The world’s increasing globalization requires more interaction among people from diverse cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds than ever before. People no longer live and work in a national marketplace, they are now part of a worldwide economy with competition coming from nearly every continent. According to Green, et al., (2002), due to the world’s increasing globalization, profit and non-profit organizations need diversity to become more creative and open to change. Maximizing and capitalizing on workplace diversity has become an important issue for management today (Green, et al., 2002). In this blog post, I will explore how managers and businesses can effectively lead diversity and diverse cultures at work.
According to Taylor (2015), both transformational leadership and effectively managed workplace diversity have been theorized and shown to lead to increased employee creative performance at work. According to Northouse (2018), transformational leadership is part of the “New Leadership” paradigm, which gives more attention to charismatic and affective elements of leadership. Furthermore transformational leadership is concerned with emotions, values, ethics, standards, and long-term goals (Northouse, 2018). Transformational leaders are charismatic leaders who are strong role models for the beliefs and values they want their followers to adopt (Northouse, 2018). Businesses can use practices rooted in transformational leadership to effectively lead diversity at work. For example, Nordstrom (2022), is committed to compelling future-oriented leadership expectations and shared culture that will drive their business ambition. In addition, they are measuring leaders on their performance in this area through the Inclusion Index and feedback from their teams and coworkers (Nordstrom, 2022). In alignment with transformational leadership practices, Nordstrom joined a multiyear corporate partnership with the National Urban League, a historic civil rights organization dedicated to economic empowerment, equality and social justice (Nordstrom, 2022). Furthermore, Nordstrom is committed to change. They are doubling their charitable giving to nonprofit organizations that promote anti-racism, bringing that total to approximately $1,000,000 per year for the next five years (Nordstrom, 2022).
Transformational leadership involves commitment to its organizations long-term goals (Northouse, 2018). Nordstrom plans to increase demographic diversity in all their corporate and leadership positions to better reflect the North American population (Nordstrom, 2022). In addition, by the end of 2025, they will increase representation of Black and Latinx populations in people-manager roles by at least 50% (Nordstrom, 2022). They will also leverage their internship program and other initiatives that help them reach qualified candidates early in their careers, with a goal on average of at least 50% of participants in these programs coming from underrepresented populations (Nordstrom, 2022). Nordstrom’s business practices embody inclusive values, ethics, high standards, and long-term goals. They are revisiting their practices and the training resources they offer for all customer-facing roles to ensure they include anti-racism and anti-bias content (Nordstrom, 2022). Furthermore, their commitment to diversity and their zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind extends to the partners they work with (Nordstrom, 2022). Nordstrom works hard to partner with influencers and bloggers who have similar values to them when it comes to important topics like racism and discrimination (Nordstrom, 2022). Other businesses and individual leaders can adopt these transformational leadership practices to effectively lead diversity at work.
In regards to leading diverse cultures at work, global leaders need to develop five cross-cultural competencies (Northouse, 2018). First, leaders need to understand business, political, and cultural environments worldwide (Northouse, 2018). Second, leaders need to learn the perspectives, tastes, trends, and technologies of many other cultures (Northouse, 2018). Third, they need to be able to work simultaneously with people from many cultures (Northouse, 2018). Fourth, leaders must be able to adapt to living and communicating in other cultures (Northouse, 2018). Fifth, they need to learn to relate to people from other cultures from a position of equality rather than cultural superiority (Northouse, 2018). Managers can implement these cross-cultural competencies at work when working with individuals from diverse cultures and backgrounds. For example, when working with someone from the UAE or who is from Arab culture, managers should research how their business, political, and cultural environments differ from their own. Contrast to US culture, according to the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates Washington, DC (n.d.), punctuality is not considered a virtue in the Arab world. People are often kept waiting before or during a meeting (Embassy of the United Arab Emirates Washington, DC, n.d.). It is important for managers to know this information because in the US culture, being kept before or during a meeting is a sign of disrespect. However, in Arab culture it is quite normal behavior. Furthermore, when managing people from different cultures, it is important to understand and respect their religion. Managers should allow employees to be excused from work during prayer times and major holidays. This is a prime example of humane-oriented leadership which emphasizes being supportive, considerate, compassionate, and generous (Northouse, 2018).
Furthermore, it’s important to consider how different cultures prefer different methods of leadership. For example, Asia countries prefer self-protective leadership (Northouse, 2018). They are used to leaders who do not invite them to be involved in goal setting or decision making (Northouse, 2018). In Asia countries, leaders use status and position to make independent decisions without the input of others (Northouse, 2018). For example, if a manager needs to promote one of their employees, they will not discuss the opportunity with their employees. The manager would make the decision on his or her own without input from the employees’ feelings, suggestions, or considerations. In contrast to Asia countries, countries in Nordic Europe prefer leadership that is highly visionary and participative, while being somewhat independent and diplomatic (Northouse, 2018). Nordic Europeans prefer leaders who are inspiring, and who involve others in decision making (Northouse, 2018). For example, in Nordic Europe if the manager needed to make a decision about a new policy the company wants to implement, the manager would discuss the new policy with his or her employees. The manager would want their feedback, comments, and suggestions.
In conclusion, diversity is beneficial to both associates and employers. Although employees are interdependent in the workplace, respecting individual differences can increase productivity (Green, et al., 2002). Diversity in the workplace can reduce lawsuits and increase marketing opportunities, recruitment, creativity, and business image (Green, et al., 2002). In an era when flexibility and creativity are keys to competitiveness, diversity is critical for an organization’s success (Green, et al., 2002). Businesses and managers can use practices rooted in transformational leadership to effectively lead diversity at work. Transformational leadership places a strong emphasis on followers’ needs, values, and morals which are crucial to leading diversity (Northouse, 2018). Furthermore, managers can implement cross-cultural competencies at work when working with individuals from diverse cultures and backgrounds. In order to effectively lead diversity and diverse cultures at work, managers should know that different cultures prefer different methods of leadership. Managing diversity is a comprehensive process for creating a work environment that includes everyone (Green, et al., 2002). When creating a successful diverse workforce, an effective manager should focus on personal awareness (Green, et al., 2002). Both managers and employees need to be aware of their personal biases. Therefore, organizations need to develop, implement, and maintain ongoing training because a one-day session of training will not change people’s behavior (Green, et al., 2002). Managers should also implement policies such as mentoring programs to provide employees access to information and opportunities (Green, et al., 2002).
References
Embassy of the United Arab Emirates Washington, DC. Starting a Business: UAE Embassy in Washington, DC. Starting a Business | UAE Embassy in Washington, DC. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2022, from https://www.uae-embassy.org/business-trade/getting-started
Green, K. A., López, M., Wysocki, A., & Kepner, K. (2002). Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges, and the Required Managerial Tools: HR022/HR022, 7/2002. EDIS, 2002(2). https://doi.org/10.32473/edis-hr022-2002
Nordstrom. (2022). Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging. Nordstrom.com. Retrieved April 17, 2022, from https://www.nordstrom.com/browse/diversity-at-nordstrom
Northouse, P. G. (2018). Culture and Leadership. In Leadership: Theory and practice (Eight, pp.433-472). essay, SAGE Publications.
Northouse, P. G. (2018). Transformational Leadership. In Leadership: Theory and practice (Eight, pp. 163–196). essay, SAGE Publications.
Taylor, A. S. (2015). Transformational Leadership, Diversity, and Creativity at Work: A Moderated Mediation Model. UMI Dissertation Publishing , 1–223. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.2338