LOOSEMORE, Martin

Communications problems with ethnic minorities in the construction industry - 2002

Multi-culturism is an increasingly prominent feature of the construction industry. The managerial challenge of workforce diversity is enormous, not least, ensuring effective communication between the various cultural groups. This paper investigates the problems of managing employees with limited proficiency in the indigenous language of their workplace. It focuses upon the problem experienced in two English-speaking countries (Australia and Sigapore) and upon interactions between English-speaking managers and non English-speaking operatives. It is concluded that English is often the minority language on site and confined to managerial level, yet there are few initiatives to alleviate the communication problems that can arise. A series of recommendations are made to help construction companies improve inter-cultural communication in their workforce


Cultura
Diversidade
Comunicação
Capacitação Profissional
Linguagem
Educação