Editor's Note

“Multicultural workplace” will soon become redundant.

It’s not impossible for the phrase “multicultural workplace” to be flagged for redundancy in the near future. Talent moves across borders today at an unprecedented speed and scale. And it’s not just people; jobs are moving too as companies move to other countries to tap promising talent pools and emerging markets. If the trends continue, there will come a time when you only need to say “workplace,” and it will automatically be understood as culturally diverse, no need for unnecessary descriptors. 

At this point, it’s a well-known fact that cultural diversity in organizations is both a tactic for survival (because it’s a necessity), and a key to success (as it ushers higher performance and profits). But there’s no sugarcoating: for HR it also means a huge, serious challenge. A multicultural workforce is as colorful as much as it is complex. And it is those complexities that this issue of The HR Agenda dares to discuss.    

• It takes sincere, intelligent and ongoing effort to manage individuals operating from radically different perspectives, value sets and conventions. The difficulty doubles when you’re at the negotiating table. This issue’s editorial from cross-cultural business expert and author Dean Foster studies how people across the world thinks and makes decisions based on their cultural identity.   
• For businesses to begin their cultural transformation journey, Prof. Dave Ulrich explains why culture is simply not enough.   
• While cultural intelligence is fast becoming a buzzword, JHRS Community Officer Jun Kabigting crafts the more crucial concept of Cultural Mindfulness.   
• To pave the path to diversity, use The Culture Map. 
• Need to build cultural awareness and cultural intelligence? Cultivate a growth mindset. 
• Cultural intelligence also comes into play when dealing with the dynamics between a younger boss and an older subordinate. 
• 3 steps to build strategic business alliances across the globe