The Hindu Business Line : Embracing cultural diversity in the workplace

Some years ago, I had a Canadian colleague, Camillus. One day while coming to work Camillus asked his autoricksaw driver if there was a church nearby. The auto driver told him that he knew of a famous church on the way to the office. Camillus said “good” and kept quiet. The auto driver drove him to the church and waited for Camillus to get out. Camillus was upset that the auto driver had wasted his time and instead of taking him to the office had taken him to t he church.

In the incident, Camillus wanted some information for future use. The culture he comes from dictates that when a person asks a question, you give him or her a response, which completes that unit of communication. The auto driver, being an Indian, made assumptions, was being helpful and especially when asked about a place of worship assumed that Camillus wanted to go to the church before going to work and took him there. Neither was wrong or right; they were both being themselves, but neither got what they wanted. A very typical instance of cultural misunderstanding.

The last few years have seen the Indian corporate environment exposed to several cultures from around the world. It is not unusual to find teams, in a company, where there are people from Europe, East Asia and India, all working on the same project. Each one of them brings in their own cultural nuances, work styles and belief systems. This diversity in the workplace has created for the CEO and the company at large issues of cultural misunderstanding, consequential interpersonal relationship issues and its impact on the bottomline. In fact, recent studies show that in the beginning of an offshore project, productivity can drop up to 20 per cent due to cultural differences.

As head trainer at Global Adjustments, I was once asked to work with a group of team leaders who worked with people from different cultures. During the initial meeting with the CEO of the company, he told us that his leaders were intelligent and hard working; but he found that a lot of time and effort was wasted on sorting out misunderstandings and this, in turn, led to delays. And he shared the following incident with us:

Dave, a group leader, asked if the group would be able to do the testing of some equipment and give him a detailed report by the end of the week. He was told that it would be done. But when the deadline arrived the report was not complete. Dave asked for the reason for this delay and he was informed that the father of one of the group members was admitted to the ICU of a hospital and so two of them were busy helping out. Though Dave empathised, he could not understand what it had to do with the report not being completed. The Indians could not understand how Dave could be so careless about another person’s problems.

When we go to train or coach such teams, we start with creating awareness of the issue and what it means to each stakeholder and it is this facilitation for which people use Global Adjustments’ expertise. Bringing about cohesiveness in a multi-cultural team is a process. It starts with;

Accepting: Each member of the group needs to understand and accept the unique skills that each one of them brings to the table. For example, Dave coming from the West is trained to think sequentially and is goal-driven. This quality helps achieve projects on time. The Indian on the other hand is collective and instinctively supports another. This is an important trait for a strong team. It leads to better understanding.

Adapting: When Dave understands the importance of mutual support for an Indian, he will be willing to respect the other team members and will be able to understand the situation better. It will require a shift in Dave’s approach towards his Indian colleagues. The Indians, while appreciating Dave’s shift would also make a shift and help Dave meet his deadlines. This adapting to cultures creates an environment of mutual trust in the group.

Integrating: Once Dave and his colleagues accept and adapt to each others needs, the team is in a better position to integrate. This integration starts from attitudes, approaches and skill sets. If a similar situation should arise again, the team would know how to handle the situation without it adversely affecting work.

The tools required to go through this process in an organisation are:

Awareness creation: This starts from the top. When the team leaders and the senior management acknowledge the unique differences of the individuals working with them, there is a trickle down effect and the others mirror this approach. Differences start to be appreciated.

Learning to be non-judgemental: Cultures are deep-rooted. Words and behaviour that is visible are only a small part of a person’s culture. Why an individual behaves or talks in a certain way is part of his cultural and personal value system. Giving respect for who he/she is without judgement creates mutual trust.

Effective communication: Is when the listener receives the information the way the speaker intended it to be received. Effective communication includes active listening. When these two come together, it is not only the information that is conveyed, it also conveys respect and acknowledges the person.

A multi-cultural team can be a powerhouse of creativity and innovation or a place of discord and unpleasantness. While diversity is a challenge, it can also be a big asset, if only we harness it right!

(The writer is Head, Cross-Cultural Training at Global Adjustments, a relocation and cross-cultural services company. She can be contacted at globalindian@globaladjustments.com)

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