Print This Page Close This Window Going Global September 2006 Global workforce diversity newsletter Reports about the rapid growth of foreign-born individuals moving into rural and suburban areas of the United States is no surprise to many of us. No matter where we go in the country we recognize that we are now part of a global community with a global workforce and marketplace. Not only do we have global diversity within our neighborhoods and workplaces, but our awareness of global affairs has also been heightened by breaking news of security threats, wars, and elections around the world, not to mention our dependence on foreign goods and manufacturing. The Web enables us to play bridge with partners anywhere or to share our perspectives and get insights from people we may never meet in person. While immigration is the subject of much debate in the political arena, I believe at a one-to-one, personal level we are handling globalization very well—our differences are intriguing us, our commonalities are uniting us, and our human flexibility is allowing us to learn, accommodate, and accept. A global workforce and the global marketplace are not as easy on a larger scale. ProGroup's clients are more aware than ever of what it means to be a world-class global company. They understand the competition they face from the companies that are poised to seize the opportunities described by Thomas Friedman in his book, The World Is Flat. Many of our clients have global workforce operations around the world, while more are beginning to open operations in China or India. But the complexity of the global business environment and the international marketplace is perplexing at best. As one executive told me, "We say we are a global company, but we really don't know what that means. We have been trying to Americanize our foreign employees here and implement American practices there. It just doesn't work that way." Another said, "At our company, the CEO thinks the term globalization means Americanization." In the past year, ProGroup has made a commitment to infuse our work with global concepts and to increase our bandwidth around the subject of the global workforce and marketplace, so that we can address our clients' international needs. We are taking the term global diversity seriously. In the course of our work, we have learned a great deal. If you are one of ProGroup's clients, you have probably been reminded that when it comes to the subject of diversity and inclusion it's what you "don't know you don't know" that keeps you asking questions. Well, once again ProGroup is a living lab on this subject. While there are many resources on cultural social customs, etiquette, and rules, I'd like to present some ideas that don't make the books on the global workforce. For me, they are just a few of the many unspoken realities to keep in mind as you go global. Read Part Two of Going Global for more on the global marketplace and global workforce. Copyright © 2008 ProGroup, Inc. All rights reserved.