As an employer, it is vital that you have and develop certain skills to address the differences in culture and values among your workers. More importantly, you should know how you can effectively motivate people to change and adjust for the betterment of the workplace atmosphere and company performance. Managers must be able to precisely interpret what the situation is, and then come up with a strategy that could perfectly fit everyone’s needs and values. This is a simple task if you are working with people coming from the same backgrounds. Otherwise, this is an extremely challenging one. Aside from providing valuable resources for immigrants, managers themselves need to do some research on how to handle the diversity in the workplace.

Tips for Maintaining a Harmonious Multicultural Workplace

Make the Right Interpretation

To effectively change a behavior, it is essential to understand first the reason an individual is involved in any undesired behavior. This can be done by getting an accurate interpretation of what’s happening. By having an understanding of why someone behaves in a certain way, it become easier to address it and even change it.

A typical case is an employee speaking in their native but non-English language, which is normally interpreted by some managers as a sign of rudeness. For employers, it is important to see this first as a sign of possible stress for the worker, which he can help with. Asking the employee in a nice way about it will make it easy for the staff to explain his or her behavior.

Set Certain Expectations

If you have a worker who is not raised in the US, you should make your expectations clear to them by explaining in a way they could understand you. It is very likely for immigrant workers to not be aware of certain aspects of foreign culture and work ethics, s you need to be more patient with them.

Provide Positive Reinforcement

Reinforcing a good behavior is a valuable method of fostering positive work atmosphere in the workplace. You need not offer cash incentives all the time. Giving simple praises for every job well done will be enough. It is important also that you make your immigrant workers that there is nothing wrong with making complaints about anything related to work. You may also recommend reading useful resources for immigrants to make it much easier for them to make adjustments. By being supportive and positive, it won’t be long until you see your staff working in harmony and productively.