Architects in Chicago manage construction workers in Jakarta, doing work financed by investment groups in Bonn. A gay British man is hired by an oil-rich Islamic nation to negotiate a deal in conservative Houston.  There's are just some of the realities of a global business.

Another reality is that some of these cultures have highly unique and non-intersecting social mores. Gender, race, and sexual politics become even trickier as you cross national boundaries and international datelines.  How do companies with an eye on global success deal with cultural clashes?

Connie Wong knows. She's the founder and managing director of CSW Global. Huge corporations, universities, and global organizations nurture their diversity policies by turning to CSW Global. Established in 1990 by Wong, CSW develops unique and custom-designed services addressing diversity, workplace harassment, and cross-cultural awareness.

Although their client list is private, they have a heavy presence in large law firms, retail corporations, pharmaceutical businesses and the financial and banking sectors both national and globally. GFN spoke to Wong about CSW’s mission, and the customized programs it creates to help companies, cultures, and peoples better interact.

GFN: What was your background previous to founding CSW?

Connie Wong: The core of my background is fairness and how people are treated in an organization. My first entry into the business world was a start up, People Express Airlines. We worked with Harvard Business School, and I eventually ended up co-directing the training for the company. That was my entry into organizational development.  After some graduate work, I became a training director for Citibank, helping deal with the changing demographics of the workforce. Initially we focused on new policies and developing appropriate childcare resources, was something that was just emerging for corporations.  This led me into founding CSW in 1990.

GFN: You were initially focused on sexual harassment training.

CW: Yes, and that lead to diversity issues in the business world. We have very long-term relationships with our clients; our teams and training tend to grow with the client. We tend to partner with clients very closely for long periods of time.  So it was a natural progression.

GFN: Can you describe the training process you use on companies?

CW: The methods used by CSW Global are interactive theater, coaching intervention and needs assessment. Our interactive theatre is highly innovative and has received accolades from all our clients. It provides a powerful impact on our clients’ workforce. We have delivered programs for corporations worldwide, including many Fortune 500 companies, to every level of management and staff, and at leading business schools, in and outside the United States.

GFN: Tell me how you create these interactive theater experiences.

CW: First, the actors we partner with have to believe that these are important issues.  You can’t fake this stuff. We take a non-traditional approach to casting. We don’t ask a Chinese person to pretend to be Japanese, or for a Texan to fake a British accent. We find people who share the experiences of the role they are playing.  This makes it tough, because we have to replicate a global team in any area where we work. So finding that team of artists is very important.  We then work with the client to develop a script that reflects the issues that are being addressed. We work very closely with the client to make sure it is specific to their needs.

GFN: What do you expect of your clients when entering into this partnership?

CW: On the corporate side, if there is not a strong commitment from the top down, it won’t be a good partnership.  Many organizations that have a lot of integrity have tons of problems, and just because you have senior management support don’t mean the organization is flawless. You have to have a senior level buy in…otherwise you won’t appreciate the training that is presented, and you won’t have the needed dialogues between employees.

GFN: You also work with future business leaders, not just current ones…

CW: CSW works with the top business schools in the world, we do the foundation for Harvard, Stanford, Chicago, just to name a few. These are the emerging leaders who will have big impact on diversity.

GFN: Do you modify your programs specific to culture and country, as well as business?

CW: Issues of diversity change significantly when we think globally.  We have core programs by region or industry, as well as customizations by region and industry. What works in New York does not work in Hong Kong, and you have to convince your clients that we are not doing a “US way.”  We start out getting an understanding of where the clients are in their diversity strategy, and supplement that with any internal data they have.  We look at how they understand diversity, and map that against the organization’s priorities.

GFN: Can we talk about sexual diversity?

CW: If you look at the issues of diversity, sexual orientation is an invisible diversity – to the degree that it is invisible to some.  You can’t go up to somebody and say, “You look like you are gay,” as opposed to other aspects of diversity where people feel they are invisible.  For example, most Asians would feel they are the invisible minority. But back to sexuality, because some societies and cultures consider homosexuality taboo, and some have laws against it. Some countries view the laws as antiquated, others take them very seriously. Sexual orientation … the global perspective is fascinating.

GFN: So your training obviously involves sexual orientation.

CW: As our partners and clients expand globally, you have to make sexual orientation a topic. We are not in a situation where we let clients shirk these discussions. If your corporate strategy says you have an inclusive environment, then that must include a freedom of sexual orientation.

GFN: Why does it have to be discussed? Why do stockbrokers, or real estate agents, or any business professional have to be comfortably out?

CW: It is an individual’s decision and a privacy issue, certainly. But, in business you must build a network.  Building that network, engaging your clients, developing relationships – this all suggests the person should be able to share who they are and build trust and respect with their network. Simply put, if I am a gay employee, being constrained does not allow for you to build a network and organization.

GFN:What are the obstacles to this? Outright corporate homophobia?

CW: No, not at all.  First you need to understand this is not talking about sex or sex lives, or people hitting on one another in the work place. Everyone has to understand that sexual orientation does not equal sex life. Then you have to overcome the idea that this is a private matter. Many employees in an organization do not address sexual diversity, because they think it is a private matter. “It seems like someone else’s business.” 

GFN: How do you overcome that? What training is implemented?

CW: We start by asking what messages their industry sends to a particular group of people “What do you think it is like for LGBT people in your industry?” Almost always, the answer is, “How would I know? I am not gay.”  Most people have never thought about it. So we start off with reminding everyone that they need to know, need to be aware.  Then, we role-play in the discussion.  Ask questions of sexual orientation as diversity on many levels. “Would the firm walk away from a homophobic client?  Do you hold your clients to the organizations values?”  It is important, like with all diversity development, that the client is not the one driving policy.

GFN: And is it all easily resolved? Everything fixed with a few interactive presentations?

CW:  We don’t set up what we do as a lecture. This is not an instance where we have all the answers. People ask questions and often, nobody has an answer.  When it comes to culture and diversity, there are no easy answers. Just a lot of thought provoking discussions.  It is the discussions and dialogue that is important.  We have to realize that we need to check our assumptions and misconceptions at the door.  Senior management has to realize it can’t make decisions for the gay employee, without knowing the gay employee. 

In 1990, Connie Wong founded CSW Global, a leading global consulting firm specializing in services addressing global workforce diversity. Her expertise evolved out of her extensive corporate experience in the financial services and airline industries, as well as her academic training in organizational development and negotiation skills.

Connie Wong will be speaking at Equality Forum's Business Equality Panel on May 3rd, 2 pm at the Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. 

About 94% of FORTUNE 500 companies protect their gay and lesbian employees from discrimination, at least in writing. But at all levels of the corporate structure, LGBT workers face challenges and opportunities every day not faced by their heterosexual counterparts. The Business Equality Panel features  executives working to improve workplace quality and equal access for all LGBT employees.

For more information, go to the Equality Forum.