Global Environment, Cultural Differences and Teamwork in the Workplace
Walk into almost any workplace today and you'll likely find people of different national, racial and cultural backgrounds. In the workplace, cultural and other differences must be set aside for the sake of productivity.
Other People Are Reading
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Rationale
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A major reason that workplaces today are so diverse is that America is so diverse. Beyond that, employers realize that people with different perspectives have a lot to bring to the table, so they value diversity, according to a paper by three University of Florida researchers, titled Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and the Required Managerial Tools. In some fields, employers even go out of their way to recruit individuals with global work experiences. After all, when a company's suppliers are in China, its manufacturer in Japan and its global distribution center in Thailand, it only makes sense to have employees who understand these markets.
Function
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People from diverse backgrounds must increasingly work together. Teamwork is not only a way to divide labor, but also to ensure that as many different perspectives go into a project as possible. Beyond working on projects, employees are also expected to regularly collaborate with colleagues by sharing information among each other. When individuals have a respect for other cultures, or at a minimum know to keep their negative stereotypes of other cultures to themselves, teamwork and collaboration is possible.
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Roadblocks
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It's when people don't have respect for other cultures or don't keep negative stereotypes of other cultures to themselves that teamwork fails and conflict ensues. In severe cases, employees can become the victims of harassment and discrimination, leading up to lawsuits. In a best case scenario, an employee who feels victimized because of his culture will likely feel deeply insulted, which can affect his productivity.
Role of Training
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People are just people, and many come to your organization with ingrained prejudices and stereotypes about others. Your organization can help them understand the value of diversity, as well as the consequences of not respecting cultural differences in others, through training.
Considerations
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In a world where employees increasingly work from home and a single company can have offices in various parts of the world, with employees in these offices needing to interact remotely, respect among colleagues of different cultures can be difficult to ensure. And harassment or discrimination can be equally difficult to identify. A strong anti-discrimination policy that explains that colleagues are expected to keep personal bias out of the workplace and handle conflicts by dealing with the issues at hand rather than attacking others personally can go a long way.
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References
- Photo Credit teamwork image by Yvonne Bogdanski from Fotolia.com
