MODERN WORKPLACE would having it benefit us ?”
Lenses on the world We all have a culture . All of us have a perspective , a view of the world we see around us . We all look at and interpret the world through a cultural lens . Sometimes we do this consciously but most of the time we do it unconsciously . This is perfectly natural and understandable .
How we view the world through our cultural lens is shaped by many influences . These influences include our upbringing , our family , our community and society in which we live and the assumptions and values we have about what is the ‘ right ’ way to do things . This is aptly reflected in this quote ; “ We don ’ t see things as they are , we see them as we are .” by Anais Nin ( 1903-1977 ).
Our cultural lens encompasses many things including how we behave in the workplace . These behaviours and the motivational cultural drivers that underpin them include how we expect decisions to be made , how we respond to authority , our attitudes and response to individual and collective needs , decide priorities , manage projects , how we express an opinion or disagree with each other or relate to our clients , managers or other staff at work . For many cultures these expectations , values and their underlying assumptions can often be different and can contribute to misconceptions and misunderstandings that impact on job satisfaction and the way a job gets done .
Why Cultural Awareness training is important ‘ Cultural Awareness ’ training in the workplace helps companies to increase and strengthen staff engagement with their business and business aims . It can proactively reduce the potential for misunderstanding , staff disengagement and reduce staff turnover .
Cultural awareness training is aimed at helping workmates gain an insight and general understanding of how and why colleagues from various cultures might respond to the same circumstances in different ways . It helps people to understand the motivational values that might be influencing the way their workmates respond to particular circumstances and to adjust their own behaviour accordingly , not only to get the job done but to build and maintain effective working relationship with their customers and colleagues .
This can contribute to a greater degree of staff engagement , improved recruitment and retention , and increased productivity and innovation . It can also help develop and strength high-performing work teams .
‘ Cultural Awareness ’ helps foster a collegial work environment that encourages diverse cultural perspectives and approaches to problem-solving to be more readily voiced . This acceptance and promotion of diversity of thought and perspectives encourages innovative thinking which may benefit the business .
‘ Cultural Awareness ’ training helps us to consciously develop an empathy and respect for different cultural perspectives within our businesses and organisations , while maintaining an awareness
of our own cultural lens and it how influences and filters our view of the world .
Essential business and leadership skill Having a greater sense of ‘ Cultural Awareness ’ and being able to communicate effectively across cultures is now an essential workplace skill . It requires conscious development to ensure sustainable and successful , productive working relationships and business outcomes .
‘ Cultural Awareness ’ training can help businesses to confidently and strategically leverage the talent and potential for growth and innovation that cultural diversity offers them towards achieving their business goals .
Realisation of its significance to our economy is still gaining momentum and has yet to reach a tipping point towards being fully recognised and accepted as an integral part of effective everyday business practice .
Holona and Trish Lui specialise in building cross-cultural effectiveness to support high performance in teams and organisations to achieve their business goals . They design and deliver coaching and facilitation of crosscultural communications programmes for the workplace .
November 2016 ModernBusiness 45