Competency based organizational Culture

Introduction

Cultural competency refers to the ability to interact with people from different cultures,
as well as social and economic backgrounds. In today’s workplace, being culturally
competent is critical not only to individuals success, but to the success of the organisation, as
well. However, cultural competence is not something an individual can learn by passing a test or
taking a class at work. Instead, like most diversity issues in the workplace, cultural competence
requires that people examine their own thoughts and feelings, then work on developing their
own cross- cultural skills needed to excel in career and within the organisation.

Cultural competence is about our will and actions to build understanding between people, to be
respectful and open to different cultural perspectives, strengthen cultural security and work
towards equality in opportunity. Relationship building is fundamental to cultural competence
and is based on the foundations of understanding each other’s expectations and attitudes, and
subsequently building on strength of each other’s knowledge using a wide range of community
members and resource to build on their misunderstandings.

Underlying cultural competence are the principles of trust, respect for diversity, equity,
fairness, and social justice. Culture is the fundamental building block of identity and the
development of a strong cultural identity is essential to an individual’s healthy sense of who
they are and where they belong. Cultural competency is more than being aware of cultural
differences and is more than knowledge of the customs and values of those different from our
own. It gets beyond being respectful of the cultures represented in the service or even the
community.

According to Schein, “Corporate culture is a pattern of basic assumptions invented, discovered,

or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptations and
internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid, and therefore, to be
taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those
problems.

What Is The Difference Between "Cultural Knowledge," "Cultural Awareness," "Cultural

Sensitivity," And "Cultural Competence?"

There are four levels to these concepts:

"Cultural knowledge" means that you know about some cultural characteristics, history,
values, beliefs, and behaviors of another ethnic or cultural group.

"Cultural awareness" is the next stage of understanding other groups -- being open to the idea
of changing cultural attitudes.

"Cultural sensitivity" is knowing that differences exist between cultures, but not assigning
values to the differences (better or worse, right or wrong). Clashes on this point can easily
occur, especially if a custom or belief in question goes against the idea of multiculturalism.
Internal conflict (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and organizational) is likely to occur at times
over this issue. Conflict won't always be easy to manage, but it can be made easier if everyone is
mindful of the organizational goals.

"Cultural competence" brings together the previous stages -- and adds operational
effectiveness. A culturally competent organization has the capacity to bring into its system many
different behaviors, attitudes, and policies and work effectively in cross-cultural settings to
produce better outcomes.

Cultural competence is non-threatening because it acknowledges and validates who people are.
By focusing on the organization's culture, it removes the need to place blame and assume guilt.
Since becoming culturally competent focuses on the "how-to" of aligning policies and practices
with goals, everyone is involved in the process. This "inside-out" model relieves the outsiders
(or excluded groups) from the responsibility of doing all the adapting.

A Cultural Competence Model: 5 Essential Principles

1. Valuing diversity
Valuing diversity means accepting and respecting differences between and within cultures. We
often presume that a common culture is shared between members of racial, linguistic, and
religious groups, but this may not be true. A group might share historical and geographical
experiences, but individuals may share only physical appearance, language, or spiritual beliefs.
Our cultural assumptions can lead us to wrong conclusions. As people move to new areas and
meld with other cultures it creates a kaleidoscope of subcultures within racial groups. Gender,
locale, and socioeconomic status can sometimes be more powerful than racial factors. For
example, a Vietnamese couple may immigrate to America, and raise their children in a suburban
area. As a result, the children may identify much more with European American popular culture
than the Vietnamese culture of their parents. Understanding situations such as this can lead to a
better understanding of the complexity of diversity.

2. Conducting cultural self-assessment

The most important actions to be conscious of are usually the ones we take for granted. For
instance, physical distance during social interactions varies by culture. If a staff member of an
organization routinely touches the arm of whomever she is talking to, this might be misread in
some cultures. Such miscommunication can be avoided if the organization does cultural self-
assessment. Each organization has a culture. Surveys and discussion can help members become
more aware of the organization's way of doing things and can help it adjust to other cultures.
This assessment is a continuing process towards cultural competence.

3. Understanding the dynamics of difference

Many factors can affect cross-cultural interactions. Bias due to historical cultural experiences
can explain some current attitudes. This means the organization has some work to do, and must
be aware of this dynamic in order to be newly effective. Being proactive rather than reactive
about change produces a synergistic organization. Anticipating change is a basic dynamic in the
development of synergy. Synergy is more than just teamwork. It's the magic that happens when
people are truly working together, understanding one another deeply, and in total agreement
about their beliefs and goals, at least as far as their work goes. Synergy happens only if people
treat each other with respect and effectively communicate with each other.

4. Institutionalizing cultural knowledge

Cultural knowledge should be integrated into every facet of an organization. Staff must be
trained and be able to effectively utilize knowledge gained. Policies should be responsive to
cultural diversity. Program materials should reflect positive images of all cultures.
5. Adapting to diversity
Values, behaviours, attitudes, practices, policies, and structures that make it possible for cross-
cultural communication guide a culturally competent organization. When you recognize,
respect, and value all cultures and integrate those values into the system, culturally competent
organizations can meet the needs of diverse groups.

What are the types of diversity in an organization?

There are all types of diversity in an organization. However, some types of diversity have a
larger impact on organizations than others because they have historical significance. These
types of diversity are associated with a history of inequity and injustice where not every person
or group has been treated equally because of them. These types of diversity include:

 Marginalized or socially excluded groups

 Nationality
 Ethnicity
 Native language
 Race
 Gender
 Sexual orientation
 Social class
 Spiritual beliefs and practice
 Physical and mental ability
 Other types of diversity that should be considered, but tend to be less salient include:
 Age
 Educational status
 Family status
 Health status
 Style
 Skills and talents
 Customs
 Ideas
 Military experience
 National, regional, or other geographical area
 Ownership of property
 Occupational status
 Socioeconomic status

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO BE CULTURALLY COMPETENT?

Diversity is reality. We are all connected through the increasing globalization of

communications, trade, and labor practices. Changes in one part of the world affect people
everywhere. Considering our increasing diversity and interconnected problems, working
together seems to be the best strategy for accomplishing our goals. Because social and economic
change is coming faster and faster, organizations are understanding the need for cultural
competence. We're realizing that if we don't improve our skills we're asking for organizational
and cultural gridlock.
Studies show that new entrants to the workforce and communities increasingly will be people
of color, immigrants, and white women because of differential birth rates and immigration
patterns.

There are many benefits to diversity, such as the rich resource of alternative ideas for how to do
things, the opportunity for contact with people from all cultures and nationalities that are living
in your community, the aid in strategizing quick response to environmental change, and a
source for hope and success in managing our work and survival.

Benefits of building an organization's cultural competence are:

Incentive bonus: Corporate culture of sharing profits in the form of incentive focus with
performing employees is motivational for the employees to perform to the best of their abilities.
Thus, a company that judiciously weaves incentive bonus into its cultural reaps the benefits
thereof.

Focus: When the same values, beliefs, ideas, ethical standards , behavioural patterns – all these
constitute corporate culture- are adhered to by every individual in an organisation, there is
focus on one goal, one strategy, uniform behaviour, uniform guidelines, and uniform code of
contact, which results in enhanced efficiency and commendable results for the organisation.

Reputation: Corporate culture projects a picture of the organisation to the external

stakeholders and the general public in accordance with the characteristics the culture
possesses. Hence a healthy, noble, efficient corporate culture builds up an admirable reputation
of the organisation. It gives a strong message to the customers to the customers, suppliers ,
contractors, and all other stakeholders that the organisation is reliable and it practices, what it
believes in .

Competitive Advantage: Corporate culture can become a tool to obtain competitive advantage
in the market. This is so because corporate culture has an impact on result - influencing
parameters in an organisation. These parameters are strong motivation, prompt, decision
making, freedom to innovate, fearless feedback mechanisms, etc. The more these behavioural
patterns are encouraged, better are the results in terms of productivity and profitability and
higher are the chances to beat competition.

Increases respect and mutual understanding among those involved.

Increases creativity in problem-solving through new perspectives, ideas, and strategies.

Decreases unwanted surprises that might slow progress.

Increases participation and involvement of other cultural groups.

Increases trust and cooperation.

Helps overcome fear of mistakes, competition, or conflict. For instance, by understanding

and accepting many cultures, everyone is more likely to feel more comfortable in general and
less likely to feel the urge to look over their shoulders to be sure they are being "appropriate" in
majority terms.

Promotes inclusion and equality.

WHEN DOES AN ORGANIZATION NEED TO BECOME CULTURALLY COMPETENT?

An organization needs to become culturally competent when there is a problem or crisis, a

shared vision, and a desired outcome.

An organization is ready to become culturally competent when groups and potential leaders
that will be collaborating have been identified, the needs of the cultural groups are identified,
the organization knows what was done before and how it affected the groups involved, and the
organization is open to learning and adapting to better fit current needs.

HOW DO YOU CREATE A CULTURALLY COMPETENT ORGANIZATION?

INDICATORS OF CULTURAL COMPETENCE:

 Recognizing the power and influence of culture

 Understanding how each of our backgrounds affects our responses to others
 Not assuming that all members of cultural groups share the same beliefs and practices
 Acknowledging how past experiences affect present interactions
 Building on the strengths and resources of each culture in an organization
 Allocating resources for leadership and staff development in the area of cultural
awareness, sensitivity, and understanding
 Actively eliminating prejudice in policies and practices
 Willing to share power among leaders of different cultural backgrounds
 Evaluating the organization's cultural competence on a regular basis
 Cultural differences can either help or hurt the way an organization functions. Creating
multicultural organizations makes us deal with differences and use them to strengthen
our efforts. To reach these goals you need a plan for action.

ACTION STEPS FOR ACHIEVING CULTURAL COMPETENCE

How do you start this process? If achieving cultural competence is a top-down organizational
mandate, some would say it's less likely to happen. But support from the top should be part of it.
Getting everyone to "buy in" can be aided with a committee representing all levels in an
organization. Such a committee can establish and facilitate the following action steps. If people
at all organizational levels are involved more people are likely to be influenced to become more
culturally competent. But, the process can be complicated by the fact that some people don't
want to be more culturally sensitive or don't understand why the issue is important; be mindful
of these realities as the process ensues.

1. Develop support for change throughout the organization (who wants change and who
doesn't?)
 2. Identify the cultural groups to be involved (who needs to be involved in the planning,
implementation, and reinforcement of the change?)
3. Identify barriers to working with the organization (what is currently not working?
What will stop you or slow you down?)
4. Assess your current level of cultural competence (what knowledge, skills, and
resources can you build on? Where are the gaps? )
5. Identify the resource needed (how much funding is required to bring about the
change? Where can you find the resources?)
6. Develop goals and implementation steps and deadlines for achieving them (who can
do what, when, and how?).
7. b (measuring outcomes) and be willing to respond to change (what does progress and
success look like? What are the signs that will tell you that the organization is on the
right track?).

HOW TO BEGIN BUILDING A MULTICULTURAL ORGANIZATION

Form a committee.
This Cultural Competence Committee (CCC) within your organization should have
representation from policy making, administration, service delivery, and community levels. The
committee can serve as the primary governing body for planning, implementing, and evaluating
organizational cultural competence.
Write a mission statement.
Be sure that the mission statement commits to cultural competence as an integral part of all of
the organization's activities. The CCC should be involved in developing this statement.
Find out what similar organizations have done and develop partnerships.
Don't reinvent the wheel if you don't have to. Other organizations may have already begun the
journey toward developing and implementing culturally competent systems. Meet with these
organizations, pick their brains, and see if they will continue to work with you to develop your
cultural competence. Then adapt the processes and information that are consistent with your
needs to your organization.
Use free resources.
Aggressively pursue and use information available from federally funded technical assistance
centres that catalogue information on cultural competence.
Do a comprehensive cultural competence assessment of your organization.
Determine which instruments best match the needs and interests of your organization. Use the
assessment results to develop a long-term plan with measurable goals and objectives to
incorporate culturally competent principles, policies, structures, and practices into all aspects of
your organization. Among others, this may include changes in your mission statement, policies,
procedures, administration, staffing patterns, service delivery practices, outreach,
telecommunications and information dissemination systems, and professional development
activities.
Find out which cultural groups exist in your community and if they access community
services.
What are the cultural, language, racial, and ethnic groups within the area served by your
organization? Then find out if these groups access services and if they are satisfied with what
they get.
Have a brown bag lunch to get your staff involved in discussion and activities about cultural
competence.
The object of this get-together is to get your staff members to think about their attitudes, beliefs,
and values related to cultural diversity and cultural competence.
Ask your personnel about their staff development needs.
Find out what your organization's staff members perceive as their staff development needs with
regard to interacting with cultural groups in your area.

Assign part of your budget to staff development programming in cultural competence.

Analyze your budget to see where there are opportunities for staff development through
participation in conferences, workshops, and seminars on cultural competence. Then commit to
provide ongoing staff training and support for developing cultural competence.

Keep in mind: When you are asking the staff to come together to discuss their attitudes, beliefs,
and values related to cultural diversity and competence, consider an outside expert facilitator.
The staff members' comments will typically reflect their exposure to other cultures and their
prejudices. Someone might get offended. If hurt feelings, disagreements, or conflicts are
unresolved when the meeting is over, the staff members' job performance could be affected.

Include cultural competency requirement in job descriptions.

Cultural competency requirements should be apparent from the beginning of the hiring process.
Discuss the importance of cultural awareness and competency with potential employees.

Be sure your facility's location is accessible and respectful of difference.

An organization should be certain that the facility's location, hours, and staffing are accessible to
disabled people and that the physical appearance of the facility is respectful of different cultural
groups. Be sensitive to the fact that certain seating arrangements or decor might be appropriate
or inappropriate depending upon the cultural group. Be aware of communication differences
between cultures. For example, in many racial and ethnic groups, elders are highly respected, so
it is important to know how to show respect.

Collect resource materials on culturally diverse groups for your staff to use.

There are many free online resources, as well as printed materials. Visit the library and talk
with people at similar organizations to learn about resources.

Build a network of natural helpers, community "informants," and other "experts."

They have valuable knowledge of the cultural, linguistic, racial, and ethnic groups served by
your organization. Effective organizations must do strategic outreach and membership
development. Your organization should set ground rules that maintain a safe and nurturing
atmosphere. And the structure and operating procedures that you set should reinforce equity.

HOW TO MANAGE THE DYNAMICS OF BUILDING CULTURALLY COMPETENT

ORGANIZATIONS

Gillian Kaye and Tom Wolff's book, From the Ground Up! Is an excellent source of information
about working in diverse organizations.
Vision and context

It can take time and effort for groups with historically negative relationships to trust each other
and begin to work together effectively. A common problem is cultural dominance and
insensitivity. Involve and include people from all cultures in the process of developing a vision
for the organization.

Recruitment and outreach

Include diverse groups of people from your community at the organization's inception. This can
ensure that your organization's development reflects many perspectives. It can also minimize
real or perceived tokenism, paternalism, and inequality among the people who join later.
Recognize that changing the appearance of your membership is only the first step in
understanding and respecting all cultures. Develop and use ground rules that establish shared
norms, reinforce constructive and respectful conduct, and protect against damaging behavior.
Encourage and help people to develop qualities such as patience, empathy, trust, tolerance, and
a nonjudgmental attitude.

Diversity training

Become aware of the cultural diversity of the organization. Try to understand all its dimensions
and seek the commitment of those involved to nurture cultural diversity. Address the myths,
stereotypes, and cultural differences that interfere with the full contribution of members.

Keep in mind:

Diversity trainings are typically one-time events. These trainings alone will not change a staff
person's behaviour or an organization's practices. It is important to have other strategies that
will reinforce and sustain behavioural and policy changes.

Organizational structure and operating procedures

Share the work and share the power. Create systems that ensure equity in voice, responsibility,
and visibility for all groups. The usual hierarchy with a group or leader in charge may create a
power inequity, so create a decision-making structure in which all cultural groups have a voice
at all levels. Find ways to involve everyone using different kinds of meetings, such as dialogue
by phone, mail, or e-mail. Structure equal time for different groups to speak at meetings.
Develop operational policies and programs that confront and challenge racism, sexism, and
other forms of intolerance. Conduct criticism/self-criticism of meetings to build a common set of
expectations, values, and operating methods.

Communicating

Communication is the basic tool that the organization can use to unite people. Use inclusive and
valuing language and quote diverse sources. Learn and apply the cultural etiquette of your
members. Learn to read different nonverbal behaviors. Do not assume common understanding
and knowledge of unwritten rules. Prohibit disrespectful name -calling and use of stereotypes.
Respect and use personal names. Use humor appropriately -- laugh with each other, not at each
other. If humor strikes a sour note, the person bothered should make their feelings known.

Learn to listen for what is being said, and not what you want to hear. Invite others to be part of
the discussion. Do not misjudge people because of their accent or grammar. Test for
understanding by asking questions to be certain you understand the message. Adapt your
communication style to fit the situation -- conflicts sometimes arise simply because of the style
of a communication rather than its content.

Tips:

Some people come from cultures that do not encourage confrontation, self-disclosure, or self-
praise. This is especially true in Asian cultures. Be sensitive to these traditions when you
consider activities to help people get to know each other or to confront a problem. Allow
sufficient time for people from such cultures to feel comfortable.

In some cultures, it is impolite to refer to someone older than you by his or her name. Check
with another person from the same culture with whom you feel comfortable or is of the same
age as you.

IN SUMMARY

Building culturally competent organizations means changing how people think about other
cultures, how they communicate, and how they operate. It means that the structure, leadership,
and activities of an organization must reflect many values, perspectives, styles, and priorities.
Changing how an organization looks is only the first step. A culturally competent organization
also emphasizes the advantages of cultural diversity, celebrates the contributions of each
culture, encourages the positive outcomes of interacting with many cultures, and supports the
sharing of power among people from different cultures. To really change, an organization has to
commit to continuing programming, evaluation, and the creation of a place that is inclusive of all
cultures and celebrates diversity.