Cultural Factors and Diversity in Australian Workplaces

This report delves into the crucial role of cultural factors in fostering diversity within Australian organizations. It highlights that Australia's diverse population necessitates an understanding of cultural nuances to create an inclusive work environment. The report examines internal factors such as beliefs, values, and thinking styles, along with external factors like customs and communication styles. It emphasizes the benefits of a diverse workforce, including language skill development, enhanced creativity for employees, increased productivity, and an improved company reputation for employers. The report also references relevant academic literature to support its arguments.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Week 6 Discussion
Cultural Factors in Introducing Diversity in Australian Organizations
Australia represents one of the most linguistically and culturally diverse populations of
the world. In Australia, there are more than 23.3 percent overseas people and around 3.1 percent
Indigenous people (Khawaja, Moisuc & Ramirez, 2014). The country has more than 120 ethnic
communities where people speak in more than 120 languages. Thus, Australia is a land of varied
cultures and thereby the need for introducing diversity at the workplace. However, diversity also
exists within any particular cultural groups. This is because each individual within a particular
cultural group thinks and behaves differently because of the subgroup or the subculture that the
person fit in to, his/ her unique experience and the individual or personal factors.
Various cultural factors need consideration while introducing diversity at the Australian
workplace is as follows:
Internal Factors:
These include:
 Beliefs and values that provides guidance to the perceptions, judgment and
attitude
 Style of thinking which represents the manner in which information is processed
 Norms refers to the guidelines for the behavior that is culturally accepted
 Manner of problem solving which shows the capability in identification of the
solution and analysis of the problem
 Considering the family responsibilities and loyalties

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External Factors:
These include:
 Customs representing the dressing style and the way of maintaining relations and
addressing others
 Consideration of the communication style that includes non-verbal communication,
language and interpretation of the meaning
Benefits of Diversity Driven Workplace for Employee and Employer
Employee Benefits
These include:
Development of the Language Skills: Bilingual workers are at an advantageous position
in a company that has plans for global expansion in workplace.
Enhancement of Creativity: Diversity of the workforce helps in enhancing the
creativity of the employees due to the presence of the various heterogeneous groups (Barak,
2016). Moreover, atmospheres of brainstorming lead to the formation of more creative ideas due
to the presence of culturally diverse team members.
Employer Benefits:
Substantial Increase of Productivity: Diversity in the workplace not only leads to
competitive advantages but also in enhancement of productivity (Lu, Samaratunge & Hartel,
2013). Presence of a diverse workforce enables the employers in providing better solutions to the
customers.

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Enhancement of the Reputation: Companies having a diverse workforce attracts more
job seekers since they believe that the concerned company does not perform discrimination in
employment.

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References:
Barak, M. E. M. (2016). Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage
Publications.
Khawaja, N. G., Moisuc, O., & Ramirez, E. (2014). Developing an acculturation and resilience
scale for use with culturally and linguistically diverse populations. Australian
Psychologist, 49(3), 171-180.
Lu, Y., Samaratunge, R., & Härtel, C. E. (2013). Acculturation attitudes and affective workgroup
commitment: evidence from professional Chinese immigrants in the Australian
workplace. Asian Ethnicity, 14(2), 206-228.