Companies must lay equal emphasis on cultural diversity and digital integration

The last decade has witnessed an enormous evolution in crossborder trade. As communication technology breaks down barriers, international corporations will continue to expand their footprint. This has facilitated the movement of global talent, with most multinationals encouraging cultural diversity. For human resource professionals, attracting global resources would mean staying abreast with the evolving talent needs and devising strategies to not just attract but retain a diverse talent pool.

As business leaders, the question we need to ask ourselves is: are we equipped to handle a multicultural workforce? Capabilitybuilding is today apart of the human resource tapestry in any organisation. Similarly, it is time for us to assess the emotional quotient of employees. We need to encourage employees to be curious about cultural nuances and perhaps create work towards establishing a ‘cultural quotient’. As a nation, we have the advantage of diversity. The cross-cultural flow of talent first started with the proliferation of the information technology industry as talent moved across the country. That has now extended beyond national borders, making the whole process of inculturation even more critical. We need to keep asking ourselves, ‘how do I induct the employee into my culture?’; ‘how do I reduce the gaps between his and my cultural nuances’? This requires a high degree of sensitivity and cannot be achieved by outsourcing the process of cultural induction to an external agency.

The bottomline is that for our business to thrive, we need people. To ensure that our workforce can deliver to its optimum potential, we need to invest in an environment that enables them to flourish. This can’t happen through makeshift solutions. Very often people confuse orientation sessions with actual cultural induction.

Cultural integration must be dealt with the same seriousness as technological or digital integration. At times, it is the smallest of efforts that can make people feel welcome. Living on foreign shores often makes people crave for home and even a simple initiative like subscribing to a newspaper or magazine from various nationalities reassures people that they are being taken care of.

Team lunches with cuisines from around the world can serve as a trigger to cultural conversations. We even train our employees to make the most of video-conferencing services by interacting with colleagues from different nationalities. It is also a good idea to work towards an ecosystem that is culture agnostic. The author is vice president, HR, CocaCola India and South West Asia