Today, having a cross cultural business model offers great advantages. Many surveys and reports have concluded that having cultural diversity at work is good for areas such as creativity, productiveness and expanding a business's opportunities. In addition it also reflects a more international approach as it allows one to breach markets all over the globe through having staff with language and intercultural skills.
As with most things in business though, there is a flip side. Cross cultural communication at work can also be a negative force. Culture is a complex phenomenon and on occasions, if the actors involved are not versed enough in the cross cultural communication, it can be a barrier to success. This occurs when misunderstandings take place between people; whether it is something said, done or implied.
Cross cultural communication at work in order to be effective and productive must be managed. This means ensuring that staff, managers and senior employees all appreciate what it takes to work with (and in) different cultures. Such an appreciation may come naturally to people such as those that are well traveled, with mixed heritage or simply have good communication skills; others are less flexible and may struggle to show empathy towards the other or something different. Although it is the latter that may need the more specialist attention, all employees benefit from learning about cross cultural communication at work.
Learning, understanding and implementing strategies to encourage effective cross cultural communication at work can be achieved in a number of ways. Employees themselves may be able to iron out differences or come together to get to the bottom of issues. Sometimes some simple out of work bonding does the trick. However, for companies serious about nurturing highly-skilled staff confident working in a cross cultural environment, a cultural awareness training course is advisable.
Cultural awareness training, also known as intercultural or cross cultural training, is a formal means of introducing people to the concept, details and strategies of working across cultures. These usually follow the same format in that they start by laying a foundation of what culture is and how it works. This then moves on to look at how culture manifest in the workplace, often using examples from different cultures to illustrate the points. Once participants start to grasp the mechanics of culture and cross cultural communication at work they then move on to start looking at how they work, their communication preferences and possible obstacles to self-advancement. Finally, a good cultural awareness course will always finish off by examining the key skills needed to work in a cross cultural environment and how to develop them.
As the world and business move towards a more colourful, diverse and cross cultural make-up, it is integral that those businesses serious about reaping the rewards of the global economy start to invest in their staff. Cross cultural communication skills are and will continue to be vital.
© Kwintessential Ltd
