Cultural Competency Training: 4 Major Benefits

Through cultural competency training, you can communicate and engage successfully with people from other cultures who have different values and schedules. Improving your cultural competence at work may boost your productivity and performance, but learning it properly requires time and dedication.

Cultural competency training makes it easier for teams to collaborate more effectively. It also aids them in better comprehending and communicating with their consumers and partners. Businesses with culturally competent workforces may expand into new regions and markets more readily than businesses with culturally inept workforces.

What Does Cultural Competency Mean?

A person's capacity to effectively communicate, work, and build meaningful connections with others from varied cultural origins is referred to as cultural competency. It goes beyond tolerance, which indicates a willingness to put differences aside. Instead, it entails recognizing and valuing variety in all circumstances via our words and deeds.

If not tackled proactively, the expanding variety of cultures and viewpoints in the workplace can create problems in collaboration and teamwork. You can be more efficient if you have more employees who can understand and sympathize with one another. 

How to Integrate Cultural Competency Training in the Workplace?

Others have a natural tendency to categorize people who are different from them, particularly when we don't comprehend what they're saying. Cultural competency training can help companies evolve in this way. Training helps us recognize our method while also respecting and accepting other people's opinions and ways of communicating and acting. For effective cultural competency training, below are three main steps to cover.

1. Self-Recognition

The first step in developing cultural competence is to become aware of oneself and one's own culture. Employees may be less ready to evaluate another's perspective if they realize their own is subjective.

2. Recognizing Values and Norms

Secondly, ask employees to recall an interaction that made them feel uneasy. What was the difference between the other employee's actions and their cultural norms? Keep an eye out for stereotypes and understand how unconscious prejudices have influenced the situation.

3. Recognizing Differences

Consider a moment when differences have been a difficulty and a time when they have helped accomplishment in the workplace. As a society, we must "unlearn" our prejudices and biases. Recognizing differences without passing judgment is a terrific way to start.

Every business plan should include cultural competency training as a cornerstone. Make certain you're paying it the respect it deserves.

How Can We Cultivate a Culturally Competent Mindset?

• Demonstrate openness by showing acceptance of differences.
• Be adaptable by displaying a willingness to embrace uncertainty.
• Suspension of judgment and the ability to learn are two ways to show humility.
• Appreciate cultural differences and be attentive to others.
• Show a sense of adventure by being curious and looking for changes in various settings.
• Use our capacity to laugh at ourselves to develop a sense of humor.
• Demonstrate a successful contact with the recognized culture to demonstrate positive change or action.

Benefits of Cultural Competency Training

There are varied groups of individuals in the workplace. As the methods of communication and cooperation in the workplace grow, cultural competency is becoming increasingly vital. To maximize a company's efficiency and production, employees must learn to appreciate, communicate, and interact with increasingly varied work cultures. The following are some advantages of implementing cultural competency training in the workplace.

• A wider range of skills and viewpoints

Integrating a wider diversity of viewpoints, expertise, and abilities into the workplace may help solve problems and spur creativity. People may submit innovative and surprising ideas that propel a company ahead in discussion with different teams.

• Increased Capacity to Enter New Markets

Companies are better suited to develop into global markets if they have the knowledge and ability to understand other cultures.

• Improvement in collaboration and communication 

In the workforce, cultural competency may aid managers and employees in better communicating and coordinating with colleagues and customers. This can boost collaboration and productivity.

• Improvement in employee satisfaction

When workers feel noticed, listened to, and acknowledged at work, they are more likely to be pleased with their job. Prioritizing cultural competency can also help workers have a better understanding of themselves as individuals in a diverse team. It can also assist workers in making better decisions and forming stronger bonds.

Suggestions for Enhancing Cultural Competency at Work

You'll need a strategy to develop cultural competence in your company. Begin by analyzing your present level of cultural competency and identifying the information, skills, and resources you can use to improve. Determine whether you'll need money to make the change happen and, if so, how much you'll need.

For instance, training programs may need both business resources and workers' time to accomplish. Describe the what, when, and how of your cultural competency strategy, as well as goals and procedures to attain them.

The following pointers should assist you in creating your strategy:

• Prepare yourself to be a global citizen

In a cross-cultural workplace, providing employees with the knowledge to better comprehend cultural differences is crucial for good work and team performance. Consider arranging cultural competency training sessions to help your personnel have a better understanding of different cultures' habits. Communication styles in different cultures, negotiating skills, business etiquette, and marketing abilities might all be included in the training.

• Work on your communication abilities

Different cultures communicate in a variety of ways, especially when it comes to background and forthrightness. Americans, for example, are more forthright and express exactly what they mean. Individuals in many different cultures are less straightforward, which might be misleading or confusing to workers who are used to direct communication. Use brief sentences and minimize colloquialism to avoid misinterpretation. Following up on spoken communication with an email might assist in avoiding misconceptions and blunders.

• Use proper etiquette

Workers are usually aware of the value of good manners, but excellent manners are particularly important in some nations. In certain nations, for example, saying "please" and "thank you" is considered mandatory. It's also crucial to choose your level of formality. Individuals in the United States are more informal in both their demeanor and their attire. Formality is respected in other cultures and is seen as a sign of respect.

• Encourage dialogue

Urge workers to come to management if they are having difficulty adjusting to cultural differences. The sooner you solve these difficulties, the less bad impact on productivity you will encounter. Provide equal time for each team member to share their concerns to thoroughly comprehend all viewpoints and successfully resolve the disagreement.

• Teamwork should be encouraged

When goal-oriented team settings are prioritized, cultural conflicts are often minimized. In order to reap the benefits of cultural diversity, cross-cultural team development is vital.

• Make “listening” a habit

To completely comprehend someone else's perspective, cultural competency necessitates listening with an open mind. It demands being open to the possibility that someone else's concept or point of view is better or more efficient than yours. At the very least, it necessitates that you approach each encounter as a learning opportunity.

In a Nutshell

There have been freshly established approaches for practicing cultural competency in the workplace over the years. Understanding the numerous distinct cultures that exist is becoming a more important aspect in the workplace. Cultural competence training strategies must be put into practice outside of the classroom. Businesses can fulfill cultural competency training of employees by taking aid from professional firms.