Markuckienė, Elžbieta

During the past decade the interest of scientists in multiculturalism has increased significantly, as the need for the development of intercultural competency has become more explicitly manifested in the work environment of organizations. In Lithuania the analysis of intercultural competency is still quite a new research area and is conducted intermittently, i.e. only certain aspects related to intercultural competency are analysed. This article analyses various scientific approaches to the phenomenon of interculturalism and tendencies of its manifestation in the organizational environment. The authors present an empirical research which involved nearly half a thousand respondents (N=464) from the municipalities of the capital and small towns of Lithuania who work primarily in the public sector. The survey questionnaire allows to assess skills of intercultural competency, the geography and frequency of intercultural communication, dimensions of competencies of employees in Lithuanian organizations, etc. and to establish the problems characteristic of the competency development. Based on the obtained data the authors of the article establish the problems characteristic of the development of intercultural competence in Lithuanian organizations and provide an overview of future perspectives.

Due to increasing migration, the development of intercultural competency has become more important in the work environment of organizations. Recently, interest in the topic of interculturalism among scientists has increased significantly - there is no doubt that employees of international organizations need to acquire intercultural competency, but this competency of employees in small municipalities of Lithuania has not been studied yet. This study relies on a designed questionnaire which provides for the evaluation of the intercultural competency of employees of small municipalities, as well as the need for its development, and the evaluation of their opinion on the impact of intercultural competency on their career.

The article discusses perception of conceptions of multiculturalism and its importance for the development of intercultural competence of students, alumni and teaching staff. The interest in multiculturalism trends in the study and post-study process in Lithuania has arisen quite recently, meanwhile, the need for intercultural competence in the development of intercultural dimension is growing, because, due to the increase of interculturalism of the content of study programmes, academic exchange is more active and the experience gained is further developed at the alumni stage. The article analyses the approach of different scientists towards the phenomenon of interculturalism and means of development of intercultural competence. The aim of the research conducted by the authors in the IV quarter of 2013 is to identify the need of the academic community and alumni for the development of intercultural competence. The statements of this questionnaire provided for the respondents help to reveal the following: frequency of communication with foreign nationals, the respondents’ opinion on the development of their intercultural competence and the most common barriers which hinder the effective intercultural dialogue. The article proposes a hypothesis that the dynamics of intercultural communication is related to the respondents’ education, a hypothesis was confirmed, because respondents with a PhD communicate with foreign nationals more frequently (e.g., they go on business trips and internships abroad) in comparison with students, have more experiential skills and a much wider range of intercultural contacts.

Straipsnio autorių vykdomi tyrimai patvirtina kai kurių specialistų teiginius, kad dažnas darbuotojas ne visada turi realių galimybių tobulinti savo kompetenciją pagal keliamus reikalavimus, nėra orientuotas į kokybę ir rezultatą. Tokia situacija lemia mažėjantį visuomenės pasitikėjimą viešajame sektoriuje dirbančiais darbuotojais, smunka valstybės tarnautojo profesijos prestižas. Straipsnyje aptariamos kai kuriose ES šalyse sėkmingai taikomos kompetencijų modelio praktikos, orientuotos į darbuotojų kompetencijų plėtrą, stiprinančios darbuotojų motyvaciją ir lojalumą.