Cultural Competency

Cultural Competency

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to talk about cultural competency and its influences on the behaviors of people in organizations. This paper also aims to discuss the importance of values, mindsets, and stakeholder's agendas in organizations. In order to understand cultural competency, one should first clearly know what culture is. Cultural competency can also be related with diversity, and from the perspective of organizational communication, it can be understood in the context of diverse culture. Moreover, there are a limited number of people who are culturally competent by birth; others need to develop this competency in their behaviors with the passage of time, and with interacting different people having different cultures and behaviors.

Introduction

The term 'cultural competence' can be defined as the ability of people to interact with people of different cultures effectively. This term particularly describes the ability to interact effectively in the context of non-profit organizations, human resources, government agencies, and multinational corporations in which the level of interaction with multicultural people from different ethnic or cultural backgrounds is much higher. Moreover, cultural competency also means that one should have a commitment to learn about different cultures, their differences, learning from mistakes that come in ways, and the development of cross cultural skills.

Discussion

The major influence of cultural competency is thus on the behaviors of people in organizations, and it also highlights the importance of values, mindsets, and stakeholder agendas of organizations.

Influences of cultural competency on behaviors of people

In order to understand the influences of cultural competency, one should first know what culture exactly is? The answer to this question is that, culture refers to the shared beliefs, traditions, history, customs, institution, and folklore of a group of people. Culture forms the basis of environment and society, and makes us what we are and in what ways we express ourselves in front of other group of people. Thus, organizations have their very own culture too, exactly like societies and nations have. The culture of organizations display their policies, processes, procedures, and programs, and incorporates all these in the context of their particular values, assumptions, beliefs, and customs (Hampden, 2006). Organizational cultures may be displayed in their time orientation, use of time, and the perception of their employees towards work and life. Cultural competency is not generally lent by the culture of organization itself, rather; this is the area where the need of skill building arises. An organization can ...