The power of multicultural teams at workplaces

Culture is a way of life of a people, including their attitudes, values, beliefs, arts, sciences, ways of perception, and habits that are passed down from generation to generation. And in the grand scheme of things, the quest for understanding our diversity makes us stronger, because it reminds us that we are all human beings before anything else.

However, whenever it comes to workplace productivity, the fundamental mistake some employers make is to think that cultural diversity at the workplaces only impacts employees yet if handled with extra care, it can as well boost profitability through increased customer base and employee satisfaction.

This is the reason why more and more companies in today’s business world are deliberately investing in diversity, equity, and inclusion. The power of multicultural teams at the workplace is unconceivable in such a way that whenever employees’ cultural diversity is appreciated, they understand each other better and in the end, it becomes easier to overcome any challenges at hand and foster creativity.

When you look at the invisible benefits of multicultural teams, you begin to perceive culture as the social glue that holds any organization worth its salt intact. This is because our cultural strength, as Yo-Yo Ma, an American cellist remarked, “…has always been derived from our diversity of understanding and experience.”

Numerous developments have occurred in the 21st century. Humans have therefore been motivated to create groups and collaborate since the beginning of time in order to accomplish a variety of tasks, including goal-setting, problem-solving, idea generation, skill development, and endurance.

 In the 21st century, multicultural teamwork is one of the most prominent and important work arrangements. Working together has been essential to human evolution, advancement, and survival. Studies indicate that collaborative efforts yield superior outcomes for businesses compared to solo endeavors.

It is believed that multicultural cooperation is one of the most productive work environments. Individuals gain personal benefits from working in teams as well, as it satisfies requirements like connection and social engagement. Even with a wealth of studies demonstrating the benefits that collaboration delivers to businesses, many managers still take little action to foster teamwork.

According to the results of a 33-question survey conducted through Survey Monkey with 225 participants in the United States, companies that embrace and encourage ethnic diversity in the workplace are more likely to have productive work teams. Although teams have been used in the workplace for a long time, Levi (2014) points out that research on the effectiveness of teams, as reported by Sundstrom, Halfhill, and Richards (2000), has led to a reform in the concept of organizational teamwork in recent decades.

However, in this competitive and globalized economy, organizations face many challenges due to their constant evolution. The functioning of work teams is still not well understood, and there are still many unanswered concerns regarding how employers might successfully form efficient and productive work teams.

In a similar vein, there’s a lot to learn about managing work setups with multicultural teams and support systems. To achieve various objectives and maintain competitiveness, many organizations’ workforces employ a variety of teams, including production teams, project teams, service teams, and action teams. The literature based on teamwork suggests many benefits for organizations and for individuals.

Some of the benefits of teamwork include their effectiveness at improving employee relations, employees’ technical and interpersonal skills, quality of work life, job satisfaction and performance, organizational effectiveness growth, and flexibility.

Teamwork also provides social support, encourages cooperation, and makes jobs more interesting and challenging, improved creativity, reputation and fewer conflicts. However, organization employees that lack a strong cooperation culture typically fall short of expectations and miss opportunities to advance the organization’s objectives.  The existence of a teamwork notion is a prerequisite for assisting staff members in engaging creatively toward shared objectives.

Consequently, managers and supervisors are realizing that multicultural teams are more productive than individuals in achieving goals, according to Hartenian (2003).

Work multicultural teams are being used by many firms as an essential component of their reorganization agendas in order to remain competitive. Cohen and Bailey (1997), reported that work multicultural teams are used by 85 per cent of firms to accomplish their goals, and there is a strong preference for this type of work arrangement.

Dr Nakimuli Mariam (PhD) Research analyst, Lecturer and a business-oriented practitioner