Businesses have employees from all over the world and social media allows people to connect with one another on a global scale.This means that we are regularly coming into contact with each other and forming relationships with individuals from various backgrounds, nationalities, religions and countries. In a business setting, cultural barriers, language barriers and other social differences can impact companies and their employees. So, how can business leaders break down those barriers and improve employee relations for the better? What do you need to know if you want to run a global business effectively? “Overall, business leaders need to take the initiative to accommodate different cultures, time zones and other differences that international businesses will have to face. Businesses can do several things to improve the internal environment of an organization. Biases need to be addressed head-on and not tolerated. Also, business leaders should take the initiative to address cultural or language barriers as well as be accommodating to employee schedules. The key to making an international company successful is to make an effort, keep communication open, and utilize technology to make the company as inclusive as possible,” explains Jonathan Shroyer. Here are Shroyer’s top tips to help create a stable company culture and a successful global company. 1 – Make a concerted effort to respect cultural differences or any potential religious differences. If you lead a team that is based in different countries, it would be wise to familiarize yourself with any major holidays, religious observances and other major cultural norms that your team and their respective countries follow. Informing your team members of these events and allowing them to switch their holidays or have floating holidays can reduce feelings of separation from the team. Additionally, it is important to know social protocol that may differ from yours in order to not offend any of your team members. Once you set the tone as a business leader, your team will follow suit. 2 – Work to reduce language barriers While it may not be practical for your team to take up other languages, there is software that allows automatic captions on programs like Google Meet or Skype. Additionally, Microsoft Translator allows parents and teachers to communicate in their preferred languages. Tools like this can be used to a company’s advantage and increase productivity and inclusivity of your workforce. If it would be practical for your team members to learn another language, then offer financial compensation for your employee’s time and energy into doing that. Additionally, if you ask certain employees to translate, they should be financially compensated for that skill. 3 – Respect time differences and accommodate schedules International companies will have to consider time differences. This means your approach to meetings will have to be a little different. Find what works best for your employees and be willing to accommodate them. Ideally, try to find a time that is still in the daytime hours for everyone. If not, it may be beneficial to switch meeting times so everyone takes a turn having the “off-hours” meeting. This prevents resentment and keeps the annoyance to a minimum. Shroyer is Chief CX Innovation Officer at Arise Virtual Solutions. There, he leads the gaming and consulting verticals and runs the CX Lab in San Francisco. Shroyer has two decades of experience building companies and leaders up. CIO Journal, a publication of The Wall Street Journal, named Shroyer among its “Top CX Professionals of 2022. |