Cultural
Diversity in work Environments.
They are many cultures in the world most
of which are determined by region or continent of origin. Culture is important
as it defines a person personality and they values in life. Culture determines
every aspect of a person from their eating habits to how they conform to life.
It acts like a mirror where one reflects on their background and to what one
stands for. They are so many diverse cultures in the world some of which may be
perceived as primitive and past time. Culture at the work place for global companies
such as Google which have a very diverse workforce. People with different
nationalities, race and religion will definitely have different cultures.
(Marcus, L. S., 2016). In a work
environment this will create a dilemma where you have people with diverse
cultures for instance, Muslims have different customs and the normal food
provided in the cafeteria would not conform to the some eating habits and food
provided.
The western and Islamic cultures will be
discussed since both are very diverse but also very different. Islamic culture
requires that the Islamic women cover dress in a manner that conceals their
bodies. This can be a dilemma in company that requires all the employees dress
in an official manner. Also the Islamic culture has different eating habits
where there have restrictions towards consuming some delicacies. For instance
Muslims don’t eat pork which is quite popular on lunch menus in the western
world. The Problem here is how do the two cultures in a work environment
conform to each other’s culture and still maintain a conducive work
environment. (Conryâ€Murray,
C., & Shaw, L. A, 2016). Muslims will conduct prayers several times a day
which might interfere with the normal work schedule. Also the staff cafeteria
may not have not more than five different foods included in the menu. Employees
from the western culture will consume all most all foods as their culture does
not put restrictions on their eating habits. For a muslim employee who will
require a specific diet, this will result in longer queues during lunch breaks
as the two cultures have to be accommodated in the same work environment. The
other issue is how the supervisor effects some changes in the current work
environment without affecting productivity or shrinking the company’s profits.
The cultural values and practices in this
two cultures are diverse. First are religious practices as per the Islamic
culture a Muslim should conduct their prayers several times a day. Since they
culture requires that they abide this can create problems at work where
employees are required to take short breaks at specified times or at times
during busy days no breaks at all. Prayers can take about fifteen minutes to be
conducted but since they are done several times in a day which can result in
about an hour lost from the company’s time.
( Conryâ€Murray,
C., & Shaw, L. A, 2016). Also Muslims value their culture and will abide to
their culture in every way they can. Also Muslims have a specified requirements
in their meals. What if the current menu and kitchen staff can’t meet this
specification? Will making adjustments to the current cafeteria food satisfy
all the employees or would it result in dissatisfaction of some.
I would propose that both employees
understand each other’s cultures and practices and try accommodate their
culture. The employees can achieve this by being open minded and view diversity
a good thing for them as it gives an edge, when they interact together as
compared to other employees who work with people from the same culture as them.
( Conryâ€Murray,
C., & Shaw, L. A, 2016). Also the
two employees should try and learn about each other’s culture as this would
open their mind and view things from each other’s perspective.
In conclusion culture is diverse but also
the diversity if embraced helps foster a work environment that’s hospitable to
every employee hence the particular company would prosper and grow its market
size. Employees are a company’s most valued assets and a corporation that
aspires to grow should invest in its employees. Culture no matter how diverse
should not stop one from thriving in their work place My viewpoint on culture
is that there is always a way that the supervisor and employees can create a
leeway to accommodate all staff working
for a particular issue.
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