Recently I did an analysis of my organization's construction of its national cultures. I used Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner's Seven Dimensions of Culture framework for the purpose. Whilst reading the authors' original work, I read their research of the model specifically applied to South Africa (where I work) , arguably one of the most diverse societies in the world. The framework, and their research on the South African labour market assisted me to understand the role the respective cultures in our country plays in organisations. It also assisted me to understand my own propensity to behave in a certain way which is insightful introspection as a manager. In my analysis I found that my organisation has little data on the language groups within the ethnic groups that represents the staff structure, which is a critical requirement for the exercise, specifically in South Africa. Even the minority white ethnics group can be divided into English and Afrikaans speaking people whose cultures differ vastly, not to even mention the language groups within the African ethnic group. That caused me to wonder if other organisations in the country are collecting and considering that type of data to inform their approach to human resource management, which I doubt. Understanding these 'sub-cultures' within a culture in diverse societies are critically important. Not being aware of and not considering these sub-cultures in the broader ethnic groups may lead to misapplication of the framework which may result in inaccurate results and adverse consequences. This is a factor every human resource practitioner must be aware of.
