Biz-commPulse

Cultural intelligence refers to behaviour based on the knowledge and skills related to the cultures of employees with whom the manager interacts in the business.  This can range from language skills or other qualities such as tolerance for uncertainty or flexibility which could also be enhanced because of emotional intelligence (see my post on emotional intelligence ). Cultural intelligence is developed by learning about the beliefs, customs and even restrictions of specific cultures as well as showing an understanding of a different culture by blending in. Cultural intelligence consists of four aspects, namely linguistics, spatial, intrapersonal and interpersonal. Image Credit:  http://www.freedigitalphotos.net Linguistics refers to successfully interacting with employees from other cultures whose native language is different and thus overcoming any language barriers.  For example, learning some key words or even lingo of another language spoken by emplo...

Do you want to know what true diversity will mean for your business' performance? Diversity in a business is generally accepted as acknowledging, accepting and also understanding all the differences among employees.  Diversity is most evident in terms of employees' age, gender, religion and race. Photocredit: Photobin. Lately managing diversity is not only perceived in terms of accommodating differences in a business, but also as actual thoughts about what true diversity really means.  With other words, diversity is also about the actual thought-process of the responsible managers, especially when it comes to the advantages of having a diverse group of employees.  Just think about it for a moment:  diversity in a business could result in better problem-solving and customer service because of the diverse backgrounds of employees similar to the customers.  Similarly employees' unique creativity and innovation based on shared differences could only benefit t...