1. From the top down, my workforce is made up of a rich,
colorful, cross-cultural group of people. To begin with, I am
an Irish immigrant who made Silicon Valley my home after
I left university.The first person I hired when I launched my
company was a Latino who would later bring on his sister,
and, shortly after that, their nephew. Today, the majority of
my employees hail from, among other places, Asia, Latin
America,and the Near East.As you can imagine,establishing
and maintaining a harmonious work environment in which
cultural norms are anything but,can be a challenge.However,
if there’s anything I’ve learned as a business owner over the
past 15 years, it is that no matter how diverse a staff I have, it
is possible to create a workforce that works together to achieve
whatever goals we set for ourselves.
Diverse but Not Divided
Chances are good that, if you’re reading this, you’re at or
near the top of a company that’s as culturally diverse as mine.
If so,and if you’re like me,you often find yourself looking for
elegant ways to bridge cultural divides in order to keep the
workplace humming.The following three strategies may just
strike a chord.
Set the tone. As mentioned, my first three hires hailed
from Latin America.Because they spoke no English (and my
Spanish is limited to what you can buy from a food truck), it
wasn’t long before I decided to hire an English tutor.Although
I suppose that it would have been handier for me to learn
their language,I knew that from a business perspective,if my
culturally diverse new company had any chance of succeeding,
I’d have to set the tone and establish a few non-negotiables.
That English would be our company’s universal language was
one.And so,once a week for two years an earnest young man
would come to teach my growing staff English. That was in
1999, and nobody learned any English. In 2003, I hired 15
new employees who had a good command of the language,
and three months later, everyone had enough English to get
by.That’s because, in bringing on English speakers, I created
a “total immersion” environment for those whose English
wasn’t as strong that helped them acquire a language skill
where no well-meaning tutor could. In setting the tone for
my company and establishing early on something as basic
as a language requirement, I took critical first steps towards
ensuring that poor communication would not be a stumbling
block to our success.
Expect that sometimes, someone is going to sing off key. In a
workplace where cultures clash and what’s acceptable for one
is unthinkable for another, you should expect that there will
be times when words are spoken or actions taken that may
cause offense.From my experience,rarely is the offense meant
on purpose. But here’s where it’s crucial that you set expecta-
tions and address any missteps as they arise. An obvious first
step is to work with your human resources team to establish
guidelines for how to handle diversity issues within the work-
force before they occur. But it’s equally important to let your
employees know that, when it comes to interacting with a
colleague from another culture, there’s a good chance they’re
going to strike a bum note every now and again and that it’s
okay—as long as their intent is to connect rather than offend.
Write the music you want to hear. The way I see it, my cul-
turally diverse workforce is a blessing made up of people who
call the world home,and our company,family.To encourage a
deeper understanding among the staff of the variety of cultures
that converge in our offices, I regularly create opportunities
for my employees to share stories from their homelands and
food from their tables.This encourages a dialogue among my
staff that bridges divides and opens our eyes to where we are
more alike than different.What results has been a workplace
in which differences are celebrated (rather than set aside),and
unlikely friendships are forged.To me,that is writing the kind
of music you want to hear within your workforce.
Incidentally, Uriel (my first hire), his sister, Rosalinda,
and their nephew,Eric,are all still with the company—proof,
if ever proof was needed, of the rewarding and long-lasting
benefits of striking the right chord to create a harmonious
workplace. ◆
Noreen King founded Silicon Valley-
based Evolve Manufacturing Tech-
nologies in 1999 to serve as the on-shore
contract equipment manufacturer for the
medical, biotech, defense, and semiconduc-
tor industries.
Reprinted with permission from the January/February 2015 issue of Minority Business Entrepreneur
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