Equipping Staff for Overseas Assignments

You are being posted overseas or have been given responsibility for operations in another country (or region). You know your company well. You have bought the Phrasebook. What more do you need?

Culture shock hits most people once the excitement of novelty begins to fade. Cultures are alien at a very deep level. We respond from an unconscious, emotional base. Internal discomfort, a profound sense of strangeness and puzzling disorientation can be almost overwhelming.

Approximately 75% of overseas assignments fail - at huge cost to company and individual - because of cultural factors.

Adequate preparation - for employee and family - is the key to achieving the desired corporate and personal results.

Preparation needs to cover the following aspects:

Understanding the ways in which cultures differ at the fundamental levels
Knowing, for the target culture, how these fundamental differences are reflected in social behaviour
Developing enhanced adaptability skills
Knowing the organisational and bureaucratic rules and expectations in the target country or region - both how businesses are operated and basics like how to arrange accommodation and telephone
Developing culturally-sensitive communications and negotiations skills to be able to get things done in the target cultures.

The Overseas Assignee Programme is designed to smooth the transition and increase short-term results for:

Professionals or Managers being posted to a new operating environment
Individuals developing their career through short / medium term migration
Sales / Marketing professionals taking responsibility for an overseas market
Operational, Financial or Technical Managers responsible for coordination of several foreign operating companies.

The portfolio of training courses currently includes:

International Effectiveness Workshops

To reduce the effect of culture shock and learn to adapt more quickly

Negotiating across Cultures

To refine negotiation skills in a context of cultural awareness

Country Briefings

To know how to do business in a specific country

Cultural Decompression