Sidra Medical and Research Center (Sidra) has hosted a series of workshops on cultural intelligence for more than 200 clinical and non-clinical leaders of the organisation.
The workshops were led by international thought leader and author Dr David Livermore, president of the Cultural Intelligence Center.
Cultural intelligence is a globally recognised way of assessing and improving effectiveness for culturally diverse situations.
According to Dr Livermore, Sidra is the first organisation in Qatar to adopt his cultural intelligence model into its corporate learning and employee engagement programmes.
Dr Kholode al-Obaidli, chief learning officer who has championed innovative and engaging learning and development programmes at Sidra, said: “With over 80 different nationalities, it is critical that we have an open dialogue and awareness about our cultural differences in the workplace.
“As a diverse healthcare organisation in Qatar, we are taking active measures to ensure that we have training and career development programmes that cultivate a culture of respect, workplace efficiency and safety, which will benefit both staff and our patients.”
Dr Livermore, who conducts cultural intelligence workshops across the globe, referred to empirical research reports on organisations that improve their cultural intelligence benefit from effective communication across cultures, improved creativity and innovation, enhanced job performance, and increased profitability and cost savings.
“The cultural intelligence model is based on four capabilities – drive, knowledge, strategy and action. The workshop was a great exercise in getting a deeper understanding of one’s personal culture versus other cultures within a team and how can we align expectations. I am incredibly inspired by an employee community like Sidra, with more than 2,500 employees from over 80 different nationalities and how they can utilise those differences to drive innovation and quality care for patients and their families,” said Dr Livermore.
Dr David Livermore
