Intercultural training important to expats' success

Published 3:23 pm, Friday, April 26, 2013

Intercultural training programs for employees and families can help make an international assignment much more enjoyable and successful.

Intercultural training programs for employees and families can help make an international assignment much more enjoyable and successful.

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Scott T. Sullivan, Brookfield Global â¨Relocation Services

Scott T. Sullivan, Brookfield Global â¨Relocation Services

Intercultural training important to expats' success

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Doing business is no longer just on a local level; it is done globally. As such, more and more U.S. companies are relocating their U.S.-based employees and sending them on assignment to work in their overseas operations as expatriates. This is a very expensive undertaking and one that requires proper planning and training to best ensure the success of such assignments.

Candidates for foreign assignments are carefully chosen, and often receive intercultural training in preparation for their relocation.

Living and working in a foreign country poses many challenges, many of which may be lessened by undergoing a formalized intercultural training program before the employee and family have started the international assignment.

Intercultural training programs are designed to develop cultural awareness and speed the transition process, by providing employees and their families with the knowledge, skills and tools necessary to effectively interact across cultures.

Betsy Neidel is the founder of Blue Heron Holdings, LLC, which is U.S.-based business advisory firm specializing in China business strategy and U.S.-China global leadership development. She specializes in US.-china intercultural training for business.

"The purpose of intercultural training is to make people feel more comfortable in a new environment, and help them to adapt more quickly to a set of norms that really aren't normal for them," she said.

Studies have shown that the faster an employee can adapt to the new country and culture, the more productive that employee is likely to be. By engaging the employee's family in the same intercultural training, the easier it is for all to adjust to life in the foreign country, thus increasing the chances of a successful assignment.

Conversely, the failure of an employee and/or family to adjust to life in the host country often results in assignment failure, which translates into financial loss for the company.

"Our intercultural programs are based on 50 years of research and methodology with a globally-structured outline to provide consistency (regardless of location) and are tailored to respond to participant needs," said Scott T. Sullivan, executive vice president of Brookfield Global Relocation Services.

The company used a competency model that focuses on three key areas - awareness, knowledge and skills - to frame their intercultural training programs.

"As the training unfolds, participants will increase self-awareness, be exposed to key knowledge, and work on their individual skill development," Sullivan said. "By focusing on the key competencies as the desired outcomes of the program, we ensure programs have the desired impact on the participants, giving them the skills that lead to cultural competence."

Intercultural training is important for a variety of reasons and has many benefits.

"Cultural training is widely accepted as a means to improve expatriate performance by creating greater cultural awareness to bring about greater business results. Training enables assignees to: understand the role of culture in business and social relationships, learn vital information about their host country and develop the skills for successful adaptation to life and work in the country of assignment," Sullivan said.

Research has shown that cultural training can mean the difference between a successful assignment and a failed assignment. Sullivan adds: "Our research indicates that one of the top 5 causes of assignment failure is the inability to adapt, which can be substantially prevented with cultural training."

Surprisingly, research has also shown that the highest rate of failed assignments for U.S. expatriates are for those who go on overseas assignments to the U.K. This is due in part to "inaccurate expectations," said Sullivan.

Just because people from the U.S. and the U.K. both speak English, doesn't mean that they abide by the same cultural principles in doing business and in the way that they interact with one another. Intercultural training even for a country speaking the same language can be invaluable in preparing an employee to successfully adapt and manage expectations.

Finally, upon completion of an overseas assignment, it is equally important that the employee and family partake in repatriation training.

Not only is it a key factor for retaining employees, since many employees leave their company within one year of returning from a foreign assignment, but essential for general readjustment into one's own culture of origin.