Diversity and Cultural Awareness

“Why is cultural diversity important?”

Cultural Diversity gives us all the insights we’ll ever need to honor differences and interact in ways that facilitate understanding and cooperation. As a result of globilization of markets, increasing immigration, and technological advancement there is an increasing importance of intercultural proficiency.As we build our cultural awareness, we also build bridges to trust, respect and understanding across cultures and within a multicultural workplace, fostering productive interactions and agreements.

In the workplace, cultural awareness helps us remember to honor beliefs and sensibilities that are not necessarily our own, so that as we interact with people from other cultures, no unintended breach of good manners or conversational blunders occur. For example, did you know that in some societies, the “okay” sign is a definite no-no; in other cultures, burping at the dinner table is a sign of great pleasure and a compliment to the cook! Unless we become aware of cultural diversity in its many guises, relationships can die (or never begin) simply for the lack of understanding.