Cultural Awareness Can Improve Your Business
by Cindy L. Steiner
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The cultural richness of the United States has made it what it is today! The U.S. didn’t exist until people from all over the world came to this land. The most courageous and adventuresome are the ones who ventured here - leaving the "known" of their own countries to chance the "unknown" of these United States. Ironically, many of the communication barriers we confront in the workplace are nothing more than differences in cultures - different perspectives. |
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Do you work in a company where all the employees were born and raised in the U.S.? Chances are your answer is "no." All of us have experienced what we call the "culture gap" in one sense or another. If you moved to California from another state, chances are you experienced a few "culture shocks" yourself. |
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So what can we do? Bridge the culture gap and improve business. A company where all employees work together in harmony is the ultimate dream. Let’s see what we can do to at least strive towards that dream. |
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Stereotypes: We all know about stereotypes; the main point is to be aware and beware at the same time. For example, what comes to mind when you hear the following: a New Yorker, a Californian, a Texan, a Hawaiian, England, France, Italy, Mexico, Japan, Australia, India, Africa? You probably have an image in your mind of what each of these is like - a stereotype. Our job is to realize that individuals are all different, despite where they come from. In the workplace, this will help bridge the culture gap and improve business by allowing individuals to be just that - "individuals." |
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Differing Values: I once read an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, "Gimme a Break: Why do Americans get less vacation time than Europeans?" Having lived in Europe for many years, I found it fascinating and right on target! It talked about how Americans get 10 days vacation after one year on the job and maybe 25 days after 25 years. Yet, Europeans get 30 days from the start! It mentioned that Americans see vacation as "an element of compensation" while Europeans see it as "a right of employment." As I see it, it’s a blatant case of differing values: LIVE TO WORK versus WORK TO LIVE! |
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If we were to describe "Success" in a mathematical formula, it might go something like this: For Americans: Work + Money + Fast (as fast as you can earn it) = Success For Europeans (and most of the rest of the world!): Work + Family + Time (with family) = Quality of Life It’s a question of values and of priorities. Often differing values cause misunderstandings in the workplace. For example, if your boss is one of the "Live to Work" types and you are a "Work to Live" type, you may experience some problems. |
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Values and Behaviors: Also, differing values can result in misunderstandings because of the behaviors we see. For example, we may see that our Latin colleague arrives late to work today. But, what we don’t realize is the value underlying this behavior: Family is most important above all else. Maybe one of the children was sick this morning. Or, you may notice that your Asian colleague never looks you in the eye. You’re not sure if he is shy or doesn’t like you. But actually, he is showing you respect. In many Asian countries it is disrespectful to look someone in the eye. Logic Flow is another cultural gap that confuses communication. In the U.S. we use inductive reasoning: get to the point right up front and then give the explanation and pertinent detail. Whereas, in most other Western cultures, they use deductive reasoning: give the explanation and detail first which all lead to the conclusion or main point (which comes at the end). This difference in Logic Flow causes so much frustration! The American is impatiently waiting for the "foreign national" to get to the main point and demands, "So what’s the point?" (Time is Money!) While, the "foreign national" thinks the American is pushy and aggressive because he crams the point down your throat before giving any support. These are just a few examples of where the culture gap can create misunderstandings in the workplace. If we can find out why people act as they do, we will have a much more harmonious work environment and hence improve our business. |
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Conclusion: What to do? To help smooth out the culture gap in your company, try some of the following suggestions: |
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1) Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. 2) Ask "why" and explain "why" when requesting something or when asked to do something. 3) To ensure active listening and better communication, use journalism’s "5 Ws and H": Who, What, When, Where, Why, How. 4) Offer some multi-cultural training if the problem is severe. Remember: We are so lucky to have so many different cultures living here in the Bay Area. We need to take advantage of it. Just think how much you can learn about the world without ever traveling abroad - just by talking to fellow employees. In conclusion, bridge the culture gap and you will improve
your business at the same time by opening communication among employees |
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About the author: Cindy Steiner has trained internationally for more than 20 years. She has conducted workshops, seminars, university courses, and keynote talks for the U.S. Department of Commerce and various international organizations. Cindy is fluent in French and Spanish and conducts programs in three languages. Cindy is a master at Presentation skills, Diversity Training, and Business and Technical Writing. |