workforce can often be a
  difficult task not necessarily because of the
  real differences that exist between people but
  because of those that we believe exist.
• Kandola et al, 1994

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Think about..

• .what makes someone successful in your network
  or organization?
• Are all the things that you listed related to
  merit, skill or performance?

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What Can Those in Leadership Roles do?

• Publicly acknowledge success.
• Familiarize yourself with equity group issues so
  you can encourage and support equity group staff.
• Recognize that some people may be reticent about
  putting themselves forward to staff development
  opportunities.

• Managers set the tone by their personal behavior
  and communication style. The way staff are
  managed affects whether diversity is valued.
• Kandola et al, 1994

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Further.

• Model culturally sensitive behavior.
• Use workforce diversity as a valued resource.
• Ensure staff attend ongoing cross-cultural
  communication training.
• Learn more about people from cultural backgrounds
  different to your own.
• Pronounce and spell everyones names correctly.

• Managers skilled at making people feel valued
  will know how to harness potential whether they
  are dealing with a team of white males or one
  that is more mixed in terms of gender, ethnicity,
  etc.
• Kandola, et al, 1994

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Something to Consider

• Treating employees and clients as they want to
  be treated is very different than the Golden
  Rule of treating them as you want to be treated.
  You may insult or demean or not exceed their
  expectations. In order to treat them as they
  want to be treated, you must be willing to get to
  know their differences.
• Cecilia Chavez-Protas

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Effective Cross-Cultural Communication is
Underpinned by

• Accepting the relativity of your own knowledge
  and perceptions.
• Recognizing your prejudices and questioning them
  before you act.
• Examining your style, beliefs and attitudes,
  especially your reactions to people you find
  irritating or annoying.
• Being non-judgmental.
• Tolerating ambiguity.

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Effective Cross-Cultural Communication is
Underpinned by

• Appreciating and communicating respect for other
  peoples ways, values, and beliefs.
• Demonstrating empathy.
• Being flexible.
• Being willing to acquire new patterns of behavior
  and beliefs.
• Having the humility to acknowledge what you do
  not know.

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Hofstedes Framework

• Geert Hofsteede (1980) collected and analyzed
  data from over 100,000 individuals from 40
  different countries for his study on work-related
  values.
• He identified five dimensions about culture
• Individualism vs Collectivism
• Power Distance
• Masculinity/Femininity
• Uncertainty Avoidance
• Long-Term Orientation

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Individualism vs. Collectivism

• Is defined by
• A loosely knit social framework in which people
  are supposed to look after their own interests
  and those of their immediate family.

• Is characterized by
• A tight social framework in which people expect
  others in the groups to which they belong to look
  after them.
• In exchange for this
• Loyalty in a collectivist culture is paramount.
• Private interests are vested in the group.
• The individual exists in and through society.

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Individualism vs. Collectivism

• Individualistic societies tend to have a
  rights-based social system.
• Notions of confidentiality, consumer rights and
  privacy are considered highly important.
• People tend to form many loose and shifting
  alliances during their lifetimes.

• Collectivist societies tend to have a
  duties-based system.
• Social harmony, the well being of the group,
  takes precedence over the exercise of individual
  rights.
• The primary adult relationship is as a parent not
  as husband or wife. Dependence on parents is
  normal and the expectation and nurturing of a
  growing independence through late adolescence is
  seen as an abdication of parental
  responsibilities

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Obstacles and Opportunities

• Walmart significantly underestimated the cultural
  differences between its U.S. and German
  customers, complicating the launch of the Walmart
  brand in Germany.
• Outsourcing IT and Customer Service functions to
  India has proven to be good examples of both
  obstacles and opportunities. Reducing cost is
  only a meaningful investment if the culturally
  different notions of customer service and
  customer client expectations, as well as language
  and culture barriers, are carefully and
  successfully understood and managed.

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Consider..

• An Italian member of a cross-functional,
  pan-European team complains about the quality and
  effectiveness of weekly teleconferences. He
  finds that they are dominated by Anglophones
  i.e. those whose native language is English or
  who speak English with near native fluency.
  Uncomfortable with English, he feels that his
  viewpoints, opinions and perspectives are not
  appropriately considered. As a result, he and
  others felt disconnected and unmotivated.

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Consider..

• A Danish leader of a global team in a Danish
  pharmaceutical company schedules the first annual
  team meeting. On the agenda is a teambuilding
  activity that includes a pig roast. No
  provisions are made for the vegetarian team
  members from India, the Muslim team members from
  Pakistan, or the Jewish team members from Israel
  and the US. Not only does this oversight create
  embarrassment, but it undermines the intent of
  the teambuilding to foster trust and cohesion
  among its geographically dispersed members.

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Making it Personal.

• Can you think of examples in either your career
  or travel experiences, where perhaps you could
  have done something differently when working with
  people from a different culture?