Cultural Competency in the Workplace

Cultural Competency in the Workplace

Today's management in the workforce is composed of all types of people verses thirty years ago when white males held a majority of upper-management positions in companies. These positions are now held by a mixture of ethnic back grounds and women who hold just as many if not more management positions then men. Just by looking at the changes in management demographics shows how important it is for people to understand cultural competency in the workplace. Dr. Roosevelt Thomas Jr. (1999) stated, "Diversity is the collective mixture of whomever we have in our workforce characterized by their differences and similarities" (p.11). Managers and supervisors must understand the characteristics of a diversity mature individual; they also need to be able to articulate the differences between affirmative action, managing diversity, understanding and valuing diversity to build skills that transforms awareness into productive and supportive workplace behaviors.

There are many different characteristics of a diversity mature individual. The most important characteristic is when a person accepts diversity management responsibility. The person will need to understand the different types of ethnic backgrounds in the organization, and the different types of techniques he or she will have to use to motivate the staff. He or she will also understand how to treat everyone equal no matter what gender, or ethnic background the employee may be.

Diversity mature individuals must demonstrate contextual knowledge. This knowledge is showed by understanding his or her personal objectives. The individual must know what he or she plans to accomplish before working with others to help develop their personal goals. Also by knowing the organizational objectives, the individual can develop a team to strive towards the bottom line of the organizational goals. Finally, the individual must be able to provide conceptual clarity to the team. This clarity will help the team understand how and why these ideas were created. The one thing a manager does not want is for the team to think everything is just busy work and not for a specific purpose.

Other characteristics of a diversity mature individual include a person who challenges conventional wisdom, and engages in continuous learning. When a person challenges conventional wisdom, he or she is saying it is not ok to continue the same processes of the past because it may affect views and values of the current employees. Also the individual must be willing to continue building his or her awareness of the effects of cultural competency in the workplace by keeping up with current events.

Finally, the individual needs to be comfortable when dealing with the dynamics of diversity. This person will need to utilize a process framework in addressing diversity. This means take the time to understand both sides of the story before deciding who was wrong. Sometimes a saying may be interpreted wrong because it may be acceptable in one culture but not the other. A diversity mature individual will take the time to ask questions to better understand the situation, and then provide a solution to help both parties resolve the matter in a peaceful way. This technique will allow employees to regain focus and continue performing at peak levels.

Martin and Tulgan (2002) claims, " Affirmative action is the positive steps an employer takes to employ women and minorities in numbers equal to or greater than their availability and to proactively seek to employ those with disabilities and veterans" (p.89). Over the course of the years equal employment opportunity laws and regulations were put in place. The Equal Pay Act was established in 1963 to set pay based on the job category, and to prevent wage differential based on gender. In 1965 the Executive Order 11246 was passed to stop federal contractors and federally-assisted construction contractors and subcontractors, who do over $10,000 in Government business in one year from discriminating during the hiring process due to race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 states Vietnam era veterans, special disabled veterans, and veterans who served on active

duty when a campaign badge has been awarded is protected in employment. In 1993 the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act was created to give at least twelve workweeks of unpaid leave during a rolling twelve month period. Examples of eligible cases are as follows: for the birth and care of a newborn baby of the employee; to care for an immediate family member such as a spouse, child, or parent suffering from a serious health condition; to take sick time when the employee is having problems with his or her health. These laws continue to be used by organizations to ensure equal employment opportunities are being given to