MODERN BUSINESS
Many Cultures, One
Workplace - Overcoming
Unconscious Bias
By Holona and Trish Lui
and how do they ensure that they are
not unwittingly filtering out potential
talent from other cultures or closer
to home because of gender?
In the Western world, the baby
boomers are ageing and with them a
demographic challenge is looming.
Migration as a potential source
of skilled labour will become
increasingly important.
The source of skilled migrants
will swing towards countries where
English is a second language.
The workplace is a microcosm of
wider society - many cultures, one
community.
In the Western world, the baby
boomers are ageing and with them a
demographic challenge is looming.
In many countries the labour force
growth is slowing and our workforce
is ageing. There are now more 60‐64
year olds than 15-19 year olds in
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May 2016
the workforce. Nearly one in three
workers is over 50 and by 2029 it is
projected that one in four workers
will be aged over 64.
Globally there is increasing
competition for skilled labour.
Migration as a potential source
of skilled labour will become
increasingly important and the
source of skilled migrants will swing
towards countries where English is
a second language. Ethnic diversity
will continue to rise.
The challenge for many businesses
is how to attract, hire and retain the
best new talent available? How do
they ensure that their recruitment
processes are open and responsive
to potentially great staff members
Choosing the best talent
available
One way businesses can maximise
the opportunity to get the best
talent is by developing greater
cultural awareness. As part of
this process, businesses can
learn to recognise some of the
unconscious assumptions that might
be influencing their decisions and
adapt their recruitment processes
accordingly.
In our experience and observation
of businesses looking for new staff,
there can be an unspoken and at
times, an unrealised inclination by
those recruiting new staff to hire
people like themselves, i.e., people
from similar backgrounds and on the
face of it with similar values. While
getting the right ‘fit’ in recruitment
is a key element in staff selection,
it should not preclude people from
different backgrounds or gender
from being seriously considered as
prospective candidates or as future
colleagues.
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