By overlooking the importance of intercultural training, companies do not get the most out of their employees.
David Livmore is here to make us aware of the significance of knowing a bit more about your co-workers’ cultures.
A new view on intercultural training: David Livmore, writer for the website Management Issues, states that it’s not an objective in itself, but should be used to reach other, more important goals.
Livmore is an expert on Cultural Intelligence or CQ, and its use. Cultural Intelligence is a method used to help evaluate and improve the global effectiveness of professionals. He also explains why managers should invest more time and money on improving the CQ of their team.
Companies that fail to teach their employees about other cultures don’t do this because they don’t think it’s important, but because they do not have the time or resources to organise intercultural trainings.
However, Livmore believes managers should reconsider their opinion on the subject, as intercultural knowledge can have a huge impact on the bottom line of international businesses.
Although culturally diverse teams are shown to perform far better than homogenous teams, research has shown this is only the case when team members have an understanding of culture. When this isn't the case, multicultural teams are outperformed by homogenous teams. Cultural training isn't just about culture. It also goes hand in hand with diversity. Livmore: ‘Diversity PLUS cultural intelligence leads to innovation. Not either one by themselves.’
Recent news items have proven that natural disasters often bring people with different cultures together, inspiring new and better solutions. Take Superstorm Sandy, for example; even though their political ideas are miles away from each other, President Obama and New Jersey governor Chris Christie joined forces to tackle the disaster to the best of their abilities. The lesson we can learn from this? Together we are stronger, even more so when we come from different cultural backgrounds.
International Travel + Low CQ= Ethnocentrism and Confirmation Bias
International Travel + High CQ= Lifetime Impact
Diverse Teams + Low CQ = Frustration and Low Participation
Diverse Teams + High CQ = Engagement and Innovation
Expat Assignment + Low CQ = Stress, Burnout, and Financial Loss
Expat Assignment + High CQ = Satisfaction, Cost-Savings, and Profitability
Cross-Cultural Interactions + Low CQ = Judgment and Mistrust
Cross-Cultural Interactions + High CQ = Broadened Perspective and Effectiveness
Leadership Skills + Low CQ = Glass Ceiling
Leadership Skills + High CQ = Borderless Possibilities
Cultural intelligence might not be a goal in itself, but this list shows that it definitely pays for managers to set aside some time and money to train their team on cultural differences.
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