Intercultural communication takes place when people from different cultures interact together.

Culture is learned, shared and acquired; it is not biologically transmitted, but socially constructed. We learn it from family, school and other social institutions. What is right or wrong, acceptable or unacceptable, moral or immoral is often defined by the principles of culture that we hold.

How do intercultural differences occur?

Intercultural differences occur due to the different values, beliefs and practices that individuals from different cultural groups hold. These differences have a strong impact on the way that people work, plan, behave, negotiate, do business, and establish relationships and rapport.

‘If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language that goes to his heart’ – Nelson Mandela

How cultures differ?

When the rules of one culture are used to ‘decode’ the behaviour of another, then it is likely to lead to cultural misunderstandings. Cultures can be divided in two categories according to their communication style: high context culture and low context culture.

For instance, in high context communication, communicators rely relatively more on the context of a message (knowledge, experience and non-verbal cues such as: facial expressions, silence, eye contact, tone of voice, silence, gesture, posture) and less on the words themselves.

High context cultures such as: China, Japan, Korea, American Indian, Most Latin American cultures, Southern and Eastern Mediterranean cultures, such as Greece, Turkey, and Arab states.

On the other hand, in low context communication the communication is straightforward, based on the semantic meaning of words and not veiled by non-verbal cues.

Low context cultures: Switzerland, Germany, North America and Nordic states.

In today’s business…
It is worth considering the skills that employers seek during recruitment, one of them being; interpersonal skills. These are vital for effective communication between individuals. From an intercultural aspect, competence in these skills can facilitate comprehension, diminish the presence of misunderstandings and stereotyping.

Doing business on a global scale or working with people from around the world, requires mindfulness during an interaction, and the most suitable way to address this is through intercultural training. Having culturally aware staff helps businesses to operate efficiently by ensuring an open-minded working environment, and high levels of customer retention and satisfaction. Developing intercultural awareness can contribute to the expansion of a business across national borders, to the attraction of new cultural groups of customers (and business partners!) and the potential for maximum business growth and profit.

Having launched two companies and worked with organisations of all shapes and sizes over the last 35 years, it is clear to me that corporate cultures can vary wildly.

Those who consider their workforce to be disposable and accept high churn may have a poor brand reputation, yet still be considered successful.

In an ideal world all companies will encourage and train their staff which will help to benefit the overall work pool. However, many companies don’t go far enough. Millions of pounds are wasted each year due to mental health issues and reduced productivity; yet little is done to address this. Generally, physical injuries and disabilities are catered for but addressing mental health in the workplace is still avoided.

Why so?

In smaller companies productivity is at a premium and quality staff can be vital to success. Yet how many of you have staff that work long hours and don’t take holidays, yet seem to achieve so little? Or do you have valued staff who are talking increasing amounts of time off work?

You may think you have a bond of trust with your staff but put yourself in their shoes. If they’re struggling they might not want to burden you with extra challenges or they may think that disclosing their problems will affect their chance at future promotions. Changes in working conditions or company mergers, can have a bigger impact on morale than you might expect.

Don’t lose revenue through lack of communication and understanding. Get some professional training and learn how to maximise the value of your workforce. Don’t wait for a disaster to happen and then wish someone had only told you sooner!

Trying to distinguish workplace stress from the pressures of work can be a little stressful.

Some people say that a certain amount of stress is a necessary, as without it we would lack the motivation or drive needed to do our job effectively. This leads to stress being seen in terms of good (necessary) or bad (excessive), and therein lies a wee problem.

The Stress Response puts us in a highly-charged state, in preparation for fighting or fleeing. This is highly useful if we are faced with a genuine threat to our safety, security or life.

But in the modern workplace, employers want staff to communicate effectively, work well with colleagues, plan and prioritise, problem-solve, show flexibility, think on their feet when needed, all the while maintaining certain standards of work.

Just the right amount of pressure to do our jobs well usually does the trick. If it doesn’t there may be a performance issue or another problem entirely.
Either way, there really are no benefits to be had from stress at work.

So why do so many managers not prioritise stress and ultimately, staff welfare?