4 Steps to Evaluate Multicultural Competence in your Organization

We each hold ideas about how our organizations function best. Unfortunately, these ideas can be influenced by blind spots, and those blind spots are costly.

This is particularly true in the area of multicultural competence. Each of us were raised in a particular culture, which informs our cultural identity and the cultural skills we use. Our cultural identity inevitably differs, to some degree, from our coworkers and the people we serve. Sometimes those differences result in conflict, disunity, and poor communication.

If you're experiencing some of these problems, it’s time to take steps to evaluate the multicultural competence of your organization.

1. Identify symptoms

As a leader, you're probably aware of the sources of stress and conflict within your organization or among those you serve.

One key step in evaluation is better defining the problem. You know staff meetings are stressful; now you need to consider why. Is a particular person generating problems, or does your team seem to misinterpret certain statements? You know there’s a problem in the communities you serve. What are some of the symptoms you observe?

2. Discuss symptoms with key people

Once you begin to understand some of the symptoms, it’s time to ask others in your organization for their perspective. Do they share your experience? If not, what do they observe? Do they have additional insight?

Addressing these symptoms with team members widens your perspectives and helps you understand which individuals or groups of people are feeling the most stress or are involved in the most conflict.

3. Form a team to discuss next steps

Bring people from your organization together to consider what next steps need to be taken. Include people with different perspectives and from different parts of your organization.

The steps you need to take will vary. Perhaps you need to better understand what’s happening. Consider conducting some form of evaluation: observing group interactions, surveying your organization, or interviewing people one-on-one or as part of a focus group.

If you understand the problem well, address it with training. Workshops and coaching can help your team grow in multicultural competence and humility.

4. Consider outside help

If this process feels overwhelming or beyond your current capacity, consider reaching out for help. Our team at Legacy is passionate about helping organizations grow and would love to serve you in this way. We provide a variety of services including assessment, workshops, training, executive coaching, and leadership development.

The costs of poor multicultural competence are too great to leave these deficits unaddressed. Take steps to evaluate and improve your organization today.

Dr. Tyler S. Greenway is the Chief Research Officer of Legacy Consulting & Research Group. He is passionate about applying social-scientific research to everyday practices. Dr. Greenway directs various research activities that include reviewing social-scientific literature, research study and project assessment design, survey building, data collection and management, statistical analysis, and the presentation and publication of results. To learn more about our Research and Evaluation services complete and submit the service request form below.

Dr. Tyler Greenway

Chief Research Officer

Legacy Consulting & Research Group LLC