The digital revolution greatly accelerated the tendency towards globalization for the past few decades. This trend has obvious advantages both for the companies and for employees. However, challenges also arise whenever people find jobs that are not necessarily tied to their geographical area.
One of these challenges is fostering positive and effective intercultural communication in the workplace.
Yes, that is a mouthful. In multinational organizations, intercultural communication refers to developing a framework for understanding any culture, including the corporate one. That is no small task, as it takes every employee to be aware of their own verbal and non-verbal communication and cultural perceptions.
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Most companies claim to be inclusive and accepting. That's because they're great attributes to advertise. However, genuine intercultural understanding goes well beyond supporting employees in celebrating the various religious or national holidays that are dear to them.
In global environments, success depends on people's abilities to communicate and work together effectively. Plus, misunderstandings happen even among people from the same culture working in the same office space. It’s paramount to have a framework that leaves room for feedback and clarification.
Intercultural understanding doesn't mean that every employee becomes a culture expert. Still, it requires openness and empathy.
In all fairness, every employee’s journey, whether the company is multinational or not, should begin with a well-designed onboarding program. This is especially critical for remote teams because they can’t rely on the nice colleague sitting right next to them.
Read more: 7 Best practices to onboard remote employees in 2020
It’s important to discuss organizational policies, values, responsibilities, and culture. These “Welcome to the team!” sessions should touch on every important aspect of a multicultural organization.
The new hires need to get a sense of what it means to work in a diverse environment. It’s important to encourage employees to voice their concerns and offer the tools and support they need.
An initial presentation of the organization and its sociocultural dynamics is a good starting point. Yet, it's not nearly enough to ensure smooth collaboration. That’s why companies need to provide intercultural communication training programs tailored to the organization's specific requirements.
Read more: Meeting the needs of a global workforce through relevant multilingual training courses
The purpose of such a learning program is to tear down existing cultural biases. It teaches employees the best ways to analyze and interpret various cross-cultural interactions. The training also aims to develop self-awareness when it comes to perceiving otherness and communicating with individuals from different backgrounds.
Apart from explaining various aspects of cultural acceptability and expectation, the company has to showcase its etiquette and processes regarding meetings, collaboration on projects, and conflict resolution.
The Business Model of Intercultural Analysis — or BMIA — is a tool that addresses cross-cultural issues by looking at them through six comprehension lenses:
This model is not exhaustive, but it does provide a good framework for addressing cross-cultural aspects that global organizations are facing.
Multiculturalism in today’s organizations comes with many opportunities for development and improving the bottom line. It also brings some challenges that need to be tackled properly by openly acknowledging the differences and finding ways to bridge them positively and inclusively.