The Impact of Cultural Diversity in the Workplace

Cultural Diversity in the Workplace

Cultural difference in the workplace is the presence of people of different ethnicity, religion and race in cooperation with one company. It implies a variety of differences in mentality, opinions and concepts. This issue has a positive impact: versatile views and unconventional thinking stimulate multilateral discussions and creativity, which helps transform fresh ideas into meaningful innovations. This approach stimulates innovation and improves the practical results of companies. Thus, it can be argued that cultural diversity and inclusiveness in the company’s activities can help to surpass the results of competitors.

The Importance of Cultural Suitability

In her article, Suzy Bashford considered this issue in terms of the desire of employers and HR managers to meet certain standards, and to hire a certain number of employees of different cultures in their staff in order to be tolerant (2018). In addition, the author emphasized the availability of a phenomenon such as cultural suitability that also affects the climate and the atmosphere within the company because, as it was mentioned before, cultural differences might bring many innovative ideas to employees of departments that are engaged in the company’s development market.

Potential Disadvantages of Increased Tolerance

Additionally, the author interviewed representatives of top management of global companies on this issue and concluded that employers for a long time sought to hire employees of diverse cultures in order not to infringe the rights and desires of people of different origins, as well as to diversify the workforce. Nevertheless, it was before. To date, they have realized the fact that this approach does not guarantee the rapid development of companies, but it can also provoke even more disagreements and even conflicts. This thesis is considered as an assertion that increased tolerance can lead to disruption in the team, or even to the imposition of one’s own values and views. This method would not have a positive effect on the work of the company and the cooperation of hired workers.

The Method of Introducing Employees in the Hiring Process

In addition, it has been suggested that a very useful method for team building is the method of introducing employees into the search for other candidates. This approach has many advantages, since personal acquaintance implies knowing the skills and capabilities of a potential employee and having a personal acquaintance can guarantee the truthfulness of the recommendations (Elnaga & Imran, 2). However, in addition to hiring people on a “friend’s refer”, there is also such a phenomenon, when employees are engaged is finding workers for certain positions, without being personally acquainted with the candidates. If talking about the employees of certain departments, such employees know better what they need and what kind of person they look for. Also, the manager also has his own statistics on what employees he or she needs in submission.

Conclusion on Cultural Diversity

This article has expanded my knowledge in this matter, since I began to understand the principles of staff selection, as well as innovative methods for finding candidates. I was able to learn a bit of the experience of professionals from companies with a worldwide reputation. I can conclude that there are a lot of methods of work for headhunters. It is practiced addressing a potential candidate on significant days for him or her: on his or her birthday, for instance. After all, to use this method, one needs to constantly collect information about a potential candidate.

The Role of Office Culture

For myself, I concluded that cultural diversity is good. It can be argued that there are many ways to build such an inclusive environment in the workplace and get a positive result from diversity. However, it is necessary to do all this professionally. When the office culture is more focused on business than on the socialization of staff, then we reduce the number of ways that it is possible to “level” employees of any cultures (Smith). When it happens, the variety has a positive effect. However, if a corporate culture requires employees to work or work on weekends, the burden on people different from the majority increases, and this reduces the ability to maintain diversity among employees.

Importance of Effective Cross-Cultural Communications

In this case, employees are too overworked and there is no proper effect for the company. For this reason, building effective cross-cultural communications can serve as a catalyst for successful business processes in the company, and the opposite. Errors committed in the organization of cross-cultural communications, can cost an international company very much. In the context of globalization, the openness of international markets, this issue becomes particularly important. The matter is that each person is inherently unique, and each person is the bearer of his own culture, but citizens of one country have much in common, therefore they can be conditionally attributed to the same culture. The most important thing is not to create artificial obstacles for new employees and to help them instead.

Works Cited

Bashfor, Suzy. The Dangers of Recruiting for Cultural Fit. HRMagazine.

www.hrmagazine.co.uk/article-details/the-dangers-of-recruiting-for-cultural-fit. 9 March, 2018.

Elnaga, A. & Imran, A. The Effect of Training on Employee Performance. European Journal of Business and Management, v. 5 (4), 2013.

Smith, Siobhan. The Companies that Encourage Staff to Socialize with Each Other. INews. inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/work/companies-encourage-staff-socialise-work-office/. 9 March, 2018.