Working in an environment that is away from what I consider home has resulting in some major readjustment for me. Not only am I assimilating with the work culture in Kenya I am also readjusting to working with a predominantly Indian company.
Good leaders will always tell you when you go into a new country take your best top managers with you but only the great leaders will tell you that they should only be on temporary assignment.
I have discovered in my work here that I am able to easily distinguish the good from the great, the demarkation has never been this obvious before.
A great leader in this situation would tell their people train, coach, mentor and produce results. They would keep a handle on how the locals view and perceive them and would be mindful of their own team’s shortcomings. Starting to work in an international environment for professionals that have never worked outside of their country is an exceptional challenge. The weak-minded of the lot will try to conform everyone to their way of thinking and try to surround themselves with like-minded people who come from the same watering hole. The strong will work with a mix of their environment and slowly adjust and change as per it and introduce their own blend to it as well.
As a CEO/FOUNDER/PARTNER/OWNER of a company how do you prepare your best of the best.
– Training – before moving your people to another country you need to sensitize them. Before they even agree to move they should be put through a 3 day history , geography, sensitivity, etiquette, social norms and community training. This will help them make up their mind if this is the right fit for them and looking at the way they receive the training and respond to it a company can decide if they are the right fit.
– Mentoring /Coaching – Coaching and mentoring has to be a two-way street , before your people leave their home ground a company needs to bring in someone (preferably a HR expert) from the other country to train the people on what the rules are and what the professional culture of the country is. The reason is simple before you can change and make a system efficient, as you see it, you need to learn why it is the way it is and how it works.
– Cross training – If you are a company that is inheriting a business unit in another company and along with it the people then the inherited staff needs to be trained on the ways of working in your company and the professional environment and the people from the get go.
– Do not Copy Paste – Most importantly when coming from one work environment to another always remember that things that worked back home may or may not work in the new environment. Be mindful that you are not always trying to fit a round peg into a square hole. Some practices will work and some wont so don’t get caught in the “this is how we do it back home” rut.
One thing to remember is that the work environment when two or three or four cultures meld will never be smooth sailing from day one however tolerance, patience and open-mindedness will go a long way is getting it there sooner than later.