A manager walks into a room to discipline an employee. The employee is told in a direct manner what he did wrong. The employee leaves and thanks the manager for his honesty and promises improvement. The same manager disciplines another employee from a different cultural background. The conversation escalates and the employee files a harassment complaint. The manager is amazed as he used the same approach. What went wrong?
Having been employed in several first class hotels where strong hierarchical cultures rule, this phenomenon has been observed many times. Although even experienced persons seem to be aware of cultural differences that cause this type of events they seem to occur over and over. In the beginning of a person’s career where the level of experience is low, mistakes that related to cultural differences are made easily.
To avoid misunderstanding; the subject of this essay relates to cultural differences based on international or geographical backgrounds. Mistakes or misunderstandings caused by these differences can lead to both very defensive and very aggressive reactions of the persons involved.
One of the differences caused by different cultural backgrounds can be that some persons want to be approached peer to peer, while others consider themselves as being part of a group. Others could perceive what can be a very usual situation to discuss by some as an insult.
It works out that differences between countries and cities all over the world can be predicted and even can be managed. Coming from Paris to London, it proved that an approach based on coaching and giving opportunities to employees result in a good atmosphere. When management takes care that working conditions are optimal and fair this results in great loyalty from all parties. Here the team had the need for feeling united, as most of them came from different locations.
To create this bond, team incentives can be a powerful tool. Instead of individual effort, it rewards team effort. In turn this feeling pushed the individuals to perform, as they wanted to be part of a successful team.
A different situation was analyzed in California, USA. Most of the employees in this specific location have worked at the property for over 10 years and have no interest in progressing. In order to perform associates only expect a monetary reward. To get the employees to accept change, as management team we had to prove that our initiatives would increase revenue, as their tip is based on the revenue. Once the team believed that the changes would lead to higher personal gains, they started accepting the initiatives made.
Knowing what motivates an individual is one of the keys to success. This can lead to implications of personal nature. An example can be that of one of the servers offering to help clean up the pool area after another staff member has called out. That has a big consequence for a server, making minimum wage and not receiving his tip for this time. In this case personal motivation has to be very strong to make him supportive.
Personal experience made me realize that characteristics of a leader in one culture can be interpreted differently in another culture. A major question is how to deal with these types of interpretations? A good leader identifies cultural differences. He also will conclude each culture respects values such as fairness, empathy and integrity. In today’s global workplace, one needs to understand the professional goals and personal needs of the team as well as each individual team member. A great leader uses this knowledge to create an environment where the associates are empowered and committed to success.
Adhering to a set of core values and being trained in cultural differences are what set leaders apart. To better understand the impact of globalization a leader should experience it, which will facilitate him to understand that within culture individuals vary largely. Identifying team and individual needs and goals are what will enable someone to create a successful environment and be a great leader.
It is striking that all facts described above probably are known widely. At the same time mistakes that relate to this phenomenon are made constantly. All managers and leaders that have the ambition to work in a multi cultural environment should be obliged to study and practice this. They also should prove that they are able to handle these differences before they start building their international career.
Ronald W.
