Top 15 Relocation Destinations & Intercultural Business Tips for Career Survival
1. United States – American business managers often deliver bad news in a sandwich; first the good news (“You’re doing a great job!”) and then the not-so-good: (“but I really need you to…”) followed by a final dollop of good (“So keep up the good work!”) Many non-American workers hear only the first assessment and leave the encounter without taking away the “meatier” interior message.
2. United Kingdom – Refrain from asking personal questions of someone you’ve only recently met – especially in the workplace. Individualism is a prized value of British culture, and a person’s privacy is highly respected.
3. China – It’s never a good idea to begin meetings by immediately framing challenges/issues and asking for opinions on how best to address them. In a Chinese business setting, a direct and confrontational interaction is not the norm and is likely to result in a loss of “face.” Spend time upfront making small talk and focus on developing relationships before diving into the business at hand.
4. Germany – Expect to communicate formally in German workplaces and try, to the extent possible, to speak in complete sentences. In German, the most important word in the sentence is the verb, which usually comes at the end. As a result, Germans will generally listen very intently for the end of a sentence.
5. Switzerland – Don’t assume you will automatically be as successful doing business in Geneva by behaving as you did in Zurich, 170 miles away. That’s because Switzerland is quite unique in that it has four main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, Italian, and Romansh.
6. Singapore – Don’t assume that all Singaporeans you meet professionally are very Westernized just because English is used for business practices and many social interactions. Singapore is perceived to be mainly Western in outlook, but it is also Eastern in mindset, and hierarchy and not “losing face” are key drivers in business success.
