As recently highlighted in the media, the South African public are still very sensitive and highly reactionary when it comes to advertising campaigns that can be interpreted as racially or culturally insensitive. As a result of this miscommunication and misinterpretation, there has been a loss of both time, money and, perhaps most importantly, it has been damaging to the reputation of several companies. The reality is that different assumptions based on cultural differences can be a major barrier to effective communication, even when all parties are communicating in the same language. This is not limited only to the consumer, it also affects the internal management of the company and how employees within an organisation interact with each other.
Cultural sensitivity training improves your workplace
Cultural sensitivity training is not about being politically correct. It’s not based on the belief that your company has been singled out as being prejudiced, bigoted, or racist. Instead, it’s a technique used to raise awareness of your own beliefs, feelings, and culture – and then to raise your awareness of other groups’ beliefs, feelings, and culture to foster an understanding and improve communication. It can build a bridge between you and a co-worker, you and employees, or you and your organization, by giving you knowledge and understanding. You can use that bridge to:
- strengthen workplace relationships;
- improve productivity; and
- advance within your organization.
Training is nothing more than knowledge on how to effectively work and communicate with everyone in your workplace, no matter who they are.
Culturally competent employees
Cultural competence training can help avoid costly failures of communication. Basically, this training addresses four issues:
- Awareness of the effect of culture on one’s own communication.
- Knowledge of and appreciation for the differences between cultures and the sources of those differences.
- Learning to pick up the subtle clues that can signal a problem in communication.
- How to implement a positive workplace culture.
Not only for the big guys anymore
Until recently, only very large companies were invested in this kind of training, but even these companies often did not do it until a problem arose. Culture and Diversity training was not easy to access or not relevant to the market place. Training is now more affordable and accessible even to small businesses and must be utilised to grow the business and establish training and progress as part of the early company culture.
We understand that cross-cultural communication is an important component in your business, and with this in mind, SEESA has put together a comprehensive, informative, and interactive course which addresses issues that are socially and geographically relevant to the South African workplace. We encourage you to consider cultural competence training for your employees before you learn the cost the hard way.
SEESA Skills Training offers a Culture and Diversity in the Workplace course which addresses these topics, as well as strategies in building a more cohesive and inclusive working environment. Please visit training.seesa.co.za for more information.