I have experienced challenges when it comes to different cultures in a professional work
environment. I grew up with different cultures, as my mother is of Chinese and Japanese descent,
and my father was Dominican and Spanish. My grandmother married my grandfather who
although is not biologically related to me, he is African American and Native American. So I’ve
come from a place of understanding, growing up with multiple languages, and understanding
what was appropriate within certain cultures. However, it doesn’t mean I haven’t faced issues
even with my background.
A few years ago when I worked as a department manager in my local Walmart, I had an
issue arise with a few of my coworkers. There was a problem with communication as one of the
workers was a pacific islander. The conflict started because they kept leaving their work carts out
when they would finish their shift. An employee got into an argument with them over this. From
my understanding, she would leave them out because she thought someone else would come and
grab them. She was an older woman and explained to me that she didn’t think it was a problem
because back home people would help her without being asked.
It’s not that I didn’t understand, but I had to explain we are responsible for our own work
carts. They need to be returned by whoever has taken them out. However, I did tell her that if she
needs help, she can ask. It’s better to ask rather than assume. The other coworker that had been
arguing with her was present when having this conversation, and said they didn’t mind helping if
she just said something before she left. Because we were understanding of her cultural
difference, we were able to come up with a solution, but I did remind her that sometimes she
would have to put them away herself, because if me or the other coworker weren’t there, she has
to take that responsibility.
One of the things that I benefited from was being able to understand her perspective.
When I visited Japan to see family, I learned that elderly people are highly important in my
culture. It’s one of those situations where we aren’t asked to do something, we should just know
when help is needed. I understood that aspect of her culture, but not everyone does. America is
different in contrast to other countries and how they treat certain people based on their age. I had
to take what I’d learned from my own family, and apply it to my workplace. I was surprised that
coworker that was upset about it came around when I offered to help her.
It proves to me that cultural intelligence is something that many people need to educate
themselves with. The training at Walmart was different when I worked there years ago, but I
think they should incorporate more cultural sensitivity training, especially for management. As a
department manager I could’ve done better in trying to make sure that an issue like this didn’t
arise. I should’ve mentioned to her that we don’t leave the carts there, they need to be taken
back, or if you need help let someone know. I was ignorant in thinking she would also
automatically know how things operated. I’ve reflected on this and now am a lot better in
making sure everyone has a better understanding of how things work, and to make sure to ask if
there are any accommodations that need to be made.