Understanding Culture in Global Learning
More than ever before, L&D teams find themselves designing learning experiences for global audiences. These increased opportunities present new challenges, including a pressing need to adopt global mindsets to comprehend and respect cultural differences. How can we meet the challenge of delivering relevant content that resonates well with diverse audiences? Understanding the critical role of how culture influences communication and learning is essential for designing effective training programs. In this article, we will explore the impact of culture on global learning and provide practical tips for success in training across borders.
The Impact of Culture on Training Programs
Let’s start with the basics. What is culture? There are a lot of ways to think of culture, but for this article, we will view it as a shared mental framework (encompassing values, norms, and behavioral patterns) that shape interactions and decision-making. Cultural conventions obviously influence language, communication style, and nonverbal indicators, but they also matter in terms of the perceived roles of mentee and mentor, as well as how a particular group may be motivated. For example, various cultures may look at group problem-solving differently as some populations highly value community and others value individuality. Obviously, each of these aspects of culture can have a profound effect on learning. Failing to consider these preferences can result in ineffective and disconnected learning experiences for your extended team.
Why Culture Matters in Knowledge Transfer
To consider the impact of culture on our learning initiatives, let’s take even one more step backward and remind ourselves: At its core, what is training? Training is the transfer of knowledge, skills, and even values for use on the job. This transfer occurs through various means such as written and audible texts, images, icons, graphics, videography, modeling, practice, and storytelling. When we hold these two definitions side-by-side, culture and training, we see how profoundly they impact each other. If training that is developed for a particular group disregards or worse, violates its culture, the effects will be detrimental. Conversely, if training aligns with cultural practices, knowledge and skills can be effectively transferred, and shared values can be reinforced. Understanding cultural nuances is crucial for facilitating cross-cultural communication and effective knowledge transfer in global learning initiatives.
Challenges of Training a Global Workforce
And if aligning your training to your audiences’ cultures wasn’t complicated enough, we must realize that we are hitting a moving target. Cultures everywhere continue to change. Apart from understanding traditional cultural dynamics within specific regions, it is essential to recognize the generational shifts occurring today. A younger workforce holds different values than their predecessors because culture is never stagnant. These evolving generational preferences influence learning and communication styles, necessitating ongoing insight into the regions where your organization does business.
Building Relationships for Cross-Cultural Success
Let’s consider an example. A company located in the United States develops and launches an eLearning program for its manufacturers in Mexico. They spend an impressive budget and many man-hours to do so, but there is a problem. The results of the training are terrible. No improvement is shown, in fact, things are a bit worse, and the C-Suite is livid. The leadership in Mexico isn’t providing an answer as to what went wrong. No one takes responsibility. And then finally, one brave person starts sharing their side of the story.
“The home office doesn’t know us. They never ask us what we need. Often, they’re training us on stuff that doesn’t really apply to where we work, what we do, or the procedures that we have because we’re not included in the process. We’re not asked to participate in brainstorming. We’re brought in at the end when it’s too late like this is an afterthought. Translation is laughable, using strange phrases, and none of the examples show our world. Why should we care about their training, when they don’t care about us? And so, you know, at the end of the day, we all conclude this really isn’t even for us. No one here takes learning seriously because we don’t think they mean for us to take it seriously.”
Key Takeaways
- Seek a few stakeholders from each targeted culture and get to know them.
- Spend time together to develop camaraderie and trust.
- Bring your stakeholders in at the beginning of your project where their input can be formative.
- Recognize that your stakeholders will make your training better, and you better.
Ensuring Relevance in Multicultural Learning
The second principle we can learn from our example is that cross-cultural training must be relevant to the learners. Did you hear the remarks? “They’re training us on stuff that doesn’t really apply to where we work, what we do, or the procedures that we have…” The employee expressed feeling excluded from the learning process, leading to a lack of engagement and commitment. Once you build relationships with a few key people, you can then discover what their needs are and tailor the training to make it relevant to them.
Key Takeaways
- Don’t assume that what works in one location will work just as well in another.
- Chunk content into smaller sizes so that you can choose which mini modules are relevant for each audience.
- Develop sidebar materials into your general content, an extra slide here or there to adapt material to specific end-users.
Making Training Relatable Across Cultures
Language is powerful and if your translation and localization are poor, it is difficult for any learner to ignore those deficiencies and be able to engage the content. Bad translations erode trust, hindering the effectiveness of the training program. And not only should we use language that your audience relates to, but graphics, colors, and stories, which are also key components of culture. If your target audience cannot relate to your scenarios, then the training won’t be applicable to them. They will feel left out and neglected, just like our example employee did. These points highlight the necessity of involving local stakeholders to ensure that learning materials are not only accessible but are also relatable, reflecting their own cultural experiences and perspectives.
Key Takeaways
- Visit your locations to discover what is meaningful to your audiences.
- Employ the best translators you can find. This is critical!
- Use graphics, stories, and scenarios that your audiences can relate to.
- Seek to be taught from others’ perspectives.
Practical Tips for Adapting Global Training Programs
Why does culture matter to learning? The example story of the manufacturing plant facing a 30% efficiency gap in their operations in Mexico due to training and cultural issues illustrates the importance of addressing cultural relevance. A lack of understanding and engagement with local stakeholders led to poor translations of training materials, alienating the employees and compromising the learning culture. The consequences of overlooking cultural needs and perspectives can be detrimental, with real risks extending even to safety and operational efficiency.
Conclusion: Embracing Cultural Diversity for Effective Learning
In summary, acknowledging the influence of culture in global learning is essential for creating a learning environment that is inclusive, respectful, and supportive of all learners, regardless of their background. Building relationships with local representatives helps you gain valuable insights into cultural preferences, language nuances, and specific learning needs. Materials that are co-created with those stakeholders will be both relevant and relatable to your diverse audiences. When your organization embraces these challenges of culture in global learning, you will succeed with inclusive and measurably impactful training programs.
