Supporting cultural diversity offers an organization an opportunity to enlarge its horizons. Supporting workers from various settings to share their business practices and belief systems with the organization can promote its capacity to solve problems (Lozano & Escrich, 2016). In some cases; however, diversity in culture, especially in the business environment, can cause issues and stress. Providing a training cause that discusses culture to an organization’s employees helps it to develop a corporative culture among its team members. In this respect, the company will create a culture in which members of its team embrace cultural diversity and consider differences that exist among individuals as beneficial.
In the workplace, it is a requirement for organizations to adhere to certain rules and regulations concerning cultural training courses. According to studies, as organizations expand, their legal requirements also grow (Mohamed & Ruth, 2016). Thus, their human resource department and their attorneys must ensure that the firm complies with all the laws pertaining to cultural diversity during a training course. These laws have their implications both to an individual and the organization as a whole. One of the legal implications of a training course that discusses culture is that it helps organizations avoid time-consuming and expensive legal problems. In today’s business environment, some laws protect employees from harassment on the basis of their culture. If this occurs, they can sue the organization, which may hurt the firm financially. Additionally, such lawsuits usually take a lot of time and in the process, the organization may lose precious time. Thus, creating a training program that examines culture is beneficial to the organization.
When creating a cultural diversity training program, there are numerous laws and regulations that an individual or an organization needs to consider. Businesses should consider conducting proper research on regulations and laws governing cultural training before proceeding with the course. Some laws protect employees from discrimination in terms of their physical disability, age, religion, or race. Other regulations highlight the importance of organizations understanding the cultural differences in value such as the inclusion of different holidays. These holidays depend on the religious belief of different employees. Organizations that account for such value differences usually perform better compared to those that do not have such policies. Ensuring that an organization complies with federal regulations governing equal treatment is essential because it protects the firm from time-consuming and costly litigations.
The demographics of individuals affect discussions of cultural diversity in numerous ways. Employees from different backgrounds have different cultural beliefs and attitudes towards particular organizational rules and regulations. According to research, people’s demographics affect their behavior, especially during a discussion of cultural diversity (Lozano & Escrich, 2016). More specifically, individuals may develop trust issues within the organization. When this occurs, managers may find it challenging to lead their team members. Furthermore, business leaders may find it challenging to bring together employees and lead them towards a common goal. Since there is a lack of trust, discussions regarding cultural diversity may not be successful. What makes this a challenging experience is a division that exists among employees. Thus, an organization should create a culture that ensures everyone embraces different cultures to ensure that the training course proceeds without interference.
An employee’s demographic further affects communication during discussions of cultural diversity. The ability to pass information within an organization depends on whether employees understand one another (Abdullah, 2019). Some employees may understand the English language but may not speak it fluently. As a result, other employees within the organization may find it difficult to understand them. If the issue manifests, it becomes a barrier to communication, which is essential during the process of discussing cultural diversity. In this case, individuals may not be able to benefit from the discussions. Furthermore, cultural differences may act as a means of discriminating against employees. Consequently, the process of discussing cultural diversity may not be successful. Thus, it is important to consider the demographic diversity of an employee before conducting cultural discussions.
Besides demographic and legal concerns, it is essential to consider the ethical implication that may arise in the course of the training program. One of the ethical issues that the cultural diversity training session should consider is religious differences. An organization that has a culturally diverse culture includes people with various religious beliefs. In some instances, the religious beliefs of some workers may clash with the company’s diversity rules and regulations. For instance, a culturally diverse firm welcomes customers, workers, and vendors of various sexual orientations. This is an organizational attitude towards inclusion that some employees may find offensive because their religious beliefs only support heterosexuality. Organizations should be able to find ways of handling such ethical dilemmas when they arise. In this case, managers should make it clear to employees that they must respect one another despite their personal beliefs.
The other ethical dilemma that may arise when creating a training course that discusses culture regards gender issues. According to research, numerous ethical challenges arise in a business environment that treats both men and women as equals (Lozano & Escrich, 2016). Furthermore, according to the laws of some countries, men can legally treat women as subordinates. Female and male employees of such states may find it challenging to adapt to an inclusive and diverse business environment where a woman treats a man as her subordinate. Additionally, another consideration is that some cultures consider it an offense for women and men to look at each other in the eye when they are not related. Thus, the top leadership must find methods of resolving these issues without interfering with the rules and regulations that govern discrimination in the workplace.
Hiring decisions are the other ethical considerations that organizations should consider when creating a training course that discusses culture. Studies demonstrate that companies that wish to have a culturally diverse workforce must employ individuals from diverse groups (Abdullah, 2019). To achieve this goal, an organization must utilize non-conventional methods to advertise its job openings. Nevertheless, a competent leader must hire an excellent human resource manager without considering their nationality, gender, or race. Decisions of employment made in organizations that uphold diversity may conflict with guidelines of equal employment opportunities and a company’s diversity objectives.
Training can be standardized for all locations in a global business enterprise. Research states that when organizations utilize a standardized approach to training for every global organization, the outcomes are more successful compared to an approach that is not standardized (Abdullah, 2019). In this case, organizations can use the same content to train employees; however, they can deliver each topic depending on the demographic of the company. When businesses use this type of approach, they become more flexible when it comes to designing the training program. Organizations that utilize this technique find it easy to create a program design, which is then delivered using a standard approach. As a result, employees in different settings will be able to learn the same content, which is delivered in a manner that best suits their situation. The only challenge that may arise while utilizing a standard training program is the ability to disseminate the same message in all global businesses.
To ensure that global businesses become diverse, a standardized system is required to conduct training. For businesses to achieve this goal, they require means of training global organizations. Internet-based training is the best mode to conduct diversity training for global businesses. According to research, more than half of the world’s population can access the internet (Mohamed & Ruth, 2016). Moreover, internet-based applications are available to ensure that workers can take part in the training program remotely. By utilizing the internet, organizations can use video conferencing applications to train employees in real-time. The internet is the best medium to conduct global diversity training because it is cheaper and accessible.
For organizations to flourish, they must include programs that train team members about cultural diversity. However, some rules and regulations must be considered before creating a training program. These rules include ant discriminatory laws that protect employees from cultural harassment. Furthermore, the demographic diversity of an individual is an important factor because it affects cultural diversity discussions. Additionally, during cultural diversity discussions, ethical issues such as hiring decisions, gender issues, and religious differences may arise. To combat these issues, an organization should consider standardizing its cultural training model to global businesses.
References
Abdullah, Z. (2019). Cultural diversity management in Malaysia: A perspective of communication management. Managing Cultural Diversity in Asia.
Lozano, J. F., & Escrich, T. (2016). Cultural diversity in business: A critical reflection on the ideology of tolerance. Journal of Business Ethics, 142(4), 679-696.
Mohamed, M., & Ruth, A. (2016). Workplace spirituality and organizational commitment: A study on the public schools teachers in Menoufia (Egypt). African Journal of Business Management, 10(10), 247-255.
