Walk along Auckland's Queen St any weekday lunchtime and you could be fooled into thinking you were in one of the many bustling cities of Asia. Headscarves, turbans, snatches of foreign languages and other signs of cultural difference abound.
The same is true of the workplace. And there are two dynamics occurring here. Migrants arrive off their own bat and look for work, and in time, their children are educated and trained and also begin entering the workforce. Separately, employers facing shortages in critical job areas are forced to recruit overseas.
We're all familiar with the notion of a workplace "culture" - often defined as "the way we do things around here" and based on the institutional values and behaviours present. But our definition of culture in the workplace must now be broadened to encompass the aspects that arise from the ethnicities and nationalities of the people present.
As a manager, this broadening of workplace culture poses definite challenges. The processes around recruiting, training, supporting, rewarding, disciplining and generally managing employees no longer work off a single, simple blueprint. In the distant past, intelligence and experience would generally equip managers with the skills to establish and maintain good relationships with their employees.
Enter Cultural Intelligence - the ability to view employees through a cultural lens specific to their nationality and background, and, more particularly, to understand the differences between cultures and how that impacts on workplace behaviour. This covers dimensions such as dress, religion (and religious practices), food, important family events like births, marriages and deaths, education and recreation.
