Cultural Competence

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 Most reasonable sized businesses in our modern global economy have an international dimension to their work.  Even if the business is predominantly based in one country, it may well have customers, suppliers, agencies, franchisees and of course staff who are based in different parts of the world. People inside the business are likely to be regularly working with individuals from a diverse range of heritages and cultures.

For senior managers, international travel may well be a regular feature of the role and, in an expanding enterprise, this may also involve trail-blazing new business activities in new and unfamiliar societies.  Whilst the trend towards fully globalised businesses took a backseat during the pandemic period, it is realistically in the long term an unstoppable phenomenon, driven by ever better on-line communications, economic and consumer growth potential and the desire to trade widely.

 From a recruitment perspective this means that for many executive, senior management and professional roles recruiting employers are increasingly looking for not only demonstrated excellence and achievement across the range of core technical and professional competencies, but also hard evidence from the applicant that she or he can demonstrate a strong “cultural competence”.  In some big global roles, the presence of cultural competence may well be a clinching issue in deciding between strong candidates who have demonstrated all the other core job requirements.

 So what then do we mean by cultural competence?  What are the kinds of attitudes and behaviours that an interviewer might be seeking as evidence that an individual can work collaboratively and effectively across different cultural boundaries?

At Brosna Career Consulting these are the areas that we encourage individuals to focus upon when we are preparing them for interview for a senior role with a significant cross-cultural dimension.

Concrete Experience – there is no easy substitute for having experienced, lived and/or worked in a different cultural context from that of your own upbringing.  Yes of course this may include holidays and travelling to different countries but will be much stronger evidence if you can show a more prolonged exposure to dealing with cultural challenges.  It is also important to describe what you might have learned and how you might have adapted to the exposure to different cultures.  If you have only had limited direct experience in other cultures, then show how in your past you have dealt well working with a diverse group of individuals where you might have been in the cultural minority.

Inclusive Behaviours – pick good examples of where you have led, managed or participated in activities involving a very diverse mix of people, and where you have had to show an inclusive style of behaviour to win commitment and achieve results. Inclusive behaviours include:

  • Listening to and understanding diverse points of view

  • Not overly imposing your own point of view

  • Actively involving ideas and contribution from others

  • Building upon and combining ideas to find an effective solution

  • Suspending judgement on expressed attitudes and behaviours that are alien to you

  • Recognising cultural clashes and finding common ground around which individuals can come together to work productively and reach agreement

  • Being tolerant and sensitive to the differing needs of others

Tolerance of Ambiguity – one very clear distinctive set of behaviours that illustrates a strong cultural competence is the ability to tolerate and live with high levels of ambiguity.  Cultures that are different from your own will almost certainly operate with different rules and precepts from your norms; things will get done in a different way from what you are used to. It may take time to discover, understand and adapt to these different ways and this can be unsettling and cause you to have to make some tricky choices; this will often mean you may have to suspend your own assumptions and show….

Adaptability i.e., how you can vary your behaviours to match the need and expectations of functioning in a culture that is different from your own; give specific examples of how you have had to adapt to respond to different cultural contexts or pressures.  Cultural clash most often occurs where individuals from different backgrounds simply apply their own cultural precepts to any given situation rather than adapting behaviours to meet the prevailing culture half-way.

Cultural Acuity – showing a willingness to understand, learn about and respond to different cultures is a strong element of overall cultural competence.  This does not mean you have to sacrifice your own values, but simply that you have sufficient knowledge about the different prevailing culture around you that will enable you to better respond and interact with key people from that cultural background.  It also means avoiding being overly judgemental about the differing cultures.

Resilience – prolonged working and living outside your own culture can be challenging and stressful; examples of situations that demonstrate that you have a strong personal resilience when dealing with situations of newness, ambiguity and uncertainty will reinforce your cultural competence in the eyes of an interviewer.

Self-Awareness – we all have our own ways of looking at the world forged from the wide variety of influences in our backgrounds and upbringing.  This leads us to have clear preferences about how we deal with the world and effects how we build relationships with others.  It can also involve us hanging-on to stereotypes about others who are different from us that may not be very helpful when seeking to work with them.  Showing that you have a high sense of self-awareness about your own preferences and values – both the positive impact these preferences can have on others and the potential downsides – can be further verification to an interviewer of your cultural awareness and competence.

Creativity and Problem Solving - the ability to recognise and utilise the creative potential that comes from individuals who have different cultures and backgrounds is at the core of all truly progressive enterprises. Few really powerful new ideas and solutions ever come from people thinking exactly the same. Are you able to demonstrate how you have unleashed the spark of diversity to achieve better business outcomes?

The above un-bundled description of the different aspects of cultural competence is not meant to be a completely exhaustive list, but instead to illustrate some of the main personal attributes it would be worth illustrating if you are seeking to persuade an interviewer that you are ready for that big global job working with a diverse group of stakeholders.

 

Tim Chapman

September 2024