Cultural Diversity, Competencies and Behaviour: Workforce Adaptation of Minorities

The increasing mobility of people around the world has resulted in an increasingly culturally diverse workforce, particularly in Canada, where multiculturalism is embraced and government policies are enforced in order to ensure that the Canadian workforce is representative of its population in terms of race and ethnicity. However, there are still differences in employment conditions between minorities and non-minorities in Canada. Many organizations use competency modeling as a basis for employment decisions, particularly for managerial jobs, and some of the behaviours outlined in competency models can be linked to what has been identified as organizational citizenship behaviours (ocb). This use of competencies (and thus possibly ocbs) may be a contributor to the employment gap in Canada. Acculturation as a way to mitigate this gap is also discussed. More research in these areas needs to be done to bridge the gap between practice and theory.