Workplace Trends: Are you ready for the future?

This is the fifth in a series of blog posts looking at workplace trends and how you can best position yourself for advancement. The trends have been identified by Catalyst Canada in their paper Workplace Trends: Today’s Decisions, Tomorrow’s Successes. The full report is available for download by Catalyst members. Non-Catalyst members are able to view a description of the report only.

In order to prepare for your success you must have an understanding of what the future looks like in the workplace. Catalyst experts have identified six trends that will affect the workplace in the future.  Before the holidays we looked at A Customizable Life. We will explore each of these trends and provide you with information you can use to plan your future advancement in the workplace.

Trend 5 - Overcoming Cultural Barriers

As the global economy continues to grow, companies will be required to invest in cross-cultural and global diversity initiatives to build and manage a global talent pool. Workers across all levels in organizations will need to work with people from different cultures. As companies expand into the global economy, they will not only need to understand immigration policy but will also require a clear understanding of the cultures influencing their multi-national employees.

Where does this leave women working in this changing world? How do you set yourself up to be successful in this new global workplace?

• Companies will see the need to educate their employees on ways to manage differences, both cultural and gender based. This may help open doors for more women to succeed when stereotypes, which have held women back in the past are removed from the workplace. Be ready for advancement!
• Look for opportunities in your company to learn more about the culture in areas of future global business expansion. Having a working knowledge of the culture and its business differences may put you in a good position to add value to a project or work on a project team.
• Awareness and sensitivity toward cultural differences are a reality in global business. Leveraging your cultural diversity and knowledge can be your springboard into new and exciting projects..

Next week we will explore the last and sixth trend: Understanding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Gender Diversity.