Expats May Face Culture Clash In Understanding Local Bosses
Working abroad wasn't a treat for Miles Greer, a former vice president of corporate development for Chicago consumer-goods maker Sara Lee Corp.
The 51-year-old moved his family to Utrecht, Netherlands, in late 1999 to serve in the corporate-development department of the U.S. company's Dutch unit -- and soon found himself at odds with the management style of his European bosses.
"In the [United] States, in an American corporation, superiors tend to be treated with kid gloves," he says. In the Utrecht office, Mr. Greer's Dutch managers valued blunt talk -- and actively discouraged him from having close relationships with managers back home.
EXPAT JOURNAL
Mary Kissel's column, "Expat Journal," can be found in the Career Columnists section, at CareerJournal.com.
Unable to form strong, positive bonds with his local bosses, Mr. Greer didn't have productive talks about his career. When a change in the Dutch management team took place, his job was eliminated. Today's U.S. expatriates often report to non-U.S. managers -- a new and sometimes jarring experience for those who have spent the bulk of their career in domestic offices working for American managers.
Suddenly, it isn't so easy to form a good relationship with the boss, who might have different expectations and unfamiliar ways of communicating them. What is more, performance evaluations might be implemented or interpreted differently than in the U.S.
In fact, nearly 70% of expatriate performance reviews are conducted by managers in the host country, according to a November 2003 GMAC Global Relocation Services' survey of 134 companies. The results of those reviews show the importance of forming a good relationship with local managers: About 40% of respondents reported that despite the review process, they still were "unsure" about the value of the overseas experience to their careers.
What is an expatriate to do? First, don't rush things when working with a non-U.S. manager, says David Timothy, director of training and business development at Berlitz Cross Cultural, a unit of Berlitz International Inc., of Princeton, N.J. Rather than forcing a discussion with your new boss or speaking up during the first team meeting, watch how your colleagues act toward him or her -- and then mimic them.
This advice is particularly pertinent for performance reviews, Mr. Timothy adds. Relating to a foreign manager "can be terribly challenging for an American, because when you talk about pay and promotion, those are things that are core to us [because we think] 'the more money I make, the more validated I feel,' " he says. "That's true in other cultures, too, but the rules are different on how to achieve them."
One difference U.S. expatriates need to recognize is how feedback is doled out in other cultures, says Lisa Johnson, director of consulting services at Cendant Mobility in Danbury, Conn. Many U.S. expatriates expect frequent, explicit feedback. In other cultures and countries, such as the United Kingdom or France, comments regarding performance may be less frequent and occur only during private discussions and not in front of a group.
"I found that the European bosses were more likely to say 'my team' or 'my division' is doing very well," recalls Margaret Malewski, a former Procter & Gamble Co. brand manager based in Geneva and later, Tel Aviv. Her American boss, by contrast, would openly recognize her personal achievements in front of her team. Ms. Malewski navigated each situation through trial and error, and observation of how her boss reacted to her colleagues.
"Go local," advises Steve Filreis, a former Coca-Cola Co. executive who spent three stints abroad for the company during the 1980s and 1990s. Mr. Filreis says his fluency in French helped him form a great relationship with his Parisian boss.
In an ideal world, talks concerning an expatriate's pay and promotion should be a collaborative effort between bosses in the foreign office and those back at headquarters, says Scott Sullivan, a senior vice president in GMAC's global relocation group in Chicago. (A select few companies -- often in the financial or consulting industries, where fixed costs are low -- can afford to implement a so-called 360-degree review program, where anyone in the company world-wide can submit comments for consideration.)
But in reality, local managers often have sole power to increase pay or promote or fire employees. Warns Margery Marshall, president of Prudential Relocation in Newark, N.J.: "Know what you're getting into."
驻外员工谨慎应对外国老板
对于迈尔斯?格里尔(Miles Greer)来说，被公司派往国外工作可不是什么值得高兴的事情。他曾经是芝加哥消费品制造商Sara Lee Corp负责公司发展的副总裁。
现年51岁的格里尔在1999年底被派往荷兰分公司的企业发展部门工作，于是他举家迁往了荷兰的乌得勒支。但没过多久，他就发现自己很难适应欧洲老板的管理风格。
他说：“在美国工作时，员工在老板面前往往需要小心翼翼地说话行事。”而在乌得勒支的分公司，格里尔的荷兰老板却喜欢员工们有一说一，并且还多次提醒他不要在工作之外与经理们建立密切的私人关系。
由于格里尔不能与荷兰老板进行良好的沟通和联系，他也未能对其工作提出建设性的意见。在荷兰分公司管理层的一次调整中，他的工作岗位被取消了。如今，美国公司派驻国外的员工常常需要向派驻地当地的外国老板汇报工作，对于那些习惯于在美国本土工作、上司也是美国人的员工而言，这可是一种全新的体验，有时候还会让人颇不适应。
突然间，与老板搞好关系不再那么容易，外国老板可能对员工有著不同的期望，并且和员工间的沟通方式也会让人感到陌生。此外，外国老板对员工业绩表现的评价方式也会与美国国内大相径庭。
实际上，据GMAC Global Relocation Services在2003年11月份对134家公司的调查结果显示，有接近70%的驻外员工的业绩考评是由派驻地的外国老板负责执行的。这些业绩考评的结果反映了与当地老板搞好关系的重要性：有40%的受访者称，不管考评的过程怎样，他们依然对海外工作经验对其事业有怎样的价值感到很不确定。
那么驻外员工应该怎样做呢？普林斯顿Berlitz International Inc.旗下Berlitz Cross Cultural的培训和业务发展主管大卫?蒂莫西(David Timothy)称，首先，在与外国老板共事时，先不要贸然行事。与其急于与新老板展开讨论，或是在第一次小组会议上就侃侃而谈，还不如先观察一下同事们对待老板的态度，然后按照他们那一套方式去做。
蒂莫西说，这一条对于解决业绩考评问题尤为管用。他说，对于美国人而言，“与外国老板相处会是一种严峻的考验，因为工资和升职都是我们最为关心的问题，（因为我们认为），我为公司赚的钱越多，我就越应该得到公司的认可。这一点在其他国家的文化中也是成立的，不过别的国家对于加薪和升职都有各自不同的规则。”
美国Cendant Mobility咨询服务主管莉萨?约翰逊(Lisa Johnson)说，美国驻外员工必须意识到的一点不同是，在其他文化中，人们的反馈方式会有所不同。许多美国驻外员工希望能经常收到对其工作表现的清楚反馈，但在其他文化和国家中，比如英国和法国，老板可能不会经常对员工的表现作出评价，也许只会在私下里而不是在众人面前对员工业绩发表意见。
宝洁公司(Procter & Gamble Co., PG, 又名:宝硷公司)前任驻日内瓦和特拉维夫的品牌经理玛格丽特?马莱夫斯基(Margaret Malewski)回忆道：“我发现欧洲的老板更愿意说诸如‘我的团队、我的部门干得很好’之类的话。”而她的美国老板会在她的小组面前公开表扬她的个人工作成绩。经过反复摸索和观察老板对员工的反应，马莱夫斯在处理与外国老板关系方面已经是游刃有余了。
可口可乐公司(Coca-Cola Co.)前任经理史蒂夫?菲尔雷斯(Steve Filreis)建议要“入乡随俗”。他曾在80年代和90年代3次被派往国外工作。菲尔雷斯说，他流利的法语帮了他的大忙，他和他法国老板关系就搞得很不错。
GMAC Global Relocation Services的高级副总裁斯科特?沙利文(Scott Sullivan)称，理想的情况是，有关驻外员工的工资和升职问题应该由外国老板和国内总部的老板协调解决。
不过Prudential Relocation总裁马热丽?马歇尔(Margery Marshall)警告称，现实情况是，通常决定员工薪水、升职和任用的大权都掌握在外国老板手里。
