Nicole_Part_B


 * Identify a potentially difficult situation or cultural misunderstanding that could take place within your workplace with:**

The official language of Brazil is Portuguese. If an international visitor was to come from Brazil, there would be an obvious language barrier between the guest and I.
 * **An international visitor:**


 * **A staff member from a different background:**

Brazilian’s tend to have a tendency in their own country to have a smaller area of personal space and have no problem with gestures such as kissing and hugging each other in order to greet and farewell their friends, family and acquaintances. This could cause a problem in the workplace as this may make other staff feel uncomfortable and some could find this some what offensive.


 * How would you use effective listening skills to determine the specific need? List the five other aspects of complaint handling and how you would use them to resolve your situation.**

The complaint handling strategy follows these simple steps:

1. Listen to the customer and acknowledge the problem. This can be done by using effective listing techniques. Effective listening means to actively listen to the customer. Active listening is more than just hearing the message, it is about understanding the content and feelings behind the words. It includes: - Attending Skills – these are the skills that show another person that you are prepared and willing to listen. This involves using body language to show that you are paying attention, appropriate eye contact and minimizing distractions from the conversation such as noise. - Following Skills – These skills show that you are interested in what is being said and encourage the person to elaborate on the message. This includes friendly interested questions to open the question, Minimal feedback to encourage the speaker, attentive silences and infrequent questions. - Reflecting Skills – These are the skills that show you not only have heard what has been said but also understand the feelings and intentions of the message. This includes repeating the essential parts of what has been said back to the customer and summarizing the major concerns.

2. We must Express concern and empathize with the customer. Our concern must be genuine and appropriate to the complaint. Making a big deal and apologizing profusely about something small is not appropriate to the complaint. Customers will appreciate sincerity and understanding.

3. We must take responsibility, even though we may not have caused the problem. This means that we immediately apologize on behalf of the organization for the customer’s unhappiness. We should not place blame on someone or something for the complaint.

4. We must indicate what action will be taken. You may be able to fix the problem yourself if the complaint is simple, if this is the case inform the customer that you will fix the problem immediately. However, some problems cannot be fixed on the spot and must be referred to a manager or supervisor. Let the customer know that a senior manager will contact them.

5. Now that we have indicated what we are going to do for the customer, we must take action to ensure that this happens. The customer wants you to act now rather than later so ensure that anything you promised the customer you would do or find out is done.

6. Lastly we must follow up on the complaint. We need to make sure that what we said would be done, has been done. Call other departments involved and check that they have done what has been asked of them in order to rectify the problem. In many cases, it is also important to follow up with the customer to ensure they were satisfied with the way the complaint was handled. The incident may also need to be recorded in an incident report.


 * Describe how your cultural experience would help you in the workplace when dealing with customers and colleagues with cultural and social differences.**

My cultural experiences that occurred throughout my travels of Southern Brazil will help me in the workplace when dealing with customers and colleagues with cultural and social differences. My travels confirmed to me that there are different ways in which you should address different people from different backgrounds and cultures. For E.g. Brazilian’s prefer to be greeted with a handshake, however other cultures may find this offensive as it can invade ones personal space.

This is also relevant to the levels of formality that one should show when dealing with international guests. Australians are fairly layed back as are Brazilians, but other nationalities such as the Chinese require a more formal approach and less personalized service. The level of informality in the Brazilian culture is also reflected in the attire that they wear to work. Casual and work clothing is much the same in Brazil.

The level of work ethic and personal grooming also may be affected by ones cultural background. My cultural experience allowed me to see this as Brazilians are not a typically hardworking people, not in relation to people like the Chinese who will work all day everyday. The Brazilians would much rather relax on the beach and have a some what care free life.

Family is very important to Brazilians. This could possibly affect them in the workplace, if one of their loved ones was sick or they had planned a family event. More so than it would effect other families of other cultures that place little important on family. This would also be true for Religion. Brazilians are predominately Catholic and therefore would require holidays like Easter and Christmas. However, there are other religions that do not believe in these holidays are would be willing to work on these days, yet require holidays of their own for their religious beliefs.

Many cultures have different customs that they carry out. In Brazil there are many festivals which have become custom to their country. These customs may lead to the special needs of customers and colleagues such time off, to prepare and enjoy such customs. They might also require extra break time to pray, as in the Muslim culture as they have to pray three times a day.

In conclusion, when working in an industry like hospitality it is important to take into account the different cultures that you can come across and ensure that you respect their differences and accommodate for each and every one.