Coaching Multicultural Teams: Diversity and Communication

Introduction: The Value of Coaching in Diverse Workplaces

Being a job coach is an honor, a privilege, and even a necessity in today's workplace environment. Based on evidence highlighting the effectiveness of coaching, more and more companies are "opting for team coaching as a more effective way to improve team capability and performance, while at the same time saving on costs" (Stout-Rostron, 2016, p. 238). A manager with an international background should absolutely embrace the role of coach to help manage and leverage diversity in the organization and promote an organizational climate of inclusivity. In fact, someone with an international background is perfectly poised to guide organizational policy and practice regarding diversity and communication.

Religious Diversity in the Workplace

Religion can be a central component of individual identity construction and community cohesion. Just as employees have rich social and family lives outside of their place of employment, they also observe religious practices that coincide with their personal beliefs or their cultural background. While religiosity and spirituality usually do not conflict with the workplace environment, holidays are a potential source of conflict. A hegemonic Christian culture has enabled the celebration of some holidays as if they were universal. Failure to formally acknowledge non-Christian holidays sends "a subtle yet powerful ethnocentric message concerning which holidays are worth knowing about, and which ones are not" (Schlosser & Sedlacek, 2003, p. 31).

Therefore, several conflicts may arise directly from policies that prohibit employees from taking days off on religious holidays. The first conflict that may arise is legal. If an organization mandates time off for Christian holidays like Easter and Christmas but disallows Muslims and Jews from taking time off on their holidays, employees could effectively sue for discrimination. Equal opportunity laws protect the rights of workers and prevent discrimination on the grounds of religious difference. The coach can therefore work with management to help promote inclusive time-off policies that respect the religious holidays of all employees.

Another conflict that may easily arise when employees are not given time off to observe their culture's religious traditions concerns morale. Spiritual and religious observances are integral to achieving the work-life balance that employees need to maintain morale and performance standards (Cash & Gray, 2000). Offering employees time during the day to pray or meditate would also be advisable when requested. Similarly, when there is a religious holiday, employees are likely interested in spending time with their family members—which is critical to their overall sense of wellbeing. To encourage morale and resolve conflicts, it is recommended that employees be given time off to observe religious holidays. Another possibility is to ask that non-Christian employees work on Christian holidays to make up for the time they take off on their own religious holidays. This arrangement would help maximize productivity and promote a harmonious, inclusive work environment.

Cultural Quirks and Their Impact on Communication

Cultural differences permeate almost every area of human behavior and even cognition. There are bound to be culturally specific quirks that differentiate people in the office. Many cultural quirks are likely to be perceived positively and with a sense of humor, but some might cause conflict. It is important to understand what cultural quirks might arise that could restrain a foreign manager from expressing his or her ideas readily. Some of those quirks are likely to be related to gender norms and roles, whereas others are more related to communication style or perception of power hierarchies in an organization.

Notions of public and private space can be linked to culture. In some cultures, touching and standing close are normative, whereas in other cultures such gestures are considered taboo. Standing too close to someone could make the other person uncomfortable, creating awkward situations in the workplace. Therefore, managers are advised to learn about cultural differences regarding personal space and to respect those differences when communicating with staff.

Another cultural quirk that could affect how a foreign manager communicates with others is power distance. The United States has low power distance norms, meaning that subordinates are not overly deferential and often openly challenge their supervisors. Not all people come from cultural backgrounds with low power distance. If a manager is from a high power distance culture and expects her American subordinates to accept orders without question, she may be surprised or even frustrated. Likewise, if her superior is from a high power distance culture, she should understand that a deferential attitude conveying respect will help foster harmony in the workplace.

Gender is a major issue shaped by culture. If a manager is unfamiliar with diverse gender roles and norms, she needs to prepare for the possibility that some team members may not hold egalitarian gender norms. Sensitivity to different gender norms can help eliminate and deconstruct the "all-embracing character of gender discrimination at work" (Helms, 2017, p. 49). Coaching should therefore focus on building awareness and appreciation for different attitudes held toward women in positions of power.

References

Cash, K. C., & Gray, G. R. (2000). A framework for accommodating religion and spirituality in the workplace. Academy of Management Perspectives, 14(3), 124–133.

Helms, J. C. (2017). Rules, sensemaking, formative contexts, and discourse in the gendering of organizational culture. In A. J. Mills (Ed.), Insights and research on the study of gender and intersectionality in international airline cultures (pp. 49–69).

Lisak, A., & Erez, M. (2015). Leadership emergence in multicultural teams: The power of global characteristics. Journal of World Business, 50(1), 3–14.

Ray, L. (n.d.). Examples of cultural differences in business. The Chronicle. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-cultural-differences-business-21958.html

Schlosser, L. Z., & Sedlacek, W. E. (2003). Christian privilege and respect for religious diversity: Religious holidays on campus. About Campus, 7(6), 31–32.

Stout-Rostron, S. (2016). Working with diversity in coaching. In T. Bachkirova, G. Spence, & D. Drake (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of coaching. SAGE.