The Hindu Business Line : A different ball game

Most companies today can be called ‘international’ in one way or another – they might have a footprint across geographies, they might have a multi-cultural workforce, or they might simply be servicing customers across different borders and time zones. In every one of these cases, managing diversity is a business imperative.

When Jesus Ricardo was sent on a two-year assignment from North America to South East Asia, she was one unhappy expat. It started with the very basics — her name; none of the people she worked with could pronounce it right. It was simply a matter of her co-workers not being aware that in Spanish, the ‘J’ is pronounced like an ‘H’. She ended up having to explain this repeatedly and correct every person she met. This annoyed her tremendously although the locals did not think much of it. They did not understand where Jesus came from that it was important to pronounce one’s name correctly.

Then in the office, Jesus found her colleagues (all local), always spoke in Chinese. She felt terribly left out and sometimes even ignored. Often she wondered if they were talking about her, especially when the conversation was peppered with giggles. She consequently made no effort to get to know her team mates and insulated herself in her own world. At the end of three such trying months, she decided to quit her job if her company did not move her back to North America.

Could the company have avoided such a situation? Yes, if it had been better prepared to handle a diverse workforce. As part of the relocation exercise, the company should have put both Jesus and the team in Taiwan through cross cultural sensitisation. The host team should have been given a detailed briefing about the new member from North America and a ‘buddy’ could have been arranged to soft land Jesus into a completely new culture and living.

To be able to recruit and retain the best employees and successfully achieve its business goals, an organisation has to value the diversity of its employees and customers. A diverse workforce helps to build respect for the company brand both internally and externally. It also helps to build a diverse customer base since the staff as representatives of a potential customer base can attract that unique segment through customised products and service. This is not to suggest that all customers from one ethnic background should only be serviced by staff of the same ethnicity. But chances are that misunderstandings can be avoided and closer relationships can be cultivated between the company and customer. A diverse team also enhances productivity; it spurs creativity and innovation because of a variety of thinking styles and opinions leading to effective problem resolutions and better decision outcomes.

Organisations that believe in espousing diversity will be committed to creating an inclusive organisation where the differences of all people will be respected, valued and utilised towards achieving a common goal. Differences people bring to the work environment include among others, race, gender, religion, age, geographic background, education, economic and cultural background, and thinking and communication styles. Utilising the benefits of diversity can add tremendous value to the way a company conducts its business.

To be truly diverse, an organisation should embrace diversity at all levels including management and leadership, and not just amongst the ranks. Otherwise, the leadership will end up looking exactly alike in terms of race, age or gender. They should also be willing to recruit from non-standard talent pools like retirees, housewives, off-ramp women, students and the differently-abled.

Many companies have instituted diversity councils in their offices to look into such matters. They also train staff on how to handle diversity within the workplace, how to leverage each other’s strengths productively towards achieving common business goals, and how to address issues if any. Staff at all levels should be sensitised to the cultural markers of each unique group in the office so that pre-conceived opinions and biases don’t negatively impact team dynamics. Such initiatives are best sustained if driven from the top through structured policies and processes.

(The writer is Senior Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, Scope International, wholly-owned subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank, UK.)

Readers may mail us their feedback, queries and suggestions to thenewmanager@thehindu.co.in

More Stories on : Human Resources | Management

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Kick-start your new business

Building bridges across cultures

Cygmax plans to open new campuses

To catch a coach

A different ball game

Zone of tolerance

Before you head to sell those soaps…