High Performance Diverse Workplace - Example

RМ - High Performance Diverse Workplace Name Institution НRМ - High Performance Diverse Workplace Table of Contents НRМ - High Performance Diverse Workplace 2 Table of Contents 2 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Definition and Overview of Cultural Diversity in workplace 4 3.0 The Communication Challenges That a Leader Would Expect To Encounter In Culturally Diverse Australian Organizations 4 4.0 How leaders can address the ethical issues related to the cultural diversity in many Australian organizations 9 6.0 Conclusion 13 7.0 References 14 1.0 Introduction With intensification of globalization, business and people have been compelled to cross international borders to compete for more opportunities with other established companies (Ewoh, 2013, p. 107). Globalization is a confirmation that Australian businessmen and people generally does not anymore work and reside within just a narrow market due to the fact that people and business have become part of part of the global economy. Barak (2005, p. 12) argued that in the process, members of the organization or people frequently meet with their counterparts from diverse cultural background and beliefs like never before. Rice (2010, p. 34) contended that while operating at the global markets has new opportunities for the Australian businesses to get effective talents, increase their brand awareness, and increase their revenues and market share, the workforce diversity that comes with globalization often become challenge to the business. Diversity present communication challenges which then results to moral and ethical degradation in many Australian organizations. In the long run, diversity if not managed properly can create organizational conflict hence poor performance. However, research in Australia in the recent times has discovered managers need to blend of various leadership styles and behavior to effective manage different cultural workgroups in their organizations. Therefore, using various literatures, this report identifies and critically analyzes the communication challenges which a leader would expect to encounter in relation to the cultural diversity of many Australian organizations. In addition, this report will critically discuss how leaders can address the ethical issues related to the cultural diversity, and critically discuss an optimal mix of leadership styles or behaviors which would be aligned with managing culturally diverse workplaces in Australia. This report will focus on Wesfarmers Limited 2.0 Definition and Overview of Cultural Diversity in workplace Diversity Dictionary (1996) described cultural diversity in workplace as the differences among people who are working and interacting in an organization. The differences here are often based on cultures, languages, ethnicities, sexual orientations, abilities, social classes, ages, sects and religion. Australian companies normally have dominant culture and subcultures. For example, Wesfarmers have a dominant organizational culture of integrity, accountability and openness (Wesfarmers Limited, 2016). The dominant culture normally overrides any other culture and may be taken a rule. However, subcultures are also located all over the organization and can oppose or enhance the dominant culture of the organization. 3.0 The Communication Challenges That a Leader Would Expect To Encounter In Culturally Diverse Australian Organizations Communication is defined as the process whereby information is sent and understood between two or many people (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2010, p.245). In an organization, communication is majorly done through face-to-face, telephone, email and newsletters. For efficiency in operation, the communication need to effective; in other words need to transmit the intended meaning be it in verbal or non-verbal communication. Effective communication is a vital factor for effective organizational behavior and a significant component of the effective a successful organization. The current development in information technology has greatly changed communication between employees at Wesfarmers Limited. Kupritz and Cowell (2011, p. 59) held that advancement of technologies for communication has redefine workplace communication channels, organizational design and structure. In the process, computer-mediated communication has contributed to new way of relationship and interaction within the workplace where communication is blended amongst face-to-face, email, telephone and instant messaging for both external and internal interactions (Kupritz & Cowell, 2011, p. 59). The new technology has increased speed and efficiency of communication tremendously. However, the organization still faces challenge of communication which is largely presented by globalization. Maude (2011, p. 68) claimed that in contrary to the simple description of communication, the communication process is strong complex, dynamic and multilayered. Maude (2011, p. 68) went ahead to claim that the argument is based on the belief that communication is often reliant on perception, evaluation and interpretation of the behavior of individual which consist of verbal against non-verbal communication and also consciousness against unconscious messages. The communication challenges Wesfarmers therefore face today include perception, language, negotiation, accent and the fluency, direct against indirect communication. All these factors vary from one culture to other hence affects operations as Wesfarmers employees is a mixture of different cultural background (Wesfarmers Limited, 2016). Growing globalization is prompting many Wesfarmers managers, employees, suppliers and customers to meet and interact with each other across the linguistic boarders (Welch & Welch, 2008, p.343). Language is one of the diversities which if not managed properly can affect the performance of individual and the company. As stated above, perception is one of major communication challenges Wesfarmers managers are facing today and are likely to face in future too. Therefore, research on diversity management claims that Wesfarmers requires to understand how employees of diverse background perceive communication in workplace. Samovar, L.A., Porter and McDaniel (2010, p. 248) claimed that some staff perceives that consistent meetings and memoranda are often time wasters and, therefore, could just tune out on the messenger and message. In most cases, it is brought about by the generational differences. Today, Wesfarmers employees consist of both baby boomers and generation Y or millennial. A company Like Wesfarmers still retains some of the baby boomers to guide the new generation and provide solutions where experience is needed experience (Wesfarmers Limited, 2016). According to Wesolowski (2014, p. 33), these two generations hold different perception, interests, goals, culture, behavior and expectations. The young generation is attracted and inspired by company technology therefore prefers telephone, email and partly newsletters as opposed to face-to-face communication (Wesolowski, 2014, p. 35). It is the new generation which perceives meetings, memoranda and face-to-face communication as time wasters. On the other hand, there are some employees who require to be told every move of the company and if staffs perceive that transparency is not there, they start to feel less appreciated and undervalued. It downs to the argument that effective communication in organization is crucial to sustaining the employer-employee relationship. The challenges make it hard for a manager to tailor communication mode in an organization into many formats. The implications of choice of media on performance are supported by Timmerman and Harrison (2005, p.381) who also suggested that media could impact perceived communication fairness exchange in a different way and advised managers to reflect on the effect of media choice. However, some experts think that managers ought to prepare communication ways in several different modes to match staffs’ preferences. For example, the company can opt for holding meetings ones in three months while the rest of communication is done through either email, telephone, or monthly newsletters. Language is another communication challenge Wesfarmers managers are likely to face in operating in global markets (Welch & Welch, 2008, p. 345). Wesfarmers like any other company when expanding into global markets; they send some of employees to serve in those markets. On the other hand, Wesfarmers also have some international employees working in its Australian organization. Welch & Welch (2008, p. 436) affirmed that the communication challenge for managers is that employees who are not fluent in the major language mostly applied at the organization could have complexities in expressing their needs and responding to question of colleagues. Some experts hold that with language diversity, a customer might not understand a staff that has no command of the official language hence creating more confusion. Maude (2011, p. 27) opined that that language remains critical issue in staffs’ self identity due to the fact that it enable them to express their share emotions, feelings and communicate complex messages. In some countries like Bangladesh where Wesfarmers also operates depend on non-verbal communication like the facial expression, tone of voice, and body language as opposed to spoken words unlike in Australia (Ralston et al., 2008, p. 12). The challenges of communication which contemporary managers can face have also been highlighted by High versus Low-Context Cultures theory. The theory categorizes countries into two regions i.e. high-context and low–context cultures. Hall & Hall (1990, p. 34) posited that nations with high-context culture comprise of the African countries, Arab countries, China, Brazil, India, Italy, Japan, Korean, Russian, France and Latin America. In contrast, nations with low-context culture consist of Australia, Netherlands, the US, Switzerland, Finland, Germany and the UK. When an Australian company Wesfarmers operates in a high-context culture, it is likely to face communication challenges particularly on negotiation, interaction and discussion (Hall & Hall, 1990, p. 52). Communication plays a significant part of any negotiation process since it leads to either success or failure. Samovar, Porter and McDaniel (2010, p. 253) claimed that business negotiations are normally done through communication and involve great battle of the tactics and wits. In some societies, greeting is very important and the success of negotiation starts from there. A good greeting expresses a message that depicts the seriousness a Wesfarmers manager has in building good business relationship with other international managers; also it impacts their judgment and business decision towards you (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2010, p.261). For instance, Chinese often people with questions that seem personal in a way of showing concerns and considerations for others. This is the opposite of low-context culture like Australia whose culture believes in a person’s liberty and privacy (Ralston et al, 2008, p.11). Australians find it as respectful and civilized not to meddle in individual’s affair. In some world markets, appreciation is highly valued in negotiation. Appreciation is a form of communication which can be done verbally or non-verbally and make people feel recognized. Ronen and Shenkar (2013, p. 869) postulated that in some cases, people use gift giving practices as form of appreciation and in event that the counterpart has failed to do so it is regarded as looking down on others. In contrast, some cultures contend that giving of gifts is offensive. For instance, Bangladesh is a high-context culture hence giving of gift is vital for Wesfarmers in enhancing its business negotiation. However, back in Australia, Wesfarmers does not need to give gift during negotiations because they are considered inappropriate (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2010, p. 274). Management experts claim that ethical negotiation is therefore highly recommended. Ethical negotiation in this perspective is one which does not attack the personality of members of the opposite team in the negotiation table. 4.0 How leaders can address the ethical issues related to the cultural diversity in many Australian organizations Today, various ethical issues related to the cultural diversity surrounds not only the operation of Wesfarmers but also the environment in operates. The stakeholders of firm like the employees, customers and shareholders expect the company to respond positively to these issues so as not to hurt operation of the company and relationship with employees and customers (Halbert & Ingulli, 2006, p. 97). Ethical issues related to the cultural diversity Australia organization like Wesfarmers face today are discrimination, bribery, hiding information, unethical marketing and selling defective products among others. Halbert and Ingulli (2006, p. 45) argued that discrimination is one of the ethical issues related to the cultural diversity which remains a sensitive matter in Australian organization. Discrimination is still rampant in Australian organization and manifests itself during workforce hiring particularly in terms of disability, gender and ethnicity. Despite endeavors to manage diversity, people with disability is still facing employment challenges as they are still rejected during workforce hiring exercises (Buc˘i¯unien˙e & Kazlauskait˙e, 2010, p. 536). In fact, the studies demonstrate that in Australia people with disability has only 31 percent participation level in labor market as compared to 84 percent held by individuals without disability. Buc˘i¯unien˙e and Kazlauskait˙e (2010, p.536) has also established that most employers reject people disability after forming a perception and attitude that such employees do not have the ability to deliver. Some employers reject these people on the reason of occupational health, legal obligation, workplace disruption and modification need at workplace to suit their conditions. Another ethical issues related to cultural diversity issue has been gender discrimination. Despite bridging the gap of number of women in workforce, women are still discriminated in Australian workforce (Jonsen et al., 2010, p. 551). The number of women employees in Wesfarmers particularly in the top management is a confirmation that is still marginalized. Stephens (2013, p. 41) pointed out that in most society women are not given a chance to seek employment with the reasoning that they place is reserved in the house, take care of their children and do house work . Similarly, women are not offered job at top management level and production jobs. The concern is that Australia is that women have been kept at a lower level job in management such secretarial, reception and customer services (Ewoh, 2013, p. 113). In addition, women are not offered similar salary as that male gender since they are regarded as inferior. However, study shows that women have special skills which firms strongly need in the 21st century. These issues are a threat to performance and competition of Wesfarmers and other Australian organization particularly at the international arena. As such, leadership is highly needed to address the ethical issues related to the cultural diversity. A leader needs to create a code of ethics or code of conduct in quest of reducing incidences of discrimination at the organization (Sharbatoghlie, Mosleh & Shokatian, 2013, p. 329). Wesfarmers has actually adopted such strategy as a way of reducing cultural diversity. Ethical codes are adopted by an organization to help members in recognizing the dissimilarity between 'right' and 'wrong' in their key decisions (Serenko & Bontis 2009, p. 391). As stated earlier, Wesfarmers is now an international company with operation in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Bangladesh and have employees who have different cultural background. Having proper leadership ensure the company has code of conduct or ethics which bans discrimination in terms of gender, ethnicity or disability, As a result of this, the organization would have reduced organizational conflicts. On the other hand, employees may work in harmony hence creating job satisfaction. Hansen (2004) argued that the code of conduct not just governs the general behavior within organization, but also enables individual employees to establish professional attitudes towards work. Leaders can also address the ethical issues related to the cultural diversity can also address by forming work groups at the organization. Tekleab, Quigley and Tesluk (2009, p.175) Groups within the organization bring employees together to know each other in terms of culture, personality and interest hence reducing situations of discrimination. However, just forming groups is not enough because even members of such groups can form another clique within the group which does not inspire performance or cultural integration (Wood et al., 2010, p. 48). Therefore, the leader needs to act as the as the representative and use charisma to inspire cultural intelligence to create group cohesion. Through leadership and group environment, Wesfarmers Limited creates a climate cultural awareness. However, transformational leaders normally adopt training in addressing the ethical issues related to the cultural diversity. O’Leary, Mortenson and Woolley (2011, p.465) contended that training does not just create cultural awareness on employees but also shape their behavior and how they can interact with colleague from a different cultural background. Management experts argue that companies which fail to understand role played by training in bridging gaps of cultural diversity runs the risk of performing poorly. 5.0 An optimal mix of leadership styles or behaviors which would be aligned with managing culturally diverse workplaces Leadership is highly recommended for managing culturally diverse organization. Without proper leadership style, a company is likely to face organizational conflicts, dissatisfaction, absenteeism and high rate of employees’ turnover (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2010, p. 23). However, not all leadership styles can be used to manage cultural difference in the organization. Various studies conducted over the years have settled on transformational and charismatic leadership as the best style for managing diversity. van Eeden, Cilliers and van Deventer (2008, p. 255) stated that transformational leadership is one which is concerned with promoting change rather than status quo. Most transformational leaders have unique traits which makes them inspire change. Over the years, Australian companies including Wesfarmers have been with discrimination especially on gender and disability making it for female and people with disability to get into the about markets (Thompson, 2014, p. 83). However, with transformational leadership, these issues are reducing. Transformational leaders normally gains trust on employee thus inspiring them to shine beyond their daily duties. People with disability and female gender just need opportunity and trust to perform exceptionally. In addition, McMurray et al., (2010, p.339) opined that transformational leaders often have good interpersonal skills which enable them to engage the minds and heart of employees. The trait helps them change the mind and attitude towards other people’s culture. Melling, Beyer and Kilsby (2011, p. 25) posited that the inspiration by such leader enables an organization to reduce discrimination and cultural differences among employees. Leadership also influences organizational performance through motivation. Operating in global markets as Wesfarmers currently does is full of challenge and highly requires motivation to sustain the pressure. Wesfarmers CEO Michael Chaney has developed a transformational leadership which keeps him close to employee’s hence inspiring confidence and cultural intelligence to performance highly in international markets (Thompson, 2014, p. 83). Michael Chaney is also a charismatic leader. Humphreys et al., (2009) claimed that normally have strong influence over his or her follower by having a strong personality and great quality or powers. Michael Chaney has used his influence and authority to create various organizational for Wesfarmers and rally employees to accomplish. The practice has kept high momentum and has seen Wesfarmers grows and expand into British, New Zealand and Bangladesh market (Thompson, 2014, p. 83). Operating in this foreign markets is not easy and its need charismatic leader to provide a sense of direction and inspiration. 6.0 Conclusion Wesfarmers, a conglomerate with interest in chemicals, coal mining, industrial products and fertilizers has grown over the years to become Australian company by revenue. Its growth has also been marked with expansion into Bangladesh and even hiring global talents. However, this growth has not been without challenges. The company operation has been marred with cultural diversity and communication challenges which now require the company to adopt new approach to leadership because it operates international market employee’s people with different cultural backgrounds. Analysis of cultural diversity using high-low context cultural model has shown that such fact can create differences in communication, attitude towards culture and various tendencies. Despite the challenges, Wesfarmers CEO Michael Chaney has been able to use various leadership styles including transformational and charismatic to influence cultural intelligence and awareness to reduce discrimination and a united organization. 7.0 References Barak, M. E. (2005). Managing Diversity towards a Globally Inclusive Workplace. London: Sage Publications. Buc˘i¯unien˙e, I., & Kazlauskait˙e, R. (2010). Integrating people with disability into the workforce: the case of a retail chain. 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