Last week, Symantec employees around the globe marked Diversity Week, an internal celebration focusing on increasing employees' cultural competence and expanding their global view. Over 1,300 employees attended at least one of 10 webinars and 29 workshops hosted around the globe. Cross functional teams of presenters and panelists from Singapore, Beijing, India, Ireland, the UK, and the U.S. hosted events to help all of us better understand our cultural lens, the impact of culture in the workplace, and steps we can take to increase our understanding of our customers and colleagues around the globe.

Participants in Diversity Week learned that the first step towards productive engagement with people from other cultures is awareness that we may have different styles, and that we may not view the world - and how we should communicate or behave in it - in the same way. They also learned that it’s important to take time to learn about other cultures and to think about and welcome differing perspectives.