Working in a mix of cultures

Working in a mix of cultures

Written by Luciënne van Leest

As an intern I had my first working experience at the facilities department of a Dutch non-profit organization I learned one thing: “most internal clients are critical consumers”. I believe it is something positive because we, as facilities department, have to be creative, sharp and think about alternatives when we can not fulfill the wish of the client. At this moment I am intern in an International organization, located in Breda. The organization has a large number of foreign employees working at the different departments. So what happens when you have to deal with 600 critical consumers with different cultures and backgrounds?

Let’s start with some facts about only European differences;
- There are more than 40 languages in Europe in about 50 countries.
- The Euro covers most countries, but there are still countries using different currencies.
- Europeans are very strict in their own greeting ways.
- Gestures are an integral part of communicating in Europe, especially in the south.
- Southern European cultures tend to be more relaxed. In these cultures, time is more fluid, and punctuality is regarded as less important, while in Switzerland, Germany and the Benelux time is rigid.

These facts show that there are a lot of differences in cultures and way of behaving. It is important to understand, or to realize why a foreigner reacts in a total different way then we “the Dutch ones” should react.

Intercultural management in a communication and management method that does justice on the norms and values, think- and attitude codes of people from different cultures. In an intercultural environment are a lot more misunderstandings then an environment with people with the same backgrounds. The word “culture” is most referred to difference in nationalities, but ever thought about:
- Combined cultures: culture of Microsoft
- Professional culture: lawyers, justices or doctors
- Gender: male or female
- Age
- Religion cultures: Islam, Catholic
- Regional cultures: Friesland, Limburg[1]

In my current situation the different nationalities is the most important difference in cultures that needs extra care. That is why I want to explain the difference in approaching to migrants and immigrants during misunderstandings. In the first step it is important for the migrants to speak directly about the misunderstanding. This is too direct for the immigrants; you first need to be aware why it went wrong. Secondly it is for both parties very important to listen well. This makes the situation extra clear. After this you need to look at the situations in two different ways, your perspective and the perspective of the other person. In this step the immigrant will have the strong feeling this misunderstanding is about his/her background and not the core situation. The last step is to make agreements how to handle the next time, when there is a misunderstanding.[2]

At the Facilities service desk of my placement company we receive a lot of questions and requests. I find it important that I am open for new insights and the perception of my internal client. When the question of request is from a foreign colleague the cooperation gets an extra dimension. Most visible is the change in language, but for me the way of addressing is changing too. Besides the difference in culture I take into account the;
- Combined culture; culture of Amgen
- Professional culture; function of the requestor
It is important when handling a request to think and believe in the Amgen values (culture of Amgen).

Finally, I can conclude that the service level should be equal! Because of cultural differences the way of addressing to someone will be different, but the message has to be the same for everyone.

[1] Robbert Gibson, 2000, Intercultural Business Communication, Oxford Handbooks
[2] Grethe van Geffen, 2001, Intercultureel samenwerken, Kluwer