How the results of the Culture in the Workplace Questionnaire™ can help in your work

• helps you understand how those with different values and behaviors will interpret your actions
• helps you determine how to express your values through actions that will be effective in culturally diverse workplaces.

• recognize behaviors that indicate a preference for one side or the other of the dimensions
• respond to the individual person rather than a stereotype of someone from that country.

• develop a common vocabulary for employees of an organization as they work internationally. For example, imagine a German manager who understands her own preference saying to her Canadian subordinate: "Perhaps you have a lower need for certainty than I do, which is why you haven't been providing me with monthly updates of your work. Perhaps we can compromise a bit on this by . . . ." Her subordinate might respond: "My preference is to get on with my work rather than report on it, but you certainly have a legitimate need for this information. I'll provide a monthly update. Let me know if it is as detailed as required." This is a creative discussion when it could well have gone otherwise.
• depersonalize potentially difficult discussions about differences to help effectively resolve business interactions.

Uses for the Culture in the Workplace Questionnaire™ in your organization

The Culture in the Workplace Questionnaire™ can be used in the following types of situations:

1. New Employee Orientation - Establish the global nature of your company for new employees. Set corporate expectations that employees will interact with people of various cultures and will be expected to at least appreciate differences among represented cultural groups. Use the Culture in the Workplace Questionnaire™ in new employee orientation.

2. Executive Relocation Coaching - Prepare executives/employees (and their families) who are relocating to new countries. Help them think through whether or not their preferences will be effective in the new environment. Review their new responsibilities and offer alternative approaches that may work better than their "natural" style. Use the Culture in the Workplace Questionnaire™ in relocation training or country briefings.

3. Executive Coaching - Coaching and business briefing for the global executive for leading a global workforce, or preparation for international travel, work, decisions, etc. Distant interaction (e.g. telephonic/Skype, etc.) may be substituted for face-to-face interaction. Use the Culture in the Workplace Questionnaire™ in executive coaching.

4. Cultural Awareness Training - Help employees benefit from knowing about cultural preferences of other employees, and their vendor/suppliers, or customers from other countries. Provide specific skill-based training in applying these skills (in custom programs such as "Presenting to the Japanese.") Use the Culture in the Workplace Questionnaire™ in cultural awareness training and consulting.

5. Leading, Managing and Working in a Global or Multicultural Workplace - Employees and managers working in a multi-cultural companies benefit from understanding culturally-based behaviors in the workplace. Helps them prepare alternative approaches that are more effective in various cultures. Use training programs framed around a foundation of the Culture in the Workplace Questionnaire™ results to introduce culturally-based behaviors and provide insights on how to be effective working and managing in the multicultural workplace.

6. Conducting a Cultural Audit - Analyze workplace preferences to align HR/OD and business practices in various countries. Use the data collected to recommend alignment of business practices with outcomes, not processes. Use the Culture in the Workplace Questionnaire™ to collect data to inform these decisions.

7. Developing Global, Virtual and/or Multicultural Teams - Help team leaders and team members understand the impact of culture on leadership/followership, decision making, conflict resolution, and team communications. Use the Culture in the Workplace Questionnaire™ to collect data on similarities and differences to help the teams set protocols and work together more effectively.

Doug Stuart of IOR Global Services, a long-time user of the Culture in the Workplace Questionnaire™ , says the following about how it is used: "IOR Global Services employs the Culture in the Workplace questionnaire as the basis for all its group training programs, whether the focus is Building Intercultural Awareness, Working With (any specific culture), Building Intercultural Competence, or Effective Multicultural Teams. The provides a structured, research-supported, and visual basis for defining and comparing crucial cultural differences and examining the behavioral challenges presented by these differences in the multicultural workplace. The CWq , is effective, easy to use and understand, and allows cultural trainers/coaches/facilitators to accomplish more, in less time, than anything else we're aware of in the marketplace. Additionally, it's very well received by program participants. Highly recommended!"