Why is it important to understand cultural background?

The workplace is changing rapidly. People from many countries are represented in the workforce in the United States and all over the world. Not only that, businesses often deal with clients and partners from different parts the globe. There are many benefits to diversity: Multiculturalism provides businesses with a limitless pool of talent, ideas, viewpoints and opinions.

A person’s culture can affect how she behaves in the workplace, from the way she speaks to the way she interacts with colleagues. It’s important to be aware of cultural differences so you can avoid conflicts that are related to diversity. By ensuring that your employees know the importance of understanding cultural differences in the workplace, you can maximize your business’s potential by uniting everyone to focus on achieving your goals.

Creating and instituting guidelines and policies surrounding diversity is a critical step to ensuring your employees are culturally aware. By setting rules about what is acceptable and ethical behavior in the workplace, you can provide clarity around how employees of diverse backgrounds should interact with one another.

Review local laws surrounding discrimination in the workplace, and include those regulations in your company policies. Be sure everyone – from the leadership team to the front-line employees – is aware of what constitutes discrimination.

Diversity is an opportunity for employees to learn about new cultures. Actively listen to your employees' stories about their heritage, and ask questions to expand your knowledge about where they are from. Show your employees that you value their differences by wishing them well on their cultural or religious holidays.

Food is a great way to learn about other cultures. Have monthly lunches for staff at restaurants that serve food from around the world, or ask employees to share recipes for their favorite foods from home. During religious or cultural festivals, bring in treats from the relevant culture to share with employees. Introducing new traditions to staff helps to bridge the gap between differences by creating a shared experience.

Many conflicts at work arise as a result of miscommunication and misunderstanding. People from different cultural backgrounds often have different styles of verbal and physical communication. For example, in some cultures, greetings are shown with a bow instead of a handshake. In other cultures, direct eye contact is deemed impolite, whereas in some places it’s a sign of honesty and trust.

Verbal communication styles also differ from culture to culture. In some parts of the world, saying something in a direct manner to a superior comes off as rude or disrespectful. However, in other places it’s a sign of expedience and efficiency, regardless of the seniority of the person you’re speaking to.

When working with colleagues, partners and clients from other parts of the world, spend some time researching the communication norms of their cultures. This way, you’ll have more context in understanding the physical and verbal communication cues that differ from your own.

Being culturally aware is synonymous with being more knowledgeable about different parts of the world. Show employees you value their diversity by acknowledging and celebrating it. If your business has employees from several different countries, have them mark their places of origin on a large map in the common room. It’s a great conversation starter and a launch point to learning about other cultures.

Understanding your own culture, and how it shapes your behavior, is also an important part of being culturally aware. For example, if you’re faced with a cultural behavior that’s very different from your own, think about how and why you behave the way you do. This deeper understanding of your own culture can provide insight when learning about other cultures.

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The world continues to grow as both cultures and populations evolve. Technological advancements, travel, and communication have brought us closer together both culturally and geographically than ever before. And with various opportunities to engage with people from all walks of life, cultural awareness is more crucial than ever before.

Not only does culture define who we are, it also shapes the way we interact with others. By being culturally aware, you can build meaningful connections with people from around the world, while improving your own sense of self. In this article, we’ll discuss seven reasons cultural awareness matters.

Seven Reasons Why Cultural Awareness Is Crucial

Being culturally aware matters for many reasons that affect almost every aspect of both our personal lives, and the communities we are a part of; including navigating everyday interactions, succeeding in our careers, and communicating empathetically and effectively with other people. Even though it might seem like a daunting task, we must continue to develop our cultural awareness. Here are seven reasons to undertake the task of developing your cultural awareness:

Cultural awareness can help you break down cultural barriers and build bridges, by learning how to appreciate and respect those who are different from you.

As you come to understand more about yourself and your own culture, you’ll learn how to relate better to individuals from different cultural backgrounds. When we encounter new cultures and languages, we typically make comparisons and may begin to realise that our personal values, behaviours, and beliefs aren’t shared with others from different parts of the world.

By being culturally aware, you can recognise and appreciate other people’s beliefs, customs, and values to interact with them without prejudice or judgement. This leads to more cultural connections and fewer interpersonal conflicts arising from cultural differences. Cultural awareness also helps us keep smaller and more remote cultures alive. We offer Indigenous cultural awareness training for those who would like to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and culture.

When you’re culturally aware, you’ll know what’s considered offensive or inappropriate to others, such as incorrect body language, which may lead to accidental misunderstandings that could easily be avoided.

You’re likely to meet people coming from diverse backgrounds in the workplace, each with their own opinions and beliefs, which may sometimes seem to conflict with the company’s values.

Embracing cultural awareness can help you recognise how cultural differences can influence one’s perceptions, helping us become more accommodating of different opinions. In addition, being empathetic and understanding can help create an inclusive environment that encourages creativity and innovation, while improving efficiency and profitability.

If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of cultural awareness in the workplace, we cover the topic in more detail at the link above.

One of the best ways to explore our planet is through culture. Although travelling is a brilliant way to learn about different cultures from their geographical roots, you don’t have to go that far to immerse yourself in new cultures. You can explore other cultures through seeking to understand new ideologies, listening to different types of global music, trying new foods, reading folklore stories, and watching forgein films. All of these activities give you the chance to both appreciate the differences and recognise the similarities between various cultures.

When discussing cultural awareness, we often tend to focus on other people as we recognise and understand the differences from our own cultural heritage, customs, and perspectives.

However, cultural awareness is closely linked to self-awareness, because we can relate better to people when we know ourselves well. Learning about other people’s cultures enhances our sense of self, bringing us to the realization that being culturally aware matters much more than we initially thought, both for our own self-relationship and for our relationship with others.

Speaking directly to people from other cultures isn’t the only way to communicate and interact with them. We should also prioritise cultural awareness in other modes of communication, such as in:

Marketing campaigns
Product design
Educational events
Public speaking engagements
Platforms through which we send and receive communication between businesses, customers, and our communities.

Displaying our awareness of diverse cultures in a respectful way creates a unified society by supporting cultural differences and encouraging others to adopt the same gesture of respect.

While you may have control over what you personally say and how you say it, you can’t control how other people interpret your words. Misunderstandings in communication are common even among those who share the same native language and culture.

Imagine how much more the communication between people from different cultures may be prone to these misunderstandings, especially when it may involve someone who is speaking their second language.

After knowing how others may interpret your words, you can identify ways to communicate empathetically and effectively with diverse audiences, while finding ways to minimize any potential misunderstandings.

When you look around, you may realize that many individuals belong to various cultures in your palace of work, at your school, or in your community. Yet, for every person who celebrates their cultural identity publicly, there are others who champion their cultural heritages privately. As subcultures and cultures grow within populations, our society must become more culturally aware by encouraging people from diverse cultures to unite as a community and celebrate their differences and similarities.

Final Thoughts

As you learn about different cultures, you’ll start to recognise that all of us are unique individuals, with our own backgrounds, traditions, beliefs, and social norms. Instead of generalising, you’ll begin to treat every person as a separate individual with their own strengths, desires, and dreams. By developing your cultural awareness you can help create a better environment where each individual has the opportunity to succeed.