Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2017 - 47

maximum benefit. When AT&T learned
that it was going to go global, it put over
125,000 employees through a program
called Working Globally.

2 | GLOBAL TEAM TRAINING
Global teams need to go through a
cross-cultural, team-building program
in the formative stages of the team's
development to avoid misunderstandings
and establish trust. It is critical that
team members explore the cultural
nuances that often undermine global
team effectiveness. This includes team
members' mutual perceptions, setting
global standards for roles, responsibility
and accountability, leadership and
management styles, discussion of virtual
and face-to-face communication styles,
and the development of a communication
plan. Other relevant topics to be covered
should include the cultural tendencies
of all relevant countries and how these
impact trust and teamwork. In one recent
training program, a team member from
China became very emotional as they
explained why they felt their American
team members did not trust their Chinese
associates. Additionally, since many global
teams communicate virtually, a separate
program on virtual communications
and leadership skill is used in many
organizations to promote teamwork.

3 | COUNTRY OR REGION SPECIFIC TRAINING
Employees working with specific
countries need in-depth, cross-cultural
training on the nuances of these cultures,
including
communication
styles;
approaches to risk-taking; negotiation
style; ways to promote effective
working relations with representatives
of the country; contrasting styles of
doing business between each relevant
country; an in-depth regional and
historical overview of the country and
its relationship to its neighbors; and an
as-needed review of available resources
and other functional topics such as
labor unions, quality/standards, work
habits, intellectual property, holidays,
etc. Far too many companies repeatedly

make the same mistake of not bringing
together people working with a specific
country into the same training program,
where they can learn together and share
their common challenges, cases and best
practices. In one program with China,
several business units were able to
create a cohesive approach to their sales
and marketing strategy based on their
new understanding of Chinese values,
customer habits and use of media.

4 | IMPLEMENTING

A GLOBAL LEADERSHIP CURRICULUM

All
training
and
development
departments, by now, should have
a global leadership curriculum. In
addition to other skills, global leaders
need to be able to create personal
and organizational action plans for
effective intercultural leadership in the
multicultural/global/virtual workplace.
This includes not only an understanding
of globalization, diversity and crosscultural differences, but also an
intuitive grasp of the areas in which
misunderstandings are likely to occur,
so they can proactively forecast and
develop appropriate strategies in
advance. Many organizations make the
mistake of sending their current or future
leaders to a university-based program,
which prevents the opportunity for
leaders to address specific issues facing
their organization. Many organizations
we work with have created their own
curriculum - J&J created its own global
leadership
development
program,
which proved very successful.

5 | HIGH-POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
Once a global cohort of future leaders
is identified, they meet over a period
of 1-2 years, receiving customized
training and working on global project
teams. Oftentimes, these projects are
sponsored by senior leadership. To be
effective, we have found that these
programs need to begin with an inperson retreat with a strong crosscultural training component. PwC is
among the leaders in this area with their

Genesis program, and BD has an Early
Career Experience, which has improved
its pipeline of global leaders.

6 | SHORT- AND LONG-TERM

INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS

All employees selected for an
international assignment will need
in-depth, cross-cultural training on
working and living in their respective
host countries. Family members or
partners who are joining the assignee
also need cultural training since they
often have the hardest adjustment. The
assignee needs to learn the cultural
nuances of their host country, ways to
promote effective relations, an in-depth
understanding of the country and region,
an understanding of how to balance
local vs. headquarters' requirements,
strategies for dealing with culture
shock, and other functional topics as
needed. It is strongly recommended
that an executive coach with expertise in
global/cross-cultural business support
the assignee to make the most of the
experience. BMS, a biopharmaceutical
company, created a unique program to
develop leaders from emerging markets
through an international assignment
program. These programs are led
strategically by L&D, HR and talent.

7 | CREATION OF GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE

MANAGEMENT TRAINING DATABASE

To protect and leverage the investment
of learning, training departments should
capture and retain, in a central database,
all the information obtained through
every training program that has a global
and cross-cultural component. The
deployment of this information across
all groups within the corporation is
essential and will demonstrate the value
that the training department brings to
global operations.
Dr. Neal Goodman is the president of Global
Dynamics, Inc., the leading provider of
global mindset and cross-cultural training
services. Email Neal.

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MA GAZ INE - STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT 20 1 7 I WWW. T RAI NINGINDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2017