Culture shocked

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Strategy issues seen through cartoons.

If somebody gives you a business card in Japan, don't just put it into your pocket; read it for a few seconds first. Never cut into conversations [underlined and marked in bold]. Always hold the fork in your left hand and the knife with your right. Don't talk about or praise Hitler when in Germany.

Think you're reading an Etiquette 101 textbook? You're not too off the mark "" these are actual guidelines taken from various HR training manuals on acculturalisation for Indian executives.

Basic courtesy may be the same across the world, but definitions of good manners do change from country to country and as borders blur and the global economy shrinks to local proportions, it is increasingly important for executives to know what is acceptable behaviour and what is not. For the record, storming out of a restaurant after emptying a bowl of food over your partner's head is a no-no everywhere.

Of course, it's not just about table manners. Industry heads and HR consultants stress that there is an increased focus on understanding and following the cultural sensibilities of people around the world. Thanks to the higher level of interaction with people of different nationalities, training is now focused on etiquette, the proper use of language, behaviour, speech and table manners.

In fact, several companies and consultants believe these seemingly simple details can make the difference between a deal and no-deal "" both , in the case of acquisitions and clients.

"Following social cultures and etiquette is extremely important in a global scenario as it helps you make the other person comfortable and serves as an cutting edge over competition," says Soumen Basu, executive chairman, Manpower, an HR consultancy.

That's why the nature of training on culture and etiquette is also changing. Points out Gangapriya Chakraverti, business leader, human capital product solutions, at Mercer Human Resource Consulting: "Most of the training in India five or six years ago focused on building interaction and communication within the company. Today, most Indian companies have structured training on the global culture sense."

Which explains why three months ago, the HR consultancy launched Mercer Passport, an Internet-based training programme that includes complete data (Employee Mobility Guides) for close to 40 countries "" from the best pubs, bars, and discos, as well as dos and don'ts when visiting local homes.

"Culture and behaviour can be very tricky," says Ranjani Manian, of Global Adjustments, a Chennai-based cross culture services company that trains executives from around the world on culture and has a client list that includes BMW, Cairn Energy, Cognizant, Ford, Hewlett Packard, Hyundai and Nokia, among others.

Manian illustrates her comment with an example. "In India, we often use 'sir' or stand up when people enter a room as a mark of respect, which would make no sense in many countries. Instead, there the use of simple words like 'please' and 'thank you', which we often forget, are seen as signs of respect."

Some Indian companies are, therefore, tying up with consultants from international institutes and training centres to make sure they get things right. Mahindra & Mahindra, for instance, has tied up with the Amsterdam-based Trompenaars Hampden-Turner to train its managers on social etiquette and cultural nuances of Europe and the US.

Says Senior Vice President, HR and management development, Allen Sequeira, "We are on a acquisition spree: today we are present in 17 countries and soon the number shall be 20. Hence, to create global managers, it is important to train our managers on cultural practices followed overseas."

Shiv Agarwal, CEO, ABC Consultants, approves of the move. "It is very important to train employees to match global cultural practices because any Indian going abroad to sell your product or service is representing your brand. He must know what he should do and what he should not do," Agarwal points out.

Another company that is following a similar trail of thought is Asian Paints. When the paints major acquired Berger in September 2002, its scale of operations immediately expanded to 11 countries and a third of its 4,500-strong employee base were foreigners.

The company then conducted a series of workshops to inform and educate its workforce of the countries where it now had a presence. The programme was so universally appreciated that Asian Paints has continued it ever since, although the focus groups are now smaller. And when an executive is transferred to another country, the company ensures that he meets and interacts with someone who has lived in that country previously.

Another company that has formalised its acculturalisation programme is Tata Consultancy Services, which speends close to 4 per cent of its $2.97-billion revenue on employee development. Three years ago, the company announced a policy change "" all employees would need to be conversant with the culture of at least one country other than India.

Now, TCS has set up a Japanese training centre in Kolkata manned mainly by employees who have either lived in Japan or are fluent in Japanese. This, the company believes, is an excellent way to ensure that first-hand knowledge of a centre is passed on among the employees.

TCS also makes it a policy to hire locals "" in the past five years, the number of non-Indians on its rolls has gone up from under 1 per cent of total workforce to 8.5 per cent; it should go up to 20 per cent in the coming five years.

How does acculturalisation really work? Tata Sons Executive Director R Gopalakrishnan got first-hand experience of the advantages of knowing local customs when he was working for Unilever Arabia in the early 1990s.

His Tunisian assistant warned him to never walk on the road with a friend's wife. Naturally, Gopalakrishnan wanted to know how anyone could tell whether the lady in question was his wife or someone else's.

The assistant's reply was simple: "If you are chatting, laughing and are generally seen to be very happy while talking to a lady, the policemen here are convinced that she can't be your wife."

Gopalakrishnan apparently took that lesson to heart and never put it to test. Whenever he went out with his wife in Jeddah, he maintained a stony silence.