I’ve been in many different industries and I’ve worked with various cultures. Having had that benefit, what I would say is in managing a multicultural workforce it is important to understand the culture and also be very sensitive.

We always believe that we always need to “think gobal and act local”. We need to act local according to location that we operate in and by doing that we would be able to remove cultural barriers.

I think in my current experience, we are opening [hotels] in China. In terms of HR practices, China is a totally different ball game altogether. In China, we can’t impose the Western culture into their workforce because their culture is very different.

The Chinese respect hierarchy, so even if they want to say something to their superiors, they won’t say it because they think it is disrespectful. And that is different from the Western culture where they say what they mean and you just have to accept it.

But in the Chinese culture, it’s a matter of face and a matter of approach and delivery. For an outsider it can be very [jarring]. But once you know them, you know that’s the way to get to them.

In most of our China properties, our HR directors are locals. For them, you need to get their buy-in by taking time to explain to them where you’re coming from, rather than just giving them instructions. If you do that, they feel very small and feel that you don’t think they are capable enough so they get defensive rather than work with you.

Linda Scully

Director, Human Resources, Asia Pacific

Carlson Hotels Worldwide