Presentation by Harald Sprengel
February 17, 2020
10:30pm
Transcript
Many organisations have personnel hailing from different countries, local employees get in contact with people in different countries who might speak another language or come from a culture which is completely different to their own.In English-speaking countries, the obvious choice for training and Learning and Development is English, but how can employees from other countries and their knowledge of different cultures be integrated into an informal learning structure and in what ways can their co-workers learn about different cultures to avoid misunderstandings or potentially cause issues?Feeling included, irrespective of one’s cultural background, affects not only employees’ productivity in a positive way, but also their motivation (Reference).This motivation also extends into the formal and informal learning and in order for a geographically dispersed workforce to be able to interact synchronously and asynchronously, a tool or a mixture of different tools to collaborate, share and build a knowledge base is required.A case study of a globally active software provider is used to try and answer the following questions:· What motivates employees to learn about cultural diversity and integration and how to apply this to their job roles?· In what ways do learners based in various locations want to collaborate with their colleagues?· Which tools, platforms or apps, especially Open Educational Resources, are the best matches to fulfil this function?To find out more, please join me, Harald Sprengel, for my presentation at the H818 Online Conference on Monday, February 17, 2020 at 22:30. Reference: Otten, S. and Jansen, W. (2014) ’Predictors and consequences of exclusion and inclusion at the culturally diverse workplace’ in Otten, S., van der Zee, K., and Brewer, M. (eds.) Towards Inclusive Organizations: Determinants of successful diversity management at work, London, Psychology Press. Link to conference website: http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/OU-H818/ Twitter: @Harald_Spr
Conference presentation abstract
Clash of cultures – Using learners’ motivation to inform the development a tool to learn about cultural diversity in the workplace.
The past decades have seen an increased mobility of workforce worldwide which results in organisations being faced with two problems. For one, employees with a different cultural – and often also linguistic – background have to be integrated in a previously homogenous workforce, creating tensions which can only be overcome through integration of the diverse employees (Otten et al., 2014). Furthermore, with organisations expanding their interactions to different countries employees get in contact with customers and clients with a completely different cultural background which can lead to misunderstandings, communication breakdowns, or cause financial or reputational damage. Integrating employees with a different cultural background not only results in higher trust in the organisation, but also in a more productive and motivated workforce (Otten et al., 2014). Moreover, these organisations are presented with inter-cultural learning opportunities for their employees (Rozkwitalska, 2019).
An important factor is the awareness of cultural diversity, both within an organisation and its wider circle of clients, customers and suppliers, employees have to be fully aware of misunderstandings or issues which can be caused by cultural differences and the implications this can have on the business. Conducting training on cultural awareness is one way some businesses try to tackle this problem, but this is not enough; employees need to be fully aware of the consequences of cultural diversity and how every aspect of the organisation is affected by this (Subramaniam, 2015).
Feeling as being part of the organisation, being included and the way employees are treated directly affects their well-being and their motivation, including each individual’s motivation to learn (Ng, 2017). This motivation can be supported by peers/colleagues and managers (Nafukho et al., 2017) and the way training and learning is designed should encourage them to use it in their preferred way or mode of learning (Douglas and McKenzie, 2015).
This presentation will present the results of a small-scale study in an internationally active software company with a culturally diverse workforce and the development of a collaboration platform where employees can learn with and from each other in an informal way about cultural diversity, how it affects them, the organisation, and how they can incorporate their knowledge in their daily job roles.
The following questions will be answered:
· What motivates employees to learn about cultural diversity and integration and how to apply this to their job roles?
· In what ways do learners based in various locations want to collaborate with their colleagues?
· Which tools, platforms or apps, especially Open Educational Resources, are the best matches to fulfil this function?
The answers to these questions will form the basis for the implementation of a collaboration platform for informal learning.
References
Douglas, J. and McKenzie, S. (2015) ‘the power of CHOICE’ in Talent Development, vol, 69, no. 10, pp. 50-54.
Nafukho, F., Alfred, M., Chakraborty, M., Johnson, M., Cherrstrom, C. (2017) ‘Predicting workplace transfer of learning: A study of adult learners enrolled in a continuing professional training program’ in European Journal of Training and Development, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 327-353.
Ng, K. (2017) ‘The fundamental role of social support in cultivating motivation to improve work through learning’ in Industrial and Commercial Training, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 55-60.
Otten S. and Jansen, W. (2014) ’Predictors and consequences of exclusion and inclusion at the culturally diverse workplace’ in Otten, S., van der Zee, K., and Brewer, M. (eds.) Towards Inclusive Organizations: Determinants of successful diversity management at work, London, Psychology Press.
Rozkwitalska, M. (2019) ‘Learning experiences in mono- and intercultural workplace interactions – the job-demands-resource approach’ in Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 31, no. 5, pp. 305-323.
Subramaniam, M. (2015) ‘Cultural Competence’ in Talent Development, vol. 69., no. 9, pp. 60-64.