Cultural Diversity and Leadership
The hospitality industry is one of the sectors that recognized the role of cultural diversity and leadership in operating businesses. Cultural diversity has enhanced the growth, as well as the competitiveness of many organizations. With the increasing responsibilities, good leadership becomes important in organizations, too. How can a leader manage cultural diversity? The need for leaders that can manage cultural diversity is on the rise. The purpose and objective of this study is to analyze and evaluate the dilemmas of cultural diversity and the challenges it presents in the workforce as well as the need for effective leadership.
This study also takes into consideration the cultural diversity plans implemented by different organizations particularly in hospitality industry. Globalization, cross-cultural, multinational are terms that are given focus now in the business sector. With these trends the result is the need for diversity management and leadership training. What are the benefits of adopting and developing diversity and effective leadership in today’s society? This paper discusses the hospitality industry in the United States, Mauritania/Australia, and Ireland. Introduction
The issues regarding cultural diversity among employees, staff, and leaders are under study of how it can affect the organization as a whole. Cultural diversity versus cultural homogeneity becomes an issue. In some workplace, one proves beneficial than the other. People are different in many ways––in attitude, perspective, dreams, desires, aspirations, plans, and many others. Nowadays, more and more people work in foreign lands, thus increasing diversity of people in a certain workplace. With this diversity in the pool of employees, organizations need to balance the effect of having diverse cultures.
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The hospitality industry sees the great potential of cultural diversity for the general promotion and success of business industries. Aside from cultural diversity, the hospital industry also recognizes the role of effective leadership in organizations. Organizations have to create a work environment that is open and willing to accept human differences. In order to accomplish this requires diversity leadership, effective diversity organizational structures, and successful planning and implementation of appropriate and timely diversity decisions. Cultural diversity and leadership are two great challenges faced by the hospitality industry.
Along with other concerns, these two topics are worth time to analyze and discuss as to how it can affect the industry today and the coming days.
Discussion
Hospitality industries compose of work industries that serve foreign nationals like hotels, restaurants, and even fast-food chains. The hospitality industry is considered a global business. Most of its customers as well as members and staff come from different countries with definitely diverse cultural backgrounds. This kind of organization we called cross-culturalism. In hospitality industry, the customers and clients are tourists or foreign nationals. Read also emerging business opportunities at IBM case analysis
There are growing needs to be more open and sensitive to the different cultures present in the workplace. One is the difference in language. The hospitality industry encourage that language should not hinder people to understand and communicate effectively with other people (of different nationalities). Even small businesses see and recognize the benefits and opportunities brought by cross-culturalism. The growing hospitality industry takes advantage of their contacts and good relationships they established with foreign groups. It expanded the market as it able to conduct business internationally.
The hospitality industry is able to see the need to invest into a more diverse management as it tends to move and expand its business affairs. People working in the hospitality industry must also become more conscious and aware of the growing needs of this industry. This requires planning on the part of the management system. Once approved, the details must be disseminated properly to all employees to further improve their service to their clients. Hospitality industries are working ways to be open and more appreciative and less discriminating with other people differences. Defining Diversity
Before we go further, let us clarify the meaning of the word “diversity. ” The word means “variety,” “mix,” “assortment,” or “array. ” People in the workplace are diverse or different in various ways. Normally, we recognized diversity in more traditional way like in terms of race, religious background, or ethnicity. In terms of the workplace diversity people are categorize in terms of their seniority, position level, experience, union affiliation, salaries, education, and event trainings. In the more personal level it could be in terms of sex, age, marital status, and socioeconomic status.
By looking at this we began to see diversity in the broader view. We are now not limited to the synonyms “variety,” “mix,” “assortment,” or “array. ” Diversity is not exhibited by the human race alone. Other living and even nonliving things also show evidence of diverse culture. This simply shows that diversity is really diverse for it covers not one, but all possible topic we can think of. This is not also a new phenomenon since living and nonliving things have been in existence thousands of years ago. More and more opportunities contribute to the growing diversity in our midst.
People are now welcome to migrate and work in foreign lands. Though there are some countries that are choosy in getting employees but in general, working abroad is a trend in many countries. This shows global competitiveness among people in many parts of the world. This competitiveness makes the business economy expand and open more business opportunities to keep up with the ever changing needs of the society. Open, free communication and travel around different regions and continents open the door for more global sharing and transactions. Travel opportunities make people more aware and familiar with the culture of different places.
Unification and coordination among nations are growing so as diversity in the workplace.
Challenges and Dilemmas of Diversity
Diversity opens up for more challenges and dilemmas in the work environment. Diversity could trigger negotiation failures and even conflicts in the workplace. The issues regarding religion, standard norms, language, and culture sometimes make or cause interruptions of work. In lieu of this scenario, diversity does not also lead to failures and conflicts. Should such situations arise, preparedness of the hospitality industries is highly valuable.
In fact, even before such situations arise, hospitality industries must have their prepared plans of action for their every endeavor. Human Relationship Challenges One of the problems face in diversity are relationship issues. Many time, misunderstanding, conflicts, discrimination, and prejudice among people hinder harmonious relationship in organizations. A lot of misunderstanding would arise as people are not of the same cultural knowledge although they share the common team spirit. Lack of awareness of others’ differences causes misunderstanding. Conflicts will eventually arise as two people encounter difficulties.
To trash this problem, there are seminars that are conducted to brief employees of the culture of their country of employment.
Communication Challenges
The English language is recognized as the universal language. With this, we are able to communicate effectively with other nations therefore bridging the gap and building good relationship. How to unify people of diverse languages is a challenge to hospitality industries. With this challenge the ability to speak and understand foreign languages is a required skill. Today, there institutions that offer classes for different languages.
This way, before an employee fly to his or her country of destination, he or she is equipped of the appropriate language for his or her employment opportunities.
Having Effective Leaders Challenges
Leadership is a valuable tool in organizations. Developing leaders take a lot of time and effort on the part of the company. One of the challenges faced by modern leadership is leadership in diversity. Are leaders qualified to handle diversity in the workplace? To be an effective and a successful leader requires a number of attributes and skills. Leaders are expected to be responsible in diversity management.
This requires them further training and education in this aspect of their work. Leaders should be effective regardless of their diversity in the workplace. Leaders basically should poses business knowledge, market knowledge, and first-hand experience with the customer. They must also be willing to fulfill multiple roles. A leader must be a visionary, a communicator, a supporter, a facilitator, a mentor, a listener, a decision maker, a risk taker, and an active player in the organization. Leading in a diverse workforce requires knowing your employee’s needs and the encouragement to involve everyone to participate and be involve.
Leaders are described to possess sense and purpose, have commitment to the organization, have the ability to transfer knowledge, loyal, creative, possess effective and open communication skills, with initiatives, have common sense, and are highly-motivated. To become an effective leader, one has to increase his or her sensitivity and awareness of the diversities, has to identify resources that can strengthen and improve the quality of life, has open communication with others, and can employ strategies that can serve as change agents to maximize the benefit of a culturally diverse workplace.
Industry Example of Managing Diversity
Mauritian and Australian Hotels Productive diversity is now being utilized in Mauritian and Australian Hotels. Diversity is now being coined with productivity. Since diversity is ever present, might as well harness how it could make business successful. In Mauritian and Australia Hotels, employees are, again, diverse. They are from different countries. They have different beliefs and traditions. They have different work ethics. With these diversities, these hotels are able to establish their business utilizing the potentials of these diverse employees.
Hotels are homes to visiting foreigners. They also exhibit diversity. Here come our diverse employees who can inform the hotel management of the cultures of different nationalities. A better rapport can be established when clients can be treated with personal touch. In cases of clients that speak in different language, hotels can tap the service of their employee who can understand and speak the language. These clients are more comfortable speaking to those who speak their language, too.
Not only that, hotels can attend to the clients’ needs faster and more efficiently because they have understand clearly what the clients demand. Hospitality industry is best observed in hotels. People check in hotels in substitute for their real homes. So clients must really be well taken cared off when inside hotels. The hotels’ amenities and beautiful scenarios are not the only ones needed to satisfy clients.
Good customer relation is top listed for every client. United States The United States is one of the powerful countries in the world. Many people from around the globe desire to visit U. S. , maybe for vacation, employment, or citizenship. Cross-culturalism is very much present in U. S. School institutions are a good spot to observe diverse cultures. We can observe now that there are professors from other nationalities. Teaching is more effective when teachers can fully and truly understand their students. Students enrolled in the U. S. are not only Americans. There are many students from different parts of the world that adopted the U. S. Educational System. To keep up with this trend, school management accepts professors from different countries, too.
Their role is not only to teach but also to guide the “foreign” students until they have accustomed to the Americans’ way of life. This is also a good marketing strategy for interested students may enroll in schools that honor hospitality. Ireland Ireland has applied hospitality in its industry of providing leisure to business tourists. Same with Mauritian and Australian Hotels, visiting tourists can enjoy their stay better when they are provided with good customer service. Hotels, school institution, leisure industry, and others are just examples of organizations where hospitality is utmost needed.
The success of the hospitality industries is also attributed to the leaders or to the management who are able to manage and normalize the diverse cultures. Effective leadership and management in handling cultural diversity will give customer satisfaction and good publicity. Conclusion Meeting the challenges and demands of diversity is one of the recent dynamic needs of the work society. There is considerable increase in awareness with regards to diversity in the workplace. Organization like the hospitality industry looks more positively at the benefits of encouraging diversity.
Leadership demands in diversity will also increase as more workers search for capable and competitive leaders that will meet and address their needs. In order to accomplish this takes it requires study, planning, implementation, and evaluation. It has become a trend to capitalize on the human resources diversity in terms of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Indeed diversity opens up “cultural entrepreneurship. ” But in order to utilize and benefit from this one must be ready to face the challenges and dilemmas involve. Hospitality is not for the hospitality industry alone but for all applicable situations.
In fact, hospitality must be practiced everyday, regardless of age, regardless of place. Hospitality must start at home. When children are trained to respect all people, they can apply it anywhere they go. Children can start showing hospitality to their parents, siblings, then to their relatives, friends, classmates, teachers, and others. When they grow up, these children will value the importance of being hospitable in every occasion. Recommendation What cultural diversity is must be explained to all members of the organizations. This way, everyone is knowledgeable of this issue.
The importance of respecting other people’s culture must be disseminated throughout the organization so that employees will learn to give respect one another. Since leadership is needed to be able to balance the effect of cultural diversity, a good, effective leader is needed. This leader will utilize cultural diversity to improve the hospitality industry. To become a leader, one must be willing to be trained. One training could be in dealing with customers or customer service. There should be follow-up trainings, too so that the leaders’ performance can be evaluated.
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Cultural Diversity and Leadership. (2018, Feb 17). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/cultural-diversity-and-leadership/
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