The workplace is becoming more culturally diverse. It is important for leaders to understand and manage these differences in workplace culture and diversity.
Describe a time when you experienced culture or diversity differences in the workplace (either at your current or past place of work).
Introduction
In the contemporary business era, the management of the company can face different cultural differences. It seems imperative for the management to use different strategies to mitigate these differences. This study revolves around personal experience in an organization regarding diversity due to cultural differences. In the modern organization, the administration intends to accept diversity to enhance group thinking. However, negative consequences are to be eliminated to sustain the workforce and business process.
Differences in Culture and Diversity in Organization
Individualism Vs. Collectivism
I was working in a retail chain and observed many cultural differences. The first difference or diversity that I observed was the about social values. It is a fact that the company contained a diverse workforce, and it was reflected in the culture. For Instance, the workplace was the combination of different workers coming from different countries. It was revealed that one group of employees focused on personal growth instead of collaborating with other people to get the work done. On the other hand, another group intended to emerge with the collaborative approach. People came from an individualistic culture and were looking to hide the information and focus on personal growth. Other employees were looking to share information. It was a huge cultural difference, and the company had to manage it effectively (Dellner, 2014).
Masculinity Vs. Femininity
Another difference observed in the company was about the role of men and women. Masculinity Vs. Femininity is a key cultural dimension, and it is interrelated with cultural differences. The difference was observed regarding the role. For Instance, I observed that men were assertive in accomplishing tasks rapidly. They wanted to take top positions in the company. These people came from a masculine society. Conversely, in another department, people came from feminine societies. The department head was looking to streamline the efforts of women. It created conflict and problem, as far as work sustainability was concerned (Dellner, 2014).
Comparing and Contrasting Differences
The first cultural difference is triggered by some key factors. The major factor that revolved around this difference was the intention of people. The intention to work in the company was quite different. One group was trying to contain personal growth. One group was intending to meet goals and objectives as a team. Comparatively, the other difference is integrated with gender discrimination. People, who perceived a man strong and assertive in meeting goals and objectives, were containing the gender discrimination. The intention remains the same, but the discriminatory factor is the main difference (Chin, Trimble, & Garcia, 2017).
Handling the cultural or diversity differences
Being a leader in the company, I handled the workplace by appreciating the cultural differences. I tried to develop a culture, which supported or welcomed all types of people in the workplace. The best way to handle the differences for me was to try new things. I had to become open-minded and compromise something to accept these differences. I managed and monitored different teams to handle culture differences and put all employees to work under the same agenda (Tecchiati, 2015).
Mitigating differences
The best way to mitigate these differences was to make the pertinent employee policy. For Instance, I was working under the department head. He managed to streamline the effective employee policy and strategy. The policy was to retain the best talent in the company through attractive rewards and promotions. Thus, it changed the priorities of people, and they tried to streamline their efforts instead of cultural differences (Moran, Harris, & Moran, 2011). People, containing different cultural values, have to compromise their cultural values. The leader emphasized skill diversity. It was the best strategy by the leader to mitigate this difference. Males and females in the company are to be retained by the manager through streamlining efforts. Performance is to be measured through creating measures. Prohibition of racial or gender discrimination, based on cultural values, was part of the strategy, and it worked for the company (Mentis, 2013).
The leadership style of manager differences
To manage these differences in the workplace, the leader in the company used the democratic leadership style. He liked to support employees in the decision-making process. The leader always tried to streamline opinion, thoughts, ideas, and reservations. He made different teams and delegated the decision-making process. People had to work in the collaborative culture due to this democratic approach. The most important thing for any manager or leader is to streamline the company’s goals and objectives and depict organizational priorities. People have to work as a family. The management listened to people, and besides cultural values and differences, they worked for the company. The leadership style of the leader has helped to use people’s diversity in an effective and lucrative manner. The democratic leadership style was quite impressive for me, and I also intended to follow him to meet goals and objectives (Harris, Moran, & Moran, 2004)
Conclusion
In the end, it is to conclude that using cultural dimensions is an effective approach to depict cultural differences in an organization. The study elaborated two cultural dimensions to elaborate difference. The company must handle and mitigate these differences by using an appropriate leadership style. Accepting diversity in the company and managing it in the best interest of the company is a good strategy to retain the best people. It was my personal experience with the company. I illustrated some key initiatives or strategies that my leader took to get some predictable outputs. These are good insights to enhance learning and emerge as an effective leader in the organization.
References
Chin, J. L., Trimble, J. E., & Garcia, J. E. (2017). Global and Culturally Diverse Leaders and Leadership: New Dimensions and Challenges for Business, Education and Society. Emerald Group Publishing.
Dellner, A. (2014). Cultural Dimensions: The Five-Dimensions-Model according to Geert Hofstede. GRIN Publishing.
Harris, P. R., Moran, R. T., & Moran, S. V. (2004). Managing Cultural Differences: Global leadership strategies for the 21st century. Routledge.
Mentis, P. (2013). An analysis of the cultural differences between leadership: The case of Greece and Germany. GRIN Verlag.
Moran, R. T., Harris, P. R., & Moran, S. V. (2011). Managing Cultural Differences: Global Leadership Strategies for Cross-cultural Business Success. Routledge.
Tecchiati, E. (2015). Stereotyping leadership: An investigation about leaders’ perception. diplom.de.
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