Work in Progress
Cross-cultural training and workplace performance
Summary
- Item:
- 10388
- Title:
- Cross-cultural training and workplace performance
- Type:
- Managed research project
- Project no:
- NR6017
- Status:
- Finished
- Date commenced:
- 30 November 2006
- Contact:
- Robert Bean
- phone: +61 8 8598 3088
- email: rsbean@ozemail.com.au
Purpose
The research will determine the contribution of cross-cultural training (CCT) undertaken by VET students to their subsequent workplace performance. The research will also review the current practice, status and scope of cross-cultural training provided by VET organisations, with a focus on programs within the eleven National Training Packages that include units of competency in diversity.
The research findings will provide VET providers, industry bodies and employers with reliable quantitative and qualitative data on which to base decisions and actions regarding the planning, resource allocation, design, delivery and the evaluation of cross-cultural training in terms of employment applications and performance. By investigating the learning pathways in cultural competence from VET to the workplace, the research will also complement and expand on the findings of a recently-completed national research project which evaluated the effectiveness of cross-cultural training in the workplace.
Approach
Surveys
Research questions
1. How has cross-cultural training undertaken by VET students contributed to their performance in the workplace and benefited their employers?
2. What is the current extent and range of practices for teaching VET students cultural understanding and developing their cultural competence for employment?
3. What approaches and models of cross-cultural training provision are most effective in particular occupational and industry domains and settings?
4. What strategies and processes will best enable VET providers to develop and offer vocational training leading to cultural competence?
Methodology
The research will have a national scope, assisted and promoted through several TAFE and private Registered Training Organisations, targeting learners who have completed a VET qualification including a CCT component within the last 5 years and who are currently or have been employed in an industry to which the qualification is relevant. The project will proceed in three stages.
Stage 1: Literature Review of Cultural Awareness and Cultural Diversity Training in the Australian VET Sector 2001-2006
Stage 2: VET Sector Consultations and Surveys of Current Practice in CCT
* Consultation with key VET Sector stakeholders in multicultural education, curriculum and program delivery. o Develop a database of VET organisations and individual CCT trainers.
* Conduct a two-part on-line survey of programs and trainers:
Part A: Current practice in CCT delivered as part of a National Training Packages qualification: Scope, level, type, accreditation status, learning outcomes
Part B: CCT trainers: Demographic and professional profile, methodology, resources, professional development, challenges and recommendations
* Negotiate with VET providers for their involvement in, support for and promotion of a survey of VET students currently in employment.
* Develop, with the assistance of participating VET providers, a database of VET students/ graduates who have completed CCT and who would be potential participants in a CCT evaluation survey (See Stage 3).
* Develop a database of these students/graduates' employers, if known, identifying appropriate supervisors and managers within the organisations who would be potential participants in the employers evaluation survey (See Stage 3).
Stage 3: Surveys of VET Graduates and Their Employers
VET Graduates Survey
An on-line, confidential CCT evaluation survey will target VET students who have completed a certificate or diploma in a relevant National Training Package that included a unit or significant component of cross-cultural awareness and communication training and who are currently employed in a related field.
The survey will be designed to enable a direct comparison of the results and effectiveness of VET-based and workplace-based CCT. It will replicate the key questions of the recently completed national longitudinal survey of cross-cultural training effectiveness.
The survey will also elicit information regarding other ways in which respondents may have developed cultural competence, including international experience, languages spoken and experience in living and working in culturally diverse environments.
The survey will provide quantitative and qualitative data on which to base assessments of a range of CCT results, including:
* the degree to which CCT has influenced perceptions, attitudes and behaviours regarding cultural diversity in workplace and customer relations o the extent to which CCT has increased knowledge and awareness of;
* organisational polices and issues regarding cultural diversity
* one's own and other cultures
* the influence of culture on individuals and groups
* the extent to which CCT has contributed to confidence in dealing with co-workers and customers from culturally diverse backgrounds o the benefits to employers of knowledge, skills and awareness derived from CCT
The survey questions will be developed in consultation with VET and employer stakeholders and designed to permit direct comparisons with findings of the 2005-2006 Cross-Cultural Training Effectiveness research.
Survey of VET Graduates' Employers
A confidential survey will be conducted with managers and supervisors within up to 50 public and private sector organisations that have employed VET graduates who have received CCT as part of their studies.
This survey also will be designed to enable a direct comparison of the results of the CTE project's Survey of Current Practice 2000-2005 in the following areas;
* Profile of organisations and managers
* Degree of importance of cultural competence to customer service, productivity and workplace relationships
* Inclusion of cultural competence in job and person specifications
* Workplace applications of cultural competence: customer service, production, workplace relations
* Contribution of CCT to VET graduates' job performance and benefits to the organisation in terms of the parameters of the VET Graduates survey, described above.
* Basis of evidence for evaluation of contribution of CCT to performance
* Future demand for VET graduates with cultural competence
* Recommendations regarding development of cultural competence in VET programs related to employer's industry
Organisations
Cultural Diversity Services Pty Ltd, also trading as Robert Bean Consulting, is a 2-person consulting and training company based in Adelaide and operating nationally. The company has been operating since 1994, providing training, consulting, research and development services, specialising in cross-cultural communication, workforce diversity management and international business communication to over 200 public and private sector organizations across Australia. Clients include Commonwealth, state and local government bodies, community groups, professional associations, business and industry organisations, regional development boards, universities, VET providers, business management schools and private enterprises in several industries. The company and its principal consultant have established a reputation for diligence and quality in all key expertise areas and high participant ratings for all training programs. CDS Pty Ltd has developed strong working relationships with networks of professionals in the cross-cultural training and diversity management fields in Australia and internationally and with key stakeholders in the VET and higher education sectors.
