Diversity is an important part of the modern workforce. This is because the modern world is a global world where businesses expand and grow across multiple countries and continents. Because of the growing demand of diverse clients and customers, businesses need to adapt and hire accordingly. Tom must make important decisions for the families and employees going to Hong Kong and Spain. From training to familiarization, there are several things to consider for the big move.
One of the first interactions is Steve. Steven suggests training for both the families and the employees. Joy suggests things be separate to allow the families of the employees to familiarize themselves to the new country. Carla provides an excellent suggestion of adding a contact person for those in the group having difficult adjusting. However, this may be a budgetary concern, so it does not fly with Tom. Joy is asked for advice for the Hong Kong office but does not feel comfortable suggesting anything because she is not completely familiar with the customs and culture there even though she spent a year for work there.
Tom suggests the existing New York training can apply for Hong Kong as per Drew’s advice. However, Joy is unsure this is a good idea. That is a fair thing to say because of the clear culture differences in Hong Kong versus a city like New York....
While Hong Kong and New York are constantly compared, there are key cultural aspects that will not be handled well in Hong Kong.
An article details the past of Hong Kong. “Culturally, a solid – some would say stolid – British colonial veneer was laid over an overwhelmingly Cantonese society. Little genuine social contact existed across racial, ethnic and class barriers” (Wordie, 2015). Even though some people in Hong Kong receive an American education and many are ‘Westernized’, there are still some things to consider in Hong Kong that a Hong Kong native or someone living there for a long time will be able to understand. The best way to explain this is through the diversity hires within the team.
People in Spain speak Spanish. One of the employees is Carla Baskil who hails from Puerto Rico. Because she is from a Spanish-speaking area, she and someone like her can help in the business location in Spain. As everyone attests, communication is an integral part of any business. Language barriers can hurt a business and prevent it from growing. Customers and clients want to communicate effectively with employees. Therefore, having employees that speak the language can help grow a business by promoting high-quality communication.
Another key aspect to diversity is culture. Sometimes…
