Capitalizing on the cultural and linguistic diversity of mobile talent: lessons from an Australian study

Abstract

To date, acknowledgement of where culturally and linguistically diverse talent is located in organizations has been largely neglected in scholarship, policy and practice. As such, we have limited understanding of whether or not we are ‘capitalizing’ on the capabilities of culturally and linguistically diverse workers and, the implications of not doing so. Accordingly, the paper sheds light on the cultural and linguistic diversity (CALD) of the talent pipeline and senior leadership suite in multinational professional services firms located in Australia by surveying over 4000 staff members. The paper presents how we identify, measure and evaluate CALD in a meaningful way by drawing on insights offered by talent management and diversity management researchers, which informs the development of a unique methodological tool to survey respondents. As such, in addition to the empirical contribution, the paper also contributes to a broad field of scholarship while signalling lessons for senior managers and policy-makers.

Keywords:

• Cultural and linguistic diversity
• diversity management
• high-skilled mobility
• professional service firms
• talent

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Associate Editor, Dr Noelle Donnelly and the two anonymous referees for their comments and guidance throughout the process of review. We would also like to note our debt of gratitude to the survey respondents who gave of their valuable time to provide us with important information on the cultural and linguistic diversity of the talent pipeline and the senior leadership suite in Australian subsidiaries of global professional service firms.