What is cultural diversity?
Cultural diversity is the variety of backgrounds, beliefs, values, customs, behaviours and experiences that exist in society. It goes beyond people being born in another country, where life can be different in many ways, from different food and dress to customs and values. Many generations of people can be born in Australia and still have a different cultural background to others. Some Australians may be descendants of two or more cultures.
A multicultural workforce employs people from a range of different cultural backgrounds, and includes having multicultural workers in a range of positions within the company, from entry-level to executive roles.
The benefits of multiculturalism in Australian workplaces
Many of the benefits of multiculturalism that businesses can experience are similar to other areas of diversity in the workforce, such as gender or age. It brings different approaches to tackling situations, new ideas and ways of thinking, and creates a respectful work environment.
A culturally diverse workforce can also bring in new customers or access to new suppliers, particularly if language has been a barrier to accessing or partnering with a business.
It also increases an organisation’s reputation in the community, as it is seen as being tolerant, fair and receptive to all people, which leads to goodwill.
Racial discrimination has been outlawed in Australia since the 1975 Racial Discrimination Act came into force, so the consequences for businesses of not embracing cultural diversity can be serious. In 1995, the Act was extended to outlaw public acts of racial hatred. Still, complaints are made every year, and could be eliminated if every worker and every organisation embraced cultural diversity.
Keep in mind that employers cannot ask a person to reveal their cultural background, nor should they assume someone has a particular background because of their appearance or because they associate with a particular religion. Employers can encourage or invite workers to feel free to be able to share this information if they wish, but cannot enforce certain circumstances on them.
Ways to increase cultural diversity in the workplace
Embracing a multicultural workforce goes beyond hiring a few people from different cultures or recruiting workers from overseas on 482 temporary work visas to fill staff shortages.
Consider the following steps to be truly inclusive of culturally diverse staff. These steps will create an environment in which workers will not only want to stay, which can reduce the adverse effects created by staff turnover, but can also lead to the business becoming an employer of choice.
Masked recruitment
A masked recruitment process removes a candidate’s name and other identifying information from their job application to negate the influence of conscious or unconscious bias by the hirer. While an employer may not ask for a person’s country of birth or cultural background in a job application, an applicant’s name – including how they spell it – can signal their cultural identity to the hirer. Removing it ensures that the worker is assessed solely on their qualifications, skills and experience rather than outside factors, and can decrease the likelihood that their application will be rejected for cultural reasons. Similar practices can be used when promoting staff internally to ensure everyone is given a fair go.
Be sensitive to cultural occasions
Many Australians recognise life and annual events in the same way, such as celebrating a religious day like Christmas every December 25, or acknowledging a personal situation such as a death in the family with a wake or a funeral. However, many cultures and religions do not celebrate Christmas and have their own cultural and religious festivals at other times of the year. Likewise, an event such as a death is recognised differently in Indigenous culture, for example, than British culture. Provide staff with the opportunity to access leave entitlements for their own cultural occasions, including (if possible) the ability to work on a public holiday that is irrelevant to them and take a day off at another time instead. Businesses can go an extra step and incorporate shutdown days, for example, on days of significance that are not typically associated with Australian culture to enable everyone to have a day off and the chance to mark the occasion.
Hold culturally sensitive social events
Many cultures celebrate wins in a different way to the traditional Australian culture, meaning activities such as Friday night drinks at the pub or a family day on a Saturday may not be appropriate for all workers to join, nor may it fit with their family and cultural commitments. Be mindful of cultural differences and do not celebrate team achievements in the same way every time. Implement other meaningful team-building or social activities in the workplace.
Offer mentorships
Because cultural diversity means people have differing behaviours and experiences, mentorships can be a helpful way to quickly upskill workers. For example, it may be as simple as providing new migrants who do not have a longstanding background in working in Australian culture with a mentor who can share knowledge of Australian business customs. Or, mentorships can help to increase the proportion of culturally diverse people appointed in leadership positions by providing them with guidance and encouragement over an extended period.
Implement a cultural diversity plan
Some businesses may want to officially target increased cultural diversity by making it a corporate goal or part of their business plan. A cultural diversity plan provides a framework to incorporate cultural diversity across all the business’ policies, operations and services. The Diversity Council of Australia is a good place to start to get information on how to proceed.
Ways to celebrate cultural diversity in the workplace
Actively celebrating multiculturalism, rather than just tolerating different cultures, empowers diverse groups to contribute.
Many organisations embrace multiculturalism with special events, such as celebrating Harmony Day on March 21, to showcase and acknowledge the varying cultures among the workforce. For example, staff may be encouraged to bring traditional food of their culture for morning tea or lunch, or musical performers may be hired to entertain staff during a break. The same can be done on days of celebration or significance particular to cultures relevant to the workforce.
Diversity training educates people in a variety of ways. It could be informing staff of a cultural calendar of events so workers are aware of a co-worker’s absence from work on a given day. Or it could involve a series of sessions to increase tolerance and understanding and reduce bias or harassment, as well as promote the benefits that cultural diversity brings overall to workplaces. Promoting initiatives such as Racism. It Stops With Me. can also encourage workers to not only embrace diversity in the workplace but in their lives outside of work.
Supporting suppliers that have multicultural backgrounds also celebrates cultural diversity, for example, purchasing from First Nations organisations. It will not only create change in communities associated with the supplier, but help foster tolerance and respect among the workforce. Supporting causes such as fundraising initiatives can also celebrate cultural diversity by recognising that actions should be taken to close the gap in certain circumstances, whether it be long-term educational disadvantage, for example, or short-term disaster relief.
Celebrate multiculturalism externally as well as internally through such initiatives as temporarily changing email signature logos and branding on social media accounts to promote to the wider community that the organisation recognises and supports cultural diversity.
With so much cultural diversity among the people of Australia, it is a no-brainer to include and celebrate multiculturalism in the workplace. There is always room for improvement, so implementing new ways of recognising cultural diversity will ensure businesses truly develop an all-round, inclusively Australian culture.
