Think of the most influential organizations like Google, Apple, or even your own organization. They all operate globally, signaling the need for cultural sensitivity and understanding the importance of respecting the cultural identity of employees, customers, and business partners.
Cultural awareness boosts productivity, communication skills, and, ultimately, bottom-line profits. It also improves the work environment for your employees. We explore what culture looks like, the importance of awareness in business, and some nuanced differences between common markets.
The Importance of Cultural Awareness in Business
Management consultants, senior leadership, and diversity officers share a common goal—to improve business operations to the benefit of everyone. Bringing new education to your organization helps team members understand the nuances that contribute to the behaviors of their fellow employees and customers.
Some of the benefits businesses see include:
- Better communication – A better understanding of how and why people act the way they do fosters healthier cross-cultural communication. Employees don’t question their colleagues’ motives when everyone appreciates other cultures.
- Builds stronger team cohesion – Teams with healthy cultural awareness bond over the differences everyone brings to the group. Close, tight-knit teams perform at higher levels than teams with internal conflict and drama.
- Improves employee engagement – For diverse team members, awareness and respect for one’s background culture can mean feeling a sense of belonging. These positive feelings inspire team members to engage and provide insight, leading to higher performance.
- Higher employee morale – A sense of belonging also improves employee morale, leading to higher retention, lower turnover, and higher overall employment satisfaction.
- Better international relationships – Businesses with better cultural awareness can forge lasting relationships with international companies. These relationships are essential for success in markets throughout Europe and Asia.
As margins become tighter and businesses expand talent pools to include more diverse employees, cultural awareness becomes more crucial. The understanding and respect earned through education and practice mean healthier interactions for diverse employees, customers, and clients.
Cultural Complexities: What Makes Up Culture
Culture plays an important role in how everyone behaves. Cultural understanding is complex, and several components comprise how someone may respond to environmental cues and present themselves in the workplace. These complex factors are:
- Communication style – How someone speaks and interprets jokes or sayings like idioms and how social someone behaves in new situations. Culture also dictates how and when to respond to questions or requests and even who can provide direction. It fuels word choice, sentence structure, grammatical differences, and body language.
- Aesthetics – How someone interprets visual information. Aesthetic culture is perceived beauty, style, taste, and what it means to be visually pleasing or displeasing. It’s also how someone views symbolism and artistic expression, which is particularly important in packaging and marketing.
- Time orientation – The perception of time and its impact on daily life. Cultures have a wide range of attitudes toward time, punctuality, and perceived lateness. Some view fashionably late as acceptable, while others consider arrival outside the exact time to be rude.
- Social institutions – The value placed on any given social group. Diverse cultures value business, family, and friends and their relation to work in different ways. For instance, American culture frowns upon nepotism, but in several cultures around the world, it’s par for the course.
- Religious practices – Religion and the degree to which someone observes religious doctrine. These practices influence attitudes toward policies, benefits, and holidays. Observation of religious beliefs means readjusting benefits, schedules, or in-office activities to include all of your staff.
- Gift-giving – The practice of sharing a physical object to represent respect, admiration, or love. In some cultures, gift-giving is an expected practice. In contrast, other cultures view gifts as reserved for special occasions. Culture also dictates how and when to open gifts and the level of reaction one would consider polite.
- Personal space – The amount of space between people in public environments that someone would consider normal. Country size and culture influence the acceptable and rude distances.
- Social behavior – Mannerisms, movements, and conduct that happen almost subconsciously. For example, the thumbs-up gesture is rude in Asian countries, while in America, it’s a sign that all is well.
- Food – What we eat, when we eat it, how we eat it, and how we prepare it. Food is integral to our culture, and sharing it is a sign of love. Culture also drives what ingredients we use in our food and which ones to avoid, especially in religious communities.
The list could continue almost indefinitely, but these core concepts contribute to the vast majority of behaviors. The more intimate the understanding, the stronger your connection to those from various cultures. Practicing or observing these behaviors when interacting with those from different backgrounds shows respect and value.
Cultural Awareness in Practice: Asia and Europe
Knowing and doing are two very different things, and like everything else in life, cultural awareness depends on constant practice. It’s also important to remember that what is polite in one culture could be offensive in another. Taking the time to learn about cultural nuances can make the difference between a lifelong relationship and a missed opportunity.
Asia
Countries across the Asian world place great emphasis on respect and indirect communication styles. It’s not uncommon to receive “round-about” answers to questions, and relationship building is integral to business success.
It’s vital to remember that each country has its own culture and unique identity, and assumptions can quickly lead to conflict. For instance, it’s insulting to mention Japan in Korean communities, and Vietnamese people take offense to being lumped together with Chinese people.
Likewise, in Japan, time is valued differently from that of the West, and many conversations include personal details before business matters. Getting to know your counterparts through dedicated relationship-building is essential.
Europe
Personal time is a top priority in European communities, which leads to direct communication and prompt business interactions. For example, in Germany, prompt and even early arrival is desirable, and it’s not uncommon for businesses to close on the weekends. In France and Italy, extended mid-day closures for lunch are also standard. In these cultures, it’s essential to slow down and value their free time. Like their Asian counterparts, long-term relationship building is necessary for business success in European communities.
And also, like their Asian counterparts, it’s rude to lump all European countries together as one. Each has its own unique life experiences, foods, languages, social behaviors, and beliefs worthy of exploration.
Strategies to Enhance Cultural Awareness
The complexities of different cultures can make cultural awareness challenging to improve. Luckily, some practical strategies can make a noticeable difference in a short amount of time. A cultural competence education program is an ideal foundation for all employees, especially in global organizations.
In addition to cultural awareness programs, you can invest in language training programs for your employees whose mother tongue is not English and those who travel internationally. Cultural immersion programs are also effective for traveling employees.
Another practical and impactful strategy is to create multicultural teams where employees from various backgrounds must collaborate on mission-critical projects. These teams often become more productive, innovative, and efficient than homogenous teams.
To further integrate your diverse team members into your organization, host office events or parties to celebrate their culture. Partner with these employees to throw the perfect function and highlight how their contributions impact the organization’s success.
In line with office parties, adjusting schedules and recognized holidays to accommodate employees from diverse cultural backgrounds shows respect and contributes to that desired sense of belonging. Small changes make a world of difference, and you can implement many of these strategies today with little effort.
Although, if you need a hand, Coach Diversity Institute is here to support your initiatives. Reach out today for the corporate training, advice, and tools you need to make lasting change!
Overcoming Challenges in Cultural Integration
Lasting change doesn’t happen overnight. You must consistently uphold a new standard for everyone, which means coaching, teaching, and following up with employees about their cultural awareness daily. Dedicated effort breaks down cultural barriers and creates better outcomes for everyone on the team.
Of course, you’ll face some pushback in various forms. Some employees may lack cultural self-awareness altogether, making them prime candidates for intercultural training. Others might be resistant to changes. These employees may have misconceptions or unconscious biases, which often change upon exposure to new cultures.
Likewise, you may encounter an employee who flat-out refuses to accept new initiatives. Unfortunately, these employees are not a good fit for your organization, even more so if you operate globally. A firm approach may be appropriate in these situations.
Measuring the Impact of Cultural Awareness
As a business leader, you already know the importance of tracking your progress, and cultural awareness is no different. Making changes at the organizational level will have measurable effects, such as productivity and customer satisfaction metrics.
You can also measure employee satisfaction through surveys, retention metrics, and employee referral rates. Happy employees are more satisfied, less likely to leave, and will recommend your company to friends and family.
Net promoter score (NPS) is another measurable key performance indicator (KPI) of cultural knowledge. Diverse communities give their business to organizations that reflect their values, meaning if your organization values these communities, the more they promote your brand and become repeat customers.
Enhance Cultural Awareness with Coach Diversity Institute
Culture is a complex amalgamation of language, food, religion, social behavior, aesthetics, and attitudes. Being aware of, understanding, and celebrating these differences helps make employees feel respected and included.
As businesses operate in worldwide markets, you and your employees interact with people from diverse cultures more frequently. With a bit of practice and cultural competence training, you can take advantage of the positive benefits of these relationships.
Coach Diversity Institute is here to support you on your cultural awareness journey. We offer courses and organizational training to equip you and your team with the knowledge, tools, and practical strategies needed to be a beacon of cultural diversity. Contact us to get started today!