Sending our Executives Abroad

I recently spoke with a young executive from a Silicon Valley tech company about his trip to Europe.  How did it go, I asked.

He said it went pretty well.   Then he started telling me about the strange looking people he saw on the street.  They looked different from the people he saw at home in Northern California.  He went on to talk about one of the company employees from Spain who wanted to have dinner at 11 o’clock at night.  What was that all about, he said.  Who eats that late at night?

He told me that he was in Europe to show the European team how to step up their sales efforts, to learn the company way of doing business.  His task was to show how to raise the sales figures to match those of the US.

Here was a top US producer sent to Europe to show them how to do it “like we do it.”  I wondered how well he was received by his European counterparts.  Did his own American-centric views cloud his understanding of how business is perceived across the pond?

How are we perceived?

As companies open offices overseas and offer products and services worldwide, do we need to rethink how we are perceived in new territories?  Are we advocating doing business in disruptive ways and yet advocating doing business as we always have?  Are we perpetuating the adage that as long as we do business the way it’s done in Mountain View (or Palo Alto, St Louis, Dallas, Seattle or Poughkeepsie) everything should go well;  “they” just need to learn how we do business.  Right?

Unfortunately companies that continue to do business this way fail to understand how cultural differences affect the way we are perceived globally.

There are many examples of how so-called “disruptive companies” ignored cultural nuances and policies and made trouble for themselves.  Businesses that expand overseas need to be sensitive to cultural differences in order to reduce risk both commercially and on a personal level.

Because in other countries you’re not just an employee, you are the company.

Training employees who venture abroad

What can we do to prepare employees who are tasked with overseas assignments and/or hosting a meeting in country with local employees or clients?

We need to train our managers about crossing cultures. Why?  Because failure to understand local customs that affect the business environment can be potentially disastrous.

A template for preparing the aforementioned young sales executive for his trip to Europe would start by providing a few tips on travel abroad (Adapted from The new Global Mindset, by Ernst and Young, www.globalsmart.com).

• Start by learning a little about the local language to show that you were interested enough to make the effort.  Not everyone speaks English – don’t assume that they do.
• Look up the geography of the country; study some of the country’s history. Americans are woefully ignorant of geography and world history.
• Research the city you’re visiting for local restaurants and neighborhoods.  This is for pleasure as well as safety.
• Be aware of the politics of the country.  Steer clear of expressing opinions about local issues.  Don’t argue American politics even if someone is attacking US policies.  Exercise diplomacy:  learn to agree to disagree.
• Listen to your own voice.  Is it too loud?  Americans are well known for being loud and brash.  Listen to how others speak; tone your voice down to match theirs

Preparing the sales executive for doing his presentation to a culturally diverse group introduces the following considerations.

• When delivering a presentation in a setting outside the US or to a culturally diverse group, slowdown.  Americans tend to speak quickly in rapid-fire fashion.
• Don’t lecture, dictating what is “right” and “wrong” about business practices. Other cultures resent being told their way is wrong and the American way is right.
• When you deliver your presentation, don’t use slang or sports analogies that are commonly used in the US.  Hitting a homerun is not a universal theme.
• Know what gestures mean in the country you are visiting.  A friendly gesture in the US may be an insult in another culture.  Knowing what they mean across cultures can be vital to your success or failure.

Building a program that addresses cultural differences most company managers will encounter as they travel abroad will help them act appropriately in new settings.  Creating a company-wide strategy to deal with a multi-cultural workplace integrates the philosophy of cultural differences into day-to-day operations.   It encourages diversity of thinking which ultimately improves success rates around the world.