Employees’ cultural differences can impact on an organization’s culture
Introduction
Organizational culture is the behavior of individuals in an organization and who are part of it and also defining the meaning of people’s action. Organization culture defines the relationship and interaction between the employees, employers and the clients. It involves the education necessary to train people on how to get organized at various work places and maintaining the good interaction between the people. The organization culture is a guideline to be followed in different organizations if the organizations are to become successful. The organization culture varies in different companies and thus it can have both positive and negative effects in a company or organization. Organization culture determines the type of employees in a given organization, the type of products manufactured and strategies applied by that particular organization. Organization culture is therefore important in the organization and can influence the success or failure of that organization. Companies must be aware of the effects of culture difference on an organization’s culture.
People and the organization
The success of organizations depends not only on the products and services it is providing but also in the people as one form of resources. Man power is necessary in any given work environment and thus employees should be well treated and motivated for them to provide the best quality services to the societies (Bik, 2010, p.87). The organization culture of a company is influenced by the behavior and knowledge of the employees. Employees should utilize their skills and knowledge in the organization so as to improve the quality and quantity of services provided. The management and the employers should maintain good and healthy working conditions for the employees and thus maintaining the happiness of the employees and making sure they work in safe environments regardless of the position the employee is holding. All employees should be well treated regardless of whether they are juniors or senior staffs. Every organization with a good organizational culture must utilize its available resources thus enhancing success (Adler, et al, 2008 p.119). Organizations have three types of resources to utilize which include physical resources, financial resources and resources directly linked with the organizational culture. Physical resources are the tangible resources for example all kinds of machines, buildings and vehicles in that organization. These ones must be present in any organization (Pot, 2000, p.69). Financial resources are resources that bring funds to the company and the expenditure of the organization. The other resources directly linked to the organization are in terms of manpower. It involves the people in that particular organization, their behavior, attitude, ability, knowledge and different skills used by those people. The organization culture determines the kind of people in that particular organization and the number of employees required in that working environment (Mohan, 1993, p.109). The communication strategies between the different employees in the organization should be of good quality if the organization is to remain successful.
Cultural Diversity in the WorkplaceCultural diversity in various work places initiates strength and challenges the employees to perform in their given responsibilities regardless of their cultural differences (Walton, 1994, p.334). Cultural diversity makes employees interact together and work together since they are in the same working environments. The management and employees should respect and value the employees culture and by doing so the goals of the organization will successfully be achieved. The employees should also be aware of each others culture as well as theirs thereby respecting each others cultures. Culture difference is seen in terms of difference in languages (Cox, 1993, p. 213). The employers should always recruit employees with different cultural background as an important tool in bringing in new ideas and skills in the organization. Culture should not hinder any organization to succeed instead it should promote good interactions and communication skills in the organization. Employers should define the cultures of their employees and appreciate them (Walton, 1994, p.334). It would be very unsuccessful and boring if an organization only employed people of similar cultural backgrounds since there would be no exchange of ideas and skills. Cultural diversity promotes skills, ideas and knowledge exchange thereby bringing new ideas to the organization and enhancing success of that organization. Culture diversity promotes employees and individual professional activities as well as personal behaviour. Culture diversity creates work place environment and organizational culture by bringing new ideas and skills in the organization. It involves learning new things from others while teaching them whatever is new to them. This promotes good working conditions and success of an organization.
Impact of culture diversity in the work environment
Culture diversity may affect the working in a given workplace. Employers and employees should be aware of culture diversity issue and should be prepared to work with different people from different cultural backgrounds (Cox, 1993, p. 213). This includes different languages, time differences, food differences, different dressing codes, different attitudes, skills, knowledge, different beliefs and religion and different educational background. All these influences and affect the organization culture of a given organization. The cultural differences differ in terms of age, language and skills and should not hinder the success of an organization (Henderson, 1994, p.98). Different employees bring individual talents and experiences and suggest flexible ideas in adapting to ever changing markets. Employers and employees must accept changes that are influenced by use of modern technology. Employees should not let culture hinder them from learning new ideas and skills thus remaining helpful in the organization. Culture changes and diversity is affected by financial factors in terms of money (Brislin, 2008, p.54). Changes from one technology to another require money which should be readily available in the organization (Henderson, 1994, p.98). Employees should always adapt to the new changes in terms of social regardless of the culture. Culture should not hinder such changes and this will maintain and improve the success of the organization. Culture diversity is necessary in promoting or bringing new talents in to the organization (Brislin, 2008, p.54). New technology can also be enhanced in the organization if new ideas, talents, skills and knowledge are encouraged. Culture diversity should therefore be maintained in the organization at all times as a way of encouraging and promoting new and right ideas in to the organization.
Factors affecting communication
Communication in an organization is affected when certain people of different cultural background assume that their culture is always right as compared to the rest of the cultures. Workplace diversity in organizations can lead to misunderstandings especially if the people have different attitudes and language (Roach, 2006, p.342). The diversity can also bring positive impacts in the organization where managers and employers should be prepared to work and communicate with employees of different cultural backgrounds. Communication is affected by age and language difference. People of different language can misunderstand each other at the work place and it is similar to people of different ages. Communication is therefore affected by the difference in culture. Communication should always be first and reach people in the right time and also communicated to the right people. The language used in organization should be official so as to reduce the cases of misunderstanding in that particular organization. (Koontz et al, 2007 p.79). The appropriate communication methods should be encouraged in the organization and thus promoting good organization culture and success of the organization. Communication should be encouraged in the organization since it is through communication that employees learn the grievances, talents and skills of their employees. Communication too tells the cultural background of employees and ways of dealing with various employees of different cultural background (Koontz et al, 2007 p.79). Communication should follow the right channel always and should be according to the organization culture of a given organization. Cultural diversity should be encouraged and also people should learn how to deal with it in a given organization as a way of reducing miscommunication and misunderstanding. This will promote success in an organization.
Conclusion
From the above conclusion, it is true to conclude that culture diversity affects and influences the organization culture of a given organization. People as resources in an organization are very important and should be respected. They should be motivated and their rights should not be violated at any given time. Cultural diversity is very important in an organization as it promotes new ideas, skills, knowledge and talents in an organization. Without cultural diversity the business cannot be termed as successful since exchange of ideas is necessary for success of a business. Communication is also a very important tool in success of a business and should always be made first and at the right time. This will contribute to a successful organization at all times.
References
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