Cultural Diversity

 Hello world,

As national politics and discourse seem to grow more inward-looking and divisive across America and Europe, successful businesses must continue to think inclusively and globally. Embracing cultural diversity in the workplace is an important first step for businesses that want to be competitive on an international scale.

From the Virgin Group to Disney and PricewaterhouseCoopers, organizations across industries are embracing the benefits of a diverse workforce. But with benefits necessarily come challenges of working across borders, cultures, and languages.

At Hult, diversity and global mindedness are integral to our DNA. Our mission is to prepare our students to thrive in a fast-paced, unpredictable, and fundamentally international business environment. As our students develop into the global business leaders of tomorrow, they can certainly expect to encounter these 13 key benefits and challenges of cultural diversity in the workplace.

Benefits:

1. Diverse cultural perspectives can inspire creativity and drive innovation
2. Local market knowledge and insight makes a business more competitive and profitable
3. Cultural sensitivity, insight, and local knowledge means higher quality, targeted marketing
4. Drawing from a culturally diverse talent pool allows an organization to attract and retain the best talent
5. A diverse skills base allows an organization to offer a broader and more adaptable range of products and services
6. Diverse teams are more productive and perform better
7. Greater opportunity for personal and professional growth

Challenges:

8. Colleagues from some cultures may be less likely to let their voices be heard
9. Integration across multicultural teams can be difficult in the face of prejudice or negative cultural stereotypes
10. Professional communication can be misinterpreted or difficult to understand across languages and cultures
11. Navigating visa requirements, employment laws, and the cost of accommodating workplace requirements can be difficult
12. Different understandings of professional etiquette
13. Conflicting working styles across teams

But, in the end, the world is filled with people who have different beliefs, religions, traditions and ways of living. It is within our differences that we can find beauty. Both in educational and professional environments, cultural diversity benefits everyone. It paves the way to better problem-solving, more empathy and compassion, deepened learning, and approaches the world from various perspectives.