One of the most rewarding and also challenging aspects of running a company is dealing with all of the distinct personalities on staff. This diversity has become more complex as immigrants and former minority groups integrate, not only on the job site, but also in the front office. My company focused on selling homes to minority groups, so we recruited a multicultural workforce to serve these clients most effectively. At one point, we had employees from China, Vietnam, Iran, Guatemala, and Mexico, three home grown Nebraskans, three African Americans, and yours truly, from Argentina.
In a diverse workforce, unexpected conflicts arise, as well as unexpected benefits. Different cultures have different ways of relating to employers and to other employees. Broadly speaking, there exist two extremes of community engagement, known to social scientists as High-Context and Low-Context societies. Mexican workers come from a High-Context society, where interpersonal relationships have more importance than work goals. While in the United States, England, and Germany, what makes these societies so productive, is that the objectives remain, well… objective. In other words, “It’s just business, don’t take it personally.”
- Low-context cultures (Germany, United States)
- Goal oriented before people oriented
- High-context cultures (Mexico, Southeast Asia)
- Purpose is secondary to relationships
Cultural groups also relate to authority differently. If you’ve worked with diverse groups, you’ll find Mexican and Vietnamese employees have an easier time accepting authority than many US workers. We demand a democratic approach. Our culture, along with the Germans and British, lies at the extreme of what social scientists call the power-distance curb. We expect near equality and a narrow power gap between workers and their boss. Mexicans, Russians, and Vietnamese lie at the other extreme, looking toward strong leadership, which issues precise orders, demands obedience, and also takes full responsibility. When you attempt to encourage expression and dialog to obtain buy in, and spread responsibility among your staff, your Mexican employees may not perceive you as empowering, so much as a weak, indecisive, and therefore an untrustworthy leader.
- Democratic
- Encourage expression and dialog
- Look for buy in from all players
- Lower leadership liability and accountability, group bears responsibility.
- Strong leader
- Precise instructions
- Loyalty and obedience
- Boss is “patron,” fully responsible and accountable
“Strong leader” does not imply a jerk or a bully; this doesn’t go over in any culture. Strong boss simply means clear, decisive and unafraid of his own authority. The Marine-style military approach will backfire with Latinos, although it sometimes works wonders among Anglo and even African Americans. There’s something in our culture that accepts and even enjoys the drill sergeant. People pay to attend “Boot Camp” at the YMCA. You won’t find that certain something in your Latino workers. I’ll illustrate the point with a story.
When I came to Nebraska, I brought Mexican workers with me from Los Angeles, because workers were in short supply. At one point I ran out of work, and referred several of the men to another contractor. They worked with him a few months, and then one day showed up at my door in the late afternoon. Apologizing profusely, they told me they were heading home that very night. The new, gringo boss had the habit of shouting orders at them. That afternoon, he had called them names and ordered them to load tools into the truck. They did. But they resented his manner to such an extent, and felt so affronted, that they felt they had two choices, to kill the man or leave town. They opted for the latter.
I’m sure the contractor simply played the drill sergeant roll without malice. He never knew how close he came to losing his life. I knew these men very well, and knew their comments were no exaggeration. Cultural misunderstandings can be lethal.
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But don’t get scared, it’s not all conflict and cultural confusion. A diverse workforce also provides a diverse skill set. For example, people from High Context societies never tell you that they can only do one thing at a time. They don’t ask you to stand in line single file (just look at food stands in Southeast Asia, people swarm the vendor), and High Context societies don’t resent your interruption. They can handle high reassure, confusing environments with aplomb. My Vietnamese assistant, Ana Tran, resembled one of those Asian gods with 50 arms; she could juggle many tasks simultaneously without losing her cool or good humor. When she left me to open her own business, I had to hire two people to take her place.
- Monochronic: One thing at a time.
- Punctual
- Undivided attention
- Stand in line
- Stick to the schedule
- No interruptions
- Polychronic: Many things at once.
- Gather in groups
- Attention divided between tasks and people (multitasking)
- Okay to be late
- Interruptions are part of life
My Mexican employees were the most reliable and consistent. I didn’t have to gently coax them for buy in; they trusted me and followed directions without feeling offended. And then Bijan, a name that means hero in Persian, had an obsequious manner, coupled with a dogged persistence that made him one of the most accomplished employees when it came to getting problems resolved with city officials. He knew how pay court while getting his way. It was impossible to refuse him.
Intercultural work relations have become a field that large corporations take very seriously. With US executives assuming management positions in Europe, Asia and Latin America, you’ll find a library of insightful and entertaining books on the subject of working abroad, detailing what’s appropriate and what’s not. But now that the world is moving to the United States, bosses here have to deal with the same issues.
Here it’s not as clear as abroad that you’re interacting with different cultures because the place still looks and feels like your hometown. Yet slowly and subtly it’s changing. The lessons you learn becoming more attuned to your diverse workforce will also help you become a more effective with your increasingly diverse clientele.
Should You Learn the Language?
It’s worth the effort, even if you never become fluent. Learning Spanish, Vietnamese, or whatever foreign tongue serves as second language in your area has some unexpected benefits. For one, the language reflects the culture, and you immediately begin to know something about a society when you realize that instead of one word, such as “hello,” to great just about anyone, there’s a specific salutation for members of the opposite sex, those older or younger than you, those specifically as old as your father, those of the same age but a different social status, and so on. In Vietnamese, the moment you great someone, you’ve not only acknowledged they’re presence, but told them who you believe they are.
In Spanish, you learn that direct conversation in not a virtue, it’s considered bad manners. Spanish speakers use an inordinate amount of words to express themselves around the point rather than get to it. This changes your understanding of a Latino employee when you realize he’s not being evasive, he’s being polite.
- In Asia, a smile can be an apology.
- In Latin America, pointing is polite way of emphasizing speech.
Making an effort to learn the langue will also train your ear, so you begin to understand the highly accented speech patterns of a non-native English speakers Eventually, you have no trouble understanding even the most heavily accented English.
We’ve touched on very few of the fascinating differences that exist between people from all parts of the globe. But the most valuable lesson you’ll learn exploring the differences comes with a greater appreciation for your own culture. I have heard people here complain that they have no culture. This is only a misperception born of immersion. When you live and breathe in your own social environment, it does not feel like a “culture,” it just feels like people and life. Don’t forget that we are all minorities when it comes to the global population, and all have cultural strengths and weakness. Together, we can complement one another to achieve work goals, build better interpersonal relationships, and enjoy a broader perspective on life.
To dig deeper into the topic of cultural diversity, consider reading the following books:
– Figuring Foreigners Out, by Craig Stori
– Workplace Diversity, by Esty, Griffin, and Hirsch
– Cultures & Organizations, by Geert & Gert Hofsede
– Voices of Diversity, by Renee Blank, Sandra Slipp
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Be aware of cultural allegiances.
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Direct vs. indirect communication: Responsible for most cross-cultural misunderstandings.
