Cultural Competence and the Ability to Adapt

Cultural Competency Training is all about helping people working across cultures adapt to differences. Those unwilling or unable to adapt usually find that things can get tough.

The result is usually the same – confusion, mistrust, weak relationships, and lower outputs at work.

On the other hand, those who might invest their time in a cultural competence training course develop the ability to adapt and create more positive outcomes in the workplace.

So, in this guide, we’re going to focus on the importance of cultural competence, adaptability, and the benefits they offer.

Cultural Competence starts with the understanding that we all perceive the world in slightly different ways. Photo by Adrian Dascal on Unsplash

What is ‘Cultural Competence’?

Although many people are culturally aware, culturally competent business professionals take things one step further by:

• Understanding the key characteristics of their own culture (self awareness) and appreciating that these characteristics may differ from the cultures of the people they interact with.
• Being interested in other cultures and willing to understand and respect potential cultural differences.
• Having the skills and insights to be able to adapt and change approaches to communication style, working practices, conflict management, etc.

Cultural Competence and Adaptability in Business

What do we mean by adaptation?

The interculturalist Milton J. Bennett, Ph.D., described it as the expression of an ‘alternative cultural experience in culturally appropriate feelings and behaviour’.

When working across cultures, this means that culturally competent business professionals are able to use their understanding of other cultural frameworks to establish the best possible approach.

This doesn’t mean they ignore their own culture or that they throw their own preferences to one side, however. Instead, these alternative approaches are like tools that can be added to their cultural toolbox.

The culturally competent professional can choose when and if to use these tools.

To explore this further, let’s look at the following business case study set in Saudi Arabia.

A Business Case Study in Cultural Competence

Joe, a North American business professional, has flown to Saudi Arabia to present an overview of a newly developed app for the Saudi market to a group of Saudi colleagues.

Joe has years of experience working across cultures. He understands the importance of culture in his interactions, and he took the time to consider the US-Saudi cultural dynamic when preparing his presentation and approach.

Input from his Saudi colleagues is essential to the success of the app. As such, Joe adapts his approach to ensure his time with his colleagues is productive and that he gets the feedback he needs.

Unlike the USA, where meeting attendees tend to engage in a little small talk upfront before moving quickly to business, Joe knows that his approach won’t work in Saudi Arabia.

Relationships are an incredibly important part of Saudi culture, and they generally prefer to build a relationship with counterparts before opening up and moving to business.

Since Joe doesn’t know all his colleagues, he plans for the first meeting to be primarily small talk and coffee. He has no intention of getting down to business in this first meeting. He knows that to do so would be to suggest that he sees the app as more important than his colleagues.

Joe has also asked someone in the office to arrange lunch to enable a further opportunity for relationship building. Again, he avoids any talk of business during lunch.

He has arranged a further meeting the following day to discuss the app. Having spent time building relationships with his colleagues, Joe feels it’s now an acceptable time to discuss the app.

Adaptation doesn’t stop here, though. He continues to adapt his approach throughout the meeting.

‘Face’ or reputation is an important part of Saudi culture.

The value placed on Face means that his colleagues are unlikely to tell him directly in a meeting if they don’t like elements of the app to protect Joe’s face.

With this in mind, Joe adapts his questions so that they are presented in a more roundabout way, such as ‘If we were to change the image in the home screen, then what image do you think would work better?’

Joe knows that if he asks direct questions, as he would back in the USA, he will not get the answers he needs.

‘Does this image work for you?’ is likely to get a ‘yes’ from Saudis in an attempt to protect face – even if they don’t like it. Disagreement or dislike would then be communicated using non-verbal means.

It’s fair to say from reading this scenario that Joe is culturally competent.

He is culturally aware and understands that the way he does things may be different from the way his colleagues do things elsewhere in the company.

Not only does he understand this, but he also respects these differences. Taking this one step further, Joe then uses his understanding to adapt his approach to getting the best out of his interactions.

These approaches are all part of his ‘cultural toolbox’; tools to be drawn upon as needed.

Clearly, when he returns to the USA, he will probably revert to the everyday approach that has been shaped by the culture in which he has been raised.

Why is Cultural Competence Essential for Business Success?

So, to summarise, adaptation is an essential part of cultural competence. Cultural competence cannot stop at recognition and respect only.

It has to be taken one step further and acted upon.

It is not a case of replacing one’s own approach, but instead, increasing the repertoire of options that can be drawn upon to create successful outcomes.

Main photo by Pierre Bamin on Unsplash