The Culturally Intelligent Safety Professional - Looking Back Episode 2 & 6

In this second looking back episode we reflect on the practical insights and strategies offered by our guests for improving cultural awareness and adaptation. From episode 2 we reflect on the discussion with Chris Peace who highlights communication mishaps due to cultural misunderstandings and adapting teaching methods for international students. Chris advocated for including CQ in health and safety curricula to improve stakeholder interactions.

In episode 6 we spoke with Dr. Marilyn Hubner who emphasizes CQ as a mindset crucial for safety professionals, discussing challenges and successes in teaching diverse groups. Marilyn advocates for accommodating diverse learning styles and ongoing education about cultural differences.

Both guests stress the importance of nonverbal communication and adapting to cultural norms in professional interactions. The discussions encourage ongoing learning and engagement aiming to foster inclusive practices in safety professions.

Transcript

Greg: 0:01

Welcome to another episode of the Culturally Intelligent Safety Professional, a podcast aimed at providing a platform whereby safety professionals can develop a pathway to enhance their cultural intelligence capability, which will in turn help them function more effectively when working in a multicultural situation. I'm Greg, Dearsly your host and between February and June of 2024 I interviewed a number of people for season one of the culturally intelligent safety professional podcast. These fabulous guests range from CQ professionals, academics, communication and safety professionals, and they haled from not only New Zealand but included people based in Singapore and Australia. I'm grateful for the time that the guests put aside to speak with me and share their knowledge. Over coming weeks I aim to further analyze and reflect on some of the content. I've grouped the feedback and discussions into like sessions, including cultural intelligence, education, Neurodiversity, Māori and Pacifica. and other areas. In this second summary we reflect on episodes two and six which featured two wonderful guests, both with a background in academia and education. In episode two, we spoke to Chris Peace who has a wealth of experience and insights to offer in the realm of cultural intelligence within the safety profession. Chris. Delved into his experience of communication mishaps when he shared anecdotes of cultural misunderstanding. He talked about his experiences observing and interacting with students where he had to navigate cultural values where there were differences in gender dynamics and cultural norms such as handshaking customs. This led to a need to adapt his teaching methods and course materials to accommodate international students with varying values and norms. He included the addition of constructive feedback and utilizing university support services to assist in this area. On meeting people Chris had some advice.

Chris: 2:10

So going with their style, their approach is the important thing, take their lead. And that requires quite a bit of Subtle preparation before going into a meeting

Greg: 2:26

This is a key concept of cultural intelligence and specifically CQ strategy. Chris highlighted the subtle preparation needed before going into a meeting where attendees might be different from you. Being prepared, and having the ability to adapt. We discussed adaptation and a previous episode in relation to our discussions with Dr. Catherine. Wu. We went on to have a discussion with Chris about whether CQ should be part of the health and safety curriculum. Chris's view, a clear yes, explaining it would improve interactions with diverse stakeholders and promote effective communication and engagement, here's more.

Chris: 3:09

Yeah, definitely. Because of the way things are set up, for example, here at Vic, the Master's Programme is accredited by IOSH in the uk. So the papers, the health and safety papers that we teach are required to meet IOSH requirements... There is not much scope to go beyond, but I wish there were... we should be teaching how to interact with people better... how to engage and engage with people as equals and not knock them because they don't know as much as you do, or at least that's what you think is the case. So yeah, it should form part of the syllabus, but at the moment it doesn't form very much.

Greg: 4:04

In episode six we posed a similar question to Dr. Marilyn Hubner about cultural intelligence being part of the safety curriculum. Marilyn emphasized the importance of cultural awareness as more than just a skill, but a mindset crucial for safety professionals operating in global environments. She reflects on incidents where cultural insensitivity occurred at conferences and stresses the need for inclusivity and understanding in professional settings. Here's some of what she had to say.

Marilyn: 4:36

That's a pretty big question. Does it fit? The simple answer is yes, as a culturally aware person, it absolutely, it fits not only in the curriculum, but in practice in general. It's such an essential I guess you could call it a skill, but I don't actually think cultural intelligence is a skill I think it's more of a mindset that you need to have,

Greg: 4:58

Marilyn goes further and talks about some of the possible misconceptions educators have of their students. She uses the term power skills and like me doesn't believe the term soft skills is an accurate descriptor of these people skills or essential skills such as EQ, CQ, empathy, et cetera. He is more from Marilyn

Marilyn: 5:21

I think at the moment we just expect our students to have power skills, to have good communication skills, to have empathy, to have cultural intelligence and emotional intelligence.

Greg: 5:33

As with the comments from Chris Peace, while they both agree that cultural intelligence is essential, current educational structures often lack the flexibility to fully incorporate it. Marilyn shares her experiences teaching safety courses highlighting the challenges and successes of engaging with diverse groups, including older learners and Neurodiverse students. She stresses the need for educational practices that accommodate different learning styles and abilities. Again, consistent with comments from Chris Peace around the role of technology and accommodating diversity to enable academic success. In concluding the discussion Marilyn provides tips for safety professionals to improve cultural intelligence in their roles including incorporating diversity in training materials and embracing lifelong learning about cultural differences. She emphasizes the significance of nonverbal communication in cross-cultural interactions urging professionals to be mindful and adaptive in their approaches. Overall the discussions with Marilyn and Chris underscore the importance of cultural intelligence and safety education, and the ongoing efforts needed to foster inclusive and effective practices in the field. These summaries capture the essence of these episodes with a particular focus on the capability that is cultural intelligence. I hope you found something valuable that you can take away that might enhance aspects of your own cultural intelligence. I'll add the transcript from this episode to the show notes. If you'd like to talk about cultural intelligence get in touch with me via LinkedIn. I'm posting content regularly so keep an eye on your feed and comment if you see something that resonates. If we aren't connected, send me an invite. If you want to hear more about CQ you can follow and subscribe to this podcast, I'd really appreciate it if you did that and keep an eye out for the next episode. In the next episode, I'll provide an overview from incorporating the various discussions I had with guests in the area of neurodiversity. Thanks again for tuning in to the Culturally Intelligent Safety Professional. Ka kitei.