There’s a familiar saying, “Don’t judge or criticize someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes…” and it strikes a chord with most people because we are all different and have our own experiences in life, and yet we want to be treated the same: respectfully, fairly, and impartially both in our personal lives and at work. When thinking specifically about our work environment, it’s obvious that there are many cultural differences, backgrounds and personalities rubbing shoulders everyday.
Just in the past five years alone, Friesens has welcomed newcomers from over two dozen countries adding to our diverse workplace. This diversity has given us incentive to look into better ways to provide training, essential skills and cultural awareness classes so that we can bridge that gap of understanding between cultures.
Friesens felt that there was more than just a need for language training for the newcomers (which will remain), but rather a dedicated class on cultural awareness in two distinct areas – Canadian culture and Friesens culture.
Canadian culture
Those of us who were born in Canada, or who have never moved to another country, may not completely understand all the complexities that a newcomer must deal with in learning and overcoming cultural barriers. This may include what a Canadian lifestyle entails, and fundamental things such as the reality of our weather, shopping for necessities, navigating the healthcare system, the culture of Manitoba – specifically the Altona community – and overall physical and mental preparedness.
Friesens culture
Not all employers are the same, and becoming familiar with a new company means a period of orientation and onboarding, for new hires and newcomers. This included analyzing Friesen’s expectations and values, different communication styles in dealing with management as opposed to one’s peers, being respectful of others in the workplace and using a respectful tone of voice when speaking or resolving conflicts. Another part of Friesens training program involves career-mapping and setting goals. This is important because we want to see everyone succeed and be happy in their career choices.
Our goal at Friesens is to encourage diversity, starting with making our newcomers and everyone else feel welcome, embrace our differences and remove any barriers. Culture training encourages interaction with others in the classroom, celebrating one’s own culture while learning about the differences and similarities of their classmates. For the time being these culture classes are optional, but this may change in the future, it’s clear that these classes would be beneficial within a wide range of demographics, and expanding to include not just cultural awareness, but intelligence, diversity and communication skills.
Justina Unger, People Development Leader at Friesens made this comment, “These classes that Friesens provides for the newcomers and employee-owners is a reflection of who we are as a company …. that we really care….and it helps us to be more understanding, gives us perspective and a different (more empathetic) lens to look at our neighbors, our co-workers or family members.” Regardless of our culture or where we came from, it’s important for everyone to feel comfortable with themselves, with their co-workers, advancing their career within the company or fine-tuning their role in one of the departments they feel most “at home”. This is the Friesens way.
