The Intercultural Workplace: An Emirati Perspective

Abstract

The diverse environment of workplaces in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) means that Emirati employees find themselves in daily contact with people from a wide range of different cultures. One prominent outcome of this scenario is that the potential for intercultural misunderstanding and miscommunication between the local population and expat employees increases. This applied research investigation proposes to explore the most common areas of cultural misunderstanding in a higher education institution in the UAE from the perspective of Emirati nationals and to examine the role education plays in raising awareness of cultural issues of both Emiratis and expat employees. In this qualitative research project, 16 working professionals of both genders in varying positions were interviewed. With one exception, they were all either employees or graduates of the same higher education institution. Of the many facets and aspects of culture that were discussed, stereotyping, gender, language and a lack of future preparedness for international work environments were the emergent themes to which more attention needs to be given. Confronting these issues, this study suggests implementing a mandatory intercultural communication component at all levels of education, a needs analysis for new Emirati employees that would focus on culture-specific training needs, an on-site language support for new hires, creating a cross-cultural buddy system and building multicultural teams.