Comprehensive Report: Working with People from Diverse Backgrounds

This report delves into the critical aspects of working with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds, emphasizing the importance of self-reflection, cultural awareness, and effective communication. It highlights the benefits of a diverse workforce, including increased productivity, enhanced problem-solving, and improved customer relations. The report explores strategies for creating a conducive work environment that promotes employee well-being and addresses potential conflicts arising from cultural differences. It also provides practical guidance on fostering cultural competence through training programs, open communication, and respect for individual differences. Furthermore, it examines business considerations for maintaining positive relationships, building mutual trust, and addressing language barriers in a culturally diverse workplace. The report also includes real-world examples of communication challenges and their resolutions within the workplace, underscoring the significance of adaptable communication strategies and conflict-resolution techniques in fostering a harmonious and productive environment.

Running head: WORK WITH PEOPLE FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS
Working with people from diverse backgrounds
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

1WORKING WITH PEOPLE FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS
Task 1:
Answer 1.a)
At the time of working with culturally diverse people there needs to be proper awareness
about one’s own cultural background, experiences, attitudes, values and also the biases. In order
to understand different cultures an individual needs to keep his or her own values intact. Self-
reflection is extremely crucial to the cross culture learning process. It usually is possible by
gaining proper knowledge about the different dimensions of culture and developing a baseline
for effective comparisons about cultural differences so that the peaceful coexistence of people
from all cultures is possible. There should always be proper understanding and confidence in
one’s own cultures, in order to maintain a proper balance at the workplace. Self reflection and
understanding is crucial. There should also be an appreciation of the existent differences of the
cultures as all of them contribute to the society and its proper advancement.
Answer 1.b)
In order to improve the ability to enhance social awareness, there should be a conscious
effort to interact with the people of different cultures. In case interaction is established people of
different cultures the characteristics and the good and bad points are understood clearly.
Different cultures have different norms and criteria of allegiance thus improving on the quality of
social awareness. The observational skills should be improved as this is a reliable tool in the
development of sensitivity and understanding towards cultures.

2WORKING WITH PEOPLE FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS
Answer 2:
At a time when practices understand that a culturally diverse workforce is important for
the workplace several advantages benefit from it. The most important advantage is the increased
productivity and the ignition of loyalty. The solutions arise which are more in number as
different and diverse minds think together. It helps to build synergy in teams and enhances the
position of the organisation. It also helps to create a diverse customer base by relating to the
people in different backgrounds. A diverse and accepting workforce is a place for ensuring the
success of the business (Purnell 2014).
Answer 3.a):
Creating a work environment which is conduciveis important in order to make the
employees feel well treated and cared for. In case the employees are well treated, they feel
valued and gain interest in their work as they feel more comfortable. In case the workforce is
empowered they work better and contribute better to the workplace. There is a developed
competitive advantage in the workplace. The workplace should also secure mental well being of
the employees due to the proper management of stress and the balance of the day to day
pressures of work and requirements of personal life. The prevention of overwork is also
necessary as the proper rationalisation of the work hours is important (Patrick and Kumar 2012).
Answer 3. b)
Cultural competence basically refers to the increased workplace communication and the
proper amount of understanding of the individuals from all cultures. It leads to the different
methods of thinking of a task and the analysis helps in the different outlooks towards a particular
matter or a work at hand. Different methods of thinking of different employees can often lead to

3WORKING WITH PEOPLE FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS
simplistic solutions to several problems in the workplace. The management of the tasks becomes
easier and this reduces the personal work load on any particular employee. The overall
productivity is bound to increase and this corresponds to the increase in the stature of the
organisation. The employees’ overall courtesy towards the employees also increases (Shih,
Young and Bucher 2013).
Answer 4 a):
In order to work with people of diverse cultural backgrounds, it is necessary to create a
scenario in which proper communication and understanding of each of the culture is possible. It
is necessary to conduct training programs to ensure that there are no misunderstandings between
the clients, staff and volunteers from different diverse backgrounds. At the time of the training it
needs to be made relevant and the staff should be asked to share their experiences and invite
community leaders from the culturally and linguistically different backgrounds to share their
stories and their varied perspectives (Barak 2016).
Answer 4 b):
In order to ensure that there is a proper amount of respect in the communication for the
diversity and the culture of all the individuals, proper effort needs to be given. There needs to an
open mind in the unfamiliar situations, there should be an alertness towards the way in which
people interact, that gender roles might differ and there might be a call to organise different
groups. There should be adequate awareness about different groups and individuals and
willingness to learn and adapt. All in all there should be sufficient consistency and reliability
towards the diversity in the workplace (Guillaume et al. 2013).

4WORKING WITH PEOPLE FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS
Answer 5 a):
In a business where there are culturally diverse people there need to be certain business
considerations for maintaining effective relationships, mutual trust and confidence. There should
be support and acceptance towards employees of all race and colour, descent, national or ethnic
origin. The business managers should also be aware of the cross cultural differences that might
arise due to the culturally diverse workforce. In addition to this there might be different
perspectives to the same situation or differences of opinion on crucial decisions. These points
should be kept in mind by the managers (Truong, Paradies and Priest 2014).
Answer 5 b):
The language forms which are used in the workplace are not always formal and polite as
several people are not aware of the etiquettes that need to be followed in the office. Dressing
sense in the office is one of the most common issues which are often misinterpreted. It might
happen in certain situations that people from different backgrounds dress in a certain manner and
are unaware of the professional style of dressing. In order to solve this there needs to be a proper
address regarding the way to dress in office and the proper way to converse in a particular
language (Purnell 2014).
Answer 5 c):
It is necessary to get a professional interpreter at the time of communicating with people
with either little or no language of English in situations where the agency requires compliance,
the issues are sensitive, explanation of clients doubts and obligations and when the information
to be discussed is complex and detailed.

5WORKING WITH PEOPLE FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS
Answer 6:
A situation in my workplace where conflict was caused was regarding the pay
corresponding to the work pressure and extra working hours.
Answer 7a):
In case of misunderstandings in the workplace the impact on different cultures will be
different as people from different cultural backgrounds respond to situations differently.
Answer 7 b):
Sensitive issues can be resolved by making the members understand the situation and
making sure that the assurances which they make are kept.
Task 2:
The situations in which there have been problems in communication involved the issues
of patients not receiving care at the moment when required. The communication issues were
solved by reporting to the proper authorities and steps were taken to administer proper services
to the patients. Another situation involved the misinterpretation of the commands to a particular
trainee. This situation was solved by calling a meeting and giving proper training and
communication information to the trainee. Another scenario was that of the misunderstanding
related to the existent preferences among the staff. This was solved by calling all the staff
together and the manager addressing them and clarifying their misconceptions. Thus it was made
evident that there were no issues regarding the miscommunication or cross culture that cannot be
solved (Truong, Paradiesand Priest 2014).

6WORKING WITH PEOPLE FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS
Appropriate verbal and non-verbal communication is a necessary for the cultural diverse sector
owing to cultural, perceptual and language restrictions. In hospitality sector, miscommunication
occurs among the members of the organization. Communication in hospitality sector covers two
vital areas that includes customer service and interaction with staff interaction. The cultural
diversity might create strong hurdles to understanding. The misunderstandings occur between
the employees working in this industry and the customers visiting this sector. Ineffective verbal
as non verbal communication creates confusion, low morale and lack of effective teamwork in
this industry.
Effective communication is also vital in improving travel service and tourism sector. As the
tourist requires to be given information about the various aspects target place including
attractions, suitable visiting places , routes etc. However, tour guides plays vital role in giving an
introduction about the place to the visitors. There might be negative impact on the tourist if the
communication is not effective. The tour guides is known as connector between tourist and the
target place. As the international visitors needs tour guides for obtaining comprehensive
information about the historic places, cultural relics etc, effective communication is necessary for
the tour guides. Therefore, pleasant communication , high verbal and non verbal abilities and
proper tone of languages helps the tour guides in maintaining good relationship with the tourist.
As a result, it benefits the tourism industry as it helps them in attracting the tourist from all over
the world.

7WORKING WITH PEOPLE FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS
References:
Barak, M.E.M., 2016. Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage
Publications.
Guillaume, Y.R., Dawson, J.F., Woods, S.A., Sacramento, C.A. and West, M.A., 2013. Getting
diversity at work to work: What we know and what we still don't know. Journal of occupational
and organizational psychology, 86(2), pp.123-141.
Patrick, H.A. and Kumar, V.R., 2012. Managing workplace diversity: Issues and
challenges. Sage Open, 2(2), p.2158244012444615.
Purnell, L.D., 2014. Guide to culturally competent health care. FA Davis.
Shih, M., Young, M.J. and Bucher, A., 2013. Working to reduce the effects of discrimination:
Identity management strategies in organizations. American Psychologist, 68(3), p.145.
Truong, M., Paradies, Y. and Priest, N., 2014. Interventions to improve cultural competency in
healthcare: a systematic review of reviews. BMC health services research, 14(1), p.99.