Cultural Sensitivity @ Work

Introduction
A recent article in the Singapore newspaper mentioned about how Malay and Indian employees were willing to take on the shift so that their Chinese colleagues could mark the start of the Chinese New Year festivities. Minister Lim Swee Say called this a festive gesture by Malay and Indian staff is a mark of strong multiracial society.

How true indeed! Most, if not all of us spend at least a third of our day at work. Unless your job entails you to face a computer screen whole day, you will be interacting with others throughout the day either face to face, emails or over tele-conversations, especially so in our multiracial and multicultural society. Differences in working style and workplace etiquette are bound to happen. Fret not, such incidents could definitely be minimised. So how do we overcome challenges of working in a multicultural environment?

The Story of my Name
For starters, get to know your colleagues by their names. This is an interesting, novel way for people to introduce themselves to others, especially in culturally diverse groups. Names go a long way to get people to talk about themselves, especially the origins of their names. You should be able to find out why they are named this way and perhaps even understand how people of different cultures name their children. Most people reveal a surprising amount of interesting information about where their name comes from and what it means. With this awareness and knowledge comes building of intercultural respect and understanding.

Hello and More in Different Languages
Learning simple phrases of “Hello” or “Good Morning” in the language of your colleagues of different races will certainly go a long way. How about going the extra mile to learn to say festive greetings and their significance which will be especially meaningful during festive seasons? Doing this simple activity heightens cross-cultural awareness and celebrates cross-cultural knowledge.

Sensible Food Fiesta
Go for meals with colleagues of other races. You could definitely be sure to find out where the best eating place is near where you work. Afterall, food bonds people quite readily. Take the opportunity to find out their dietary requirements, for example, halal, vegetarian, no beef, no alcohol, kosher and etc.

Celebrating Festivals
Festivals are the crystallization of cultural, spiritual, and physical activities that have been chosen, maintained, and improved over many generations. Festivals are the living cultural museums of the way people live. Festivals are also a place where different people can show their own customs and habits. Festival days are usually days where one can find social encounters, relationships, and love.
If you are celebrating your own festival, you could invite your colleagues to your place. If your colleague wears their ethnic costume, why not take the opportunity to ask them about it and appreciate it?

Conclusion
Presenting our cultural differences as a reflection of the way we solve similar problems promotes a sense of our common humanity. We then begin to realise that we are all in this together, and that we all have to face similar challenges. Instead of looking upon cultural differences as things to be tolerated, we can relate to each other as cultural problem solvers. Understanding this basic notion allows us to view cultural differences as a rich reservoir of solutions to real world concerns. Do try out the tips that will directly improve the bottom-line.

Understanding cultural differences knowing how one’s own culture affects someone else’s culture goes a long way in achieving cultural sensitivity at your workplace. So what are you waiting for?