CULTURAL DIFFERENCES: ONLY FOR GLOBAL COMPANIES?

-
Talking about cultural differences is almost vain words until you see the palpable consequences of failed communication . Communication is about getting through your interlocutor. Think Ebola.  

www.dailymail.co.uk
In general we will agree that the Ebola virus disease (EVD) is not quite understood yet. In practice, there are trends that counteract common sense. Those can be cultural and/or more or less ideological. The major hurdle is getting needed - in this case vital - communication through, as well as timely talent acuisition. This was so unexpected: workers needed!. 



Transpose EVD and its impacts on society to a much different and less dramatic scale, and you are encountering global dynamics. Sustainability of multinationals relies a great deal on understanding cultural differences and navigating the cultural and legal, global landscape.

UNDERSTANDING ALL FACETS OF CULTURE


Understanding cultures is essential before implementing any program or conducting any HR project, whether you are a multinational company or not. Cultural differences do also exist within a local organization if the workforce is diverse in sizable proportions. It is beneficial to seek insights from leaders, both formal and informal, who know the company in order to get different perspectives. HR should not be a silo and need to make a practice of connecting to its workforce through one chanel or another. Corporate guidelines are useful, but intuition and personal touch will bring you (corporate HR or not) the necessary connection to make your HR initiatives succeed. Success in HR is not to be solely measured by the implementation of HR strategies, but by the positive outcomes from the translation of  strategies into programs.


Without seeking cultural understanding, we cannot win engagement. No organization can afford downplaying cultural differences and their contributions and impact in a global and diverse economy.

The Ebola issue is indeed "a wake-up call to HR" and businesses. More and more HR has to be approached in an integrated fashion: you concurrently need to communicate, understand, and address operational issues, such as in this case health   and safety concerns, along with business needs and goals.

En Synthèse


L' Ebola, cela n'arrive pas qu'aux autres! ....

 Le rôle des RH semble prendre une dimension nouvelle, incontournable. Dans un monde de business ou les frontières sont devenues illimitées, l'approche RH doit être globale et intégrée.


En Synthèse


L' Ebola, cela n'arrive pas qu'aux autres! Le manque de mains et de communication, en passant par la désinformation ou les mauvaises informations,  se fait sentir.

Le rôle des RH semble prendre une dimension nouvelle, incontournable. Dans un monde de business ou les frontières sont devenues illimitées, l'approche RH doit être globale et intégrée.

Globale dans le sens que l'on doit comprendre et s'engager avec des cultures différentes avec toutes les implications et conséquences qui s'ensuivent. Intégrée parce que la limitation des RH à la discipline interne ou la formation, ou encore recrutement, n'est plus suffisante. Les RH de demain, pour ne pas dire d'aujourd'hui, doivent faire face aux problèmes inhérentes à l’évolution globale des entreprises: santé, législation "locale" et outre-mer, cultures locales et culture d'entreprise, et ceci pour faire avancer l'organisation. Sans cette capacité de vision stratégique les RH ne feraient plus le poids.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

COMMUNICATION, SAFETY & WORKPLACE: "Je suis Charlie"

-
Image
©AR_HRComatrix_SCharlie C ommunication is powerful, today more than ever, with social media . Frontiers are erased . Time elapses. Things and situations take a different dimension. Everything is "here and now ". This week, " Je suis Charlie " has been the most recent and poignant picture of the power of communication. All started and ended in the workplace . Chilling for HR and Safety people. P eople all the over the world spend most of their time at work . The typical workday is about six to eight hours in the the US with the new approach to the notion of full time job . In France it is typically eight hours, with often some flexibility, and despite the official 35 hours a week. . How can we protect workers against unexpected violence since they spend most of their time at work? H R is not about damage control ; it is about proactivity . Disturbingly enough, only 31% of workplaces in the US seem to be proactive in emergency preparedness, acco...
Read more

CATCHING FIRE: WORDS of WISDOM ABOUT and FROM MILLENNIALS- LESSONS FROM MILLENNIALS Part II -

-
Image
A lot has been said about Millennials. There are you tube videos , articles , blogs , research and polls... Most of them trying to help us understand this new generation. They appear as aggressive, daring, intimidating,  careless, smart, fast, clueless, in sum "different," regardless on who sees them. They certainly have many faces. Turning a New Leaf With Millennials © 2013 AR_HRCom-Millennials Those of us who have been working side by side with them have most likely experienced mixed feelings. It is basically turning a new leaf. Let's move toward greener fields! These young  partners can be exuberant and very lively and their concerns about professional or personal life can feel overwhelming. Often times you get what you see and hear. Does it make your assessment easier? I doubt. To me the challenge in assessment comes from the necessity to distance oneself from the individual. The ability to intellectualize things in this matter is a real gift. I can dea...
Read more

Holistic HR - Part I: Is Mental Wellness Relevant?

-
Image
Ad_HRComtx_1_620 © A s we are navigating the new ways of work, one aftermath of the pandemic for many of us is the unpleasant discovery of unvisited or neglected matters: our mental wellness. More than ever HR has to embrace its evolving approach to its core responsibility: HR is about "the whole person". T he pandemic has brought to the surface so many elements that neither HR nor the people had thought about, although always existing. To me, the two major concerns about mental wellness are depression and domestic violence. I have to admit that I never seriously thought about it until I lost sleep myself and couldn't understand why I was so inexplicably restless and unfocused. Quite a few people I talked to shared similar occurrences. This can only be exacerbated by the sense of isolation from familiar working environment as we work from home or are still transitioning to go back to work. If any of this happened to you, you are quite normal in highly abnormal ti...
Read more

Holistic HR - Part II: Socially Distant and Staying Relevant

-
Image
Ted_HRComtx_HolisticHR © Carving a Path for 2021 I t is said that silence is death, and that no news is good news. I have to say that I have been like many of us: affected in one way of another by Covid, being socially distant within relevancy. New resolutions? At least, carving a new path... in this icy cold world full of hot topics. It is not easy: it takes daring and willingness.   T he new year - already not feeling so new by now - has to be better in many ways, because it is practically a call to duty. What the pandemic has brought to us is not isolation but the exposure to a global environment that could reveal itself to be highly toxic , as well as the possibility of exacerbation of some situations of at-risk people . As we advance into 2021 we see the emergence of Wellbeing vs. Wellness verbiage because if anything last year has brought to light, it is the awareness of the importance of mental health .  This is more than ever a reason to understand and embrace that...
Read more

WORK LIFE / BALANCE DEBATE- PART II: The Five TOPS by Regions, Countries, Companies and Jobs -

-
Image
The FIVE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES BY REGIONS and COUNTRIES I t is educating to see the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)  map of better life index . The assessment of better life varies by regions and by countries, from life satisfaction to safety through education and environment. OECD better life index responses - 2014 Interesting enough, Health is primary in France, Canada, Australia, the Russian Federation,  and Norway. Life-Work balance is important in Mauritius Island, Mali, Montenegro and Nicaragua. Life Satisfaction prevails in US, Germany, UK, as well as Croatia, Poland and Sweden and Finland. Safety is paramount in Japan, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, and The Bahamas. Education is important in Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina The FIVE TOP COMPANIES According to Glassdoor, there are 25 companies that are rated to be the best in work/life balance policies. Employees do love it. Those organizations include non-profit, as w...
Read more

Christmas ..Holidays...Party Season..Why?

-
Image
You Party because You are Expected To .... By now you have your Holiday party planned or maybe you are already over it. Preparation can be hectic . You have been trying to give another nice end-of-year party and your hopes are that it will be. It is amazing when we break it into pieces how many things something as simple and as common as a end-of-year Holiday party could involve. From very small to very large organizations, the idea behind it is to cultivate good employee relations . Employees look forward to this event. Life partners are involved in "shopping" for the occasion. It is indeed the networking event of the year for many, the one coming after social networking . As a child I remember going to business Christmas parties where the whole family was invited and children given very nice presents by Santa Claus! For HR, it falls into a busy period: time for performance reviews, time for seasonal hiring for some, time for reporting, and this year, time for prepar...
Read more