My company is a global company. As a manufacturing company, we have locations in the United States but also in Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany, India, Mexico, the Philippines, and China.
One of the challenges of our company is to remind our American employees of the fact that we are global. Our US employees need to take time to understand the cultures of the other countries and with that understanding to develop a respect for them.
I will develop a one day (eight hour course) called Global Cultures. The purpose of the course will be to introduce the employees to the cultures and perspectives of the different countries we work with on a daily basis.
I have engaged two coworkers who will help me in the course. Kati Teer (Kati.teer@emerson.com) who is the director of all training for Emerson in Europe and Devendra Dixit (Devendra.dixit@emerson.com).
These two individuals will help me with video clips we will use during the training. They will discuss some of the customs of their areas but especially the culture of the regions when considering time, authority, negotiations, company politics, work habits, respect, independence, and other aspects that will be help our US employees understand better how to work with them.
Stephen Brookfield in his book, The Skillful Teacher, refers to the concept of teachers teaching from their experiences. I have grown in my international experiences through the years. However, I cannot deem myself as an expert. By utilizing these individuals in the class and playing their comments and their observations, we will have those with experiences on site.
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