| Globalization
involves an increased openness in the international
business relations, an integration of markets
on a worldwide basis, and a movement toward a
borderless world. The sources of globalization
are varied and include the technological advances,
liberalization of trade policies brought into
force over the past decades. Of all the sources,
the chief source of globalization is the technological
advances that have significantly lowered the costs
of transportation and communication and dramatically
lowered the costs of data processing and information
storage and retrieval. Electronic mail, the Internet,
and the World Wide Web are some of the manifestations
of this new technology. While these are the evident
aspect of globalization, the meeting of minds
across the constraints of culture and language
has also become a reality.
HR managers often opine that diversity in the
work place is a double-edged sword because on
the one hand it can provide a lot of beneficial
conditions for the employees while on the other,
it may also cause a lot of problems. The positive
factor is that diversity would cause better interaction
among people and increase their vision towards
life. On the other hand, diversity can also cause
a lot of rift between people who may find it very
difficult to cope with each other. Such conditions
in which people fight among themselves for dominance
can be a very tricky situation for the HR manager,
who will have to use knack and authority to mitigate
the effects of such negative interactions.
Analysis
Different ethnicities in the workplace and how
it is affecting the workforce
The modern workforce is no longer local in its
composition. As companies grow and branch out
into other countries, people from different backgrounds
are in fact, forced to interact with each other.
In today’s world it is not difficult to
see people of different nationalities working
in the same office. This is also a prescription
for trouble because there is all possibility that
these people would drag their personal differences
into the office atmosphere. For example in the
United states color and ethnic conflicts is a
very big concern that forces managers to think
twice before making an effort to create a multi-ethnic
team. Ethnic differences in the work place can
often cause people to form sub-groups within the
larger team thus derailing the very rationale
behind setting up such teams. Ethnic issues are
widely influenced by the political and cultural
environment of a country and so it is not always
easy for HR managers to create a team that is
devoid of race feelings. In Florida for example,
it was found from a recent survey that a majority
of the people were conscious and supportive of
ethnic prejudices. In a society with such high
rates of racial hatred, it is difficult to nurture
a corporate team that stresses on human diversity
[Trigaux, 2003]
Language problems at the workplace
Not knowing the nuances of the language is a very
grave issue that affects the morale of workers
at the work place. Other than the fact that a
person who does not have a command of good language
will make himself patheticlaly conspicuous at
the workplace, it will also zap the employee’s
confidence and will affect the other duties in
which they may be good at. Language problems exist
for employees who belong to different countries
or ethnicities. For example in the United States,
blacks, Hispanics and American Indians are quite
conspicuous by the way they talk. In fact, it
would not be wrong to say that their language
is a bit different from what others speak at the
office. This is largely because of their upbringing
and exposure to their peculiar surroundings. Similarly,
the slang with which they speak also can affect
their interaction with other people in the office.
Since communication is a two way process, bad
language can mean that the minorities who are
not able to convey their ideas, also do not understand
what others would be trying to speak to them.
This can often cause them to be branded as inefficient
and lacking man-management skills, which could
be far away from the truth [Gancel and Hills,
1997]
Corporate experts have come up with many solutions
to integrate people who do not talk good English
and hence converse poorly with the rest of the
team. The trick is to reduce direct communication
and concentrate on the objectives until the non-English
speaking employees are confident of speaking with
others. Similarly, employees who do not know English
have to be trained within the premises of the
company in good language skills. More exposure
to recreational activities and ensuring mutual
respect and interest for each other’s culture
are other factors that can enhance language comprehension
within the company.
Generation gap and ethnicities
Often more than ethnic differences it is the generation
gap that creates many problems within the firm.
People identify themselves with their age to such
an extent that they do not find it possible to
mingle with their younger-aged peers. Such a lack
in initiative to make friends with everyone irrespective
of age is partly due to one’s upbringing.
For example, people from a conservative background
will not find it easy to mingle with younger people.
Similarly people who consider themselves as responsible
and mature cannot get themselves to interact with
the younger employees in a light-hearted manner.
People also have difficulties interacting with
their peers, vendors or other colleagues who may
be younger to oneself. Strangely it may be seen
that older people are more prone to this syndrome
than their younger counterparts. This is because
the conditioning by the society makes youngsters
obey authority at least to a certain extent. On
the contrary, older people expect themselves to
be treated in a befitting manner, the definition
of which could be quite arbitrary. In short, it
may be seen that attitude is a very important
factor that creates a wedge between people of
different ages and leads to the generation gap
[Sago,2000] Similar is the case with ethnicity.
Cultural and other stereotypes affect the way
people perceive themselves and so it will affect
the way in which they interact with other people.
Hence people of similar culture are very comfortable
with each other while people belonging to different
cultures take a long time to be comfortable with
each other.
The future also does not seem to be devoid of
problems because the same factors that are important
today will cause rift in future also. One of the
problems with communicating across any generation-gap
is that the two generations have different issues
to deal with. What works for the older generation
may not even apply to the younger; what is unthinkable
to the older generation may be a necessity for
the younger. This impregnability to new thoughts
could be attributed to the human nature to view
his/her concerns more seriously, than anything
else. The common refrain from youngsters and elders
alike when confronted with a generation gap problem
is that they have grown up in a different world
with different problems and issues, as a result
of which, their thought process is also different.
It would be appropriate to recall the famous words
of Alexis de Tocqueville, that "Among democratic
nations each generation is a new people."
It means that every generation has a different
role in our society's growth and development.
Hence generation gap issues will be alive in the
future.
Moses (2000) believes that there is nothing like
a single class of employees who share the same
vision. In fact, diversity of employees has been
increasing through the years and it is difficult
to maintain employees based on a few good age-old
practices that would have been practical so many
years before. The trick that needs to be adopted
in the modern work place is to adopt a strategy
that is flexible and effective.
We can prepare for the future only be learning
from our experiences and ensuring that we do not
commit mistakes that we have already committed.
For example it would be a good management practice
to reduce interaction between the old and the
young in important decisive projects. On the other
hand, they could be brought together in projects
where team work is not that important. Similarly
they may be put together in community building
projects where the ego has a small role to play
[White, 2001]
The need to integrate different sections of the
society in future however becomes important because
the social composition of our society is changing.
Today’s minorities will become a sizeable
population tomorrow and then the social balance
will be turned upside down causing more problems
and vexations. Similarly, today’s youngsters
will become middle aged tomorrow and they cannot
afford to commit the same mistakes that their
seniors committed in their time with regard to
bridging the gap between ethnicities and age.
Hence, it is very important that they apply the
lessons learnt to create a cordial working environment.
The companies would do well to demarcate functional
areas for certain age groups. Applicants to these
positions have to be interviewed by people of
that age. Similarly, the interviewer will have
to find out people who are more accommodating
and considerate than people who are rigid in their
outlook.
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