Now more than ever, stronger communication is essential as remote working becomes a necessity. However, three out of 10 employees who work for a global company ‘don’t feel a sense of inclusion or belonging’, despite the fact they describe their companies as ‘diverse’, according to research carried out by Globalization Partners Inc.
This negatively impacts employee engagement, trust, happiness, as well as staff turnover, says the global HR consultancy. Globalization Partners’ 2020 Global Employee Survey, which examines the impact of diversity on distributed global teams, reveals that global teams are struggling to make communications work for them. Surprisingly, the research found that 46% of employees still rely most frequently on email, yet only 31% find it to be effective.
CHALLENGING COMMUNICATION
According to the report two thirds of companies are finding it challenging to align with, and be sensitive to, local culture and communication styles, especially when a company spans multiple geographies.
Organisations that embrace multilingualism are seeing better team results across the board. Nearly 9 out of 10 employees (89%) say their company would benefit from the assistance of outside experts to help with cultural training and cross-organisation education.
Image credit: Gerd Altmann, Pixabay
COLLABORATION TOOLS
Commenting on the findings, Nicole Sahin, CEO of Globalization Partners, stated: “In these trying times it is critical to have the right communication tools in place to ensure success. The employee experience matters now more than ever, and collaboration tools like Slack can make a positive impact on the ability for teams to collaborate on projects and provide a social connection for employees around the world.”
Gartner predicts that by the end of 2022, 75% of organisations with frontline decision-making teams in distributed geographies and with diverse mindsets will exceed their financial targets, pointed out Sahin. “As a company with offices in every corner of the globe, I’ve seen the incredible business advantage in hiring and building diverse teams,” she added.
For information about the report, click here.
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