Cultural Competency Training (CCT)

Why Cultural Competency Training

To succeed in Calgary’s dynamic economy companies need to recruit and retain qualified professionals from diverse cultural backgrounds. And as Calgary-based companies grow, they are drawn to ever more remote regions of the world in search of markets and resources. Understanding how culture affects the way people work and do business is no longer a nice-to-have, it is a business strategy. Cultural competency is a competitive advantage.

How will it benefit you

If you are a company, our one- and two-day training sessions can help you:

• Attract and retain qualified professionals from different cultural backgrounds

• Manage expectations of customers and suppliers from different cultures

• Anticipate and adapt to international business conditions

• Improve performance of multicultural teams

If you are a human service agency, our training sessions can help you:

• Attract and retain qualified employees from different cultural backgrounds

• Provide more effective services to culturally diverse populations

• Communicate more effectively with ethnic communities

• Improve performance of multicultural teams

What is Cultural Competency Training

Culture is the software of our minds – and we are not all using the same programs. Cultural competency is about understanding and working effectively with people who are using software that is different from ours. Our cultural competency training is more than a list of do’s and don’ts about other cultures. Our training sessions help you understand how others see the world - how they expect to be treated by their boss, how they prioritize and make decisions, how they perceive your behaviour. Our sessions do not stop with awareness, they also help you develop strategies and skills to deal with the cultural diversity you face every day.

What our sessions cover

We have developed a high impact training session with four modules that can be customized to fit the business needs and time constraints of each client. We typically do one- and two-day training sessions, though half-day sessions are available.

Our sessions include high impact presentations of information and concepts, focused discussions of business case studies, participatory exercises, and comprehensive handouts. We use, but are not driven by, sophisticated PowerPoint presentations that are designed around adult learning principles. We typically cover such topics as:

1. What is culture and how it conditions perception and behaviour

2. How to accommodate cultural differences and still meet your bottom line

3. Cross-cultural communication strategies

4. Detailed information about specific cultures

Cultural Competency Audits

A cultural competency audit is a tool we use that allows your organization to recognize the impact of culture diversity on your operation and to develop specific strategies to develop cultural competency.

This highly participatory tool engages staff in an appreciative assessment of nine areas of work (eg. organizational culture, service delivery, decision-making practices, governance). Our team of highly trained organizational development professionals will lead staff through self-assessment questions, facilitate focus groups and summarize conclusions in a final report.

We also offer

• Cross-Cultural Communication Workshops that develop skills and strategies for communicating with clients, employees, and co-workers from different cultures

• Conflict Intervention for groups that are experiencing conflict rooted in cultural misunderstanding

• Pre-departure Cultural Briefings for individuals or groups traveling to other countries on business

• On-Arrival Orientations to Canadian culture for individuals or groups arriving in Canada on business or study tours