Effective communication strategies in multicultural workplace environments

communicating in a Multicultural Work Place

Modernization and Corporate Communications

Communications technology has changed tremendously since the last working generation before the digital age. Two decades ago, the telephone was the primary means of business communication, with traditional postal mail relied upon for formal communications and those requiring an official record. Today, email is the predominant form of business communications although other forms of digital media are rapidly becoming equally important. As more and more cellular telephones have added text messaging functions, that medium of communication has become a means by which employers and employees maintain round the clock mutual availability. In some respects, text messaging greatly facilitates business communications but in other respects it can also break down some of the natural barriers that have always separated professional life and personal life, in effect, resulting in a defacto perpetual "on-call" status for many employees.

2. Change Management

As business organizations change, they must implement those changes in a manner that does not interrupt or interfere with ongoing business operations. Communications functions are critical because they allow organizational leaders to keep personnel informed and to anticipate and respond to potential issues of concern that arise in connection with proposed changes.

3. Consciousness of Individual Differences and Perspectives

In order to communicate effectively to all personnel, it is important that individual differences and differences in the various perspectives of all personnel be appreciated and considered. The more diverse a workforce is, the more sensitive are the issues of recognizing potential areas for miscommunication and unintended offense or insult. By understanding a broad range of cultural attitudes, values, and expectations, organizations can ensure that all of their personnel are accounted for in every area of business operations and management in relation to individual sensibilities.

4. Diversity Issues

The contemporary workplace is highly diverse in terms of gender, race, religion, culture of origin, and sexual orientation. Each subgroup is entitled to the same respect and consideration from management and from fellow coworkers. In that regard, it is always the responsibility of organizational management to foster a climate throughout the organization that promotes tolerance of diversity and that strongly discourages any discrimination.

5. Avoiding Stereotypes, and Bias

To a great extent, stereotypes and biases are a natural aspect of multiculturalism. On the other hand, the workplace is no place for the expression of bias toward any group or individual and it is the responsibility of management to implement appropriate cultural sensitivity training designed to address the inappropriateness of stereotyping and bias in the workplace.

6. Employee Networks in the Modern Workplace

Contemporary business organizational managers must recognize the importance of employee networks in the modern workplace. These networks are typically formal and related to vocational responsibilities (such as communications among and between individual members of work groups) as well as informal and related to social relationships that are not related to vocational responsibilities. To facilitate effective communications, organizational managers must understand the social dynamics of all of these employee communications networks.

7. Understanding Cultural Diversity

Cultural diversity has emerged as one of the most significant social issues in the contemporary workplace. That is largely attributable to the increasing cultural diversity in society and especially to the increased globalization of business in general. Today, it is no longer possible to assume that business partners and other stakeholders will necessarily share the same cultural perspective. In many instances, the failure to appreciate and respond appropriately to cultural diversity can make the difference between success and failure of business negotiations, particularly those conducted across international borders.

8. Promoting and Inclusion by Acknowledging Dissimilarity

While the purpose of cultural sensitivity awareness training is always to reduce or entirely eliminate tensions resulting from cultural differences, the road to achieving that goal often starts with an open and frank acknowledgment of differences. The failure to acknowledge obvious differences actually promotes intolerance; conversely, the open recognition of differences allows organizational management to outline protocols defining expected behavior and organizational values in relation to tolerance of diversity.

10. Transformation Management Example

One of the more common transformations in contemporary business organizations has to do with the manner in which work performance is evaluated and rewarded. That is especially true in organizations where management by exception has been the traditional approach, whereby only employees performing exceptionally well or unacceptably poorly draw managerial attention. This particular management style has earned a reputation for encouraging complacency and a culture in which employees work only hard enough to avoid being flagged as underperformers. Because of the detrimental effect on productivity, many organizations that have traditionally relied on management by exception have transformed into merit-based performance evaluation in which all personnel reap compensation rewards-based directly on their productivity and on the quality of their work.