More organizational leaders are trying to overcome the challenges of managing a multicultural workforce so that they can reap the benefits. A multicultural workforce consists of employees with a wide range of backgrounds. Age, race, national origin, gender and marital status are just some of the traits that distinguish employees culturally.
A common advantage of a multicultural workforce is a broader range of perspectives on issues or challenges. A 1999 "Fortune" study supported the notion that more diverse companies were performing better. People from different backgrounds bring their own unique cultural experiences to the situations they face in their companies and this broader perspective of viewpoints tends to allow for a better ultimate resolution.
Employees with diverse backgrounds can also provide the company broader coverage in a global marketplace. For instance, a company that operates in 10 countries can better serve the needs of those markets if it has employees familiar with them. The ability to accurately speak and write the language, overcome cultural barriers and communication filters and know what consumers want are advantages of employees that can relate to global customers.
Enhanced Risk of Discrimination
A diverse workforce presents increased potential for discrimination. It is natural that if you put people together with obvious distinguishing traits, employees with prejudices could use them against others. This increased risk is why diversity management is so critical with multicultural workforces. Companies need to provide cultural awareness and sensitivity training to help create a company culture of tolerance and acceptance of differences.
Though global communication is usually a benefit, internal communication is typically more challenging when you have language and cultural barriers. Again, diversity management can help. However, companies with a multicultural workforce have more obstacles to overcome. In his article "Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions," Josh Greenberg notes that miscommunication about major objectives can lead to problems and cause low employee morale that can ultimately add to the potential conflicts of diversity.
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