I recently worked with a client, who just landed a senior executive job in the Silicon Valley for large conglomerate that has its roots in Mainland China and has formed a beachhead in the US. It has been in the US for the past five years and is rapidly growing to expand its footprint in the enterprise networking and cloud computing areas. After being there for a few weeks my client urgently sought a meeting with me to discuss his latest predicament: he feels left out in meetings because most of the important meetings here are conducted in Chinese, not in English! He also had other issues that severely curtailed his abilities to be effective because of the cultural and language differences. He wanted to know what he must do to feel “plugged-in” and to stay productive.
Since I helped him in his transition I was aware of how the interviews were conducted and how they went. Senior company executives, who were educated here and have worked in the US after their graduation, conducted most of these interviews, which gave him no clue of what was about to come, once he started working there. Hence, there was no clue that in everyday business, language would be a problem.
But, increasingly this has become a gnawing problem for both the employers and the employees. Also, this problem is not limited to any one nationality: I have many clients who complain that in companies where there are a large number of Indian or Chinese employees, they often speak in their native tongue and leave others participating in the meeting in the lurch. To say the least, it is rude!
In the case of my client when he asked the meeting host what they were discussing before someone in the meeting at the end of that discussion (in Chinese) told my client what he needed to do, he first just ignored him. Without any context my client was at a loss to understand what the reason or background was for his getting assigned that task. When he pushed back and asked if they could summarize their dialog so that he would understand their reasoning, they simply told him it would be almost impossible to translate their discussion because the Chinese language was so much richer (Ouch!), but he must just follow the orders!
My client felt mortified and wondered if had made the right choice at this point in his career!
Situations such as these are quite common in today’s business climate. What has exacerbated my client’s plight is that ALL or most of the important technical literature that he must use to market his products (that is his job!) is in Chinese and to make that even worse, there is no single repository of that literature for this massive conglomerate, nor is there anyone, so far, who knows where it may be available for access.
Despite this seemingly hopeless situation I assured my client that since he just started working there he must persist and meet with his boss and let her know of his constraints in doing a job expected of him. I also gave him the following tips. These tips apply to anyone on either side of this fence, so they are worth heeding:
1. You must speak up and stop people in the meeting to continue their discussions in the company’s (or the team’s) native language. The expected norm is the language in which you interviewed with everyone! You must escalate this to your boss (it is much better if they are also in the same meetings) and ask for their help in getting this remedied. Insisting that your effectiveness is compromised by such behavior helps them understand what they need to do to make the change.
2. Set up a meeting with someone senior in HR and ask them for guidance. Ask them to periodically drop in to see how meetings are conducted and to take the necessary actions to change the culture. HR can play a major role in establishing a culture that is productive and welcoming to all cultures and nationalities.
3. Meet with your boss and ask how you are being measured. If effective meetings and information medium are impeding your being effective then you must discuss this sooner than later, so that you can get the help and understanding you need from your boss. A supportive boss in such a situation can be your single most important asset.
4. Discipline yourself to speak in English if you come from yet another culture and those also from your culture work for this company. Often, people of each tribe congregate and communicate in ways that others find exclusive (not inclusive) and even offensive. Do not repeat the behavior you want to stop by compounding it with your own reaction to what is bothering you! Doing such things out of spite simply backfires.
5. Do not suggest that your culture is better than others’. You can demonstrate this by learning their customs and even some commonly used phrases or words so that they feel comfortable working with you.
6. Find some allies who are steeped in the culture that dominates your company. Bond with them well and be seen as someone who mixes well. At social events and lunches do not sit together with your own tribe, but make an effort to sit with others, so that you are seen as someone who is easy to get along with, and not as someone too tribal or too parochial.
In today’s global environment your ability to work harmoniously with other cultures is going to define your success, so make sure that you do your part to make this possible.
Good luck!