Cultural Intelligence and Capability Policies

Question: Discuss about the Cultural Intelligence and Capability Policies. Answer: Introduction: Cultural safety and safe places relate to the environment that is emotionally, socially, physically and spiritually safe for people wherein there are no possibilities of challenges in expressing identities. In a workplace, cultural safety refers to the shared knowledge, shared meaning and shared respect of working together with a common objective (De Souza, 2015). Scope The present report highlights a major issue of cultural safety, that is racism, and discusses the impact of racism in the workplace to build an unsafe space. The report is based on a video titled House of Lies Season 1 Episode 5 Racist by A. Bernstein (2015) that depicts an unsafe working space due to racial discrimination. Aim The present report provides the readers a summary of the video clip in order to explain the story being told through the video. The report then describes the video in relation to particular contexts that reflect a racial discrimination being done. Analysis of the video is done by referring to literature drawing on suitable concepts in this regard. Recommendations are then outlined for improving workplace safety and reducing racial discrimination appropriately. Summary of video clip The video is set on an organisation which is a motel chain. The motel chain can be described as a no-frills one. Marty Kaan is a Black employee of the organisation who has recently joined and is unknown to the CEO of the organisation. The CEO is found to be racially discriminating Marty by having reservations regarding dealing with him. The CEO holds doubts about the capability and competence Marty have and questions his proficiency. Marty is not taken seriously and is ill-treated. In the end, another employee Jeannie is put in charge of the task. Summary of literature Safe spaces refer to the setting that is non-tolerant towards harassment and violence of any form against individuals in relation to the cultural and racial background, gender identity, mental ability or physical ability or age. Safe spaces guard against the feelings, dignity and self-respect of individuals and encourage showing respect to others (Roux, 2012). According to Ang and Van Dyne (2015), cultural intelligence is the ability to work across cultures and to understand the needs to relate to different cultures. This form of intelligence is reflected through adaptability to interact with individuals coming from different cultural backgrounds. Cultural intelligence has meta-cognitive, motivational and behavioural aspects. The cognitive aspect refers to the ability to learn about other cultures and embrace their cultural diversity. Behavioural aspect refers to the ability to adapting own body language and movements in order to blend in with the environment. The emotions gained fro m acceptance of culture are the third pivotal aspect of cultural intelligence. As stated by Likhi and Sushil (2016) cultural capability is the set of behaviours, knowledge, systems and skills that can lead to planning, improving and delivering of approaches that are culturally respectful and apposite. The vision of undertaking such an approach is to make the environment frees of any form of discrimination and be respectful for all individuals whom one comes across. As opined by Tomalin and Stempleski (2013) cultural self-awareness is the basis of strong and clear communication, involving the awareness of the cultural values, perceptions, and beliefs one possess. Cultural awareness is the chief aspect when one needs to converse with people coming from the different cultural background. People from different background have the tendency to evaluate, interpret and perceive things in a different manner. A suitable behaviour deemed fit for one culture may not be deemed fit for another. M isunderstandings may arise when an individual tries to make sense of reality using his meanings solely. Ott and Michailova (2016) highlighted that understanding the implications of cultural self-awareness, cultural capability, cultural intelligence and safe spaces helps in articulating own cultural identity, biases. Apart from this, one can become at ease with dissimilar cultural perspectives. An individual can learn to move away from the predisposition to prefer own culture. Description of video Scene Physical factor Communication factor Signs of inclusion or exclusion Display or lack of cultural intelligence CEO entering the room where three of the employees are already present; two male employees and a female employee. one of the male employees is from the white racial background whereas the other employee is of black racial background. The CEO is looking for the employee who has recently joined the organisation, named Marty. The CEO expects the new employee to be of white racial origin as a preference for the organisation He walks up to the employee of white racial origin, introduces himself to be Brant Butterfield and confides him to be Marty. The employee answers that he is not Marty. Lack of cultural intelligence. Another employee chances to enter the room and is also of white racial background. The The CEO does not pay attention to the employee of black racial origin already present in the room. He confides the other employee entering the room to be Marty, however, comes to know that his name is Clyde Marty is found to be the employee with black racial background who then introduces himself to the CEO. The CEO expresses dissatisfaction and displeasure; however, shakes hands with Marty and leaves. Marty becomes aware of the fact that the CEO is a racist and confronts the other employees. Clyde states that Brant hates the colour of Martys skin and is a racist in the true sense. Marty understands that the CEO would not be satisfied with his job and therefore gives the charge of the concerned task to the female employee after the approval of the other male employees. Lack of cultural intelligence. Discussion The CEO of the organisation, Brant Butterfield, is found to be a racist, with utmost dislike for people with black racial origin. He has a preference for white people and considers them to be superior in all forms when compared to black people. Brant exhibits racial discrimination that is unwanted in all spheres of the society including workplaces. Racial discrimination occurs when any person is subjected to ill-treatment based on the perceived or actual race and skin colour (Marchiondo et al., 2015). Brant is found to be racially discriminating Marty, who is of black origin. Brant is found to be not abiding by the social principles of workplace diversity as he does not acknowledge the diverse perspectives and skills that people bring into workplaces due to their cultural background and ethnicity. He is against the flow of removing barriers to make sure that all employees have a full participation in the concerned workplace. Giving equal respect and reverence to all employees in a wo rkplace, irrespective of the race one belongs to, supports the achievement of culturally suitable outcomes (Canas Sondak, 2013). Recognising the values, each employee hold is essential by a member of the organisation that Brant does not show evidence of. Brant does not create a safe space for Marty as the setting is not non-tolerant towards harassment due to his gestures and attitudes. Brant does not show cultural intelligence and cultural awareness as he is not willing to work across different cultures and acknowledge cultural beliefs and capability of individuals of different racial origin. Moreover, he lacks cultural capability as his approaches toward Marty that are not culturally respectful. He makes Marty feel unwanted and incompetent. Through an insensitive approach and undesirable thought process regarding racism, Brant creates an unsafe place for Marty to work in. Recommendations An individual when subjected to racial discrimination or when treated in an unfair manner does not reach the maximum extent of utilising his potential and bringing about workplace success. It is, therefore, necessary to prevent racial discrimination in order to reduce the incidences of such cases. There is a need of setting up anti-discrimination policies in the workplaces that can adequately address the ill-consequences. Employees should be hired from the different racial background as well as ethnic groups for fostering a diversified environment. Delegating tasks to employees must be based solely on merit without giving consideration to the racial background the individual belongs from. This would make all the employees have a feeling of being valued. Establishing a committee responsible for identifying potential issues would be advantageous. Team-building sessions would provide a good opportunity to interact and build up a strong communication. Open communication would increase the chances of reporting racism among the employees (Bond Haynes, 2014). Conclusion From the above analysis, it can be concluded that cultural safety and safe places are an integral part of all workplaces, building up on cultural competency and cultural resilience. The concept of cultural safety envisions optimal benefits for the place and brings out the best in every individual. The video House of Lies Season 1 Episode 5 Racist is a reflection of racial discrimination against a particular racial class in a workplace. It is concluded from the video that workplace racism cultivates an environment marked by discrimination, friction, distrust, and violence. Racism originating in a workplace does not allow maximum workplace success as the victim does not put forward his best. All workplace employees must consider benefits of embracing the essence of cultural self-awareness, cultural capability, and cultural intelligence and practice them in their lives. References Ang, S., Van Dyne, L. (2015).Handbook of cultural intelligence. Routledge. Bond, M. A., Haynes, M. C. (2014). Workplace diversity: A socialecological framework and policy implications.Social Issues and Policy Review,8(1), 167-201. Canas, K., Sondak, H. (2013).Opportunities and challenges of workplace diversity. Pearson Higher Ed. De Souza, R. (2015). Culturally safe care for ethnically and religiously diverse communities.Cultural Safety in Aotearoa New Zealand, 189 Likhi, D. K., Sushil. (2013). Building international strategic alliance capability: a case research-based insights.International Journal of Business Performance Management,14(4), 341-355. Marchiondo, L., Ran, S., Cortina, L. (2015). Modern discrimination. InThe Oxford Handbook of Workplace Discrimination. Ott, D. L., Michailova, S. (2016). Cultural Intelligence: A Review and New Research Avenues.International Journal of Management Reviews. Roux, C. (Ed.). (2012).Safe Spaces: Human Rights Education in Diverse Diverse(Vol. 5). Springer Science Business Media. Tomalin, B., Stempleski, S. (2013).Cultural awareness. Oxford University Press.