Is your business culturally intelligent?

What it means to create a culture of belonging, progressive understanding

and communication in the workplace WORDS BY EMILY MILLER

As an organisation, nurturing the talent in your business and promoting their sense of place within it authentically and inclusively regardless of orientation, backgrounds and gender, cultural intelligence is the way to progress in today’s global society.

Sounds straightforward, right? Well, it’s actually not as simple as saying it. Having an organisation that is culturally intelligent, a true understanding of it, is more than a diversity and inclusion box to tick.

But, when you do, you create an organisation with its heart rooted in progressive understanding and communication, the benefits soar through a contented workforce and client base to higher profit margins and make you a talent pipeline firm to work for.

What is cultural intelligence?

I start here with my questions for Ashiedu Joel, a cultural intelligence consultant from Ashioma Consults. “It’s the ability to effectively relate to others and interact effectively across diverse cultures, as a starting block. But, for me, for cultural intelligence to be attained at its highest level, it extends to leaders possessing an inspirational influence of cultural competence too,” she tells me.

Think about what it means to be culturally intelligent as a business right here, right now in Leicester in 2022. Perhaps you think you are culturally intelligent yourself. Maybe because you have a team of individuals from diverse backgrounds, you feel that you are doing all you can to support diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

“The organisations I work with often have an initial feeling that they are doing all they can to be inclusive as a company. Organisational culture and practice is mostly driven through inflexible policy and regulatory guidelines open to interpretation. However, a willingness to learn ways in which they can improve the leadership culture and grow more culturally intelligent is essential.”

This willingness to learn and grow starts with a business’s leader. From here, with the right support and the right questions asked, a leader can develop a culture that is truly inclusive, with the benefit of being able to competently flex and adapt their leadership styles through a genuine understanding and knowledge of the cultural values and preferences.

“Businesses in the modern age have a humanist approach. For example, they know about the things they need to do in order to keep their staff happy according to policy, but often it goes to no deeper understanding than this.

“But people are more than policy; there is so much that goes into exactly what an individual needs from their working environment.”

THERE’S NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL, THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT How to foster cultural intelligence

When I ask Ashiedu what she believes the most limiting aspects of not having cultural intelligence are, she tells me: “It does start with one’s emotional intelligence and a willingness and intentional approach to cross cultural interaction; and then from there an empathy and understanding is needed to begin to look at the nuances of each individual and be sensitive to their cultural identity.

“Part of my role is to assist leaders in finding ways to address these nuances in their workforce, to communicate openly and to guide them towards a more progressive way of thinking.”

What’s more, going into an organisation and applying a formula for this change certainly isn’t the answer, either. “There’s no one size fits all, that’s the whole point,” she adds.

A willingness to approach it, to really look at your business and how you nurture the nuances of your team is key.

“In my direct and personal experience, I hit so many ceilings in the workplace – I was hired for roles and proved my worth, but never got opportunities to step into leadership roles in the workplace. There’s a true lack of awareness and open discussion around it all – that’s where I want to change things.”

Start the conversation by calling Ashiedu on 07811 51237 for advice.