Business Services
Cross-cultural perspective
How to manage a diverse work force
By Patrick Mayock
Smart Business Chicago | March 2008
Brian Baird
President and CEO, MagnetStreet
Brian Baird developed his
global perspective on a
basketball court under the Guatemalan sun.
“I was there with a group called
Sports Ambassadors,” he says.
“I had that experience of living
in a cross-cultural situation and
learning another language, [so] I
understand a little bit about what
those struggles can be like.”
Today, as president and CEO of
MagnetStreet, a manufacturer of
promotional magnets, Baird uses
that understanding to reduce
turnover among a diverse staff
of approximately 160 employees from around the world.
Smart Business spoke with
Baird about how to accommodate diversity while developing
a fiercely loyal work force.
Q. Why is diversity in the
workplace so important?
It becomes more about why
handling diversity well is
important.
Employees who feel like they
are valued and respected are
going to be more likely to stay
longer, with less turnover.
People who are happier and
content in the work that they’re
doing, they’re going to be more
productive, as well.
Q. How do you bring people
of diverse backgrounds
together?
You need to be able to be sensitive or have someone who’s
going to be managing who’s
going to be able to be sensitive
to some of the different things
that they might be dealing with
that are totally foreign to us.
When our plant really began
to grow and the responsibilities
were becoming more than what our current staff was able to handle, we went out and hired a new
plant manager. ... We weren’t just
looking for someone who could
run an efficient operation and
get the most out of our space,
our equipment and our people.
It was important to us that he
would want to treat people well.
Q. How do you determine
whether a manager will be a
good fit in this regard?
It’s asking the questions, ‘Tell
us how you would handle coming into a workplace where people are from many different ethnic backgrounds and languages.
How do you feel about working
with all of these different
people?’
It’s sitting and talking
with someone and hearing them talk about what
they think about people
from different backgrounds all working
together and how they
see that work.
Q. How do you work
through language barriers?
We certainly encourage
them to work on their
English because that is
often such a big barrier
for them.
Be willing to take a little
longer to train someone
at the beginning. Spend a
little more time checking
in with how they’re progressing
and encourage them to take on
new responsibilities as things
come up.
Q. Is it important to create
outlets to celebrate cultural
differences?
That’s been a really positive
thing. We’ve done things for this diverse group like potluck luncheons where people have brought
in their own ethnic foods and
have shared them with everyone
and have told us a little bit more
about where they’re from and
what this is that we’re eating. ...
Just getting together and hanging out at a picnic and playing
soccer together. Those kinds of
things can really help in everyone
getting to know each other and
just being in each other’s company. It helps when it comes to
working next to the same person.
Q. What should all CEOs
keep in mind as they strive
toward diversity?
The biggest thing is trying to
be sensitive to the different cultures that are represented by
the work force.
Whether it’s books coming out
or movies, (try) to learn a little
bit more about (their culture.)
I’m there regularly, and I try to
talk to each of them and get to
know a little bit about them and
their background, rather than
just knowing their name and
what they do at the plant.
Get to know where they’re
from, a little bit about their
family and the things that they
had to live through.
Know what holidays are
important to them. Ask them,
‘So what’s that mean? What
would you be doing?’ on whatever the holiday is.
If you’re willing to show a little
interest in who they are and in
where they’ve come from, it
goes a long way.
Q. How does having a
diverse work force benefit
your company?
If they feel like they’re valued
and this is a place where they’re
respected, it makes for a much
better atmosphere and a much
better work environment.
This is not about charity. It’s a
two-way street. We’re providing
a good environment for people
and give them an opportunity to
get some work experience and
to grow and get more responsibilities as time goes by. In turn,
we end up with employees who
are loyal and care about the
company and want to work
hard for the company.
It costs a lot less to have an
employee that’s going to work
for you for five years than it does
to have to replace that employee
every four or five months.
HOW TO REACH: MagnetStreet, (800) 788-8633 or www.magnetstreet.com
