Abstract (150 Words)
With the proportion of immigrants in Canadian society increasing, knowledge of cultural differences is ever more critical. For tourism, parks, and other leisure organizations, as in most service organizations, recruiting the right employee is essential. Selecting and hiring the right people, at the right time, in the right place is a complex, stressful and costly undertaking for both the organization and the candidate. However, making the wrong hiring decision can result in even more problems. Interviewing is a key task in the hiring process, but interviewing in a cross-cultural environment requires skills that many employers lack. The proposed research will use a combination of interviews and relevant documentation (e.g., organizational policies), informed by a conceptual framework related to crosscultural communication. In particular, the paper will review current research on the problems and challenges related to the need for more sensitive cross-cultural communications by managers in tourism and leisure organizations. The paper concludes summarizing this research by offering some tentative strategies for avoiding misconceptions arising based on cultural unawareness.
Mis-Steps in the Dance of Differences: Problems and Potentials in Cross-Cultural Job Interviews
With the proportion of immigrants in Canadian society increasing, knowledge of cultural differences is ever more critical. For tourism, parks, and other leisure organizations, as in most service organizations, recruiting the right employee is essential. Selecting and hiring the right people, at the right time, in the right place is a complex, stressful and costly undertaking for both the organization and the candidate. However, making the wrong hiring decision can result in even more problems. Interviewing is a key task in the hiring process, but interviewing in a cross-cultural environment requires skills that many employers lack. The proposed research will use a combination of interviews and relevant documentation (e.g., organizational policies), informed by a conceptual framework related to crosscultural communication. In particular, the paper will review current research on the problems and challenges related to the need for more sensitive cross-cultural communications by managers in tourism and leisure organizations. The paper concludes summarizing this research by offering some tentative strategies for avoiding misconceptions arising based on cultural unawareness.
