Diversity at workplace- Human resource Management

1. COMMUNICATION IN A DIVERSE
ENVIRONMENT
BY: Amarinder Singh
Kanan Karthik
Neha Aggarwal
Kajal Saxena

2. ENVIRONMENT
The environment refers to the
immediate physical and social
setting in which people live or in
which something happens or
develops. It includes the culture and
the people and institutions with
whom they interact.

3. CULTURE
Culture is understood
as that complex whole
which includes
knowledge, belief, art,
morals, laws, custom
and other capabilities
and habits acquired by
an individual as a
member of the society.

4. The inter-national manager needs to be
aware of three levels of culture that
influence overseas operation. It
includes:
National Culture
Business Culture
Organizational Culture

5. NATIONAL CULTURE
National culture is the dominant culture
within the political boundaries of a
country.
Formal education is usually taught and
business is generally conducted in the
language of the dominant culture.
It not only affects language but also
business transactions and nature of law
that govern the business.

6. BUSINESS CULTURE
It represents norms, values and beliefs
that pertain to all aspects of doing
business in a particular environment.
It tells correct and acceptable way to
conduct business in a society.
It also provides guides for everyday
business interactions.

7. ORGANIZATIONAL
ENVIRONMENT
It refers to philosophies,
ideologies, value, assumptions,
beliefs, expectations and attitude
that knit an organization together
and are shared by its employees

8. DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY
PRIMARY
DIMESNIONS
GENDER
AGE
RACE
ETHNICITY
PHYSICAL ABILTIY
SECONDARY
DIMENSIONS
EDUCATION
MARTAIL STATUS
PARENTSAL STATUS
INCOME
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
WORK BACKGROUND

9. ELEMENTS
OF
CULTURE

10. Culture is a very complex concept
comprising of many elements
All these elements have evolved over
time
Though the elements of culture are many ,
we focus here on languages , religion ,
aesthetics, attitudes ,customs , manners &
supernatural beliefs .

12. The influence of language of culture
The influence of culture on language
High and Low context languages
1. Language & Culture

13. Religion refers to a specific &
institutionalised set of beliefs & practices
generally agreed upon by a number of
persons
There are around 1,00,000 religions
across the globe but the major ones are :
1. Hinduism
2. Christianity
3. Islam
4. Buddhism
RELIGION AND CULTURE

14. • From the times of Rig Veda , which
contains many prayers for riches ,
worldly wealth was looked upon as
morally desirable for the ordinary man
& indeed essential to lead a full &
civilised life .
HINDUISM

15. Is the most widely practised in reigion
in the world almost 20 % of the world’s
populations identify themselves as
Christians
The vast variety of Christians live in
Europe and America
CHRITIANITY

16. Is the second largest religion with
followers spread over more than 35
countries
Some critics argue that Islam
discourages profit . THIS IS NOT
TRUE
The Quran speaks approvingly of free
enterprise & of earning legitimate profit
through trade and commerce .
ISLAM

17. Has 250 million followers in Central ,
South East Asia , China , Korea and
Japan
Buddhists stress spiritual achievement
& obviously wealth creation is not
encouraged
In Buddhist societies , we do not see
the same kind of cultural stress on
enterpreneurial behaviour that we see
in protestant west
BUDDHISM

18. Education : Economic progress of a
country depends upon the education of
its citizens .
Aesthetics : Refers to the artistic tastes
of a culture
Attitudes : It is positive or negative
evaluation, feelings and tendencies
which make an individual behave in a
particular way
Customs And Manners : Manners and
behaviou

19. Culture may sound abstract but the
norms and values prevalent in the
society do influence the cost of doing
business in that country .
These costs influence the ability of
enterprises to establish a competitive
advantage in the global market place .
Culture And Competitive
Advantage

20. Cutural Diversity
activities at workplace

21. Table Tents Activities
For a large council or new board.
Boldly mark the attendees’ formal
name and official titles.
Especially when you know that you are
among a culturally diverse group.
Give members a chance during
introductions to mention something
culturally interesting about themselves.

22. Walk Together, Walk Apart
Use two volunteers from your large
group.
Ask them to stand close together with
their backs to each other.
Ask your staff to call out things about the
two volunteers that are different such as
the color of each volunteer’s hair.
As each difference is called out, the
volunteers should take a step forward
making them stand further apart.
Ask the staff to now call out things that
are the same about the duo.

23. Cultural Appreciation Day
Host an annual cultural appreciation
day event at your workplace.
Here you give employees downtime to
welcome each others' cultural
backgrounds through display boards,
activities and food.
Ask each staff member to post
something that reflects their culture on
their door or desk with a statement that
summarizes what it is .

24. Attend Diversity Events
Register key division leaders for
diversity training and conferences.
mix a little bit of social time to allow
them to network with each other and
other organizations.
to learn a little bit about how they
explore diversity issues and activities
in their workplaces.

25. FOUR STEPS TO
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
SUCCESS

26. I. Leadership Driven
Create and maintain culturally and
linguistically competent services by
supporting:
Multiculturalism embedded into all
organizational units.
Continued efforts to recruit, retain
and develop a culturally diverse
workforce.

27. II. Staff Oriented
Support cultural competency of the
staff.

28. III. Client Oriented
To support and promote the
involvement of clients, families
and advocacy groups in the
planning and development of care.

29. IV. Information Driven
To support monitoring and
dissemination of the level of cultural
awareness, knowledge and skills

30. ADVANTAGES
&
DISADVANTAGES

31. Diversity, though a challenging task to manage,
carries within it certain advantages :
•DIVERSE EXPERIENCE:
One main benefit of diversity is the generation of
more & better ideas as individual group members
come from a host of different cultures, they are often
able to create unique & creative solutions &
recommendations .
•EFFECTIVE DECISIONS:
Decision-making may be very slow, unlike in a
homogeneous group, but the decision reached tend
to be very effective
Advantages

32. •GROUP THINK:
A second major benefit is that culturally diverse
groups can prevent groupthink, which is social
conformity & pressures on individual members of a
group to conform & reach a consensus.
When this occurs, group participants believe that their
ideas & actions are correct & those who disagree with
them are either uninformed or are deliberately trying to
sabotage their efforts.Multi-cultural diverse groups are
able to avoid this problem, because the members do
not think similarly or feel the pressure to conform.
As a result, they typically question each other, offer
opinions & suggestions that are contrary to those held
by others & must be persuaded to change their minds.
Therefore, unanimity is achieved only through a
careful process of deliberation.

33. There are problems associated with diversity,
nevertheless
•COMMUNICATION ISSUES:
Diversity impacts workplace communication in
positive and negative ways. Between co-workers,
diversity can place impediments in the way of effective
communication, which can directly dampen
productivity and the cohesiveness of small groups.
Spending time with diverse employees can break
down communication barriers over the long-term, but
first impressions and co-workers' orientation periods
can be difficult to control when cultures clash.
•There are perceptual problem too. When culturally
diverse groups come together, they often bring pre-
conceived stereotypes with them
Disadvantages

34. •INTEGRATION ISSUES:
Social integration at work can only be influenced
to a small degree. The formation of cliques and
exclusive social groups is a natural process that
can be impossible to control at times. Because of
this, companies can experience informal divisions
in their staff, creating a situation where culturally
diverse employees avoid exposure to each other
during break times and after work. Although there
is nothing fundamentally wrong with this
scenario, it can hinder the effectiveness of
sharing knowledge, skills and experience, thus
curbing productivity growth and the effectiveness
of teams.

35. •Another problem is the way in which situations
are interpreted
Example:
Many Japanese nod their heads when others talk,
but this does not necessarily imply their approval.
They are merely being polite & attentive.

47. Use Simplified Language (The K.I.S.S.
Principal)
Use Repetition for a Theme
Avoid Using Gender-Specific Metaphors
Employ the Most Effective Technologies
Available
Seek Outside Training
Be specific about timelines and due dates for
deliverables
Establish ground rules for your team to
collaborate