We find out that Global HR managers need to take into consideration their employees attitudes towards culture training as well as their expectations when working across borders.

Global strategy means developing talent

From attitudes towards culture training to expectations when working across borders, Foster discovered that Europeans and Asians can look at the same issues in very different ways. But there are also similarities.

"The new message that I think both groups needed to hear is that HR is responsible for globalising the organisation, that it is HR's responsibility to train and develop the skills and competencies in their organisations that will enable their people and their company to succeed in global work," said Foster. 

Because cross-border operations will account for the greatest share of profits in the 21st Century, said Foster, "the need to train and develop people is actually the critical determinant of profitability."
 
"That was a message that was new in both groups," said Foster. "There is still the perception that HR is the updated name for the personnel department and that their responsibilities are much more transactional than strategic."

Global organisation, however, will increasingly rely on HR to implement its global strategy through talent.

"HR people have got to be ready for this new role," he said. "If they are working for an organisation that is not aware of it, it's their responsibility to drive it."

Foster, who is president of US-based Dean Foster Associates, spoke in both Hong Kong and Lisbon recently. In Hong Kong, he led the inter-cultural portion of the Global Mobility Specialist (GMS™) training, a certification programme offered by the Worldwide Employee Relocation Council (ERC). Prior to that, he spoke in Lisbon at an HR conference organised by the International Faculty for Executives (IFE) Portugal.

"This was a real opportunity, side by side, to look at the issues that might be different or similar in Europe and Asia," he said. "The nature of these two presentations was kind of similar. What struck me were the different focuses and the different needs that both groups had."

In Europe, for example, there is a sense that people from different countries may have cultural differences but the historic familiarity and geographic proximity does not necessarily warrant culture training. For example, a French family being sent to Germany would be unlikely to receive cross-culture training.

"The perception is that we understand each other pretty well in Europe," said Foster.

But in Asia, there is recognition of cross-cultural differences within the region.

"Asians know that we are very, very different. There is a sense of a need to understand," said Foster. "There is a higher level of awareness of how important cross-cultural issues are in Asia."

In Asia the solution can simply be talking to somebody

Despite that, the understanding of and appreciation for formal cross-culture training remains stronger in Europe, said Foster.

"The Asian take on it is that we really need to understand the differences but we're not going to pay for it," said Foster.

This attitude speaks to the cultural difference between what Europeans and Asians value as training. Among Europeans, there is a longer, greater tradition of appreciating the need for philosophical, interpretive knowledge, said Foster.

"In Asia, what constitutes knowledge are facts," he said. "Technical training in Asia is well understood."

But if Asians understand that cultural differences exist across borders within the region, how do they cross that divide?

"The solution is not necessarily in training, the solution is in talking to somebody," said Foster, adding that the challenge for culture trainers is to reframe their service as a solution to the cross-cultural dilemma.

With the economy in Asia, particularly China, growing rapidly, the need to develop language skills and cultural awareness for those in and outside of the region could be on the rise.

"I came back from Asia absolutely silent, in shock and awe of what's going on over there. China is it," said Foster. "I don’t think that unless you’ve been there recently, you can truly appreciate what’s happening over there. I certainly didn't."

"I left absolutely convinced to my core that China is the major world player in the 21st Century."

Though English is regarded as the native tongue of the business world, the booming Chinese economy could lead to an evolution in that.

"We may all be speaking Mandarin in the future. If we don't start to develop that competency, we may be out in the dark," he said. "As important as it has been for non-English speakers to learn English, it will be equally important for English speakers to learn Mandarin."

Jennifer Hamm is a freelance journalist based in the Netherlands. She can be contacted through her website at www.JenniferHamm.com.

Subject: Intercultural training