Intercultural Communication in the Workforce
Intercultural Communication in the Workforce
Today’s organizations are doing business more and more in a global context. The people that count in any business from the suppliers to clients to employees are increasingly based in remote locations in foreign countries. The need for effective and clear intercultural communication is becoming vital in securing success in today’s global workplace. Managers of global corporations need to understand the role of intercultural communication competence in achieving cohesiveness in diverse environments of global business teams. Whether delivering a presentation, negotiating with a supplier, or providing assistance to a client, intercultural communication must be done right.
The US labor force is continually changing with more females, different ethnic backgrounds, and more immigrants joining the current workforce. As a result, the workplace landscape is more multicultural and dynamic today than ever before. Employers are looking to recruit employees who have good communication and personal skills to be admirable team player. Those skills are even more valuable as the American workforce develops into wider varieties of cultural background.
Corporations are quickly learning that embracing key diversity policies and procedures have positive effects on their business success. Culture is a set of learned thoughts and behaviors, which make up our way of life. In the workplace, we typically share our organization's culture with our coworkers; it's unlikely that we share personal culture with all our coworkers. We can find many ways that diverse lifestyles are symbolized in the workplace. Depending on our learned experiences with contact to diverse cultures, our comfort zone with these groups can increase or decrease. "Work force diversity is the presence of differences based on gender, race and ethnicity, age, able-bodiedness and sexual orientation" (Schermerhorn, 2003, pg. 4).
Diversity has benefited dozens of
Today’s organizations are doing business more and more in a global context. The people that count in any business from the suppliers to clients to employees are increasingly based in remote locations in foreign countries. The need for effective and clear intercultural communication is becoming vital in securing success in today’s global workplace. Managers of global corporations need to understand the role of intercultural communication competence in achieving cohesiveness in diverse environments of global business teams. Whether delivering a presentation, negotiating with a supplier, or providing assistance to a client, intercultural communication must be done right.
The US labor force is continually changing with more females, different ethnic backgrounds, and more immigrants joining the current workforce. As a result, the workplace landscape is more multicultural and dynamic today than ever before. Employers are looking to recruit employees who have good communication and personal skills to be admirable team player. Those skills are even more valuable as the American workforce develops into wider varieties of cultural background.
Corporations are quickly learning that embracing key diversity policies and procedures have positive effects on their business success. Culture is a set of learned thoughts and behaviors, which make up our way of life. In the workplace, we typically share our organization's culture with our coworkers; it's unlikely that we share personal culture with all our coworkers. We can find many ways that diverse lifestyles are symbolized in the workplace. Depending on our learned experiences with contact to diverse cultures, our comfort zone with these groups can increase or decrease. "Work force diversity is the presence of differences based on gender, race and ethnicity, age, able-bodiedness and sexual orientation" (Schermerhorn, 2003, pg. 4).
Diversity has benefited dozens of
References: Dougherty, C., & Jordan, M. (2008, May 1). Surge in U.S. Hispanic Population Driven by Births, Not Immigration. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 22, 2010, from http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB120959501599257567-lMyQjAxMDI4MDA5MTUwOTE1Wj.html Holmes, J., & Riddiford, N. (2010). Professional and personal identity at work: achieving a synthesis through intercultural workplace talk. Journal of Intercultural Communication, (22), 6. Retrieved from Communication & Mass Media Complete database. Jameson, D. (2007). Reconceptualizing cultural identity and its role in intercultural business communication. Journal of Business Communication, 44(3), 199-235. Retrieved from Business Source Premier database on November 22, 2010. Lustig, M. & J. Koester (2006). Intercultural Competence (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Schermerhorn, J. R. (2003). Organizational Behavior (8th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.