30-06-2010

Culture shock can have a big impact on assignment success. But there’s much you can do to help- employees settle-in.

When employees and families are expatriated they frequently suffer culture shock. Although not everyone experiences this and the effects and order of the four stage culture shock cycle can vary for different people, there is a typical pattern to it. Culture shock can lead to loss of productivity, inability to cope with living abroad, even a failed assignment. It is important that companies, employees and families understand culture shock and engage in coping mechanisms to get through it with minimum disruption and stress.

First, in the tourist or honeymoon stage, a sense of elation and excitement is experienced as the new environment is perceived as challenging and novel. Employees and families may be unaware of their actions and the cultural offence they may cause. Language and cultural training as well as country briefing are helpful to raise awareness of potential cultural differences.

Next, these positive feelings are replaced by disenchantment as the reality of the new environment and the demands of work, home and school life begin to take their toll. Feelings of anxiety, loss, incompetence, even disgust are common. In essence, employees and family members do not understand why their actions do not lead to the same consequences abroad as they did at home. This leads to reduced self-esteem as desired results fail to materialise and productivity and achievement suffers. At the lowest point of the culture shock cycle employees and families feel very depressed, their productivity is low, they try not to engage with locals (as they fail to understand how to deal with them effectively) and they may well wish to go home. Training to highlight the negative aspects of culture shock enables employees and families to feel less alienated. They are more likely to use this knowledge to make interactions with locals a greater success.

Provided the employee and family can engage in coping strategies, they should enter the stage of recovery. Employers can help by facilitating connections with local people and by providing mentors to help. Involvement in local life and taking time to understand cultural differences enables the expatriate and family to adapt their behaviours to local norms. By so doing they will become more culturally competent and less afraid of dealing with local people. Eventually, their confidence grows and they reach the final stage in the culture shock cycle – that of adjustment where they can operate competently and productively in the foreign environment.