In our last post, we explained why we need to push for more Female and Minority Talent in Global Mobility and how we include a number of people under this rainbow umbrella. We even coined #RainbowTalent. Why is this worth talking about? Picture this scenario: a leading multinational company must select somebody with the right skills to establish its first overseas division and have two equally strong candidates. Alice just got married and, in their best intentions but without consulting her, leadership decides that she would not like to go on assignment as she is likely to be starting a family. The opportunity is therefore offered to George. What do Alice and George think twelve months later?
Alice versus George
Alice and her husband wanted to get the wedding out of the way so that she could pursue her dream of going on an international assignment. She was shocked about not even being consulted. But it all worked out for her: she works overseas for one of their competitors and is very happy. The company’s decision came at the worst time for George. He and his wife were about to announce their first pregnancy to their families. But he still said “yes” to the opportunity and eventually convinced his wife to try it. It was, however, very tough on her: She was sick throughout the pregnancy, and when the baby was born, she had no support network. This situation also impacted George’s performance which was disappointing compared to his pre-assignment performance. For this reason, the company decided to bring him back.
Wrong Assumptions and Stereotypes hold Rainbow Talent Back
Wrong assumptions and stereotypes are, in fact, one of the reasons why women continue to be highly under-represented in Global Mobility. The 2020 Worldwide Survey of International Assignment Policies and Practices states that an average of 20% of the global expatriate workforce is female (Huntridge, 2021).
We shall keep in mind that some favorable variations don’t influence the overall conclusions: we are still decades away from seeing the percentage of female assignees rise to 50%. In the best-case scenario, the predictions estimate this will be reached only around 2050 (Mercer, 2017).
It’s time to make opportunities accessible to all, including female and minority talent.
1 – Formulate the Strategy with Metrics for Rainbow Talent
Like most international organizations, you need to align Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion with Global Mobility. Most of all, you should have metrics and goals to ensure that you have enough representation of all groups:
Women of all skin colors,
BIPOC: The acronym BIPOC refers to black, indigenous, and other people of color and aims to emphasize the historical oppression of black and indigenous people.
LGBTQIA+: LGBTQIA+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, Queer, and other sexual identities and genders.
Religious and cultural minorities in your home and host countries,
People with disabilities
People with a broad range on the mental health spectrum.
You should work on solving this crucial issue as soon as possible. When goals and data are discussed with Senior Management, Global Mobility Managers must have a seat at the table.
2 – Rewrite the Policy for Rainbow Talent
Many Global Mobility policies were initially developed for male assignees with children and a “trailing” spouse. Ensure your policy addresses the issues of women and new types of families – single parents, for example (the vast majority of them female), or same-sex couples. Review the meaning of “Family” in your guideline and choose a more inclusive approach there.
3 – Allow a Self-Nomination Process based on Performance and Potential
There still needs to be more transparency over who is assigned and why. Companies often don’t have a clear overview of their employees’ willingness to be internationally mobile. And like in Alice’s and George’s stories, unconscious bias still plays a considerable (yet invisible) role in the selection of the candidates. Because of the prevalence of stereotypes that associate women with family, female employees are usually not even asked, even if they are willing to consider an assignment abroad. I’ve been there too.
4 – Select Women for Non-Diverse Host Locations
This is probably not a big issue (apart from a few critical war zones and dangerous locations). The problem is instead the assumption that expat women won’t be accepted in their new role abroad because of the fixed gender roles men and women have in the host location. Expat women in India automatically have a higher status than local women. In some Muslim cultures, as long as you wear a ring implying that you are married, you can be seen as highly respectable and will be treated accordingly.
5 – Ensure better Representation in the Global Mobility Teams too
While Global Mobility Managers are often female, women don’t benefit from the same representation rate at the upper levels. This means that Senior Leaders and Executives in Global Mobility are mainly men. As a consequence, lack of awareness at the Senior Management level is an issue, and this is especially true in traditionally conservative countries.
6 – Bring Back the Human Touch
The lack of Human Touch and previous bad Expat Experiences might stop women from actively seeking opportunities for international exposure. HR and Global Mobility teams are often too busy focusing on the many operational aspects of the mobility program and fail to design a human-centric Global Mobility program for their expat population. If you haven’t started yet, do it now. Talk openly about diversity in your policies and encourage internal discussion.
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The Push for Rainbow Talent in Global Mobility is a series we created for Pride Month to raise awareness of the issues diverse talent might experience in the realm of Global Mobility. Although international organizations have a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) objective, according to a report by KPMG (2018), many need to catch up due to failure to understand how Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion impact Global Mobility.
Another KPMG (2018) survey highlighted that most Global Mobility Programs do not need to have specific Diversity and Inclusion objectives as part of their strategy. 70% of the companies with diversity and inclusion practices in place stated that this was due to a strong business case for diversity across all business areas.
While I understand that we might not need to develop a DEI strategy ONLY for Global Mobility, we should still include Global Mobility in our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion goals.
Globally, the proportion of female employees engaged in international assignments is merely 14%. While this percentage may differ across industries and regions, the overall picture is clear: even in well-developed markets, achieving gender parity is far from satisfactory (Mercer, 2019).
Female and minority talent miss opportunities because they are not transparent. They need to be made aware of the possibilities and often need access to the informal networks where participants are nominated for such opportunities. Even worse, white men tend to nominate other white men for international career opportunities within the military tradition and other old boys’ clubs. Most assignments are still nomination based. You get the gist. The outcome of the survey by KPMG (2018) brings hope in this aspect, as nearly half of the companies surveyed indicated that the review of their Global Mobility processes would broaden communication to all employees about opportunities.
How we define Rainbow Talent
As there are many different groups and changing identities I would like to summarize them under the umbrella of all colors by the term “Rainbow Talent.” I’m using this term as an inclusive summary of the following groups:
Women of all skin colors,
BIPOC: The acronym BIPOC refers to black, indigenous, and other people of color and aims to emphasize the historical oppression of black and indigenous people.
LGBTQIA+: LGBTQIA+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, Queer, and other sexual identities and genders.
Religious and other marginalized groups in your home and host countries,
People with disabilities
People with a broad range on the mental health spectrum
Refugees.
You will often see unconscious bias because the Sponsoring Manager assumes that a woman has a house to keep and children to raise. They would not assume this for male talent. Sometimes the prejudice is just as simple as “women don’t do this kind of job or can’t work in this country.”
Or there is the assumption that a married gay couple would have a hard time in specific locations because of the lack of legal acceptance of their marriage. Sometimes members of the LGBTQIA+ community are not even out of the closet within their companies. Although society has become much more open in the last 20 years, we must remember there could be many reasons why employees might not want to disclose everything about themselves to their employers.
There is enough evidence that companies having gender, ethnic, and cultural diversity are more likely than ever to outperform their less diverse peers. Still, we hardly see any progress in this space within Global Mobility, so I wish all of us to push for Rainbow Talent within our expat population and communities.
Six Tactics
Here are our six tactics to give Rainbow Talent a seat at the Global Mobility table.
1 – Identify Strong Candidates with Performance and Potential Data:
Eliminate most of the prejudices, stereotypes, and biases by relying on hard data. Create a system of identifying those qualified for international work and projects. Performance and potential data are vital points to consider for an ideal selection. You can go back to “The Global Mobility Workbook” chapter 6 “Selecting Your Expats” for a framework. You must base selection ondata and factsrather than sentiments.
2 – Select Candidates Based on Intercultural Competence:
Every candidate who meets the requirements should go through an intercultural competence assessment or even an assessment center designed to prepare for international assignments. The potentially stressful or dangerous context in the host location might deter some employees, but before assuming, have a conversation with your potential assignee. Work with a professional to assess their intercultural competence. I can recommend the more academic Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI)™. We also work with the Individual Cultural Blueprint Indicator (ICBI) ™.
3 –Provide Inclusive Guidelines to Recruiters:
We have witnessed a surge of different “expatriates,” such as International Hires, Cross-Border Commuters, Global Nomads, International Business Travelers, and International Transfers. To be inclusive, we must support these people, their needs, and the “classical expatriate”. As mentioned in this interview, many international moves are now local-to-local transfers. Hence, often we do not involve a Global Mobility Manager in the process. An HR Manager or external recruiter is the point of contact for the “Expat Family”. We recommend that you upgrade your definition of the “Expat Family” and give more support to all involved. A “Box of Chocolates” approach can be helpful here.
4 – Ensure Commitment from all Senior Managers to the Cause:
Promote intercultural competence within your senior workforce. Offer “Unconscious Bias” training to your senior managers and ensure your senior managers lead a diverse workforce. Expose them to other cultural styles and make sure that they are committed to the cause of inclusive leadership and that they are trained to speak to “Rainbow Talent” appropriately. We are working on a new publication called the “Global Rockstar Album” which supports leaders to become more inclusive. If you want to be informed about the book and join the launch party please sign up here.
5 – Offer a Global Job Platform with a Self-Nomination or Open Application Process:
Most companies work like social media, despite official structures there are informal networks. You have fans and followers, occasionally a sponsor or supporter. You can make your job opportunities transparent by allowing a self-nomination process. All talents want a fair chance at success, and you must find ways to motivate them to apply.
6 – Target Your Job Ads to Rainbow Talent:
You also need to write more inclusive job profiles so they match real professionals and do not “sound” like you only want a white alpha male. As I mentioned in “The Global Career Workbook (2016)” most job profiles I’m reading have been written for Batman and Robin. We need more Wonder Woman and Supergirl profiles. It’s hard enough for Rainbow Talent to feel worthy to apply. Let’s make it easier by not setting totally unrealistic expectations from the beginning.
Intrigued?
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Waldman, K. (2018, July 23). A Sociologist Examines the “White Fragility” That Prevents White Americans from Confronting Racism. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/a-sociologist-examines-the-white-fragility-that-prevents-white-americans-from-confronting-racism
Starting a business (and keeping it running) is hard work. I mean, hard! But it is all worth the time, money, and effort invested for those with a passion, a plan, and a reliable support system. It’s going to be a rollercoaster ride, though. Between the rewarding highs of seeing the spark of interest in a student’s eyes or the genuinely thankful client, you were able to help. Then, there are the lows of the stress and responsibilities that come with being an entrepreneur, and you might wonder if you did the right thing by making changes or if you are going to make it. But the freedom to focus your energy on what you have most at heart allows you to grow, live for your purpose, and live from it too!
It requires a lot of discipline, physical and mental fitness, and friends who will not leave you if you have not been in touch for more than a week. You need a life partner and family who are entirely behind your decision, and you need to be prepared to work harder than ever. After almost ten years of building and running an offline and online business with freelancers in different locations and a diverse client base, I consider myself a pro.
Finding Your Purpose as an Expat Coach
A few years back, the business was drained, and the savings were used up. I had invested in two additional courses. I was ready to give up and get a full-time job. I even said “yes” to a full-time job offer. But then “fate” kicked in. In a very relaxed moment during our first RockMeRetreat, I knew the answer was a clear “No.” I was not ready to start a full-time job in a leadership role again, where I would spend all my energy on maneuvering politics, playing the game, coaching a team, and sitting at a desk for more than six hours a day. Yes, I was very disappointed when the company told me that they wanted to hire somebody else. I was down and scared, but at the same time, I was relieved. And I knew this feeling. It was the freedom smell. Deep down inside, I knew that I would always fall back on my feet and have all the skills within me to make a living. I once again felt the fear (and did it anyway). (There’s a book about that).
Let’s help Expats Find Their Intrinsic Motivation
This post is not a pep talk on how we should leap out of our comfort zone and fight for survival daily because this adrenaline level is not suitable in the long run. We only need this kind of adrenaline in an actual emergency during a tornado or a pandemic, but not every day for years on end. A job is great. A paycheck is wonderful. A sick day is sensational. A sponsored coffee is amazing. A paid holiday is fantastic. Burnout isn’t. You probably wonder how you keep the energy drainers out of your work environment, and my advice about this is a simple one: Focus on your well-being first. Focus on that as long as you need, stop eating junk food, walk regularly, stop working after six hours, and change your routine to fit your life. Most of the issues we have at work come from our fear of not being enough. We overcompensate. You might think that you need to achieve that next level, subsequent promotion, or next salary band. Then you will have a wonderful life. But let me be honest with you: There is a price you pay for that. And this price might not be what you are looking for right now. I am in favor of abandoning many of the typical HR systems. Let us give our people the benefit of the doubt again and help them find their intrinsic motivation.
We should help them work on projects where they can thrive, help them develop client relationships they will find engaging, and above all, we should change lives. Passion is a better driver than security for entrepreneurs as employees. And if you doubt now how you can help your team get to that level, we should have a conversation. I would say first of all: Everybody still has a ton to learn in this world. Understanding that we are always learning is the first step toward growth. Many people, especially women, need help to find the confidence to move ahead. In Switzerland, many women grew up in a male-dominated environment where they learned to work more than their peers to be recognized, and when they tried to move up the ladder, and had to show their teeth. Then a manager told them that they were too aggressive and too pushy.
They started to have self-doubts and fell into a complacent state where moving up was no longer an option. I know many excellent women with the busy-bee and Aschenbroedel-syndrome. They run their departments silently in the background, while a male colleague gets the bonus and the honors. They start initiatives and get criticized. They speak out in meetings, and someone else picks up the thread, and everyone applauds the other guy.
Help Female Expats and Rainbow Talent Be Heard
We can all do our share to help them thrive. Sometimes an encouraging hug or a pep talk during lunch or a job referral might just be what they need. My team and I started helping more diverse women. We work with women from developing countries, women with more seniority, and women from minority backgrounds. Whatever their backgrounds, women with young children also face obstacles and prejudice in the labor market. Managers often assume they will miss work when their children are sick or that they will leave early. I’m ashamed to say that, but we diligently exclude certain people from the workforce here in Switzerland, depriving them of the fundamental right to work. It’s not always intentional, but we cannot always blame unconscious bias for our decisions.
Some companies forgo excellent candidates because the humans who make up that company cannot move beyond their prejudice about women (even more so if they come from developing countries, have young children, have gaps in their resume, or are LGBTQ+, or disabled). It is frequent for people with a refugee background who cannot produce the required papers and certificates for specific jobs to face many challenges when accessing the job market. People suffering from mental health problems such as depression and talents who might be on the autism spectrum or have schizophrenia face numerous barriers when searching for a job. We might not be able to create a significant groundswell today and start a revolution, BUT we can change lives, one person at a time.
“I’m on a Mission to bring the Human Touch back into Global Mobility (through Digitalization).”
Angie Weinberger preparing for a Red Couch Talk
As we delve deeper into the world of entrepreneurship, diversity, equity, and inclusion, it becomes increasingly apparent that these are not mere buzzwords but pillars of our collective future. In this extended discussion, we will explore the significance of fostering a diverse and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem, the challenges faced by underrepresented groups, and the strategies to overcome these obstacles.
The Power of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Entrepreneurship has long been considered a realm of opportunity, a space where innovative ideas can flourish, and dreams can come to life. However, the path to entrepreneurial success has not always been equally accessible to all. Historically, certain demographics, particularly women, underrepresented groups, and individuals from underprivileged backgrounds, have faced systemic barriers that hindered their entrepreneurial journey.
In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the immense value that diversity and inclusion bring to the world of entrepreneurship. Research has consistently shown that diverse teams and founders are more likely to achieve higher financial returns, foster innovation, and solve complex problems effectively. In essence, diversity is not just a moral imperative but a strategic advantage for any entrepreneurial endeavor.
Challenges on the Road
While the benefits of diversity are evident, it’s crucial to acknowledge the unique challenges faced by underrepresented groups. These challenges range from limited access to capital and resources to biases in investment decisions. For female entrepreneurs, the gender pay gap and the scarcity of female investors further exacerbate these hurdles. Similarly, individuals with disabilities encounter obstacles in terms of physical accessibility and societal stigmatization. The lack of understanding and accommodation for mental health challenges can also deter talented individuals from pursuing entrepreneurial ventures. Moreover, women of color often face a double burden of racial and gender discrimination, making it essential to address intersectionality in discussions of diversity and inclusion.
Strategies for Inclusion
In our quest to build a more inclusive Global Mobility landscape, several strategies have emerged as effective tools for change.
Accessible Funding Opportunities: Creating funding mechanisms that are more inclusive and accessible to a broader range of entrepreneurs is paramount. This includes venture capital firms actively seeking diverse founders, crowdfunding platforms, and government initiatives that provide grants and loans to underrepresented groups.
Mentorship and Support Networks: Mentorship programs that pair experienced entrepreneurs with aspiring ones have proven to be instrumental in leveling the playing field. These relationships offer guidance, advice, and valuable connections.
Education and Training: Equipping aspiring entrepreneurs with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed is vital. Educational programs, workshops, and incubators designed for underrepresented groups can provide the necessary tools to thrive in the entrepreneurial world.
Breaking Down Biases: Addressing unconscious biases in investment decisions and workplace practices is an ongoing effort. Diversity and inclusion training, blind recruitment processes, and transparent evaluation criteria can help mitigate bias.
Policy Changes: Advocating for policy changes at local, national, and international levels is essential. These policies should promote diversity in hiring, access to education, and equitable distribution of resources.
Celebrating Success Stories: Highlighting the achievements of diverse entrepreneurs not only inspires others but also challenges stereotypes. Recognizing and celebrating these success stories is a vital part of creating a more inclusive entrepreneurial culture.
A Collective Mission for Change
In conclusion, the journey toward a more inclusive entrepreneurial landscape is a collective mission that requires the efforts of individuals, organizations, and society as a whole. It is not merely about opening doors but also about ensuring that once those doors are open, everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive. The entrepreneurial world is a dynamic and innovative space, and by embracing diversity and inclusion, we can unlock its full potential, change lives, and bring about a brighter future for all. We might not be able to create a significant groundswell today and start a revolution, BUT we can change lives, one person at a time. Join us in our mission.
Committing to diversity, equity, and inclusion in Global Mobility, we can pave the way for a more prosperous, inclusive, and innovative future, where every voice is heard, and every dream has a chance to flourish.
A famous Swiss supermarket had an incident where an employee in the sales area wanted to wear a head scarf, but they did not allow her to do that, so she resigned. Unfortunately, this happens to a company that promotes being open and living diversity, equity, and inclusion. I don’t see a s*** storm happening, and it seems that in Switzerland, this is acceptable, and I’m afraid I have to disagree.
In Switzerland, the land of Zwingli and Calvin, the majority religious group is Roman Catholic, with approximately 37% of the Swiss population. The reformed Evangelical community makes up 25%. 5% of the Swiss population is Muslim, mainly from the Balkans and Turkey.Around 30% of the population have no religious affiliation.
According to Wikipedia, there are approximately 20’000 Jews in Switzerland, and more than 50 percent of Jewish households reside in Zurich, Geneva, and Basel. There is also growing concern about antisemitism in Switzerland, as in many other countries in the world.
With global polarization growing, I am compelled to remind everyone how we can contribute to building a more inclusive work environment. If you haven’t yet bought “The Global Rockstar Album,” this would be an excellent first step.
How you can help Religious Minorities in Companies in Switzerland
Multinational companies in Switzerland promote an “inclusive” culture. Everyone should have the same opportunities within the company, regardless of their religious or cultural background. While I often hear that Switzerland is so intercultural because it has four different language regions and is located in the middle of Europe, I experience a different reality. In public discussions, we discuss differences but hardly touch on pragmatic solutions for helping each other get along. Here are 14 easy-to-implement ideas to make your minority employees feel more included in your workforce.
We help our clients gain confidence. We point out that Switzerland is an open country with a long history of religious freedom. That includes the freedom to not believe in anything at all. We raise the intercultural competence of the employees in the companies we work with, but we cannot reach everyone in the country. I am embarrassed when I hear stories of attacks, fear, and overt discrimination. We wish for our clients to be welcomed with open arms in everyday life and in the companies they work for, regardless of their cultural and religious backgrounds.
Since 2000, I have observed that many global companies have developed intercultural competence in their staff and managers, mainly through training and legislative minimum standards. While this is better than nothing, more is needed. In Switzerland, the current trend in diversity training is to uncover our “unconscious bias,” i.e., how our unconscious stereotypes affect our hiring and promotion decisions. We tend to like people who look like us, think like us, behave like us, and come from similar backgrounds. This is also called the “Mini-Me syndrome.”
Food Choices Need to be inclusive of all religions
I don’t see many corporate discussions around intercultural, interracial, and interreligious differences and commonalities. The main reason is that these differences tend to be seen as personal differences more often than cultural differences outside of intercultural training. Once there is a conflict, it is usually attributed to the individual rather than cultural background. Or the other way around: Negative judgments are attributed to cultural background rather than individual behavior. Hardly anyone I know has enough knowledge to distinguish between a stereotype and a tendency (that might not be a stereotype but true for most people with this cultural background, provided they have spent most of their lives in that cultural background).
We should encourage intercultural discussions more often. Awareness creates acceptance in a multicultural environment. In Tourism, we treat customers differently according to their cultural background. By considering a few minor but effective adjustments, companies can provide a discrimination-free environment and welcome everyone with open arms.
1) Religion is a private matter for every employee, and it should not affect their work performance. If we focus our assessments on performance rather than on person, we are on the right track.
2) Minorities might need short breaks to pray. If we use a trust-based time management system rather than strict time control, we can ensure that religious minorities have prayer time during the day.
3) In hospitals, physicians must learn gender-related rules that religious minorities must observe, especially when a man treats a woman. In case of doubt, ask the patient.
4) In tourism, we must learn what is important to clients from the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia. For example, due to the ban on burqas, we might no longer be able to serve those clients in Switzerland.
5) In the police, we need to move away from stereotyping and get a clear understanding of why many young men feel overburdened with life in another culture. At the same time, their families at home depend on their financial support.
6) As therapists and other health care professionals, we need to learn how the trauma of war and being alone when you come from a collectivist cultural background might affect your psyche. We also need to understand that counseling might not be a concept in many of the home cultures of minority employees (assuming they did not grow up in Europe or the US).
7) We need to differentiate the social classes of the person we speak to. If you have an Islamic banker or a writer who has fled from Afghanistan, then you are likely to have no misunderstandings because you can communicate with both in German and English. But if you talk to a less educated colleague who has just arrived in Switzerland and does not yet speak the language well, then you will need to simplify your language and use techniques to check if he or she understands you. Avoid speaking in the child’s language and use proper German or English.
8) To better deal with cultural differences, we must train our staff members as authorities, medical assistants, personal assistants, and company receptionists. It would help if they were less judgemental and more understanding of inclusion.
9) We can get the basics right for inclusion. Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Jains, and many other religious minorities need to know what they eat and drink. You can install signs in the canteen and explain what is in the food. You can offer one vegetarian, vegan, halal, and kosher dish. It would be best if you did that anyway in a modern canteen.
Dry DAY
10) Stop forcing anybody to drink alcohol: At the infamous Swiss Apéro, you can show which drinks contain alcohol and explain that everyone is welcome, even if they don’t like wine. You can make it a point to offer non-alcoholic cocktails and accept that people will cheer you with a glass of water (even if that is against the “Knigge”).
11) You can approve extended holidays over festivals to fly or drive home. You can adapt your company policy to give more flexibility for different religious holidays by providing a holiday budget. This is especially helpful in restaurants and other businesses with a large proportion of migrants
12) We can congratulate religious minorities on their holidays. Maintaining a global holiday calendar and working out content for your in-house communication is easy. https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/
13) We can provide prayer and meditation rooms for our staff. This will help all staff members have quiet zones to contemplate, pray, or meditate in these hectic times. This would help all of us, and offering group meditation courses could be a well-being perk you provide in your company because you care about the well-being of all employees.
14) We can provide more internship opportunities to refugees. Many refugees cannot prove their formal qualifications and will fall through the roster of our recruitment processes. Still, we could see how they work if we provide them with more internships. An internship is an excellent way for you to learn more about an employee. We need to change our policies to offer internships to anyone (and take out the age limit). We would also help women who have a hard time returning to the workforce after a career break if we offered more inclusive internships with fewer barriers.
I hope these 14 pragmatic ideas will help you build an environment where your religious minority employees feel more included.
Joseph Shaules and Ishita Ray discuss intuition and the “feel-good fallacy.” This is a highly critical discussion of intercultural interactions and #globalcompetency. Many of us fall into this trap and think having the right attitude or mindset is sufficient to “do right by the other”. This is largely a minimizing assumption, denying embodied cultural beliefs, values, and behaviors.
Listen to the latest episode of the #DeepCulture Podcast: Cultural Intuitions and the Feel-good Fallacy to understand why. In this episode, Ishita Ray and I explore cultural intuitions–the ability to “read the air” and interpret our environment.
We want to share a few thoughts about the situation in Gaza. For the sake of humanity (as a whole, and the humanity of all our brothers and sisters in Israel and Palestine), please take these points into account when you read information online and especially before you like or repost something you find on social media. Use social media responsibly. Use social media to do good. Remember, a minority commits acts of terrorism, and the large majority of people in the world do not support terrorists.
Support Your Expats in a Geopolitical Conflict as a Global Mobility Manager
Clarify your roles and responsibilities for the expat and business traveler population affected by conflict and war. Your company should have an emergency crisis committee. Gain access to become a member of this committee.
Understand what your exact role is in handling life-and-death situations.
Check-in with your Expats and Travelers personally. Ensure they know what to do and who to contact, especially if they are new to the country.
Keep these principles in mind when sharing news on social media
Only share from trustworthy sources: The British government came up with this motto as mnemotechnic support: Take care with what you SHARE, where each letter forming the word “share” is a point on a checklist to make sure you are careful (Source, Headline, Analyze, Retouched, Error – https://sharechecklist.gov.uk/#the-checklist).
Watch out for propaganda and fake news: It is easy to share disinformation unaware. Be critical and ask yourself who wrote or published the content, what they claim, and whether the site shows bias.
Beware of clickbait. It appeals to your emotions and curiosity, but those do not warrant information quality. You can often recognize clickbait and fake news in their persuasive language. Persuasive language can make any media more engaging and convincing. However, its ultimate purpose is to win your trust and influence your thoughts even if the facts do not support the arguments. Curiosity-picking language is typical of clickbait. Be careful, look beyond the rhetoric, and think for yourself.
Give people space to grieve: If you come across a post about a grieving person, the best you can do is offer support. Hate comments certainly won’t help anyone.
Be aware of echo chambers: An echo chamber in digital media results from the algorithms and activity tracking that govern what content a person sees on any platform. This results in that person only encountering information or opinions that reflect and reinforce their own. Echo chambers can create misinformation and distort a person’s perspective.
Donations and Grass-Roots Organization
Amid this chaos, there are countless organizations and spontaneous campaigns to help refugees, and we wanted to be sure we gave to a trustworthy organization. We know there is a lot of goodwill, but it’s hard to know whom to trust. If you consider grass-roots support, these guidelines might help. Here are things you should consider:
Not all charities have the resources to provide relief as quickly as necessary. It would be wise to check and see if the charity already has a presence in the Middle East.
Should you send clothing and food, these items may not be the most practical. Delivering them to Palestine and Jordan could create logistical challenges. They also often create a lot of extra waste if they cannot be used immediately.
Is the charity experienced in providing emergency relief?
Humanitarian Organizations
Some humanitarian organizations are experienced in disaster relief and would be the best to help deliver assistance as soon as possible. We want to recommend these organizations: