The United States is a large country with not only many regional cultures, but also a vast number of people with diverse cultural backgrounds. Give your expatriates the right start in their new workplace with our series of cross-cultural tips.

The United States is a large country with not only many regional cultures, but also a vast number of people with diverse cultural backgrounds from countries around the world , many of whom came to the US to seek a better life.

Most people from Europe, however, still hold a stereotype of Americans as white and from an Anglo-Saxon background. (In this article I will refer to "Americans" as all people from the United States of America.)

While this is the stereotype of American business people, expatriates and global business travelers we see in multinationals in Europe, it is not necessarily representative of the United States today. African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Hispanic-Americans increasingly work in foreign markets as well.

Political correctness

It’s important to use “politically correct” vocabulary when working with Americans. Europeans tend not to be very sensitive to this and therefore may offend someone without being aware of it. When one works in the US, a person who is not politically correct may leave the impression that he or she is ignorant.

Avoid using “negroes” and “Orientals” and instead use hyphenated terms such as African-Americans, Caribbean-Americans, and Asian-American.

Native Americans refers to people of indigenous descent, and Latinos refers to people of Hispano-Latin-American origin. Avoid the term “minorities” when describing minority groups in the US.

The politically correct term for homosexuals is "gay men" or “gay women”.

Older people are called "older adults" or "elderly". It is best to speak of "women" when referring to adult females instead of “girls”, “ladies”, or “females”.

America or the USA

Europeans refer to the USA as America. Americans in Europe will understand this, but one should keep in mind that America technically refers to all of the Americas. Many people from Latin American countries also consider themselves “Americans” in the sense of being Central or South American. Using the term USA limits the territory to US borders.

This could be compared to how some Americans often refer to “Europeans” as a whole. Europeans, however, do not identify with this term as each European country is so culturally diverse.

Communication

When Americans come to Europe for business, it is hard for them to recognize that each country has a different way of doing business, even in multinationals. Although people speak in the English language, the ways the French, the Germans and the British communicate are very different. When working with Americans, be aware of this fact.

Although the USA has a very heterogeneous population, the business culture of Corporate America is homogeneous and very strong. If you really want to get your message across, you may want to adjust your own communication style slightly to the US corporate communication style. This is open and direct in a very friendly and polite way.

Time is of major importance. After a pleasant but short introduction, Americans will want to get to the point as soon as possible.

Bullet-point presentations have preference above lengthy, detailed explanations. Americans view the advantage of bullet point presentations as not only a time issue but also because of their belief that many details do not have to be worked out in advance.

Americans go for the main lines of a project with the idea that details can be worked out at a later stage. On the contrary, in most European countries, a thoroughly prepared plan including all details is preferred over a bullet-point program because it excludes unforeseen circumstances before hand.

Responsibility

The American attitude towards responsibility varies from the European attitude. For example, Americans working in the Netherlands’ egalitarian society find it difficult to deal with the fact that the Dutch always question orders given to them. They see this as a delay in business.

However, the Dutch do not accept orders if one does not, in detail, explain why, how and what may be the result of this action. They feel that they are to take full responsibility for their actions, not their superiors. Therefore, they want all information possible regarding the requested action to be taken.

But Americans are not used to the fact that their orders are questioned. If something goes wrong, American managers take responsibility for their employees’ actions.

Vacation and working hours

When Americans work in European countries they often get the feeling that employees should increase their productivity. While some Americans work a straight 9-to-5 day, many believe coming in early and/or staying late will help them advance their careers. Working late is usually equated with working hard.

Employees in Europe often have 15 to 40 vacation days a year, whereas in the US only 10 to 12 days is normal. In fact, some Americans, depending on the industry or business they work in, do not use all their vacation time each year.

Rather than taking a week or two off at one time, many Americans will take long weekends or add a vacation day to a holiday weekend, such as Independence Day (4 July), Memorial Day (last Monday in May) or Labour Day (first Monday in September).

Service

The USA is a 24-hour economy and a customer-friendly country.

In Europe, it is difficult to find places that are open 24 hours a day and the standard of customer service is far below that of the U.S., which varies by country. In addition, most European countries differ in their working hours as well as religious and national holidays.

Throughout the US, however, these hours and holidays are more or less uniform and the standard of customer service is almost the same everywhere.

Space

Europeans will quickly notice that Americans prize space and favor bigger over smaller in everything — cars, homes, motorways, grocery stores and food portions, to name a few.

Not surprisingly, many Americans feel the lack of space in Europe and may perceive small hotel rooms, small office spaces, small houses and tiny cars as uncomfortable.

Greeting ceremony

When entering a room full of people, an American usually does not shake hands. A big smile and a warm “Hello” will do. When you meet an American one-on-one or when you pass him or her in the corridor of the office, a typical greeting is: "Hello. How are you today?"

This is by no means an invitation for a talk about how you feel but rather a formal way of greeting.

Many Americans are not aware of the fact that in Europe this gives the impression that he or she is not sincerely interested in the person greeted..

International outlook

People from Europe often think of Americans as shallow and naive. However, this has much to do with the educational system. In school, children are not taught to formulate and defend strong opinions or to question what the teacher presents, and very few debate national or world politics at a young age.

While they do learn about other countries, the focus is usually on the United States and national issues. This may be why many Americans develop the impression that the rest of the world more than oceans away.

Because European countries are small and their economic and political systems strongly influence each other, Europeans are very aware of what is happening beyond their borders.

Europeans have the opportunity to constantly compare their country to neighboring countries. The size and the geographical position of the US does not give Americans this opportunity. Americans look inward and are often very surprised when they discover how differently things may work in comparison to the U.S.

Americans, however, are certainly not shallow or naive, simply different. The size and geographical position of a country, its history and consequently its educational system have much to do with the way people think anywhere in the world.

March 2002

Cross-cultural consultant and trainer Eleonore Breukel is a cross-cultural consultant and trainer with Boertien & Partners, based in the Netherlands.