WORKPLACE

Intercultural Sensitivity and Positive Intercultural Relations in the Workplace
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Institution
Intercultural Sensitivity and Positive Intercultural Relations in the Workplace
One fact that can not be denied is the plurality of the society. Naturally, the society is a diverse place composed of people from different cultural backgrounds. This is also reflected in any workplace in which there are people from different cultural, social, political, racial, ethnic, geographical and national backgrounds. However, since each of the employees seeks to serve one purpose of accomplishing similar organizational goals, they need to work cohesively as a team regardless of their cultural differences (Sizoo et al., 2005).
To attain this, all employees need to foster a spirit of sensitivity, awareness and responsiveness to other cultures. Intercultural sensitivity is a very important practice that should be encouraged in the workplace. Everyone should establish and maintain a positive cultural relationship in the workplace. They should not use their differences as a divisive factor. Also, no culture should be treated with contempt because all cultural practices are important to those who believe in them (Bi, Birnholtz & Fussell, 2014). So, it should be upon everyone to understand, accept, appreciate and tolerate another person’s cultural traditions at all times. Any form of prejudice or discrimination can be harmful to the prosperity of an organization.

From the above graphical illustration, it can be seen how harmonious, friendly and accommodative a culturally sensitive workplace can be.

This can only be achieved through the development of positive intercultural relations. When this happens, all employees will feel happy and motivated to serve the organization. However, it might not be possible to attain this without having an effective interpersonal communication between the employees (Miller, 2014). In fact, better results can be attained if written communication is effectively utilized by considering, understanding and appropriately using all the words and symbols without distorting their meanings.
References
Bi, N., Birnholtz, J., & Fussell, S. (2014). ‘Intercultural awareness: Cultural and relational effects on awareness information gathering behavior.’ iConference 2014 Proceedings.
Miller, K. (2014). Organizational communication: Approaches and processes. Boston: Cengage
Learning.
Sizoo, S. et al. (2005). ‘The effect of intercultural sensitivity on employee performance in cross-
cultural service encounters.’ Journal of Services Marketing, 19(4), 245-255.