In so doing, companies are able to set themselves and their employees up for greater success, while mitigating the risk of assignment failure and/or employee attrition.
Why is multi-cultural training essential today?
Given the backdrop of the global business landscape, an employee who embarks on an overseas assignment will not necessarily merely be working with a local team. Instead, it is far more likely that the employee will be part of a global team. That means that he or she will be working side-by-side with people of many different nationalities, cultures and backgrounds.
In putting together a global team, an organization needs to ensure that each member of that team is able to effectively work with the other members. To accomplish that, each member of the team needs to be able to communicate with one another, and to understand some of the key differences in their cultural backgrounds.
Setting the team up for success
That’s where cultural or multi-cultural training comes in. In many cases, it’s the best insurance policy that an organization has for setting a global team up for success.
In a nutshell, cultural training is designed to set the employee up for success prior to the assignment, by setting expectations about life in the host country, and providing coping strategies, tools and resources to help make that happen.
From a talent mobility and talent management perspective, sending employees overseas is often a critical component for achieving an organization’s business goals. But, it is also an increasingly expensive undertaking. Not only is the physical move itself costly, but it can also cost an organization considerably in the loss of talent.
Thus, the investment in cultural training is vital from an employee retention standpoint. Without that support and commitment to the employee’s career success, an organization could end up losing a valuable employee altogether.
Communication is the key
Communication is obviously a fundamental factor for global teams to be able to effectively work together. But, communication across cultures can be very tricky. Speaking the same language is great, but communication and cultural understanding requires much more than the ability to speak a language.
Through cultural training, employees also learn how to be more tolerant of each other, and they have an opportunity to gain greater insight into the cultural nuances that typically exist. So, it’s important to recognize the key role that communication (which can be verbal and nonverbal), plays in the process.
A win-win for the employee and organization
The idea is to bring members of a global team together in a way that fosters good communication, collaboration and interaction. If done properly, it can be a real win-win for both the employee and the organization. To best achieve such mutual success, cultural training has to go beyond the traditional model of preparing employees to live and thrive in a new country.
Today, cultural training also needs to provide the skills necessary for employees to work with people from many cultures and countries. It is no longer a one-on-one relationship, but rather a one-to-many relationship.
How WHR Group can help
Our company has global partnerships with industry experts across the globe, enabling us to provide cultural and language training services to help expats and their families prepare for relocation abroad. For more information on how WHR Group can assist your employees with their international move and new assignment, give us a call at 800-523-3318 or email contactus@whrg.com.
WRITTEN BY: MICHELLE SANDLIN, SCRP, GMS-T
Michelle Sandlin, SCRP, GMS-T is an award-winning freelance writer and weekly columnist for the Houston Chronicle. She is also a frequent contributor to Mobility Magazine, as well as other publications, corporate blogs and white papers. She can be reached at 281.831.3112 or michelle.sandlin@me.com.
