Event Details

Cross Cultural Competence for the HR Professional

Presented by Deborah Rinner Godwin

Tero International Vice-President

• Deborah Rinner Godwin fully understands that HR Professionals face a multitude of high level challenges and questions daily, due to culture and diversity. Culture influences all of our interactions in the workplace. To be successful leading and working in a global organization, one must have some measure of global proficiency.

  Understanding one’s own worldviews, cultural values and beliefs is the first step in developing global proficiency; for those beliefs drive how we interact and respond to people and situations. Learning and applying the tenets of culture that are evidenced universally is also vital in order to understand behavior and expectations of employees, customers or colleagues that may share a differing cultural background. Employing perception checking strategies to manage the interactions cultural differences present significantly helps foster an inter-culturally competent and globally proficient team and workforce, and is vital information for the HR Professional.

  During Deborah’s April presentation, MVHRA participants will gain a better understanding of cultural nuances that can affect business success. This is especially critical for the HR Professional acting as a strategic partner. Attendees will explore and take away knowledge of five tenets of culture that influence interactions and success, whether working domestically with internationals or globally. These include:

  *Time  *Communication  *Task vs. Relationship  *Authority & Hierarchy  *Individual or Group Orientation

  These five tenets directly affect the interactions operating within a global organization, and whether they lead to productive results or problems.

  Deborah is Vice President for Tero International. She joined Tero in 2002 and brought with her expertise on business etiquette and various cross cultural communication issues that arise daily in business situations. For over 30 years Deborah has been an educator, trainer and consultant in the public and private sector. She is a frequent contributor to news columns and radio broadcasts and is a member of the Association of Training and Development, Rotary International, American Women in Communication, Protocol and Diplomacy Officers International, and the Society for Intercultural Training Education and Research. In addition to a Masters in Effective Teaching from Drake University, Deborah is certified as a Corporate Etiquette and International Protocol consultant from the Protocol School of Washington, D.C.

  As a Keynote Speaker and Lead Trainer, Deborah has addressed audiences in cross cultural communication and organizational applications of business etiquette and protocol, as well as change management, leadership development, and negotiation skills. Since 2005, Deborah has advised Tero as an interculturalist, focusing on developing curriculum and programming on cross cultural competence and communication in a corporate environment. Deborah is certified as an administrator of the Intercultural Developmental Inventory (IDI), a statistically reliable and valid assessment of cultural worldview and intercultural competence.