How can HR Managers help raise the cultural intelligence of an organization?

Cultural intelligence or cultural quotient (CQ) is more than just cultural awareness and sensitivity, which are also vital within a corporation; it is the ability to relate to culturally diverse situations, as well as work effectively in them. With increased connectivity across all companies and individuals, and with global collaboration becoming increasingly instrumental for business success, (CQ) has taken on a new significance (randstad, n.d.).

No denying the fact that CQ highly depends on an individual’s interpersonal skills but an organization, the HR department, in particular, can play a major role in developing CQ among its workforce. Some of the ways HR can help employees develop high CQ are (dictionary, 2013):

Create an atmosphere of awareness about different cultures. HR can best do this task. When you have a cross-cultural workforce, include their festivals and important occasions in your cultural celebration calendar. Design your Employment engagement activities in a way to invite maximum participation from people across all cultures.

Create policies that respect cultural differences.  Include policies in your handbook that highlight and respect different cultural practices relevant to your work force. This way you can educate your employees towards each other’s dressing, eating, and religious sentiments.

Provide Cultural Intelligence training. Organize training and seminars on cross-culture social, economic and political patterns. It is an effective way to motivate your employees to understand and adapt different cultures and it helps in their overall professional development.

Analyze CQ while making hiring, transfer or promotion decisions. When a position requires a cross-cultural interaction and travel, it’s beneficial to analyze the Cultural Quotient while hiring or promoting someone for the position.

Cross-cultural communication training. When we work with people from varied cultural backgrounds, it becomes more important to practice appropriate communication and behavioral styles.  Training your employees on these parameters help them to communicate effectively with their peers, clients and other employees.

Do you think that HR bears the brunt of this task or are there other offices within an organization that should be sharing in this goal? 

Personally, I think that HR does bear the brunt of creating a culturally intelligent organization and rightly so since they are the doorway to an organization. Having said this however other departments must also assist in the process, according to the (cultural intelligence center, 2017), it’s a team effort from across the organization involving HR, legal, finance, marketing, communications, and community relations (and more). Every department, as well as each employee, has a stake in the game.

How can Human Resources help to promote an environment that is welcoming, respectful, and inclusive?

HR can begin to promote an environment that is welcoming, respectful, and inclusive by ensuring the new employee onboarding process is structured, meaningful, emphasizes cultural diversity and fully acquaint the new employee with the organization’s culture. A culturally friendly website won’t hurt, also mentors who are culturally intelligent can help to create the ideal environment.

Cultural Intelligence Center. (2017, September 14). How do you build a Culturally Intelligent Organization? Retrieved August 1, 2019, from

https://culturalq.com/blog/building-a-culturally-intelligent-organization-starting-a-movement/

HRdictionary. (2013, March 6). Cultural Intelligence and HR. Retrieved August 1, 2019, from

https://hrdictionaryblog.com/2013/03/06/cultural-intelligence-and-hr/

Randstad. (n.d.). the importance of cultural intelligence in a global organization. Retrieved August 1, 2019, from

https://www.randstad.com/workforce-insights/talent-management/the-importance-of-cultural-intelligence-within-a-global-organization/