Adapting to a Culturally Diverse Workplace

With an exponentially growing global economy a diversified workforce will be more flexible and have more respect for not only their colleagues, but their clients. Having a diversified workforce can lead to a level of conflict in your team. When dealing with diversity, most of the time what you’re struggling with is different perceptions of one another. Every interaction we have is based on what we know about the other. In order to integrate diversity it needs to be something that is open and discussed in an organization. Ignoring the fact that we have differences will not help the situation; rather it can create animosity between colleagues.
Diversity itself is a risk factor. Becoming defensive and closed off is a natural human reaction being faced with the unknown. Creating open dialogue with your team will help prevent conflict. This can eliminate the unknown factor from the equation. You team members will understand differences, and create a mutual respect for colleagues. Dealing with diversity begins with the individual. Encourage your employees to manage their own attitudes and behaviors. Making them self-aware of the behaviors can help them monitor their actions.
Successfully dealing with diversity requires empathy, patience, compassion and education. A productive unified team is a result of communication, understanding, and most importantly education.