In view of current technological advancement, many organizations are going global with their operations in a bid to tap into new markets. With this change, business organizations are increasingly becoming exposed to new cultures that were not present in the locations they were originally domiciled in. The effect is a challenge to the management in providing environment for employees to carry out themselves in ethically sound way that considers the cultural diversity of its employees and customers. According to Tavakoli (2015), the ability to recognize diversity and inclusion as a fundamental part of business operations is one feature that denotes effective leaders, managers and organizations. This makes it a requisite task for every organization to offer its employees training on cultural diversity in order for them to remain efficient in whatever culture and geographical location they work in. Notably, providing such a training program has a number of benefits to the organization including improved retention of employees and subsequent competitive advantage over competitors (Cheung & Chan, 2012). It is in this regard that the object of this paper will be to examine any legal implications in creating a training course that discusses culture, to explain the effects of diversity among employees, ethical implications, possibilities of standardization of training, and provide recommendations for implementing the training course. Having an effective training program on cultural diversity in place will help maintain a positive culture for the multinational company and help employees understand the benefits of having a diverse workforce.
Legal Implications
The creation of an employee training program on cultural diversity must be within the confines of applicable laws and regulations. This necessitates a research into relevant laws and regulations that apply internationally and also to the different localities. The benefits of considering the applicable law while designing training programs include not only the employee feel that the organization takes into account the diversity of the employees’ culture but is also benefits the company from the possible legal litigations based on cultural grounds (Briscoe, Tarique, & Schuler, 2012).In the United States, the Equal Employment opportunity commission prohibits any organization from discriminating against employees based on any features including but not limited to race, culture, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, ethnicity, or social class (Briscoe, Tarique, & Schuler, 2012). Clearly, the regulation considers the importance of culture and goes to explicitly prohibit its usage in discrimination against employees. Consequently, in developing a training program employee training in cultural diversity, it is prudent to consider that culture the law prohibits discrimination against employees based on their cultural backgrounds.
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The laws and regulations that pertain to culture need to be examined critically while formulating a program for employee training on cultural diversity. For an global organization, the scope of laws to be examined is even wider given the magnitude of cultural variation and a number of stark differences in legal regulations across the globe. In the United States, examples of legislations which must be examined include the title VII Civil Rights Act of 1964, Employment and Reemployment Rights, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (Briscoe, Tarique, & Schuler, 2012). These legislations are examples of federal laws that promote diversity and therefore the training course on cultural diversity must not infringe on these and many other relevant laws. Given that the organization I a global organization, the laws to be examined must be curtailed also to conform to the applicable laws in each country. This will ensure that the course is legally accepted in the respective regions or countries of operation. In addition, the employees in such localities will be more receptive of the course as it would enable them to carry out the information passed in the training knowing they are acting within the law.
Impact of Demographic Diversities
The implementation of an employee training course on cultural diversity for a global organization needs to take into consideration the diverse demographics of the people represented. Notably, the fact that the training program would be implemented globally implies that the employees who will be targeted will be composed of a myriad of different demographic characteristics. Such features are exemplified by age, sex, level of education, religion, income level, marital status, as well as demographic variables such as birth and death rates (Bezrukova et al., 2012). The aforementioned demographic factors are expressed with great variation in different regions across the world with each having a bearing on the overall culture of the people living in that locality. As such, the discussion of cultural diversity with regard to a global company is intrinsically affected by diversity of demographic characteristics of the employees.
Different cultures have different views on various demographic characteristics, which need to be considered when designing and implementing the employee training program on cultural diversity. For instance, in some cultures certain sexual orientations exemplified by same sex marriages are prohibited. In others, men and women have specified roles and obligations on what they can and cannot do, which calls for the training program developers to be aware of such before designing and tailoring the program to a given region. Still, in other geographical regions and countries such as, particular religions dominate thereby influencing the culture of the people in that area (Sasaki & Kim, 2011). Accordingly, the discussion of such demographic variables is requisite while discussing a training program on cultural diversity as they influence the culture of the people in that locality.
Ethical Implications
Ethics succinctly refer to desirable and appropriate values and morals according to an individual or the society at large which directs their behavior (By & Burnes, 2013). In essence, ethics dictate what is considered right of wrong in a given society and consequently is a determinant of people’s actions. With regards to cultural diversities, it has been aforementioned that different the operations of a global organization are impacted by the cultures domiciled in the different areas in which they operate. As such, it is imperative that in all these cultures, ethical practices ought to be maintained which is firmly founded on the principles of ethics. This would then correlate and provide an ethical workplace culture which described as one that gives priority to employee rights, fair procedures, and equity in pay and promotion, and that promotes tolerance, compassion, loyalty and honesty in the treatment of customers and employees (By & Burnes, 2013). Clearly, ethical practice is an important consideration when designing an employees’ training program on cultural diversity.
Several ethical considerations need to be considered when formulating and implementing the training on cultural diversity for the global organization. An ethical implication that should be considered is the impact that the training would have on an employee’s perception of their culture. Whereas it is important to teach employees about various cultures for the purpose of them being cognizant of the cultural diversity, the training must be offered in a manner that does not demean or criticize any culture. Such would have an effect on an employee feeling disrespected, which would make the training not ethically sound. In addition, an ethical implication that must be considered is in regard to the copyright ownership of the training material. The program, which is designed particularly for this organization is proposed to be offered through an e-learning channel. This raises an ethical issue regarding rightful ownership and usage of the program within the organization and the possibility of the employees disseminating the contents of the programs electronically without explicit authorization. In this line, the issue of cyber security also arises as an ethical issue as the online channel of training can be a leeway for cyber-attack to the organization (McIlwraith, 2016). Evidently, a number of ethical implications need to be considered during the development and implementation of an employees’ training program on cultural diversity.
Standardization of the Training Program
The standardization of an employees’ training program ensures that all employees who are targeted by training program receive standardized training. This has the benefit of creating a uniform application of policies and procedures which has a better work continuity and eventual improved productivity and eventual profitability. For an organization that operates in one country, the process of standardizing a training process is much easier owing to the smaller geographical, legal and cultural boundaries in which it operates. However, for a global organization, the diversity of the cultures, legal framework, and demographic variability of the region covered makes standardization of a training program relatively challenging. In spite of this, this does not water down the importance of a standardizing a training program on cultural diversity for a global company.
The possibility of standardizing a training program on cultural diversity for a global company is plausible. According to Andriotis (2018), there are four strategy considerations that need to be taken into account when standardizing an employee training program for a global organization. The first strategy can involve the standardization of approach to all topics. Whereas this approach makes content creation and dissemination way easier and less costly for the developers of the training program, the approach will not adequately address topics that are context based or impacted by local factors such as culture. The second strategy that is useful when standardizing employee training for a global company is the standardization of the training program per topic (Andriotis, 2018). Although this strategy still uses a standardized approach for all the regions covered by the organization, the approach of delivering the training is specific for each topic. A third approach to standardization is through the standardization of learning objectives bespoke regional approach and content. This strategy aims to implement one set of learning objectives using different methodologies and content for employees in all regions. A final approach is through the use of bespoke learning objectives and content per region. In this approach, learning objectives that are formulated from a centralized region such as the organization’s headquarters are implemented in a targeted approach to each region. Whereas this approach is more time and resource consuming than the aforementioned three approaches, it holds the promise of having an effective employee training outcome for a training that takes into account the employees’ context (Andriotis, 2018).. As such, standardization of the program on employee education about cultural diversity is best applied through standardized bespoke learning objectives and content per region.
The employee training course should be delivered through a media that is convenient, easily accessible, acceptable and efficient for the employees. Notably, a myriad of media channels have been made use of in delivering content to employees during employee training on various topics. Delivering of employee training through lecture method is one channel that is employed in employee training. This means of delivering the training is advantageous in the sense that it allows the deliverer of the training to clarify learning points and emphasize on what is deemed to be more important. In addition, the audience can participate in the learning process through the asking of questions and seeking clarification. However, the applicability of this means of delivering employee training is time and human personnel intensive which limits the extent to which it can be effectively applied by a global organization. The delivery of employee training through e-learning has grown to be widely applicable method of employee training. This channel involves the usage of technology assisted training which could take the form of distance learning, computer based training, or web-based training. E-learning offers a number of advantages when used provide employee training which include reduction of the learning time as the leaners run at their own pace, reduction in cost through the elimination if the need for trainers to travel especially for global organizations, improved access across various geographical regions, and instructional consistency and standardization through the use of similar training tools and information for training (Briscoe et al., 2012). Based on these merits, an e-learning approach provides the best possible media for providing employees of a global organization with the training on cultural diversity.
Recommendations
The understanding and consideration of the different cultures is an integral part for the success of any global organization. This calls for an implementation of a cultural diversity training program for the global organization’s employees. In this regard, the following recommendations are made with regard to formulation and implementation of an employee training program on cultural diversity:
Given the necessity to operate within the legal confines of the country where the organization has its operation, it is recommended that legal consult be sought in order to identify laws and regulations governing culture in the countries in which the organization operates.
The training program should be modeled to accommodate people with varied demographic characteristics not to have any bias or discrimination.
The training program should be made to conform with ethical principles in order for the employees to have an ethical work environment through the application of the information obtained from the training.
The training should be delivered through an e-learning portal which will improve access, enable self-directed learning and reduce the running costs of conducting the programs.
The training should be standardized but bespoke to fit the cultural contexts of specific regions around the world.
Conclusion
To conclude, the move by the organization to go global on its operations is justified as it exponentially increases the organization target market and ultimate profitability. However, this also implies having operation in regions with unique cultural practices and orientation. Consequently, an employee training program on cultural diversity is mandatory for the employs to operate cognizant of the cultural diversity in the area of their operation. It is in this regard that a training program that is considerate of the legal framework and is inclusive of all demographics variables in employees is proposed to be provided through an e-learning platform in a manner that provides an ethical working environment for the employees. Such a training program holds the promise of maintain a positive culture for the multinational company and help employees understand the benefits of having a diverse workforce.
References
Andriotis, N. (2018) 4 global training and development strategies that work | E-front Learning. Retrieved from https://www.efrontlearning.com/blog/2018/01/global-training-development-strategies.html
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Sasaki, J. Y., & Kim, H. S. (2011). At the intersection of culture and religion: A cultural analysis of religion's implications for secondary control and social affiliation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 101(2), 401.
Tavakoli, M. (2015, May). Diversity and inclusion drive success for today’s leaders. In Talent Development (Vol. 69, No. 5, pp. 46-51).
