How to Develop Online Corporate Learning for a Culturally Diverse Workforce?

What is organizational culture? As described by Project GLOBE, it is defined as “Shared motives, values, beliefs, identities, and interpretations or meanings of significant events that result from common experiences of members of collectives that are transmitted across generations.”

Now, when your global company is scattered across different countries and regions, a multicultural workforce is inevitable. Your employees will have varying cultural backgrounds, speak different languages, have distinct ways of working, and prefer their own learning styles. So how do you develop an Online Learning Management System that addresses the needs of multicultural employees? Let’s give you a few pointers!

Tips to Create Comprehensive Corporate Training Modules for a Culturally Diverse Organization

Ideally, you might believe that the best way out is to create separate corporate training modules for different segments of your workforce. But practically, this is a near-impossible feat. Not only is this approach inefficient, it is also time consuming, not to mention, expensive. The best bet is to create a master module and then customize or localize the courses. How do you do that? Let’s get started.

Language

You can start by using a standard language such as international English that does not contain any slang, colloquialisms, jargon, or idioms. You can use simple, basic language, embedded with rich visuals -- to enhance the understandability factor.

Avoid humor, if it targets a specific culture. When you use symbols and designs, be careful so as not to offend a religion or a political sect. Again, use corporate learning style guides to learn about the different color styles.

Audio

If you are using audio, you may think that an accent can be an obstacle. But no! If you incorporate a strong and clear voice, you are all set. However, make sure that when you are embedding voiceover clips or webinars, the person speaking must have authority and credibility.

S/he should ideally have a professional tone -- which is the perfect mix of a formal and friendly delivery -- to lend a professional as well as a personal touch to your training program.

Multimedia

Learning materials, embedded with apt images, are always preferred to increase the engagement factor. To keep the images universal, use neutral, non-human figures, if and when possible.

Human depictions from one country may not appeal to an employee from another nation. But even if you are using human pictures, try to eliminate close-ups of faces. It is a good idea to not highlight a certain ethnicity or gender. If you include group photos, ensure that they are multiethnic and have a mix of genders.

Wrapping it Up

It might be difficult to design an all-inclusive eLearning course that is culturally acceptable across the world. If you start by using the aforementioned basic tips, you have taken a step in the right direction. Additionally, getting to personally know your employees and learning about different cultures will help you in avoiding major loopholes. You can then design an online corporate training program that appeals to your global workforce.