7 strategies pour creer des communications internes culturellement inclusives
A famous metaphor goes that “words cut deeper than a knife.” Unfortunately, even one tiny, culturally inappropriate word or gesture (you’ll find some examples in this blog post) has enough power to emotionally wound your employees and spoil corporate relationships. Adding fuel to the fire: it can sabotage employee experience or—as if that weren’t bad enough—exclude the person from the team entirely.
In fact, 20% of workers (every fifth!) don’t feel included in their organizations. That’s why workplace inclusion has long turned from a trivial catchphrase into a strategic task for companies aiming to achieve employee success.
In this article, we’ll talk about how to “sow” cultural inclusion in employee communications and make it take root in any work environment by giving it enough “nutrients” to survive and grow fuller. You reap what you sow, as they say.
So, let’s start planting the proper seeds of culturally inclusive communication in your company.
What Is Cultural Inclusion in Internal Comms?
Cultural inclusion in corporate communication is an atmosphere where everyone has an equal opportunity and right to participate in conversations, be heard, and feel respected and valued regardless of their background.
Employees, especially in today’s multinational workplaces following the globalization vector, may come from diverse cultures and have various backgrounds:
- Geographical (urban, suburban, rural)
- Ethnic and racial
- Religious
- Heritage and tradition-driven (e.g., traditional clothing like the kilt in Scotland or the sari in most of the South Asian countries)
- Linguistic (languages and dialects)
- Societal (e.g., different subcultures or strata of society)
- And others.
Cultural diversity like this grants a multitude of perks, from attracting the best candidates to gaining better employee engagement rates to generating sky-high revenues. “Highly inclusive” organizations are 120 times more likely to meet their financial goals and generate 1.4 times higher profits on average.
But along with diversity comes the need for equity and inclusion, forming the DEI triad. Let’s discuss the latter in detail from a cultural perspective.
Your Ultimate Guide to Culturally Inclusive Workplace Communication
Here’s how you can help employees from diverse cultural environments communicate and collaborate agreeably and harmoniously.
Drop stereotypes and boost multicultural awareness.
You’re probably thinking: “That’s not about our team. Our internal comms are free from cultural prejudices and biases.”
However, the trickiest thing about stereotypes is that they can be unconscious, too. Your employees may unknowingly use them in internal communication because they have been deeply ingrained into their minds.
For instance, look at these unintentional assumptions about different nations and ethnicities:
- All Brazilians are great dancers.
- Jamaicans are always relaxed and carefree.
- Canadian people are overly polite.
How can you fight conscious and unconscious culture-based stereotypes in your in-office or remote team’s internal communications?
“The sooner you begin educating your team about cultural nuances and raising multicultural awareness in the workplace,” notes Lifei Chen, Founder at buysmart.ai “the cleaner your internal communications will be from stereotypical judgments and remarks.” He recommends taking a more curated rather than scattered approach:
“Creating a structured cultural awareness program can help you systematize and coordinate this process. It can take the format of educational modules dedicated to specific topics around one or several cultures: historical heritage, social norms, communication etiquette (in-person and digital), traditions, holidays, and so on.”
Alternatively, explore ready-made programs relevant to your company.
For example:
Diversity Australia offers an Indigenous Cultural Awareness program for organizations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees.
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