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• Recruiting and Managing Diversity in the Workplace
  • Overview
  • Cultural Diversity at Work in New Zealand
  • Whats Unique About International Talent
  • Perceptions of Difference
  • How Do We Unlock The Potential Of Diversity
  • The Recruitment Process Applying An Intercultural Lens
  • Prepare The Job Profile
  • Advertise The Job
  • Short List The Candidates
  • Conduct The Interview
  • Award The Job
  • Monitor The Recruitment Process
  • Acquaint The Newcomer To The Workplace
  • We Welcome Your Comments
  • Acknowledgements
  • References and Suggested Reading

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How Do We Unlock The Potential Of Diversity

"The manager who knows only his or her own country is doomed to become obsolete. Most organizations can no longer afford to employ culturally myopic managers." Philip R. Harris & Robert Moran, Managing Cultural Differences

Our cultural background can have a profound effect on the recruitment process. Our culture provides the lens through which we see the world. It can limit us to the world we know, providing a reference point against which we judge other cultures.

Being open to difference frees us to appreciate other cultures, opening up potential for personal enrichment as well as financial payback in business.

An intercultural lens

An intercultural lens offers us a way forward. It enables us to see situations through a different set of eyes. Understanding our own culture and learning about others:

• enables us to see ‘foreign’ behaviour from different perspectives
• sensitises us to problems and misunderstandings that may occur because of cultural differences
• helps us to have more realistic expectations about intercultural interactions.

Applying an intercultural lens in the recruitment process enables us to recognise and harness potential in applicants who may have a different cultural background than ourselves.

How does my cultural lens affect my judgement?

This video scene shows how assumptions can influence the recruitment process. When accents are coupled with visible difference in the candidate, the likelihood of employment appears to decrease.

• Could you understand what Andrew was saying?
• If you were an employer, would you view Andrew’s suitability as a candidate differently had he spoken to you with a Chinese accent when you first met?
• If Andrew were a new member of your staff, would his accent get in the way of the staff working effectively together?

Learning about other cultures

People who are effective intercultural communicators are described as being ‘open-minded’ with a broad range of interests. Many of them have learnt about other cultures through travel or through their own family connections.

How can we learn about other cultures?

It’s OK to ask! Culturally revealing questions include:

Become a mentor or offer short term internships. Programmes such as these, familiarise newcomers with the New Zealand workplace and introduce employees to the benefits of cultural diversity.

• The Workplace Communication for Skilled Migrants programme, Victoria University of Wellington
• The Wellington City Council’s Migrant and Refugee Work Experience Programme
• The Mentoring Programme established by OMEGA (Opportunities for Migrant Employment in Greater Auckland)
• The Canterbury Migrant Employment Project offered through the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce
• The New Kiwis Work Experience programme and the Kiwi Career Success programme run by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce.

Seek out other learning resources:

more to come

Steps towards an intercultural lens

Behavioural change can initially feel uncomfortable. Operating through an inter-cultural lens requires a new perspective and a new set of skills.

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