Bringing people together to create a productive workforce can help increase worker satisfaction, as well as the bottom line.
In recent years, the IT industry has seen a marked influx of immigrant workers, wooed by tech firms who say they can't find enough Americans to fill holes on their tech staffs.
Yet, while importing help may ease the labor crunch, melding varying ethnic, racial, religious, and work cultures together isn't easy, and there are bound to be some personnel issues to contend with.
Rubbing the wrong way
When it comes to integrating foreign professionals, one source of conflict is religion and incorporating cultural beliefs into a workplace environment. According to a 1994 HR Magazine article, many workplace management experts believe that without a clear understanding of a country's religious practices, it's very difficult to understand an immigrant's cultural background and how it may affect his or her work relationships.
Another conflict is the possible language barrier. American workers are sometimes frustrated communicating with co-workers whose English skills are weak. For their part, immigrants have a much steeper learning curve and adjustment period at a new job because their English skills may not be up to speed.
And many immigrant techies may have trouble adjusting to the work habits expected by American tech firms. Acclimating to a nine-to-whenever work schedule may be a chore in itself, given the long hours and personal sacrifices made by techies these days.
Add in the fact that there are countless subtle cultural nuances that may not be so obvious. One anecdote related in a cultural diversity guide, edited by workplace relations expert Bob Abramms, involves a Vietnamese techie at an electronics firm whose boss gives him the casual "cowboy pistol salute" one day. The next day, so the story goes, the employee brought a gun to work under the mistaken impression that his boss intended to kill him.
Win-win situation
There are easily hundreds of cultures and backgrounds represented in American corporate society these days, says Abramms, and searching for easy ways to deal with diversity can be futile.
"Diversity is a process," he says, adding that it starts with acknowledging flexible communication has personal, professional, and organisational value.
Abramms blames part of American cultural ignorance on the missing link many Americans feel between themselves and their own familial and cultural heritages. Whatever people's backgrounds may be, they will have difficulty being open to other cultures if they don't understand themselves, he says. With self-understanding comes the realisation that everyone is equally complex, he says.
It's also essential that American workers learn about the foreign workers they interact with.
"Get to know them. Learn how they see the world." Abramms advised in a recent HR newsletter. Knowing what to expect of foreign workers can help American workers accommodate cultural differences and understand counterproductive behaviors.
More simply, he writes, put yourself in the other person's shoes - imagine what it would be like to come to this country, responsible for a spouse or parent, and not understand English well.
Finally, Abramms advises, in real workplace situations, be vulnerable to the mistakes you make interacting with international employees. Simply asking questions is the best thing to do. Honestly express your confusion about other workers' behaviors inconsistent with your expectations.
Saying, "Have I offended you?" and graciously asking for an explanation why, can help to affirm basic human dignity, break cultural barriers, and give international employees and you the chance to educate each other, Abramms says.
Abramms credits colleague George Simons with a winning strategy termed the "Ouch Rule." In team situations and at meetings, certain seemingly innocuous phrases or actions can end up being hurtful to participants. When the "Ouch Rule" is in effect, Abramms says, if someone says something offensive, you can say 'Ouch,' and raise a non-confrontational flag.
"It helps to avoid a big to-do right then and there," he says, and suggests that hurt parties say something like, "'I don't need to talk about it now, but we ought to talk about it sometime.'"
"It's not rocket science," Abramms adds. "You just have to look someone in the eye - if it's appropriate for the culture - and ask: 'How can we get along? What can we do to get the signals straight?'"
