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Cultural Diversity - A Coordinated Approach
A brief interview with Russell Harlow, Senior Consultant with TMA, and director of TMA's Global Diversity Practice.
How should business leaders be thinking about diversity in today's environment?
There are two major issues. First, they need to be thinking about global, and not just domestic, diversity. Most businesses today are trying to develop global reach - physically or through the Internet. Despite the powerful forces of modernisation and globalisation, we still live in a culturally complex world. Some commentators have talked about the Americanization of business cultures. But that development is at a very superficial level. There has been cultural change in many countries, but the research shows the persistence of strong and distinct cultural traditions.
Secondly, they need to shift beyond a compliance viewpoint to a strategic mindset. While compliance with equal opportunity laws and alignment with sound moral principles are very important, we really need to pay attention to diversity because…
IT MAKES GOOD BUSINESS SENSE.
When companies handle diversity well, three distinct benefits emerge:
- They are better able to succeed with their diverse range of customers, suppliers, strategic partners etc. by connecting with their mindsets, beliefs, values and ways of doing things.
- They will be much more likely to generate the best innovations and solutions by having different perspectives and experiences which enrich one another.
- They are more likely to be an employer of choice for the very best global talent by being a place where everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their potential.
Why is that so important?
Very simple - competitiveness! There are three strategic questions business leaders need to be asking:
- How are we going to deliver value to customers and achieve superior business results unless we understand their worldviews and expectations?
- How will we continuously invent and grow unless we create an inclusive environment in which everyone - and I mean everyone - can contribute his or her full range of talents?
- How will we partner effectively with key suppliers, distributors, strategic alliance partners, and colleagues unless we learn to collaborate effectively across borders?
Some commentators talk about the global economy being a knowledge-based economy. Does diversity relate to that idea?
Absolutely. In the hypercompetitive environment in which we operate today, attracting, developing, and retaining the best global talent is critical. Particularly, I would say, in those industries that rely heavily for their continued success and viability on people, knowledge creation, transfer, and application.
You can think about global diversity in relation to four key success factors.
Intellectual Capital: This is the knowledge that diverse men and women in the company bring to the business - knowledge of different markets and customers, etc. The diversity in the workforce should mirror the diversity and complexity in the environment.
Ideas: Existing intellectual capital is not enough. New ideas and knowledge must be created to generate internal breakthroughs in how the business operates, and external breakthroughs in, for example, finding and working with new partners. A workforce with diverse perspectives and experiences provides a rich resource for creativity.
Ingenuity: New ideas will also not be enough for business success. It requires the inventiveness and resourcefulness of all employees to transform intellectual capital and ideas into viable products and solutions for the marketplace. Where will this inventiveness come from? From a diverse workforce whose contrasting perspectives can generate a competitive edge.
Interactions: How will we enable intellectual capital, new ideas, and ingenuity to thrive? By creating an inclusive workplace in which cross-border collaboration is the norm. There is no more exciting place to be than in an environment in which people are learning from each other all the time.
With these 4 I s, organisations will provide the platform for building an inclusive work environment and be better able to achieve competitive advantage by effectively tapping into the global talent pool.
We've talked about the strategic mindset needed. What about at the operational level?
This is a broad question and, perhaps, we should break it down. We take a Client Partnering Approach to doing business. Off-the-shelf solutions can be useful (and we can do that), but we find the most productive way is to follow a six-stage consultative process:
- Understand the client's environment
- Understand the client's business
- Understand the client's people development needs
- Define a solution
- Deliver the solution
- Evaluate the solution
Our goal is to ensure that the defined solution fits exactly with the strategic needs of the business, that it communicates company diversity goals throughout, that it targets competencies that will yield the desired results, and that those results can be demonstrated in return-on-investment.
How would you describe a 'typical' solution developed by TMA?
I'm not sure there is a 'typical' solution, but I can give you a broad description.
We take a process approach to learning, and so we typically frame a solution in terms of Before, During and After. Before a global diversity programme, for example, participants are likely to complete two questionnaires. These are related to two of our learning tools - the Cultural Adaptability Index™ and the Worldprism Profiler™. The Index provides 360 degree feedback on an individual's ability to be adaptive in different contexts. The Profiler presents a person with a snapshot of his or her dominant cultural orientations in three areas: Reasoning, Regulating, and Relating. An individual's profile can be compared and contrasted with those developed for many countries around the world. It might also be the case that before attending a programme, a participant is asked to complete some e-learning modules to learn basic concepts and tools.
In the programme, the structure usually revolves around three questions: Why? What? and How? The 'Why?' relates to the business case for diversity generally, and in the client company, in particular. The 'What?' concerns different types of diversity. We focus on two types: Attribute diversity which relates to differences attributed to group factors such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, and 'Style' diversity which covers differences in, for example, styles of communicating, making decisions, handling conflict - differences associated with cultural groups.
The 'How?' section of a programme targets the development of practical skills - adaptability, trust-building and communication, influencing, emotional intelligence, and collaboration. We also provide a set of key operating principles to guide relationships in the global workplace, e.g. Focus on similarities as well as differences, View differences as assets rather than liabilities, Apply both/and rather than either/or thinking. With managers, we will also drive down into action planning.
You mentioned demonstrable results. How do you do that?
We use something we call our Program Mastery Process™. This consists of pre- and post assessments based on specific learning objectives the client wants accomplished. In this way we can help a client demonstrate a clear return-on-investment.
You also talked about what might happen after a programme. Can you tell us more?
It's very important that participants don't see a diversity initiative as a one-time event. "I attended the session, so now I'm culturally competent." If learning worked that way it would be very simple. What we like to do is engage people over time, and we have various methodologies for doing that. For example, we have developed follow-on e-learning modules for taking concepts and skills to a higher level. We have also set up e-coaching services so that a manager can contact a TMA specialist to discuss specific challenges or opportunities. We also conduct follow-up sessions in virtual classrooms. This allows a whole group of participants to share and discuss their experiences back-on-the-job with the facilitator, and to strategise ways forward. Of course, whatever we do is based on client needs and adding most value.
Russell Harlow - rharlow@tmaworld.com
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