Grow your team
When you become an Inclusive Employers’ Member you grow your I&D team.
Your account manager works with you to understand your goals, your challenges and achievable next steps.
Do you need more support for your inclusive culture to thrive?
In this final blog in our trilogy from Ruth-Anne Eghan, she highlights the barriers that leaders face when working cross-culturally, and explains what metrics to focus on in order to overcome them and create culturally intelligent workplaces. This blog is inspired by the theme of Global Inclusion Week 2024, ‘Cultural Intelligence: Inclusion Across Cultures’.
You can learn more from Ruth’s by reading her first two blogs in our My Cultural Identity Series. Read on to discover her expert advice for leaders who are ready to create inclusive and culturally intelligent workplaces.
What are the key components of Cultural Intelligence?
According to Michael Mauro’s definition of Cultural Intelligence (highlighted in the image below) it has four key components. They are:
- Cultural knowledge: how you understand the customs, values and social norms of different cultures.
- Cultural mindfulness: Being aware of your own cultural biases and assumptions.
- Cultural skills: Ability to work effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
- Cultural motivation: Willingness to engage with diverse cultures.
What barriers are there to embedding Cultural Intelligence?
Embedding Cultural Intelligence requires a proactive approach and a commitment to continuous learning. Here are some of the common challenges that can arise with Cultural Intelligence.
Communication barriers
Differences in language, communication styles, and cultural norms can lead to misunderstanding.
Implicit Cultural bias
Microaggressions, stereotypes, and implicit biases based on cultural backgrounds can influence decision-making, hiring practices, and interactions, leading to discrimination.
Resistance to change
Some people may resist embracing cultural diversity due to fear of difference, discomfort with unfamiliar approaches, or a likeness for what is known.
Inequitable access to opportunities
Structural barriers or systemic inequalities may affect individuals from underrepresented cultural backgrounds, limiting their access to opportunities.
Instrumentalisation, tokenism, and superficial inclusion
These are only done to be organisationally compliant and look good. They are fake attempts at inclusion and diversity (I&D) such as token actions without impactful thought.
Cultural Assimilation
Pressure to conform to dominant cultural norms in the organisational culture. As a result, individuals from global majority backgrounds may operate with high levels of conformity bias.
Cultural Appropriation
The exploitation and inappropriate adoption of an individual’s culture by organisations or people. It can lead to marginalised groups feeling used.
Lack of leadership support
Inadequate support, commitment, and accountability for I&D may hinder efforts to promote cultural diversity and inclusion in the workplace, leading to high staff turnover and absenteeism.
“Following Global Inclusion Week 2024, we’re asking you to answer the call action and embrace the metrics highlighted here to embed Cultural Intelligence.”
Download the Cultural Intelligence guide from our Global Inclusion Week toolkit
What can leaders do to enhance Cultural Intelligence?
Here are some key metrics that leaders can introduce to enhance Cultural Intelligence.
1) Sponsorship and participation in I&D
Set a target for the percentage of leadership actively sponsoring and participating in initiatives promoting I&D, such as mentorship programs or diversity training sessions.
2) Inclusion and diversity in executive performance evaluations
Integrate specific I&D-related goals and achievements into the performance evaluation criteria for leaders, aiming for a particular percentage increase in related outcomes each year.
3) Transparency and accountability in reporting progress on I&D metrics to stakeholders
Pay transparency: Establish regular reporting for sharing progress on key I&D metrics with stakeholders, including transparent reporting on gender and ethnicity pay gaps, to achieve total pay equity.
4) Align compensation and rewards with I&D outcomes
Ensure that compensation and rewards structures align with I&D goals, with incentives tied to meeting or exceeding diversity targets and fostering an inclusive work environment.
For example, you could benchmark against industry standards or best practices and aim to surpass them within a timeframe, demonstrating a commitment to continuous improvement.
Next steps to embrace Cultural Intelligence in your workplace
Through this trilogy of blogs in the My Cultural Identity series, I have highlighted the transformative power of Cultural Intelligence and the journey toward equity. We have experienced the complexities of cultural identity and recognise its profound impact on personal growth, professional endeavours, and societal progress. This quote from David Livermore reflects just how important it is:
“The number one predictor of your success in today’s borderless world is not your IQ, not your resume, and not even your expertise. It’s your CQ (Cultural Intelligence)” – David Livermore
Following, Global Inclusion Week 2024, we’re asking you to answer the call action and embrace the metrics highlighted here to embed Cultural Intelligence.
To further this mission of inclusion, I invite you to reflect on the following actionable questions and consider how you can use them in your workplace to take action on inclusion:
- Am I aware of how I can further contribute to driving I&D within my environment?
- How can I share more of my cultural heritage and experiences in my workplace to create understanding and appreciation?
- What I&D initiatives and networks can I actively engage with or support to amplify diverse voices and perspectives?
- Am I willing to confront and address my cultural biases, acknowledging that they exist and striving to overcome them?
- Does my cultural value system align with my environment, and am I open to learning from diverse perspectives?
- Who can I be accountable to in my journey toward greater cultural intelligence and awareness, and how can I hold myself to that standard?
- How can I initiate cross-cultural dialogues, and what role do I have in creating a culturally intelligent workplace?
If you would like bespoke support on how to lead cross-cultural teams or want support to measure the success of your Cultural Intelligence initiatives, use the contact form to get in touch with our inclusion and diversity experts:
Grow your team
When you become an Inclusive Employers’ Member you grow your I&D team.
Your account manager works with you to understand your goals, your challenges and achievable next steps.
Do you need more support for your inclusive culture to thrive?
Read more Global Inclusion Week blogs
What we have learned from our first Global Inclusion Week