australian business solutions - how to foster diversity in your organisation across borders
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8/14/2019 Australian Business Solutions - How To Foster Diversity In Your Organisation Across Borders
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International business
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How To Foster DiversityIn Your OrganisationAcross Borders
In an innovative world, where a companys resources are constantly under scrutiny
and the smallest error can be the difference between success and failure, many
businesses are now identifying that the diversity of its people is just as important
as technology, nance, manufacturing and so on.
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| By Barry Thomas |
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In order to address such issues and to ensure
that you foster diversity in your cross-border
organisation, it is necessary to create and
encourage a workplace culture that appreciates
the contributions and values of all employees.
Here are some key learnings to consider:
Best Practice: Conduct Your Research
First and foremost, when looking to develop a
strategy to foster diversity in all of the markets
that your organisation has a presence in, it
is worthwhile conducting your own research
to identify companies that are successfully
managing this process. Local HR awards may
highlight the achievements of businesses that
have worked to diversify their workforce. From
this, you will be able to assess if any strategies
can be replicated in your organisation and what
specic markets can benet.
You may also want to establish a plan which
gathers information about your organisations
current environment. It may include an assessment
of the prevailing culture in each market, a
demographic prole of staff and an assessment of
existing human resources strategies.
Diversity essentially denes what is different;
a variety of choices and opinions. However,
when we talk about people, diversity becomes
an attribute and it is how a company can utilise
this diversity in its people that can make dealing
across borders a more successful experience for
those involved.
When it comes to human diversity there are
two parts. First there are the obvious differences
including nationality, age, sex, ethnicity and
spoken language. Then there is the more detailed
and often more difcult to identify, this includes
religion, sexual orientation, marital status,
education, life and work experiences, socio-
economic background and personality. All of
which contribute to a diverse workforce and have
a signicant impact on workplace culture and how
employees interact and work with each other.
Workplace diversity is embracing the
differences in your staff and selecting the best
people for the task, regardless of their location.
Indeed, according to a Forbes study conducted
in 2011 amongst 321 large global enterprises,
companies with at least $500 million in annual
revenue agreed that diversity is crucial to
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fostering innovation in the workplace.
A diversied organisation also has the ability to
ensure it remains cutting edge and competitive. It
is advantageous to harness the talents of people
from all backgrounds and locations so they can
make contributions.
Diversity must be actively embraced by the
organisation for the benets to be realised. The
self-imposed boundaries that may exist within
one country or part of your organisation may
be non-existent in another. Through exchanges
of knowledge a host of ideas, innovation and
creativity can ourish and higher levels of
cooperation can be achieved. If your employees
are not equally understanding of the person who
sits beside them and the person with whom they
interact with on the other side of the world, the
misunderstanding will reign and your business
will be hampered rather than helped by diversity.
A strong corporate identity will provide your
staff with a common ground on which they can
embrace their differences. It is the mechanism that
removes the boundaries subconsciously imposed
by cultural norms and local business practices,
and provides the platform for innovation.
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Cultural Sensitivities: Watch, Learn And
Adapt
We are increasingly witnessing staff working across
borders and interacting with colleagues in foreign
teams. Therefore, it is imperative that employees
are sensitive to cultural differences and are open
to observing market nuances and adapting their
behaviour in order to respond appropriately.
When visiting another country it is important
to observe local etiquette. For example, in some
cultures it may be acceptable to greet a familiar
colleague with a kiss on the cheek, whereas other
markets would consider this to be inappropriate.
In Asian markets, pointing with a nger can be
considered rude and instead an entire hand
would be used. In western culture, eye contact
means you are being attentive and honest, yet in
Native America or the Middle East, this would be
considered disrespectful.
The key consideration is to be receptive to
visual and non-visual clues and to be open to
learning about cultural differences to ensure that
offence is not caused. It is worthwhile sharing
cultural awareness about local business etiquette
so that all employees, no matter where they are
located, are prepared when travelling.
Lead By Example: Encourage Diversity
To successfully diversify your organisation,
senior management needs to lead by example.
Cross-border training programs are a way to
educate staff in the corporate identity resulting
in a consistent and collaborative approach. This
will promote a sense of unity which encourages
colleagues to respect everybodys opinions and
varying outlooks.
Managing Diversity
Like all well-built structures, diversity requires
a solid foundation. Organisations need to
develop strategies to identify areas that embrace
employee differences. Workplace diversity
principles should be integrated with all human
resource strategies, including: training and
development, evaluations, planning, recruitment,
and health and safety.
Maximising Diversity
Innovation is the key to maximising diversity
in any workforce throw the rule book out
the window. Let your imagination run wild and
establish programs where employees can
embrace and immerse themselves in different
business cultures. For example, a market
exchange program so employees can visit other
regions, learn foreign languages and learn about
different business cultures.
Information sharing is key to maximising
diversity and ensuring employees are educated
about what is happening in other markets.
An interactive intranet system can be a useful
tool for publishing content that all markets can
universally access.
Barry Thomas is the Vice President of Cook
Group and Director of Cook Medical APAC
and Managing Director of Cook Australia. Barry
has more than two decades of internationa l
leadership and expertise in the pharmaceutical
and medical device industries and he currently
spearheads the worlds fastest growing region
for Cook Medical. His current position sees him
working to expand the opportunities for people
in Asia to access Cook Medicals advanced and
minimally invasive medical devices.