australian business solutions - how to foster diversity in your organisation across borders

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.


| 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.

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