LEARN HOW TO REALISE THE BENEFITS OF WORKING GLOBALLY
by Richard Cook
When asked the question "What advantages/benefits do you see working globally?" in training sessions or in meetings with clients my experience is that people list out a whole range of advantages very quickly. Here are some examples:
- It challenges you - makes you think.
- It makes you more flexible as a human being
- It strengthens the organic growth of the business.
- It can be very enjoyable, fun and rewarding.
- It makes us more of a global team.
Then, when asked to explore and list the disadvantages of working globally they list some of the following:
- It can be slow and painful.
- It could be a threat to the business.
- It adds complexity!
- Slow and time consuming & more stressful.
- It brings communication problems, many languages and body language differences.
What has struck me is it is that groups complete the first part very quickly and that it is usually very broad and general, the big picture. They then tend to spend a lot more time on the second part, the disadvantages and often drill down quickly to both actual behaviours and real experiences of people in the room.
On reflection it could not be any other way for most of us. In the clash of almost idealised fancies versus real experiences and concerns it is easy to see why people might focus on the latter and not spend too long on the former.
Yet, when organisation globalise it is often the former along with cost gains, which is trumped, as being the real gains of the expansion, merger or outsourcing venture.
When cultural training is recognised as a need it is almost always with a focus on the later group of concerns and not the former that are focused on. Problem solving then, can becomes the primary focus of the training or intervention and also the measure by which the course is judged.
Interculturalists as any other group of professionals advocate prevention rather than cure. It always makes better business sense to be proactive rather than reactive when such large costs are involved.
So how can organisations become more proactive and begin to focus on some of the advantages of working globally?
One way is by building the organisation's cultural capital (This is an organization's ability to grow successfully across cultures).
This can be achieved by doing some of the following:
- Adding 'intercultural skills' as a core organisational competency set
- Using psychometric assessment tools that assess cultural skills to calibrate the organisation and individuals
- Providing competency based cultural training
- Providing cultural coaching and mentoring programmes to fast track managers working across cultural boundaries
An organisation with a high level of 'Cultural Capital' has an advantage over those organisations that do not have it. They leverage the expertise of the cultures within the organisation and apply it to the parts of the business that need it - when they need it. They respond better to business opportunities, make less mistakes and become an employer of choice across the global organisation.
To get in touch with Richard Cook email him on: richardcook@global-excellence.com
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