Workforce Language Services

There has never been a shortage of articles about diversity in the workplace to be posted in this blog.  But I wonder how many companies simply try to recruit more minorities or put those from underrepresented demographics in more visible positions and call it a day. 

An article by Rodney Brown points out that organizational cultural competency goes much deeper than diversity initiatives which may look good on the surface, but do not create any real change in how people interact and understand each other. 

Traditional diversity misses the mark. Even when an organization has achieved “diversity” as measured by racial, gender or other dimensions, lack of cultural competency can produce a host of problems, such as inter-personal conflicts, high staff turnover, substandard customer service and even lawsuits. In health care delivery, cultural breakdowns in staff-to-staff and staff-to-patient communication has even proved fatal.

By providing cultural competency training, employers take the critical step from having the appearances of a diverse employee base to having employees become more competent in working together. 

Brown posits that all of the benefits touted by diversity advocates (higher staff morale, increased productivity, employee buy-in) may ultimately backfire if diversity strategies are not buttressed by cultural competency education.

To read more about the differences between diversity and cultural competency, click here.