A Home for Culture Vultures

With it being called 'cultural awareness training', 'cultural competence training' or 'cross-cultural training', anyone would think that these types of training courses are all about culture.

Well, you wouldn't be wrong.

In the face to face training world, establishing measurable objectives is typically considered key to the development of any training course.

However, this process is often overlooked in the development of online courses.

A survey by the UAE’s security magazine, 999, has shown that most expatriates visiting the UAE are doing so while blind to UAE cultural customs and traditions.

Seven out of ten of the 2,000 expatriates included in the survey claimed to not understand local Emirati culture and traditions.

We spend most of our time at here working on serious cultural stuff, such as, how to negotiate successfully with the Americans, or, how to give good service to American customers.

Every so often however, we feel that need to go off at a tangent and indulge in some of the quirkier aspects of culture!

Many people doing business with Saudi Arabia are usually surprised to find that the date in Saudi Arabia is over 500 years behind that of dates in the West.

Why is the date different in Saudi Arabia?

Saudi Arabia has become an almost permanent fixture in Western news.

With the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and the continued carnage in the Yemen which threatens to spiral into the worst global famine this generation, the spotlight placed on Saudi Arabia has been almost completely negative.

Love for the royal family is deeply ingrained in Thai culture.

You can’t help but see pictures of the recently deceased King and his newly appointed son wherever you go in Thailand.

If you’re off to Thailand for business or moving there as an expat, then we have compiled some essential cultural facts to give you an insight into Thai culture before you go.

By understanding the culture, you are best placed to get the most out of your time in Thailand and to make it a memorable experience for all the right reasons.

The training world is evolving at an incredible pace.

Indeed, discussions of blended learning by L&D professionals have quickly moved beyond ‘why do we need it?’ to ‘how do we do it?’

The culture of learning and development within most organisations has changed dramatically.

Although online learning programmes are now recognised by the majority of corporate businesses as a great way to train busy and mobile staff, there has traditionally been more resistance to using stand-alone games.

In a rapidly changing training world, learning trend reviews reference terminology which would have been incomprehensible to learning and development professionals not so long ago.

With terms such as E-Learning, Mobile Learning, Online Learning, Gamification and Virtual Learning, peppering our training conversations, the training culture has changed dramatically.

If you work in Learning and Development, then it’s likely you know about the 70-20-10 Model.

If not, then it can be simply summarised as the work of three academics in the 80’s who used extensive research to establish optimal learning conditions.

Being a good host is a central part of life in the Middle East and it is an underpinning value that everyone in the region shares.

The roots of this can be found in the tribal system whereby treating guests well is traditionally a way of gaining honour.

As a member of a Learning and Development team, you have probably invested considerable time developing, or purchasing, online training programmes in line with staff training strategies.

Purchasing online or e-learning programmes can be a minefield; there’s often so much to choose from and no two training programmes are the same.

To understand Japanese business culture, it's essential that you first appreciate Japanese cultural values.

Why?

Did you know that Indians form the second largest group of immigrants in America, with Mexicans taking the top spot?

Although Indian expats may enter the US with a typically high level of education under their belts and a strong work ethic, they often find cultural differences between the US and India quite a challenge.

Gone are the days when learning was a simple classroom transaction between trainer and student.

With the learning revolution in full flow, our classroom can be an airport boarding lounge, train, café, sitting room – and, let’s face it – even the toilet.

We all know that a positive customer experience (CX) drives repeat business, increased turnover and higher profits.

Companies who work hard to ensure their customers have a positive experience certainly reap the rewards of their efforts.

With a ‘no deal’ Brexit looming, the need to trade outside of Europe is becoming a reality for many British businesses.

In fact, just this week, Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzō Abe told Britain we’d be welcome to join the Pacific Free Trade Pact (TPP) following our European exit if we’re unable to leave with a deal intact.

Essential to any sort of cultural awareness training are the two key concepts of stereotypes and bias.

As we touched on in an earlier blog, a common trap many of us naturally fall into when we are working in cross-cultural situation is to let our own cultural lens get in the way.