Darryl Lightner

Human Resource Management

Cultural Diversity

In the past 60 years, the United States has witnessed several legislations aimed at

increasing the level of diversity in the workplace. The Civil Rights Act listed grounds upon

which discrimination was criminalized. As such, people from different races, ethnicities,

cultures and genders were introduced into the employment sector. The Civil Rights Act was

followed by the establishment of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

whose objective was to ensure fairness in employment regardless of characteristics such as

gender, culture and race. Affirmative action programs further led to increased opportunities

for previously disadvantaged groups during employment. All these legislations had the effect

of increasing the level of diversity in the workplace. Today, most organizations have

embraced diversity as it has been proved to have both direct and indirect benefits towards

prosperity. Despite the benefits, however, there have also been challenges to having a

culturally diverse workforce. Organizations are therefore encouraged to ensure that their

policies and departments are aligned towards having a workforce that is not only culturally

diverse, but also gains from that diversity. Considering that the Human Resource department

is the one primarily responsible for staffing, training, appraising and remunerating

employees, it follows then that the issue of cultural diversity has a direct impact on it. This

paper is concerned with the human resource implications of cultural diversity in

organizations.
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In simple terms, culture is a people’s way of life. It is the knowledge acquired by

people that determines how they behave and how they interpret the behaviors of others.

Culture encompasses different aspects of people’s lives. Their beliefs, values, eating habits,

how they talk, dress and shelter themselves. It explains how members of a certain cultural

group behave towards each other and with other outside groups. Cultural diversity on the

other hand is acknowledging, accepting, celebrating, valuing and understanding the cultural

differences of people in the society or in an organization (Jayne and Dipboye 411).

It is important to note that there does not exist a cultural absolute. That is, there is no

one culture that could be said to be the ideal one. Culture is relative as people from different

parts of the world hold different values and beliefs. As such, cultural tolerance and diversity

should not be seen as a hindrance to the growth and prosperity of organizations. Rather, it

should be regarded as a resource to tap into.

In the face of globalization and changes in technology, people interact with others

who do not share their cultures. Multinational corporations which operate in many different

countries have to ensure their workforce and organizational policies are tailored in a way that

maximizes employee potential in addition to customer satisfaction. This way, they would be

able to reap the benefits of cultural diversity.

The first advantages of having a culturally diverse workforce is the range of

perspectives offered. People from different backgrounds have different experiences and

perspectives on life. There are therefore able to look at workplace challenges from different

angles thereby providing a broad range of solutions. Cultural diversity also increases the

range of business ideas which optimizes the quality of decisions made by the

organization (Singh 45).

Cultural diversity also leads to an improvement in employee morale. Cultural

diversity encompasses acts such as accepting, valuing and celebrating people’s differences.
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When employees feel that their backgrounds, experiences and ideas are valued and celebrated

they feel more motivated to contribute towards the organization’s goals. This validation of

employees regardless of their cultural differences cultivates a positive working environment

which increases morale.

From the global perspective, a culturally diverse workforce enables companies to

establish their roots and expand their operations in foreign markets. For example, an

American company that has consistently employed people from Asian backgrounds would

find it relatively easier to expand into the Asian market. This is because its employees would

already be aware of the Asian culture, its cues, norms and standards of behavior. Furthermore,

the company would require employees who speak and understand the customers’ language. It

has also been established that customers typically prefer to do business with people that come

from the same background with them or a company that employs people from their culture.

The human resource department is usually tasked with managing employees. It is

concerned with employee recruitment, training, development, remuneration and well -being.

It is therefore the responsibility of human resource departments to ensure that cultural

differences do not hinder the organization’s operations. Before looking at the implications of

cultural diversity, it important to appreciate the issues associated with cultural diversity at the

workplace.

When people from different cultures meet at the workplace, there are always

challenges due to their cultural differences. The first challenge is always realigning people’s

individual cultures with the organization’s culture. Organizations, being a group of people

with the same goals and mission, usually have their own norms, values, rules and

philosophies. Sometimes the organizational culture is different from the cultures of the

employees. For instance, a company’s may have the promotion of gender equality as one of

its core values. However, an employee may be coming from a cultural background that
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subjugates women. This employee would have a hard time working with female colleagues

especially when these women are at the same level or higher than him on the organization’s

hierarchy.

Other challenges of cultural diversity include lack of teamwork when people from

different cultures do not get along well. Also, the organizations promotion and appraisal

system may not be consistent with the cultural practices of the employees. For instance, in

Japan, age is usually the most crucial factor during promotion of workers. This means that a

younger and more productive worker may be disregarded for promotion on account of an

elderly but less productive one. The implications of cultural diversity on human resource are

addressed below.

The human resource department should recruit employees who are culturally tolerant.

They should exhibit low levels of ethnocentrism i.e. the belief that their personal culture is

over and above everyone else’s. During employment interviews, the organizations should

inquire about the interviewee’s views on multiculturalism, whether they are interested in

learning about other cultures or live in a different country.

Having looked at the benefits of cultural diversity, organizations should also create a

diverse pool of potential employees. Traditional methods of determining employee behavior

should also be benched for more cultural sensitive ones (Shore, Chung-Herrera and Dean

123). For instance, an employer may think that an interviewee who fails to maintain eye

contact is dishonest. Such an assessment may make the interviewer have negative attitude

towards him. However, several Asian cultures believe that looking directly into someone’s

eyes is disrespectful.

Organizations should train their employees on cultural tolerance. They should be

taught how to respect, value and celebrate cultures different from their own. For a
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multinational organization, employees should be trained on the language, beliefs and cultural

practices of the local population.

Training and developing a multicultural workforce enables them to recognize and

understand the differences between them. The overall effect of this is enhancement of trust,

efficient communication, less misunderstandings and a harmonious environment (Esty,

Richard and Schorr-Hirsh 48).

Performance appraisal concerns the evaluation of employee contribution towards an

organization productivity. Cultural diversity means that employees should be assessed based

on their work output rather than their cultural backgrounds. Parochial and ethnocentric

tendencies should be eliminated when determining the performance of individuals. An Arab

working in an American Company should not be denied a promotion simply because of

his/her ethnicity. Organizations should also ensure that their performance appraisal panels

represent all cultures.

Payment and remuneration research has concentrated on the pay gap between men

and women, there are also discrepancies between remuneration of members from different

cultures. Blacks and Hispanics generally receive lower payments than their white

counterparts (Shen, Chanda and D'Netto 242). Cultural diversity entails paying employees

because of their level of contribution towards the organization’s goals.

Under remuneration, we also need to consider the needs of employees who work in

foreign countries where the culture is different from theirs. Such employees may have a hard

time adapting to the new environment. To ease their integration, organizations may need to

provide them with financial help and benefits to compensate for their problems and

inconveniences. For instance, a female employee may be transferred from the United States

to Saudi Arabia. The mode of dressing in Saudi Arabia is completely different from the US’s.
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The organization should therefore pay her a higher salary to enable her buy new clothes

which are consistent with her new cultural setting.

In a culturally diverse workplace, the human resource department is tasked with not

only recruiting and training employees, but also determining their job areas in which they are

best suited. The implication of this is that employees should be assigned to areas where their

skills and interests are compatible with their cultures. A hardworking employee with a Mao

background may not be suited to a job that entails addressing a big audience since the Mao

culture values silence and being reserved.

Organizations that are expanding into foreign markets also need to assign those

employees that are more familiar with the local culture. Thus, an American company that

seeks to enter the Chinese market should assign employees with Chinese backgrounds to the

new posts. This partnership between employees and customers would create a harmonious

and productive environment.

In conclusion, in order to be successful in today’s business environment,

organizations have to employ people from different cultural backgrounds in addition to

operating in culturally different countries. The impact of this is greater organizational growth.

However, cultural diversity also comes up with its challenges. To ensure productivity, human

resource departments need to align their policies and activities towards getting the best out of

a multicultural workforce.
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Works Cited

Esty, Katharine, Griffin Richard and Marcie Schorr-Hirsh.

Workplace diversity. Amanager’s guide to solving problems and turning diversity into a

competitive advantage. Avon: Adams Media Corporation, 1995. Print.

Jayne, Michele E and Robert L Dipboye. "Leveraging Diversity To Improve Business

Performance: Research Findings and Recommendations for Organizations." Human Resource

Management 43.4 (2004): 409-424. Print.

Shen, Jie, et al. "Managing diversity through human resource management: an

international perspective and conceptual framework." The International Journal of Human

Resource Management 20.2 (2009): 235–251. Print.

Shore, Lynn, et al. "Diversity in organizations: Where are we now and where are we

going?" Human Resource Management Review 19 (2009): 117-133. Print.

Singh, Diwakar. "Managing Cross-cultural Diversity: Issues and Challenges in Global

Organizations." Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (2010): 43-50. Print.