Cross Cultural Diversity: Understanding, Impact, and Accommodation

This presentation explores cross cultural diversity, acknowledging the presence of a broad cultural group within a specific culture. It discusses the impact of cross cultural diversity on the workplace, including both positive and negative effects. The presentation also provides methods to value and accommodate cross cultural diversity, such as conducting trainings, employing bilingual employees, and promoting mutual respect. Additionally, it covers methods to overcome cultural conflicts, including education and sharing information, setting up cultural representatives and advisory boards, and implementing anti-discrimination policies.

Cross cultural
diversity

What is cross cultural diversity?
It acknowledges the presence of a broad
cultural group within a specific culture. It
includes ethnicity, dress, language, race,
religion or religious practices, values, social
and community responsibilities, political
views, family etc (Sue, Rasheed and
Rasheed).

How can cross cultural diversity affect your work
 Cross cultural diversity can have both positive as well as
negative affect when enforced in a workplace.
 It may produce employee turnover and conflicts
 It may produce more innovation and creativity as well.
 The employees generate more wide range of perspectives and
more quality solutions
 It increases a constructive group processes
 With increased sales revenue, diversity makes greater market
share and profits and with the same brings more customers
to the business
 It is also seen that diverse groups are less integrated and
have high dissatisfaction level
 Many a times it results in miscommunication (Bochner 2013)

How cross cultural diversity should be valued and
accommodated
 Conducting trainings and providing language classes to the
employees in order to gain basic knowledge about the other
languages
 Using interpreters to ensure understanding
 Learning about the cultures and beliefs of the employees
from diverse background
 Employing bilingual employees
 Promoting mutual respect in the workplace
 Creating an environment that allows exchange among the
participants
 Challenging the abusive and derogatory terms

Methods to overcome cultural conflicts
 Conflicts could be resolved by discussion, self assessing, seek
assistance from the colleagues and field officer, celebrating
diversity in the workplace, respecting other people’s culture,
possessing an open-mind. encouraging clients to share &
participate, not talking bad behind their back, and allowing the
clients to practice their values and beliefs in the workplace.
 Education and sharing information
 Obtaining relevant trainings
 Learning some of the very simply and frequently used terms for
communication
 Setting up of cultural representatives and advisory boards
 Encouraging and establishing an appropriate and positive
relationship with the people
 Implementing anti-discrimination policy

References
Bochner, S. ed., 2013. Cultures in contact: Studies
in cross-cultural interaction (Vol. 1). Elsevier.
Sue, D.W., Rasheed, M.N. and Rasheed, J.M.,
2015. Multicultural social work practice: A
competency-based approach to diversity and social
justice. John Wiley & Sons.