Workplace culture isn't a one-size-fits-all solution, and it never will be. With the rise in flexible working and distributed teams, our workplaces are becoming more globalised than ever before.

What does this mean for you?

It means embracing a richer pool of diverse talent, fresh perspectives, and varied ways of working. But it also means tackling the unique challenges and nuances that come with understanding and meeting employees' diverse needs. By giving thoughtful attention to these differences, we can create vibrant workplaces where everyone feels valued and empowered to thrive.

Hi Adele, please could you share more about your experience in the people space and why you’re so passionate about creating better workplaces?

I was very fortunate early in my career to be accepted onto GE’s Financial Management Programme. I was exposed to valuable workplace practices globally that I appreciate and draw inspiration from till this day. Many working adults spend more than two-thirds of our days (i.e. life) at work, so it matters how we show up, and how we shape the environment we spend so much of our time in. 

I have experienced first-hand, inspiring and life-giving workplace practices, and I have also  experienced what counts as modern day slavery as per experience, even if not by law.

Where in one region, telling someone they are ‘too white’ would be grounds for grievance and disciplinary action, in another region people are gaslighted to accept it as ‘caring feedback’ for career development or onboarding new joiners and help them find ‘belonging’.

Where in one region, a culture of performance means celebrating project milestones with a simple ritual of appreciation, in another region, a culture of performance means raising one’s voice to warn the team that ‘their best is not good enough’.

Whether through abuse of power, outdated or inconsistent policies, systemic biases or oppression, or sheer low emotional intelligence, the irony of harmful workplace practices is that hurting another human being isn't exactly what the healthy majority would consciously choose. But with limited inner work or personal development and self-awareness, and limited exposure to alternative views or approaches, the creation of better workplaces can only take place with significant blind spots in a (limited) frame of what could be conceived or what people have been readied for. 

This is a statement of observation and not a criticism. Therefore, when people say that Adele is passionate about creating better workplaces, in practice, I'm actually passionate about activating from a place of deep growth – inspiring to dig deeper into people and culture development. By going in-depth through conversations that matter, and by structuring or formalising the process, better workplaces get innovated as we tackle wellbeing at its core.

What experience do you have working with global teams and what have you seen to be the biggest challenges when it comes to workplace culture?

I have worked with teams based in different continents to deliver on strategic priorities. Cultural misunderstanding is a big challenge that is not talked about much and sometimes swept under the carpet or joked away… blinded by stereotyping, being too task-focused or over-busy, or simply not in the right mood nor motivation to address it.

The reason it is a big challenge is because there are assumptions and generalisations of regional cultural differences, when in fact, culture extends beyond geography. Different ethnic or racial backgrounds and generations sharing a workplace bring their own cultural lens, hence in the sort of ‘borderless’ world we live today, culture becomes multidimensional. Therefore, although overarching goals are similar or shared, how they are achieved varies.

Furthermore, workplaces are constantly in change-mode and experience tells that one of the biggest barriers to change is culture. So, whether we want to create a workplace that is risk-aware, compliance-savvy or customer-centric, a key thrust to lasting results from change initiatives is attention to culture, including addressing its weeds.

How do cultural differences between Eastern and Western workplaces impact employee engagement and productivity?

Based on the meaning people place on the differences, and through the lens of individual or collective preferences, whether by convention or accepted norm, cultural differences impact engagement and productivity dramatically.

The experience of a staff in a former Eastern-owned company based in the East, where staff punched their timesheet and tolerated verbal abuse, reported a significant shift in engagement when it was acquired by a Western-owned company where staff are not expected to work extremely long hours and professional workplace behaviour is the expected norm. Both have different definitions when it comes to productivity. 

But the differences between Eastern and Western workplaces are practically artificial with global workplaces fast becoming the norm. 

When one global bank announced the standardisation of parental leave irrespective of gender, relationship status or how a child comes to join an employee’s family, a senior leader at a competing bank prevented it from even being discussed because of an unconscious, if not personal, bias that this action endorses non-heterosexual families, citing local culture blockers. In actual fact, such an equalisation benefits many traditional family constructs who embrace modern practices of shared parenting responsibilities; it definitely did not paint pro-LGBTQ+ for me.  

Can you explain the importance of a culture-led way of working in global organisations?

I’ll start by explaining what a culture-led way of working is. 

A culture-led way of working puts culture, front and centre, in all activities, whether this is BAU or intervention-type programmes. What this means is that all parts of the whole system are included, and cross-functional leaders live and breathe culture across silos, undertaking that there is no room for blame and that competition is commercial and external, not internal. And culture initiatives, if conducted, are not HR initiatives, they are leadership priorities. 

When there are no culture-led ways of working, one finds pointed goals with key messages on what is desired, that is then divided out to respective functions or departments to be delivered by team members who are not encouraged nor recognised for helping another function or department. Systemic challenges that worsen when other cultural differences come into play, continue to fester. 

Culture-led ways of working however, build a unique differentiator for an organisation by creating its unique ‘heartbeat’ or operating rhythm. Simultaneously, leaders are powered up as a force greater than the sum of its parts is generated. 

What are the main challenges organisations face when trying to implement a culture-led way of working across different regions?

Culture, really, is ‘the way we do things around here’… the unwritten set of rules. Hence, working on internal brand promises or behavioural indicators of company values, will not build us the culture we want. By envisioning the kind of workplace we want and seeding culture dialogues that help us take stock and continuously remove barriers, we enable its embodiment today. 

With regional differences, we can expect challenges around acceptable behavioural norms and power distance that are systemic and resistant to change. Accountability gets distributed and execution gets diluted. Without an ownership mindset, the tendencies of me-first, me-best and ‘it’s their fault’, all play out. 

However, if leaders took ownership of culture development and adopted a culture-led way of working, then they would be systemic in thinking, inclusive in approach and self-aware in actions. But leaders in many organisations, especially more traditional ones, are not enabled to do that.  

How is flexible working perceived in different working cultures globally? 

I practice flexible working practically right from the onset of my working life, and I have done this across countries and continents. When it comes to flexible working, I found that the company culture tends to be more dominant compared to local (country) culture because policies impact employees directly, more immediately. So even if Asia has an ‘always on’ culture for example, if an Asia-based company norm is that employees are expected and measured for their work within the stipulated contractual hours and not more, then that becomes the working practice and experience. In a similar vein, where the company culture favours flexible working, interviewers and managers are unlikely to bat an eyelid when a prospect or employee asks about it; whether this happens in one country or the other is secondary. Additionally, flexible working means differently to different workplaces. Some workplaces see it as a benefit or privilege, whereas others see it as a business imperative. In my view, flexible working is a much needed band aid, to work around a pretty fixed corporate structure and culture, that was born from patriarchal ways for patriarchs. If companies were aware and inclusive decades ago, flexible working in its current form would not be relevant to have seen light of day; the current system would have worked with everyone.

What impact do you think flexible working can make when it comes to creating more thriving workplaces?

Flexible working, when well-supported by a healthy-enough corporate culture and work ethics, enables self-responsibility, personal ownership and wellbeing. 

Flexible working only works when it helps free up some bandwidth in employees’ headspace for creativity. When people can work flexibly to meet personal needs, headspace can be freed up. It is having the room for creativity that engenders wellbeing, that then creates more thriving workplaces. 

Thriving is distinct from productivity. One can be productive and not thriving, but one cannot be thriving and unproductive. Therefore, flexible working can make a huge positive impact on workplaces to thrive.

How can organisations balance their core values with the diverse cultural norms of a global workforce?

Values are universal, whereas cultural norms are unique to organisations, subject to local adaptations. Hence, it is less about balancing, but more about understanding. By tending to emotional and social intelligence, subscales such as empathy, interpersonal relationships and social responsibility, employees become more coherent and synergetic. This is the foundation to collaboration and cooperation. 

Leaders need to be asking, ‘how do I get better at emotional and social matters?’... If they aren’t doing that at the workplace, i.e. the growth factor is low, then chances are, cultural intelligence will be very low. 

What are some effective strategies to integrate a culture-led approach across different regional offices?

An effective way to integrate a culture-led approach globally is to resource strategic projects or initiatives with senior cross-functional leaders who can weave BAU into them. For example, a Values Refresh project driven by the CEO’s office and programme managed by Business Support, with members from key functions given tasks that included interviewing colleagues to gather, synthesise and distil, challenges today into tomorrow, and co-create a compelling vision.
What steps can organisations take to create a safe and inclusive environment for employees from diverse cultural backgrounds?

Once policies are audited and updated – the basic hygiene factor – implementation needs to be omnichannel… communication cascades, screensavers, multimedia in communal areas, social media, internal and external events, bite-sized learning, etc. A truly listening organisation is equipped to operate with culture as a barometer of the way things are done. It is inclusion through data supported (not driven) safe space dialogues, at its best.

I have written a blog specifically about creating safe spaces that provide ideas on this. 

How can leaders create a sense of belonging among employees in a multicultural workplace and what role does leadership play in bridging cultural gaps and promoting a unified organisational culture?

Leaders who own and encourage the development of emotional awareness and empathy in themselves and for others, create spaces where it would be easier for colleagues to feel a sense of belonging… because true belonging is a spiritual practice; we can affirm we are part of something, and we can have courage to stand alone when we have a different opinion. 

Leaders bridge cultural gaps by enabling safer spaces for inclusion dialogues that tackle wellbeing at its core, thus enabling greater coherence and synergy between teams. It is the coherence that enables a ‘unified’ culture, and it is different from cognitive appreciation and interpretation of values and philosophies; the latter leans more to the ‘what’ whereas the former engages hearts and minds by customising the ‘how’, to make sense to each person.

What indicators should companies look for to ensure their workplace culture is thriving and inclusive?

Engagement survey scores on those dimensions are indicative, alongside the verbatims. 

But the biggest tell tale is the language people use at work – how are employees describing inclusion, are they using racist remarks, are they aware of the appropriate access to whistleblowing and grievance channels, how are people dressing, how comfortable are people in their own skin, what is the level of fear and anxiety, etc.?

How can organisations continuously improve their cultural strategies to adapt to changing global dynamics?

I’d like to think that this is where social responsibility comes into play. With great power comes great responsibility. 

Organisations historically are either profit-driven or mission-driven. As the global landscape changes, such demarcation is unrealistic and unsustainable. 

More lobbying can be done to establish inclusive practices across all industries, and organisations are well-placed to bridge the current state into a legislated change, to enable a healthier ecosystem for all. 

In your opinion, what is the future of workplace culture in an increasingly globalised world?

In an increasingly globalised world, the future of workplace culture will be even more egalitarian, and embracing of intersectionality, than today, despite the brakes of challenges in more traditional outfits with outdated ways that remain resistant to newer ways.

The hurdles of bribery, political power abuse, sociopathology, narcissism, and death threats, that in the collective consciousness may remain as looming dark clouds blanketing workplace culture, but there is only so much destruction that any system can weather until it eventually (metaphorically) burns out and rises from the ashes in another form. 

The choice is a collective one, whereby the collective enacts choice with the power it needs.