Cultural Competence in the Workplace

We’ve given lectures as part of the diversity management course of the Israeli Forum for Employment Diversity for several years. In the course, we present the JICC’s activities in cultural competency, and present relevant tools. The current course opened in January 2021, and includes 18 participants from leading organizations and companies in Israel, including the Israel Police, Strauss, Weizmann Institute, the electric company, Elbit, a large legal office, and more.

the course participants

This year, because of Covid, the course is taking place via Zoom. The first meeting (of the two we were invited to) took place on February 10 and was led by Dr. Rachely Ashwal and Orna Shani Golan, who are leading the Cultural Competency Desk at the JICC. We presented tools to help organizations improve their ability to include everyone, not through broad organizational activities, but through personal skills that each diversity manager should have: tools for effective work in the face of generalizations, and tools to deepen inter-cultural dialogue.

Dealing with generalization

The meeting ended with a simulation in which a manager had to address an employee’s request to take vacation on the Novi God holiday, after the organization had decided not to give vacations. The simulation engaged all in understanding the unique cultural aspects of this request. In the next meeting we’ll play the HoliGame, a unique tool we developed together with the Israeli Forum for Employment Diversity to deal with social and political tensions in an organization.

Cultural Competence is needed everywhere – from healthcare, to welfare and city services, even to your coffee provider and other workplaces.

We’ve found that the HoliGame, produced as a joint project of the JICC’s Cultural Competency Desk and the Israeli Forum for Employment Diversity, has been a useful tool in introducing important concepts of cultural competency while having a bit of fun.

On January 18, 2021, the desk led a session of HoliGame with the Israeli division of the Nespresso coffee company.

Diversity workshop for Nespresso

Noa Tron, Director of the Israeli Forum for Employment Diversity, opened the session with a fascinating lecture on the importance of diversity in organizations, especially in light of the diversity in Israeli society. She also spoke about the viability of diversity, the immense benefits that a diverse and inclusive work environment has for the organization, given the great diversity of the society in which we live. More than 50 managers and workers gathered via Zoom to discuss dilemmas and questions surrounding events, dates and holidays in the Israeli calendar and other issues that often arise in a diverse work environment.

Michal, vice president of human resources at Nespresso, said as she opened the meeting:

Nespresso, as an organization, has set a goal of expanding and deepening its diversity, given the enormous benefits of a diverse and multi-identity work environment, and has been undergoing this process for the past two years. Therefore, as managers, employees and actors in an organizational environment, if we just open up our thinking about the existing diversity – with all the dilemmas, challenges – and opportunities – that this diversity entails – we will profit from an organization with a rich and interesting work environment, which is much better for its employees.

Here’s a Facebook post from Rachely Ashwal:

Many thanks to Nespresso, and to the Israeli Forum for Employment Diversity!

In Israel it seems that there is a holiday or national commemoration for each of its identities or communities – nearly every day. How should it be celebrated? What’s the best way to commemorate in a culturally competent manner?

In other words, how do we create an inclusive and culturally competent environment in organizations and in the workplace?

Before COVID-19, we created HoliGame, together with the Israeli Forum for Employment Diversity at the Ministry of Labor and Welfare and the Israeli Forum for Employment Diversity. (You can read about it here.) The HoliGame is a great opportunity to become familiar with different communities’ holidays and commemorative days, and enables participants to deal with questions and dilemmas through an enjoyable and interactive game.

The original HoliGame

In the wake of COVID-19, we became even more creative, creating an online interactive version of the game, based on the popular television hit, Who Wants to be  Millionaire. We launched the new game on July 27, in an event that integrated questions and dilemmas, with one goal – to be the first to reach a million!

The new online HoliGam, based on the popular, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Just like on TV, the 20 particiants were asked increasingly difficult questions about different holidays, how to celebrate and commemorate them in a diverse workplace. Questions included: What do you do if different holidays coincide? How do you make everyone feel a part of company-wide celebrations? What do you do if someone isn’t satisfied?

The game includes dozens of questions, safety nets, fascinating discussions – and the opportunity to reach the top-prize question.

Discussion dilemmas of diversity and inclusion on the way to the million

The HoliGame targets diverse organizations and companies, who seek to become more culturally competent. Since its launch organizations have enthusiastically engaged participants to talk freely about diversity, inclusion and cultural competency, and improve practices in the workplace. We anticipate doing more and more of these kinds of online workshops.

So who’s up for a round of HoliGame?Here’s a post about it in Facebook (in Hebrew)

We’d been working with the Unistream organization for a few months on ensuring that their programming is culturally competent. When Israel went on lockdown in response to the coronavirus crisis, all (or nearly all) of our previously scheduled workshops and training sessions went online.

Bar Biran, Director of the Shared Living program, Unistream, with Dr. Racheli Ashwal a few minutes before the workshop

So on May 10, we held a Zoom session with Bar Biran, Shared Society program manager at Unistream on Cultural Competence and Diversity Management in a Mixed Society, together with the project’s managers and instructors. Bar had asked us to help her with numerous questions that come up regularly when working with a multitude of identities and ethnicities. To help her and her staff deal with those dilemmas, we designed a workshop that would give special tools and skills to the program’s instructors and coordinators.

The concept that guides us when consulting and advising organizations

The workshop participants learned the guiding principles of cultural competency that should influence everything they do, as they lead programs with participants from diverse identities.

Deep into the winter months, as the seasonal rains seem to never stop, it’s easy to forget that there are holidays just around the corner. How many holidays? About 20, many of which are concentrated in April-May, and which are celebrated and commemorated by most of the religions and communities living in Israel.

As a manager or employer, how do you prepare for the holidays? What should be taken into account when preparing for the holiday? How should it be marked? What happens when holidays from different religions fall on the same day? How do you make everyone feel like they belong, even when the holiday being celebrated is not theirs?

To learn about the ways to deal with all these complex issues, our Orna Shani Golan, Director of the Cultural Competency Desk, teamed up with  Noa Tron, Director of the Israeli Forum for Employment Diveristy, and together they created HoliGame – a tool about how to prepare managers, employers and other staff to speak about the different holidays during April and May, as they prepare to mark the different holidays in their organizations and companies.

Orna and Noa while the other playing HoliGame

On 18.2, we were hosted by Intel’s Petach Tikva campus. A group of 25 women from different organizations came to play HoliGame for the first time: Getting to know the holidays, dealing with different dilemmas, challenges and opportunities that arise around the holidays, as well as issues, both regarding values and organizational logistics, that arise in when different holidays fall on the same day, the different ways workers react to each other, and more.

The HoliGame board

This is how the game works. In order for participants to advance on the game board, they had to deal with dilemmas such as:

• How to mark the Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers without adding to existing tensions?
• How do you decide which holidays the organization celebrates, and which they don’t?
• What to do with a worker who actively works to sabotage an organization’s holiday commemoration?
• What to do when employees complain that they must give up their traditions in the name of inclusion and cultural sensitivity?

Playing in action

They also advanced if they picked a card that advances cultural competence, such as:

• As part of the preparation for the holiday period, you checked in advance who of the employees would like vacation and when.
• As a result of being prepared and organized early, both the needs of the staff and the needs of the system were taken care of.
• At a management meeting, it was decided that during Ramadan, all staff meetings at the company would end no later than 2pm so that the those who fast could have time to get home to the special meal that breaks their fast in the evening.

The participants were held up or had to ‘pay’ fines if they picked a card with an activity that is not culturally competent. For example:

• The foreman scheduled employees for shifts without taking into account that Easter and Passover fall at the same time, and as a result, you receive complaints about being inconsiderate about employees’ needs, and employees are unwilling to work during the holiday.
• Every May, a ceremony for the company’s Workers of the Year is held, with a rich array of refreshments. This year, Ramadan comes in May, so Muslim workers will not be able to take part in the ceremony.
• During the interim days of Passover week, a worker who does not keep Kosher dietary laws brought a pita into the common kitchenette, which led to an incident between him and those who do keep Kosher. Workers came to you to handle the issue, and it turned out that there were no previous instructions on what to do regarding food in the company during Passover.

Participants noted that they learned a great deal about both the holidays themselves and about tools to work out issues dealing with them in order to not create new tensions in the organization, and how to prepare ahead of time for the upcoming April and May holidays in particular and holidays in the organization in general.

Concluding the game

Orna posted the following on Facebook:

Remember what it’s like when you had that dream? When you have some vague notion of what you want something to be, but the idea still doesn’t have a clear framework, a precise image in your mind, or even a name. Just a feeling. That’s the way it was with the HoliGame. A game that helps people become acquainted with the different holidays and commemorations in Israel, for those managing diverse teams. For the past several months, Noa Tron, Director of the Israeli Forum for Employment Diversity and I (from the Jerusalem Intercultural Center) have been passing ideas back and forth about how to make all the diverse holidays and commemorations in Israel accessible to everyone? What is the potential to create an inclusive environment with the right approach? And how many issues can be missed along the way? And not to mention the dilemmas that arise from just preparing for and commemorating the different holidays themselves. And finally, today, 25 women (where are you men?) had the opportunity to play this game, the HoliGame. A chance to get to know the holidays (Pentecost anyone?), deal situations, some more familiar, some less, and about think what each person can do to change things in each of the companies she came from.
So one small dream was fulfilled. (And thank you to amazing designer Sagi Ashin for understanding exactly what we dreamt about.) Thank goodness that there’s more where that came from. And if you want to hear more about HoliGame or want me to come to your company, speak with me (or Noa).

Here’s the original post:

The Israeli Forum for Employment Diversity also posted the following on Facebook:

It was a festive and interesting morning at Intel’s Petach Tikva campus. Months of developing and planning about how to prepare for the April-May holidays led us to the HoliGame. Becoming familiar with the holidays, dealing with dilemmas, challenges and opportunities that arise around the holidays, as well as issues regarding values and organizational logistics that arise when holidays fall on the same days, employee reactions, and more. Twenty-five women from different companies were able to deal with these questions in an experiential and unique way.
Some of our recommendations on how to make the corporate environment more culturally competent:
* Get to know the different holiday calendars and prepare for them ahead of time.
* Learn from mistakes and successes – create an organizational memory
* Adjust the company’s readiness to the needs of current employees
* Decide what to celebrate and commemorate – along with employees
* Holiday policies – take into account: food, ceremony, work scheduling (shifts, vacations, working hours), terminology, translation, appropriate gifts
* Creating an organizational ‘toolbox’ for responding to organizational tensions
* Using effective dialogue tools for dealing with employee resistance
* Holidays are not just welfare – they affect workers’ well-being on various levels.
Want to know more? Did you want to play and were not able to come? We also come to the companies themselves. Many thanks to the Jerusalem Intercultural Center and especially to Orna Shani on the wonderful partnership. A special thanks to Sagi Ashin for the stunning design. To the Be-Atzmi organization for the comments, and to Racheli Livni-Mordechai and to Hadar Tal Falik for their wonderful hospitality and the inspiration you gave us in telling Intel’s story.

And here’s the original post: