In today’s post, we at MCS International will talk about why culture shock is your number one enemy as a productive manager in 2020.
But first, let us give you an overview of what culture shock is so we are all clear. Culture shock is understood as a feeling of anxiety or disorientation as a result of coming in contact with another culture (Oberg, 1960). While it is obvious to some people that they are experiencing culture shock, others cannot identify where negative and tiring emotions are originating from. As a result, culture shock, invisible to the employee, starts to eat away at their concentration, their confidence and their motivation.
How culture shock affects your team
In 2020, you most likely have at least some culturally different employees working in your organization. In fact, you likely have employees from several different countries working in your organization. They must work together in order to be one coherent productive team. However, many of your employees will not be equipped to deal with the unfamiliar situations that they find themselves in as a result of being in a new cultural environment.
This means that there will be cross-cultural conflict or at the very least, confusion and frustration resulting from misinterpretation of host-culture behaviours and actions. This will demotivate your international employees. In more extreme cases this will cause anxiety, stress, homesickness and depression. For your host country national (HCN) employees, this will also lead to frustration as they do not understand their international counterpart’s lack of motivation.
It may very well seem like a dismal state of affairs but it doesn’t have to be as we will see below. The truth is, however, that most international employees will suffer from culture shock at some point, especially if they have not had cross-cultural training, or if they have not had previous experience with their new culture.
In fact, culture shock can even redevelop after some time in the new culture:
Figure 1. Depiction of culture shock and adjustment over time
So what can you do to improve the situation?
Essentially there are three effective steps you can take to help your employee overcome culture shock.
Explain to the employee the concept of culture shock and how it will affect them (above).
Inform the employee about appropriate cultural behaviours in their new culture.
Offer guidance when the employee is dealing with unforeseen situations (this could be behaviours or actions which are new to the employee).
The role of cross-cultural training
Additionally, as a manager you can offer the employee cross-cultural training (CCT), which aims to achieve all three of the goals listed above as well as a few others including:
Imparting realistic expectations of the host country to the employee.
Explaining values, cultural frameworks, and systems in place in the host country.
Cultivating positive feelings toward the host country.
Teaching the employee appropriate behaviours to utilize in the new culture.
It may help to understand that behaviours and actions that are effective in one country may not be effective in another. In fact, they may be counterproductive. For example, a Chinese employee may not put as much emphasis on written documentation in agreements as a German employee would. This is because in Chinese business culture, writing a formal contract can be viewed as lacking in trust in your counterpart in business negotiations. However, in Germany this is viewed as a standard business practice and does not necessarily indicate mistrust between the two parties in a business negotiation.
As we see in this example, the most basic of business principles may differ between cultures and lead to confusion. This example is just to outline the fact that cross-cultural confusion or culture shock can originate in many different areas and confuse both the employee, and you as their manager.
Thankfully, you can beat your number one enemy in 2020.
The good news is that the affirmative steps above can get your team on the way to being happier, healthier and more productive. The great news for you is that you can have a team that works well together and is seen as an exemplary team in your organization. An intercultural team that is aware of the challenges that face it will be able to appropriately find solutions to problems when they arise.
This, in turn, will develop a team culture of problem solving as well as one that is welcoming to new colleagues. Best of luck in being the best team you can be in 2020.