Expatriate Cultural Program

Why are Expatriate Cultural programs important?  Relocating to a new country means more than just living in a new city or eating different food.  Expatriates going to live and work in another country also have to adapt to a new culture which can sometimes be completely different from their own.

An Expatriate Cultural program can help future expatriates to decipher key cultural difficulties, challenges and pitfalls that need to be understood before the expatriate’s departure.  Cultural values of the target country can be confusing and hard to understand, particularly at first, so it’s important to give expatriates a comprehensive overview of what to expect on their expatriation.  By providing information about the current political environment, social customs or business etiquette, an Expatriate Cultural program will ensure expatriates have the cultural knowledge they need for a successful adaptation.

Expatriate Cultural Programs provide expatriates key cultural insights and knowledge to help them not only settle in quickly but to also thrive during their expatriation in the new country.  Expatriates receive tailored cultural tools, activities and tips to ensure they fully understand their new host culture and any challenges they may face.

Benefits

A Communicaid Expatriate Cultural program will provide you with:

• A complete analysis of your new country’s cultural values, attitudes and behaviors
• The cultural tools and strategies you need to settle quickly and smoothly to your new life
• A better understanding of the cultural challenges awaiting you during your expatriation
• The opportunity to enhance your cultural sensitivity and competence for a more successful expatriation

Who should attend?

A Communicaid Expatriate Cultural program will be of benefit to you if:

• You are preparing for an expatriation
• You are facing intercultural challenges and difficulties settling into a new country
• You are following your partner to another county on an expatriation
• You are planning to go and live abroad for a long or short-term expatriation

Course Content

All our Expatriate Cultural programs are designed to meet the specific needs of our clients depending on their specific requirements and existing skills set.   An Expatriate Cultural program typically includes:

• Cultural interactions and their challenges in the target country
• Cultural values and attitudes in the target country and their impact on expatriations (time, space, group dynamics, authority, tasks, relationships)
• Communication styles and strategies for correctly deciphering and responding to them
• Social and business etiquette: key do’s and don’ts
• Working practices in the new culture: impact of hierarchy, attitudes to time, degrees of formality…
• Developing cultural awareness: a look at your cultural values compared to the cultural values of your host culture
• Practical tips and strategies for living and working as an expatriate

Approach

Expatriate Cultural programs are available seven days a week, 365 days a year, either at one of our training centers 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 cultural awareness materials will be used throughout your Expatriate Cultural program 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 Expatriate Cultural program course will be discussed during your diagnostic consultancy.

Expatriate Cultural Program Trainer
  
Your Expatriate Cultural program trainer will be assigned to you following the results of your diagnostic consultancy.  Detailed below is a sample profile of a member of our Expatriate Cultural program training team.

VWD – Cultural Awareness Trainer

BSc Architecture, Beijing Jiaotong University, China
MBA, Durham University, UK

Born and raised in China, VWD has lived and worked in the UK since 2003.  She is a marketing and PR expert, a corporate responsibility specialist and a cross-cultural trainer.

In China VWD started her career in marketing for Microsoft and Autodesk in the 1990s and in the early 2000s became a public relations director for Newell Public Relations and subsequently the Hoffman Agency in China, handling multinational client accounts.  

After completing her MBA in the UK, she worked as a communication consultant for companies such as Ogilvy PR Worldwide and the Institute for Philanthropy a non-profit organisation based in London, also as a marketing consultant for Tribute Third Millennium where she created global sponsorship packages in English and Chinese for the Asian marketplace.

VWD's current portfolio includes representation in the UK of China’s largest non-profit the China Children and Teenager’ Fund and China business liaison for Pall Mall Principals, an investment company based in China and Europe.