Living and Working in Great Britain

Foreign nationals coming to live and work in Great Britain face many challenges in their efforts to adapt to British culture and succeed in the British working environment.  While you may be highly competent at work and very successful at home, the challenges of possibly working in a different language and adapting to a range of new cultural rules are likely to make social and professional interactions a challenging, at times frustrating, experience.

While English is the international language of business, there are a range of subtleties and nuances that are unique to British English and British culture.  These are integral to British behaviours and attitudes—part of a set of cultural rules that can only be appreciated through an understanding of British culture.  Failure to do so may have a serious impact on an assignee’s ability to adapt on a professional and personal basis.

Communicaid’s Living and Working in Great Britain courses are designed to respond to the needs of international assignees by providing practical information and advice on the various aspects of living and working in Great Britain, as well as conveying an understanding of the underlying elements that shape British culture inside and outside the workplace.

Benefits

A Communicaid Living and Working in Great Britain course will provide you with:

• A comprehensive insight to Great Britain and its historical, social and economic development
• An understanding of  British culture or “way of doing things”
• Key communication tools and skills to understand—and respond to— business and social subtleties and nuances of British culture while living and working in Great Britain
• An awareness of culture and country “shock”—and ways of surviving it
• Essential practical and information to improve  your experience of “living and working” in Great Britain

Who should attend?

A Communicaid Living and Working in Great Britain course will be of benefit to you if:

• You are about to or have recently started an assignment in Great Britain
• You work on short-term assignments with Great Britain and spend some of your time in Great Britain

Course overview

All our Living and Working in Great Britain training courses are designed to meet the specific needs of our clients depending on their personal/organisational requirements and existing skills set.   A Living and Working in Great Britain course typically includes:

• Managing culture and country shock
• A geographical, socio-economic and historical overview of Great Britain
• The effect of British culture on society and personal interaction
• Practical information on living and working  in Great Britain
• Social and business etiquette
• Working with the British
• Attitudes and values in British business culture
• Management styles
• Effective business communication

Approach

Living and Working in Great Britain courses are available seven days a week, 365 days a year, either at one of our training centres in London, Brussels, Paris, Frankfurt and New York or at your offices in any location worldwide.  We usually recommend a one or two day course but can also offer a more flexible format to suit your schedule.

Suitably tailored materials will be used throughout your Living and Working in Great Britain course and your trainer will provide a balance of structured input and discussion of case studies and scenarios relevant to your own particular context.

The most appropriate training format, content and approach for your Living and Working in Great Britain course will be discussed during your diagnostic consultancy.

Living and Working in Great Britain Course Trainer

Your Living and Working in Great Britain course trainer will be assigned to you following the results of your diagnostic consultancy according to your objectives and areas of focus.  Detailed below is the profile of one of our cultural awareness training team.

CR
BA American Studies, Manchester
MSc Strategic Planning and Development, Surrey

CR has over twenty years international management and intercultural training experience with corporate and non-profit clients in both the US and Great Britain.  She has worked with a number of major multi nationals across a wide range of sectors including engineering, energy, finance, pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries.  Her areas of expertise include diversity training, intercultural coaching, Great Britain and US business training and cross border communication.

After graduating in American Studies, CR moved to Chicago where she lived and worked for over ten years.  She spent the first four years as Training Manager with International Orientation Resources recruiting and supervising trainers in addition to delivering training herself.  She then moved to Bennett Associates where her projects included Train-the –Trainer, cultural adaptability, cross cultural awareness for international management and intercultural training for HR.  CR’s final position in the States was as Project Manager for the Anti-Defamation League developing materials and seminars for diversity training.

On her return to Great Britain in 1996, CR completed her Masters in Strategic Training and Development and has since worked as an intercultural and global diversity consultant delivering cultural transition training, diversity seminars and intercultural training in support of European mergers and acquisitions and international HR.  CR also regularly delivers workshops and seminars for a number of professional organisations such as SIETAR and CIPD. She has delivered training for key Communicaid clients including L’Oreal, Barclays, London South Bank University, Standard Bank and Cadbury Schweppes.