Suggested practice for HR personnel Muslims now form one of the largest religious groups in the UK. At a time when great misunderstandings and stereotypes circulate the media and society regarding the religion, it is crucial for an effort to be made at all levels to go beyond archetypal images and to begin to understand Islam and Muslims. With a population of approximately 1.5 million Muslims and growing, UK based companies are employing more and more young Muslim men and women. With this increase comes a greater need for HR practitioners to be aware of the respective cultural sensitivities. As...

Top businesses that continually lead their industry clearly understand a simple fact: People are their most vital assets. Every employee plays a key role in the company. In today’s climate, your company cannot afford redundant employees. All businesses are run and operated by people. Each person makes decisions every day based on what that person believes and values. When a person makes better value decisions, it generates better results for the company. A quantum shift begins, one that most other businesses dream about. Now, there’s a way for every company to turn that dream into a...

Many business owners are sabotaging their business without even realizing it. They are completely out of the loop when it comes to all technology aspects of their operation such as websites, computers and software. They become completely dependent on their technical people and naively believe that things are “being taken care of”. This “head in the sand” approach is very dangerous. Here are just a few scenarios of what can happen: Your webmaster is the only person who knows the username, password and other improtant settings for your website. If the webmaster suddenly...

The use of cultural awareness training has increased rapidly in the majority of global companies over the last decade. My experience working in global companies in which effective cross-cultural functioning was critical, involved the devotion of considerable time and energies to ensuring that cultural training needs were identified and accommodated as necessary. This commitment to bridging cultural gaps represents a perceptible shift in attitudes amongst British company global thinking. This is a shift from the prevalent subconscious (and sometimes not so subconscious) driver, which existed in...

Of the many areas in international business where cultural differences manifest is in the corporate meeting room. International meetings are an area where differences in cultural values, etiquette, interpretations of professional conduct and corporate rules are at their most visible and challenging to control. In international business meetings, cultural differences between professionals can and do clash. Although it can not always be avoided, the negative effects of cultural differences can be minimised with careful and effective planning, organisation and consideration prior to meetings. Culture...

Todays business environment has changed drastically from just a few years back. Rather than working exclusively with equipment, data, and systems, todays IT managers face issues such as cross training, personnel management, interdepartmental communication, and a widening job scope for all IT employees. This expansion of the IT job realm has left many IT managers juggling new challenges. While the problems, in and of themselves, might appear overwhelming, there are simple, proven ways to rise above them. Problem #1 – Tough Data Flow Information often flows irregularly and is subject to quantitatively...