Self-Management (Cultural Competence)

In 1989, Cross et al. defined cultural competence that gained popularity and modifications towards the modern society. The core terminologies used in 1989 remain constant in universal applications. Some of the core elements in cultural competence definitions include the capacity for cultural self-assessment, institutionalization of cultural knowledge, valuing diversity, consciousness on dynamic characteristics through cultural interactions, and establishing a developed application of service delivery by understanding the importance of cultural diversity (Lehman, 2017). Combining all the five elements results in a simple definition of cultural competence. For instance, cultural competence focuses on interacting, understanding, and appreciating other people’s beliefs and cultural systems. Every individual’s cultural systems differ in the ways of psychological or practical thinking. Lack of cultural competence skill results in challenges in organizations due to differences in thinking and ways of practice. Cultural competence skill is an important aspect both as an individual and by the federal government. For example, federal governments focus on cultural competence skills to help eliminate ethnic, socioeconomic, or racial disparities in society. There is a need for behavioral change into cultural competence skills, dimensions, or interventions to help accommodate or accept other employees from diverse cultural backgrounds. 

Dimension Measurements of Cultural Competence 

The highly utilized baseline measurement includes conducting interviews with different participants from different cultural backgrounds. Interviews allow participants to provide honest opinions, especially addressing cultural challenges experienced by every employee at the workplace. Besides, there is a need for reviewing archival documentation of the organization’s policies and regulations implemented in promoting cultural competence. Cultural competence skills are a federal requirement for practice in every organization. Several organizations have responded to the increased focus on cultural competence skills by implementing policies and procedures for the human resource to observe. Reviewing the organization’s cultural competence policies helps identify the level at which employees follow and practice cultural competence skills. Besides, there is a need to interview the organization’s key stakeholders and individual informants to help identify if the organization’s leadership observes cultural competence strategies. Data generated from cultural competence baseline measurement helps identify critical areas that need changes and identify effective cultural competence practices for individuals and the entire organization. 

Goals of Cultural Competence 

The first goal for cultural competence is to understand every employee’s cultural norms. Individual cultural norms include principles and standards they believe in. Cultural norms help control a person’s behavioral conduct while interacting with the cast social groups, such as at the workplace. Many individuals’ cultural norms originate from their parents, teachers, friends, and community, where an individual is raised while growing. Besides, cultural competence will help to understand other employees’ cultural differences. Understanding every employee’s cultural differences helps to increase improved workplace relationships and trust. An organization with employees who work closely and trust each other benefits from improved communications, especially during teamwork roles. Additionally, cultural competence knowledge and skills focus on attaining the value of diversity. Achieving the workplace diversity goal will result in fast problem-solving skills that improve decision-making skills. Achieving the diversity goal leads to increasing organizational profits due to reduced employee turnover and employee engagement. 

Behavioral Intervention Plan for Cultural Competence Goals 

Suitable interventions to apply in achieving workplace diversity includes training each employee to learn the importance of cultural competence skills and knowledge. Training helps identify bias indicators, which results in identifying ways of avoiding workplace biases due to cultural differences. Besides, achieving cultural competence diversity occurs by using interview panels from different cultural backgrounds to help improve equality and fairness in the recruitment process (Bulletin, 2021). Leveraging diverse job boards promotes workplace diversity. Diverse job boards lead to reaching out to diverse cultural groups. For instance, organizations need to focus on employing all employees, including those with disabilities, autism, and 70 million jobs hiring those who recruit individuals with a criminal record. Hiring individuals from diverse cultural groups help promote workplace diversity that reflects increased profits due to the application of diverse knowledge and skills in the problem-solving process. 

Understanding individuals’ diversity can occur by practicing good manners while interacting with other employees. Good manners lead to respecting other employees as a whole. Moreover, cultural norms differences recognition can occur by celebrating traditional festivals, foods, and holidays that help identify different cultures. The other approach includes listening to all employees, or customers, especially foreign individuals, which promotes togetherness. Another way to attain competence skills in cultural norms differences includes getting trained by global citizenship. Training results to understand the manner of dealing with other employees from the different cultural norms. 

2 Antecedent Changes 

The antecedent behavioral changes include organizational skills. Workplace organizational skills help to remove cases of ineffectiveness conducted by many employees. Ineffectiveness occurs by pilling up tasks due to a lack of a to-do list. Organizing skills help to improve ways of organizing thoughts in the workplace. Another preceding behavioral change includes time management. Time management helps to deliver the assigned task or responsibility on time. For instance, time management skills help finish a project on time with the help of a schedule of programs (Oyarzun et al., 2020). Time management helps to hit the deadlines of every task assigned. 

4 Consequences of Cultural Competence 

Positive reinforcement results in improved focus among employees to attain high cultural competence skills. Positive reinforcement processes such as rewarding individuals who practice high levels of cultural competence skills help reduce cultural biases. Many employees will focus on attaining cultural competence skills which boosts workplace relationships, decision making, and teamwork. 

Negative reinforcement leads to continued cultural biases, which impact the overall performance of employees. Negative reinforcement includes a lack of focus on employees who practice cultural competence skills. Negative reinforcement results in increased employee turnover, bad relations, and biases, which leads to underperformance. 

Positive punishment such as encouraging teamwork at the workplace results in improved employee relations. Besides, employees improve in decision-making and problem-solving skills due to shared roles. Positive punishment results in improved unity, cooperation, and communication among employees. 

On the contrary, negative punishment such as reduced work pay or demote an employee from a high position to low-skill job results in increased turnover and reduced talent. Additionally, the organization will experience high levels of enmity, poor quality services, and a lack of focus on organizational goals. 

Potential Barriers 

The number one barrier to cultural competence includes a lack of knowledge of approaches and strategies necessary to achieve cultural competence. Many individuals wish to attain excellent cultural competence skills but lack direction on how to achieve it. Achieving cultural competence skills knowledge can occur through training in global citizenship. Besides, bias is a barrier to cultural competence skills. Workplace cultural bias can reduce by diversifying jobs in an organization, which results in employing diverse groups that prevent bias of a particular group (Shepherd et al., 2019). Besides, organizations should diversify the interview panel to avoid recruitment bias through practicing fair and equal selection. 

Expected Outcome 

Attaining cultural competence skills will result in increased production at the workplace. Employees can work together to accomplish a common goal without cultural differences barriers. Besides, cultural competence will lead to improved teamwork spirit among employees from different cultural backgrounds. Employees can quickly solve an existing problem due to improved unity. Teamwork spirit results in improved decision-making and problem-solving skills. Besides, attaining competence skills helps to prevent biases at work. Both employees and stakeholders work together without favors of a particular culture, ethnicity, or racial group. 

References 

Bulletin, O. M. (2021). Interview: RCS England's Diversity Review.  The Bulletin of the Royal College of Surgeons of England ,  103 (3), 124-129. 

Lehman, C. L. (2017). Multicultural Competence: A Literature Review Supporting Focused Training for Preservice Teachers Teaching Diverse Students.  Journal of Education and Practice ,  8 (10), 109-116. 

Oyarzun, B., Martin, F., & Moore, R. L. (2020). Time management matters: Online faculty perceptions of helpfulness of time management strategies.  Distance Education ,  41 (1), 106-127. 

Shepherd, S. M., Willis-Esqueda, C., Newton, D., Sivasubramaniam, D., & Paradies, Y. (2019). The challenge of cultural competence in the workplace: perspectives of healthcare providers.  BMC health services research ,  19 (1), 1-11.