Accommodating Diversity and Managing Cultural Conflict

The cultural diversity in the workplace encourages employees to build new skills and abilities, leading to improved productivity. Additionally, it helps organizations find creative solutions through diverse perspectives. Promoting diversity also provides equal growth opportunities for each employee, increasing engagement and maintaining a positive organizational image. To develop effective relationships with workmates, clients, and families, regular discussions, learning about each other, and overcoming communication barriers are crucial. Accommodating individual and cultural needs is also essential in maintaining harmony. Furthermore, preventing, overcoming, and managing cultural conflicts require strategies such as mitigating stereotypes, interpreting behavior in context, and fostering self and social awareness through effective communication.

CHCDIV001-WORK WITH DIVERSE PEOPLE
Summative Assessment 2
In the modern workplaces, having a diverse workplace is a widely used practice. The modern
organizations operate with the global community. The advancements in the international travel and
communication have enabled people to move easily across the borders (Ting-Toomey & Dorjee, 2018).
Therefore, it is necessary for the contemporary workforces to adjust with the global community. The
current research focuses on analyzing the impacts of diversity on work and workplace relationships. The
research also gives importance on reflecting on the factors associated with cultural safety and
competences, biases and prejudices, importance of having mutually beneficial relationship with the
workmates, mitigating the communication barriers and improving social awareness.
Impact of diversity on work and work relationships:
The diversity impacts on work and work relationships in various ways. Presence of a diverse workforce in
the organization fosters innovation. The individuals from different cultural background do not think in
the similar way (Banks, 2015). Therefore, developing a diverse workforce helps the businesses to
promote creative thinking at the workplace. As an effect, the organization becomes able to provide
more innovative solutions to the consumers. Incorporating innovation to the products or services is also
effective for improving the profitability of the organization. The people from diverse background come
with different skills and abilities. So, by hiring the diverse talent pools, the organizations become able to
improve the products and services.
Despite the advantages, development of a diverse workforce can also be disadvantageous in several
ways. Firstly, the diversity can increase conflicts among the workforce to a great extent. While working
in a diverse workforce, the individuals can feel confused while communicating with people from other
background. The confusion among the staffs can create a negative atmosphere in the organization. As
an effect, decision-making in the organization can become difficult. Emergence of bureaucratic
environment is another adverse effect of introducing diversity in the organization (Trueba et al., 2014).
In the modern organizations, the decisions are taken after considering different views and opinions. The
difference between views and opinions increase further with the increase in diversity of the
organizations. As an effect, the decision making becomes highly time-consuming in the highly diverse
organization. Therefore, in such organizations, there is a risk of developing bureaucratic environment.
Extensive diversity in the organization can cause lack of team spirit. When the workforce is highly
diverse, people in the group lack common things and the similarities. As an effect, the team-spirit is
affected severely. The productivity of a team is significantly dependent on the collaboration among the
members. Lack of similarity, reduces the degree of collaboration among team-members and it, in turn,
can affect the productivity. Finally, higher degree of diversity can affect the authority and protocols in an
organization. The diverse workforce may come with several ideas on running and managing the
business. As an effect, there is a risk that the management can lose authority.

Need for inclusivity, cultural safety and cultural competence:
Need for inclusivity: An inclusive workplace gives importance on providing equal opportunity to all the
employees irrespective of the age, gender, ability, varied background, sexual orientation and religion
(Liu et al., 2014). Promoting inclusivity is important for making the employees able to utilize their full
potential to the work without any discrimination. The inclusive workplace also recognizes the fact that
an employee can have multiple identities. In other words, promoting inclusivity in an organization is
important for the following reasons—
 For recognizing , appreciating and utilizing the unique perspectives and insights of others
 Avoiding discrimination and disrespectful behaviour towards the employees
 Developing an environment of respect, trust and tolerance in the organization
Need for cultural safety:
The cultural safety in an organization is important for creating an environment where the individuals
can safely practice their culture. The cultural safety is also needed to ensure that the individuals are not
being assaulted, challenged or experiencing any form of denial because of their cultural background
(Hall et al., 2014). The cultural safety also creates an environment where the individuals respect each
other, share the knowledge and experience. The cultural safety also enables the individuals to learn with
dignity and listen to each other.
The cultural safety in an organization helps the individuals to incorporate own cultural values and
beliefs at the workplace. The cultural safety also reduces the risk of discrimination among employees on
basis of the cultural background. Finally, the cultural safety also creates an environment where the
employees understand each others’ differences and collaborate with each other despite the differences.
Need for cultural competence:
The cultural competence is important in an organization to interact with the individuals of different
culture. Being culturally competent is necessary for the maintaining a collaborative environment in the
organization. The cultural competence also helps the individuals to understand the differences in values
caused due to race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, disability, education, income
level or geographical location. The cultural competence is also effective for showing respect and being
responsive to each other. The people from different background have different cultural and linguistic
needs. The cultural competence is effective for meeting the different cultural needs of diverse group of
people.
In an organization, promoting positive behaviour among the employees is necessary for developing a
culture of collaboration and co-operation. The cultural competence helps an individual to consider the
cultural context and develop positive behaviour towards an individual. The cultural competence is also
needed for meeting the diverse need of different individuals. As an effect, the individuals in an
organization can communicate more effectively.
Importance of reflecting on the individual and cultural characteristics, biases and prejudices:

Importance of reflecting on individual characteristics, biases and prejudices: Reflection on own
characteristics, biases and prejudices help an individual to identify the factors that influence the cross-
cultural interaction. Reflecting on own characteristics and values help an individual is effective to know
the attributes that encourage them to interact with people from other cultural background (Kahan,
2015). As a result, the individuals can build on their strengths to make cross-cultural communication
easier. Similarly, reflection on the biases and prejudices is important to identify the factors that restrict
an individual from developing positive relationship with others from different cultural background. It, in
turn, can help an individual to mitigate the barriers of effective cross-cultural communication and make
the interaction easier for them.
Importance of reflecting on cultural characteristics, biases and prejudices: Reflection on the cultural
characteristics is effective to identify own cultural values and norms. Understanding own cultural values
and norms is effective for understanding the similarities and difference with other cultures. When an
individual becomes able to identify the common factors, he/she becomes more encouraged to
communicate with people from other cultural background. Identifying own cultural biases and
prejudices is effective for getting a neutral insight on the other cultures. Viewing the people from other
cultural background neutrally is effective for conducting cross-cultural interaction easier.
Ways to Valuing and accommodating diversity:
Valuing and accommodating diversity in an organization can be done in the following ways—
 Celebrating the differences is an effective way to promote diversity in an organization. In the
care center, the employees need to acknowledge differences of each other and develop a
relationship of respect with them. Similarly, in case of clients also, acknowledging the difference
is effective for promotion of diversity.
 Listening to others is another effective way of developing understanding on different culture.
When the employees listen to each other, working in the diverse environment becomes easier
to them.
 Promoting positive behaviour is an effective technique for showing value and accommodating
diversity at the workplace (Phillips et al., 2014). Present behaviour helps the individuals to
develop a relationship of trust among the workmates and clients.
 Developing the right communication skill is also necessary for showing value and
accommodating the diversity. Incorporating the cultural values in communication helps the
individuals to show respect to each other. It, in turn, helps the individuals to develop a trusted
relationship with others and create a diverse environment.
 Providing and accepting feedback is an effective technique for promotion of diversity at the
care center. Providing and accepting feedback helps the individuals to learn from each other.
Use of constructive feedback is useful for creating the diverse environment.
Putting value to the workplace diversity is effective for the following reasons—
 Promoting an environment of mutual respect among the employees and creating a synergistic
workplace culture. Promotion of mutual respect helps the employees to utilize own talents and
strengths to the workplace and benefitting the organization.

 Valuing the diversity helps the organizations to resolve conflicts in a better way. When the
employees acknowledge similarities and differences of each other, working to achieve the
common goals. Acknowledging the similarities and differences of each others help the
employees to work in harmony and so, the risk of conflict becomes lower.
 Promoting diversity in the organization is effective for enhancing the business reputation.
Maintaining the business reputation is important for the organizations to attract the potential
employees (Tjosvold et al., 2014). When an organization is already known for providing equal
opportunities to the employees irrespective of their cultural background, attracting the talents
from diverse background becomes easier. As an effect, the organizations can provide the
customers with better services.
 Putting value to the workplace diversity is also effective for increasing the exposure to the
employees. In a diverse workplace, the employees come into each others’ contact and they get
to familiar with different types of views. As a result, the employees become able to develop
their skills and serve the organization in a better way. When the employees utilize their full
potential and develop new skills, the productivity of the business also increases.
Accommodating diversity in an organization is necessary from the following reasons—
 The cultural diversity in the workplace encourages the employees to build new skills and abilities
and so, the organizations can improve the productivity
 The culturally diverse workplace helps the employees to consider the views of people from
different backgrounds and it helps the organization to find out creative solutions. The increased
productivity and creative solutions help the businesses to improve the profitability as well.
 Promoting the diversity helps organizations to provide each employee with equal growth and
development opportunities. As the employees get the chance to develop themselves, their
engagement to the organization increases. Promoting the diversity is effective for maintaining
image of the organization, reducing conflict in the workplace and retaining the employees.
Ways to develop effective and mutually beneficial relationships with workmates, clients and clients’
families:
The effective and mutually beneficial relationship can be developed among the workmates, clients and
clients’ families in the following ways—
 Conducting regular discussion with the stakeholders such as workmates, clients and the
families is useful for developing the mutually beneficial relationship. During discussion,
every stakeholder becomes able to share own views and it helps them to learn from
each other. The discussion is also effective for developing strategies upon considering
the context of every stakeholder.
 Learning about each other is another effective way of developing a mutually beneficial
relationship with the stakeholders. When each and every member of the group knows
about each other’s unique attributes, communicating becomes easier.
Overcoming communication barriers:

The communication style of the individuals changes along with the culture. Therefore, in a highly diverse
environment, different individuals can have different style of communication and it can cause barriers
for free information flow. In order to serve the clients and their families effectively and maintain an
environment of collaboration, promoting free communication is necessary. The communication barriers
in a diverse environment can be mitigated in the following ways—
 Learning the culture of others is necessary for improving the communication among people
from different background. Knowledge on others’ culture is effective for knowing the standard
practices for communication. When the individuals are aware of the cultural norms
communicating becomes easier.
 Knowing some key phrases of others’ language is necessary for fostering effective
communication. Using the key phrases at the time of communication helps the individuals to
mitigate the linguistic barriers. It, in turn, is effective for promoting more effective information
sharing.
 Avoiding the stereotypes and viewing the individuals of any cultural background neutrally is
effective for improving the communication. The stereotyped ideas can prevent the individuals
from obtaining the actual insight of others (Iorio & Taylor, 2014). Possessing a biased or
improper image on people from other cultures can restrict an individual from developing
positive relationship with others. Diversity training can be effective to help the individuals to
know about the people from other cultures. It helps them to get the actual insight of the other
cultures and communicate effectively.
Accommodating and respecting individual and cultural needs:
In a diverse environment, showing respect to different culture need and meeting those needs I required
for maintaining harmony. Accommodating and respecting the individual and cultural needs in a diverse
environment can be done in the following ways—
 The individuals should know about own background, culture, experiences, value and attitude.
The background and cultural backgrounds of an individual can shape the concept regarding
others’ culture. Therefore, being aware of own culture can be effective for knowing the culture
of others as well.
 Self-education is another effective technique for showing respect to others and accommodating
the cultural needs. Having knowledge on the social, cultural, psychological, economic and
political aspects of an ethnic group is effective for identifying the specific cultural needs and
meeting those. While serving clients with diverse cultural group, it is necessary to ensure that
the clients are also being able to know their own culture (Iorio & Taylor, 2014). It, in turn, can
help the client’s also to be respectful about the culture of others. The education can also be
effective for mitigating the biases and discriminatory practices and dealing with others with an
impartial view.
 The non-verbal expression varies with the cultural background. The clients and professionals
need to know about the nonverbal components of others to foster effective communication.

Preventing, overcoming and managing cultural conflicts:
The prevention, overcoming and management of cultural conflict can be done in the following ways—
 Having stereotyped ideas on a particular culture can cause conflicts. So, the individuals can focus
on mitigating the stereotypes for avoiding the cultural conflicts.
 Interpreting the behaviour of others in own cultural context is another reason behind the
cultural context. Therefore, knowing others’ culture and interpreting their behaviour in that
particular context is effective for preventing cultural conflict.
Strategies for improving self and social awareness:
The self and social awareness can be done in the following ways—
 Communicating with others can be effective for improving the social and self awareness. During
communication , an individual can identify the factors which influence the communication.
Identifying own strengths and weaknesses also becomes possible during communication and so,
the individual become able to build on strengths.
 Sharing knowledge with others is another effective technique for improving the social
awareness.
References:
Banks, J. A. (2015). Cultural diversity and education. Routledge.
Hall, B. J., Covarrubias, P. O., & Kirschbaum, K. A. (2017). Among cultures: The challenge of
communication. Routledge.
Kahan, D. (2015). What is the'Science of Science Communication'?.
Liu, S., Volcic, Z., & Gallois, C. (2014). Introducing intercultural communication: Global cultures and
contexts. Sage.
Ting-Toomey, S., & Dorjee, T. (2018). Communicating across cultures. Guilford Publications.
Trueba, H. T., Jacobs, L., & Kirton, E. (2014). Cultural Conflict & Adaptation. Routledge.
Phillips, K. W., Medin, D., Lee, C. D., Bang, M., Bishop, S., & Lee, D. N. (2014). How diversity
works. Scientific American, 311(4), 42-47.
Tjosvold, D., Wong, A. S., & Feng Chen, N. Y. (2014). Constructively managing conflicts in
organizations. Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav., 1(1), 545-568.
Iorio, J., & Taylor, J. E. (2014). Boundary object efficacy: The mediating role of boundary objects on task
conflict in global virtual project networks. International Journal of Project Management, 32(1), 7-17.