Cultural Agility

CULTURAL AGILITY Succeeding in today s global economy requires organizations to acquire, develop, and retain professionals who can operate effectively around the world, irrespective of country or culture. More than ever before, organizations need a pipeline of professionals who possess cultural agility the ability to quickly, comfortably, and successfully work in cross-cultural and international environments. Filled with illustrative examples from a wide range of organizations, including the Peace Corps, the U.S. military, and many Fortune 500 companies, Cultural Agility offers business leaders and human resource professionals a step-by-step guide for creating and implementing highly effective, cutting-edge talent management practices to increase cross-cultural competence throughout their organizations. Validated through several years of her research and practice, Paula Caligiuri outlines the Cultural Agility Competency Framework. This framework sets the foundation for the strategic talent management practices organizations need to effectively build a pipeline of culturally agile professionals, such as how to attract, recruit, and select professionals with cultural agility or those with the greatest propensity to readily develop cultural agility.Cultural Agility also provides guidance for creating organizational cultures and HR systems to support the development of a workforce that is culturally agile. For example, international assignments are commonly enlisted as a means of developing global leaders, but these have proven to be only partially effective for building cultural agility. Caligiuri offers training and development practices that organizations can use in a learning system to continually build professionals cross-cultural competencies, including specific recommendations for designing truly developmental international assignments. This book is a must-have resource for human resource professionals and all business leaders who know that the key to their organizations success in today s complex global economy is their culturally agile human talent.

CULTURAL AGILITYSucceeding in today's global economy requires organizations to acquire, develop, and retain professionals who can operate effectively around the world, irrespective of country or culture. More than ever before, organizations need a pipeline of professionals who possess cultural agility--the ability to quickly, comfortably, and successfully work in cross-cultural and international environments.Filled with illustrative examples from a wide range of organizations, including the Peace Corps, the U.S. military, and many Fortune 500 companies, Cultural Agility offers business leaders and human resource professionals a step-by-step guide for creating and implementing highly effective, cutting-edge talent management practices to increase cross-cultural competence throughout their organizations. Validated through several years of her research and practice, Paula Caligiuri outlines the "Cultural Agility Competency Framework." This framework sets the foundation for the strategic talent management practices organizations need to effectively build a pipeline of culturally agile professionals, such as how to attract, recruit, and select professionals with cultural agility or those with the greatest propensity to readily develop cultural agility.Cultural Agility also provides guidance for creating organizational cultures and HR systems to support the development of a workforce that is culturally agile. For example, international assignments are commonly enlisted as a means of developing global leaders, but these have proven to be only partially effective for building cultural agility. Caligiuri offers training and development practices that organizations can use in a learning system to continually build professionals' cross-cultural competencies, including specific recommendations for designing truly developmental international assignments.This book is a must-have resource for human resource professionals and all business leaders who know that the key to their organizations' success in today's complex global economy is their culturally agile human talent.

Preface xiiiAcknowledgments xviiPart 1: Introduction: The Basics of Cultural Agility 1Chapter 1: What is Cultural Agility--And Why is It So Crucial Today? 3Cultural Agility: A Mega-Competency with Three Levels 4The Need for Speed in Building a Pipeline of Culturally Agile Professionals 7Barriers to Creating a Pipeline of Culturally Agile Professionals 10Take Action 18Part 2: Who is Culturally Agile? 21Chapter 2: Three Cross-Cultural Competencies Affecting Culturally Agile Responses 23The Cultural Agility Competency Framework: Twelve Key Competencies 24How the Competencies Affecting Behavioral Responses are Different 26Competencies Affecting Behavioral Responses in Cross-Cultural Contexts 26Take Action 46Chapter 3: Nine Cross-Cultural Competencies Affecting Success of Culturally Agile Professionals 47Three Competencies Affecting Psychological Ease in Cross-Cultural Situations 48Three Competencies Affecting Cross-Cultural Interactions 53Three Competencies Affecting Global Business Decisions 59Take Action 64Part 3: Attract and Select the Most Culturally Agile Talent 67Chapter 4: Attracting and Recruiting for Cultural Agility 69Finding Culturally Agile Professionals 74Attracting Culturally Agile Professionals 82Creating the Employee Value Proposition for Culturally Agile Professionals 89Take Action 92Chapter 5: Assessing and Selecting for Cultural Agility 95Résumé Screening 98Foreign Language Assessment 100Knowledge Assessment 102Personality Assessment 103Interview 108Self-Assessment 113Take Action 115Part 4: Train and Develop Culturally Agile Talent 117Chapter 6: Building The Foundation for Cultural Agility with Cross-Cultural Training 119What to Include in a Cross-Cultural Training Program 121Delivery Methods for Cross-Cultural Training 128Language Training 132Timing and Sequencing of Cross-Cultural Training 133Readiness for Cross-Cultural Training 134Evaluating the Effectiveness of Cross-Cultural Training 135Take Action 140Chapter 7: Crafting Developmental Cross-Cultural Experiences to Increase Cultural Agility 141How Cross-Cultural Experiences Become Developmental 143Suggestions for Developmental Cross-Cultural Experiences 150Take Action 156Chapter 8: Developing Cultural Agility Through International Assignments 157International Assignment Goals and Cultural Agility 161Using Strategic Global Mobility Practices to Build Cultural Agility 164Take Action 182Part 5: Conclusion: Leadership and Organizational Factors 183Chapter 9: Managing and Leading to Build Cultural Agility in the Workforce 185Your Organization's Readiness for Cultural Agility Practices 187Leadership Practices to Foster a Culturally Agile Organizational Culture 191HR's Role in Building the Culturally Agile Workforce 195Your Cultural Agility 205Take Action 205Stay Connected to Learn More 206Appendix: Lists to Assess Your Organization's Global Employer Image 207Notes 219About the Author 231Index 233