Introduction to Cultural and Cross-Cultural Studies
An organization’s culture is important and is guided by a common language. Enacting a policy that requires the employees to speak English while in the workplace would have both positive and negative impacts on the institution and on the employees themselves. Considering that this is a health institution, it would present an obstacle to the patients, especially the aged, who mostly use a single language. In addition, due to the idea that patients come from different cultural backgrounds with different languages, using English would inconvenience them. However, it is still possible to have a common workplace culture through the policy. There are drawbacks of cultural and linguistic inclusion in that, language is learned and not transmitted genetically (Gumperz, 1997). Therefore, as every culture has its own values, beliefs and attitudes some may view the usage of the English language at the workplace as prejudice, especially if English is not their native language. The benefit of including cultural and linguistic aspects includes the formation of a uniform culture in the workplace but this would negatively affect most of the society. This implies that the policy should not be passed. The most probable way that members of an organization can feel included and as part of the organization is including them during decision-making (Lazear, 1999). The employees’ views should be considered before making a decision or decisions that affect their well-being. In the present situation of changing the language, the employees’ views should be considered, as they are familiar with the work environment and the patients attending the institution. The employees’ views can also be used to improve the reputation of the organization and its productivity, as they are well aware of the challenges facing the organization.
