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September 19, 2008
5 tips for working in a global workplace
Globalization brings in many challenges and opportunities to the 21st century workforce. Work related travel, long work hours, teleconferencing worldwide and being virtual are some of the modern-day gifts to the workers.
Globalization brings in many challenges and opportunities to the 21st century workforce. One of the major challenges is to efficiently collaborate with teams working on different time zones across the world. The buzz word being outsourcing, countries like India and others vie to compete with each other, working day in and day out, providing solutions to and answering queries of millions of people across the world. The true global nature of most modern day work is exemplified in management guru, Tom Peters’s words "Do what you do best and outsource the rest."
Outsourcing in many ways defines the global workforce. Deemed previously as a safe tool of the western management to reduce costs, the benefits are now outweighed with the changing times. With employee roles and deliverables evolving, the attitudes and mentalities, however, are taking a little longer to accommodate the changes. There is a pertinent need to constantly educate yourself to be more sensitive to foreign cultures and behaviour, which is the pre-requisite of a global worker in a global workplace. The global work nature brings many new possibilities, thus, creating global citizens and brings forth more understanding and tolerance towards different cultures. Collaborations and knowledge sharing are high on the curve, encouraging and motivating employees and management.
But the moot question is: Are you ready to be a part of the global workplace? The generation Y has successfully paved the path towards a global work culture with improved communication technology, considerably shrinking the world. Here are 5 tips for working as a global workforce:
Learn new technology and seek trainings: To be successful in the global market, keep abreast of the new technology and have a flexible attitude towards new ideas in the work environment. Seek trainings that can provide intercultural communication and conflict resolution skills to enhance relationships within the organization.
Take help from career coaches and experts/mentors: Career coaches can be of immense help in creating a competitive advantage. Companies also must build strategies to utilize diversity as an organisational asset. Successful interaction and communication can bring both challenges and a positive impact to the organization.
Understand the new culture: All employees bring new backgrounds and beliefs, creating a new culture. By understanding and embracing that, you have a deeper understanding of dynamics of the global market. Archetypal analysis also creates a deeper understanding and aligns the strengths and values of the organization. No matter what culture you come from, life is a journey that changes as you grow and learn.
Build on similarities that you have with others: Understand that there are many ways of looking at an issue. Always look for common ground and focus on the objectives. That ways, you also learn a lot.
Accept diversity: Diversity creates innovations and when you understand and value the differences, it allows you to grow. Diverse training creates awareness, allowing employees and managers to discover values, beliefs and behaviours. Diversity awareness training assists in developing decision-making and social action skills so that you learn to view events and situations from different perspectives. A diverse staff that can work together cooperatively is one of the biggest challenges.
Attracting and retaining the best talent requires companies to value their employees. Fuelled by free trade, the global economy and technological development have changed the landscape of the workforce. Very soon, the next generation workforce will come from a pool of global talent sourced from across the world. Despite the challenges and problems of working globally, the advantages are tremendous in the development of an individual in respect to the whole organization. The global workplace and the global worker are therefore, here to stay and thrive!
