Even many years of work in an international environment
– in Europe, Middle East and Asia – are not sufficient protection against traps or basic errors in intercultural communication and management that await us.
by: Irek Zyzański
This article is primarily dedicated to reflections on the fact that even long-term expats can make mistakes connected with the lack of consciousness of their cultural software, the software of the people surrounding them, and effective communication interfaces. It is also about the stages of adapting to life in different countries and the adaptation curve, which always occurs, and of the existence of which both expats and HR professionals are often unaware. In the text, the word ‘expat’ is narrowed down to the corporate world and means an employee seconded by the company to work abroad.
A career almost destroyed
Let us start with an example of a talented manager from Indonesia, whose career was almost ruined because of intercultural blindness. A part of the development program for the best talents from different parts of the world was a one-year internship at our headquarters in Switzerland. It was a very ennobling transfer, employees could be in the very centre of events, participate in important and career-developing projects, they were observed and evaluated by the most important people in the company. In a nutshell, it was an opportunity to dramatically speed up the career, but also to be labelled as ‘lacking potential’. We used to say: “from hero to zero in five minute and opposite”. Of course, the programme was quite heavily politically loaded, the quality of the seconded managers affected the evaluation of the country of origin and its senior managers. No wonder that no accidental people were sent, and all participants were subjected to robust verification by the local management.
Soon after my transfer to Indonesia, where I was responsible for HR support for the Sales Department and the Marketing Department, we started the selection of the programme participants. One of the proposed candidates was a young talented regional manager, whom we will name Dodi for the needs of this story. Dodi was very respected in the organisation both by his subordinates and superiors. He was responsible for a business the size of Poland and for a team of over 300 people. Additionally, he had a perfect command of English, was communicative, talkative, knew how to make a good presentation, which in corporations is often considered to be a sing of talent and general intelligence. I was still learning about Indonesia and did not understand many areas of the local culture.
Having obtained all local approvals from the Management Board, Dodi went to Switzerland for a year to win the corporate spurs. We were sure of his success. However, after several weeks, I started receiving non-official warning signals from my Swiss colleagues: “Whom did you choose there in Indonesia?” The guy is useless, does not add value and is passive during meetings, lacks the required corporate edge, is unable to stand up to the senior management, and generally makes an impression of not particularly talented. Is he really your best candidate? If yes, it seems that you have a big problem in your organisation”, and they kept on in a similar vein.
This feedback generated an obvious political panic, but it was also accepted with a certain dose of incredulity. We knew this man and he was certainly not as he was described. So I call him and tell him about the feedback that I received and ask him what is going on. Dodi tells me, somewhat embarrassed, that he cannot speak unasked when the regional president is present at the meeting, because this would be a blatant lack of respect towards his superior, he cannot openly express a different opinion, because both he and the president would lose face. Of course, he has a lot of propositions and would like to express his opinion, but none of the talkative Europeans asks him to share them, invites him to discussion, so he behaves exactly as a well-mannered person should in the presence of his superior, and is waiting to be asked. And since this does not happen, he is more and more frustrated, waiting and waiting at each meeting, but the others keep on ignoring him.
Well… So this is the problem… A classic, even textbook example of different norms, lack of understanding resulting from different expectations from the other party. The lack of awareness that the behaviour expected in Asia does not work in Europe. On the contrary – it makes a person look little professional and not adding value. After a few coaching and mentoring sessions, Dodi was able to change his behaviour and understood what communication code is expected of him and awarded.
Competencies of the 21st century
With this story, I wanted to illustrate the significance of intercultural intelligence, one of the key competencies of the manager of 21st century, who works with other nationalities, manages multinational teams, both in the same physical location and in virtual, dispersed teams. Most problems appear not due to the lack of hard professional abilities, but the lack of understanding of how to communicate effectively.
In the nineties, when the Polish transformation started, an expat was someone exceptional. Expats were treated as superior and considered to be the treasury of business and life wisdom. The problem of intercultural adaptation did not exist, everybody had to simply adapt to the expat, sometimes grinding their teeth and laughing at their lack of understanding of our customs. Now, the situation has changed dramatically. Expats are no longer exceptional and international service centres have become a permanent element of the landscape. In Poland, there are over 1,000 Shared Service Centres or Expertise Centres of different types, which provide services to various countries, continents or the entire world. According to ABSL Report, over 200,000 people are employed in this sector, i.e. more than in mining and metallurgy together[1]. Nearly 20,000 are foreign employees working on different local or expat contracts. Additionally, almost each larger international company has local or regional offices in Poland. Increasingly more Poles are making international careers, both on medium company levels and as members of corporate Management Boards together with their colleagues from other countries.
The ability to work effectively in intercultural teams has become a key competency of the modern manager and should be obvious to HR teams. Sending a talented local employee without cultural preparation often entails their failure, leaving the company, and high costs. HR employees who are responsible for sending and receiving expats concentrate their efforts on the physical aspects of their relocation – ensuring accommodation and school for children, informing how to use the local healthcare system or suggesting where to go shopping. And these are, of course, important and indispensable things, but they are not enough. We often forget about the soft side of relocation, e.g. for most employees from Asia, speaking during meetings dominated by European employees will be very uncomfortable. In their culture, openly expressing opinions contrary to those of the bosses present in the room is simply unthinkable. This ends up in frustration and a feeling that the group is very arrogant, even aggressive. On the other hand, Western colleagues will question the worth brought to a discussion by an employee who does not say anything. In such a situation, it is enough to understand that we are dealing with a classic conflict of intercultural communication models, with different cultural DNAs, and host the meeting in such a way that everybody has an opportunity to join the discussion.
The role of HR
Today, the contemporary HR manager must be a cultural translator between a foreign employee and the local team. There can be many reasons for misunderstandings and conflicts, which sooner or later appear when working in an international environment.
- Differences in approach to problem solving. In certain cultures, the ability to directly communicate problems is expected because conflict is considered to be something positive (thesis – antithesis – synthesis), permitting to forge solutions in the heat of debate. Other cultures value harmony, teach that conflicts should be avoided because harmony and balance will be disturbed and people will lose face.
- Perception of time. Is time linear or multi-streamed? Are we doing one thing at a given time or several things at the same time? Do we consider agreed project deadlines to be fixed or can they still be negotiated? What late arrival to a meeting is still acceptable? Can I answer the phone during a meeting or should I call back afterwards?
- The role of the superior. Is the boss an egalitarian facilitator, a colleague who simply has more responsibility and is the superior or an unreachable dictator, who is presumably wiser and whose opinion may not be questioned.
- The directness and high contextuality of communication is another area of frequent misunderstandings and frustration. In the text “How to hear ‘no’”[2] I write about deciphering hidden meanings in communication, high contextuality, and understanding of our mental maps. Often what is more important is not what we say but how we say it, not what was said but what was not.
These are only some of the armed bombs in each multinational organisation. The role of HR professionals and leaders is to skilfully disarm them. This will often be much more important to the business success of the organisation than anyone could imagine.
On the other side of the mirror
I would like to present now the perspective of an expat who for the past 24 years together with his wife, three children, and pets has moved nine times. What is the reality of a person whom the company provided with a house, school for children, medical insurance and a set of valuable benefits? Can such people still have reasons to complain? To feel frustrated and dissatisfied? What traps await those who decide to move to another country?
First – a sense of the lack of stability. In spite of the company’s promise that you will spend a specific amount of time at a given location, the contract may often be extended or suddenly shortened. The company’s interest always takes precedence over the employee’s interest. Far from the country, you have much less possibilities to ‘vote with your feet’ and find work outside the company if you do not like the next proposition. There is also less employment security – expats are much more expensive than local employees and at a time of budget cuts, their positions are up first. And there are often no return positions for them in the country.
Second – the family. It is bad without the family, but with the family there is also a problem. A longer stay without them often ends up in a family breakdown. I saw that all too often. On the other hand, taking your children and wife with you changes the family dynamics. Children lose their friends. It is not such a big problem when they are small, but when they are teenagers, such changes may have life-long consequences. Your partner usually is not able to continue their work in the new country, there are often visa problems or the need to take care of the house and children due to the lack of help from extended family and friends.
For many people, leaving ageing parents is also a big issue. Even if we do not visit them very often in the country, we feel that if something bad happens, we can jump in the car and go there relatively quickly, without the need to travel 20 hours from Asia to Poland.
Third – education. Only some expats have the possibility to send their children to their schools abroad, which later enables a quite smooth return to the local education system in the country. In most cases, children go to an English-, German-, or French-speaking school. I did not have this opportunity as a Pole. My children went to English-speaking schools, and even though they speak Polish very well, finding themselves in the Polish system would be a big challenge.
Of course, there are numerous advantages of being an expat – living in another country, getting to know a new culture and language, financial benefits. It is, however, not an adventure for everybody, and HR should consciously prepare candidates for going abroad, not only from the professional side, but also in terms of family and social matters.
Adaptation roller-coaster ride
Most people going abroad to work pass through an emotional adaptation swing or roller-coaster, which consists of four distinctive phases
| Adaptation phases and associated emotions |
| Preparation for going abroad – you have just found out that you have to go abroad. You are overcome by conflicting emotions: excitement, fear, and curiosity about the new place. You expect an adventure, another step on your career path, and at the same time, you start to notice problems – what about school, house, family and friends? You are reading about the criminality rate and diseases in the new country, while at the same time checking where you will spend fantastic holidays.Honeymoon – you have just arrived, as a rule, you live in a hotel that the company pays for, everything is new and fascinating. You meet new people, go to new restaurants, feel almost invincible.Depression – the honeymoon has ended – sooner or later, you see the senselessness of the new situation. Children complain about the new school, you cannot find your favourite food, you lose contact with your friends, who stayed in different time zones, you are fed up with the local entertainment, and the local people with their strange customs annoy you.Stabilisation – you recover from depression, start seeing the world in a more balanced way. Okay, maybe I cannot find my favourite bread, but there is something else. You meet new people, life gets back to normal. |
Each time you go to a new country, this cycle repeats itself. Depending on the place and your situation, you go through it with more or less intensity. The return to your own country is especially difficult due to the so-called reversed cultural shock. In the majority of cases, it is easier to move to another country than return to your home country. It is difficult for returning expats to find themselves in the local reality. This often results in leaving the company, thus, the expensive experience of the employee goes to waste. I remember myself how painful my return after eight years was. People remembered me the way I was a long time ago and I remembered them in the same way, but we had all changed. And finding common reference points again is not so easy or obvious.
HR support for expats when moving abroad or returning to the country – visas, schools, formalities – is very important. However, it is in the emotional sphere that the real problems lie. And this is where HR has still a lot of work to do.
Irek Zyzański
is a ICF PCC coach, mentor and consultant, director of HR and sales departments. He worked in Libya, Ukraine, Dubai, China, Russia, Indonesia, and Hong Kong.
[1] See: https://absl.pl/storage/ app/uploads/public/5d1/bf8/ fc4/5d1bf8fc4a18e512734911.pdf (accessed on: 16.02.2020).
[2] See: I. Zyzańki, Jak usłyszeć „nie” (How to hear ‘no’), „Personel Plus” 04/2020 p. .