The Scottish Energy sector is undoubtedly an international affair. Multinational companies are the mainstay of the oil and gas industry and skilled workers from all over the world make up the vital personnel needed to keep the revenue flowing.
In the same way, local engineers, managers, HR professionals and staff from all disciplines take up challenging posts in many other parts of the world.
In Aberdeen today, as well as all across the North Sea, working with colleagues from different nations is becoming the norm rather than the odd exception.
A career in the energy industry, even at home, is a passport to the global economy and international exposure. So more than ever an essential key for the continued growth of the Scottish energy sector is developing cross-cultural competence within its multinational workforce.
This competence goes beyond simply learning the “do’s and don’ts”. It provides key people with the skills to build trusting relationships with their international colleagues, clients and virtual team members through understanding the different expectations and worldviews.
When associated with the energy industry, the term “culture” usually refers to organisational behaviours.
National culture often conjures images of exotic scenes from holidays in far-flung places, however, culture is neither foreign nor exotic but forms the very basis for how we have learned to work together as a society.
As the title of the book Fish Can’t See Water colourfully describes, culture is all around us and is the medium within which we function but we are the last to notice its effects.
We are more likely to see the culture of others than we are our own. In the case of cross-cultural competence, most companies don’t know what they don’t know.
Thomas L Friedman’s best-selling book The World is Flat argues that the forces of globalisation have brought people in diverse countries together in a kind of international village, where everyone is becoming more alike.
I couldn’t disagree more.
Friedman’s assessment of shared technology and business language only touches the tip of the iceberg. If he had dived a little below the waterline he might have seen that the massive bulk of what motivates us lies below the surface and it is here that the difference lies.
Just because there is a Starbucks in Riyadh or a McDonalds in Baku doesn’t mean the Saudis and Azeris are becoming Americans.
Training in the energy sector is often driven by a reaction to crisis or through changing regulatory standards, in other words, we are told what we need to know and we provide training to learn it.
But cross-cultural competence is a proactive skill rather than a reactive requirement.
Regulatory authorities do not tell companies “in some cultures your meetings are more than likely to be hours late” or “executives from another culture like to sit in silence to show their interest in an idea”.
But it is an understanding of these very things and which cultures they apply to, that give companies a competitive advantage over those who interpret all actions they see, by their own cultural standpoint.
Companies often lean on the “old hands” who have experience in a country and who have learned through trial and (mostly) error. But this clearly lacks true understanding and does not create long-term solutions.
In the case of expatriate workers coming to the UK, their CVs are examined but when the successful candidate is appointed to the role do we clearly explain that “a good annual appraisal doesn’t automatically mean a promotion and a 10% salary bump” as is the case in their home country?
How often do we help them to understand that when British managers say “could you come and see me when you have a moment” this usually doesn’t mean you can ignore them if you feel you are currently busy?
Failures in international partnerships and project teams are more often the result of cultural misunderstanding and communication breakdown, rather than of organisational or systems failure, however, the results are never the less time wasted and money lost.
Much of our understanding of cross-cultural competence has only developed over the past twenty years but never have the potential benefits of its successful utilisation been more relevant. It has been repeatedly demonstrated that the possible negative outcomes through its neglect far outweigh the cost of training key staff.
I see this cross-cultural competence as an essential tool in the kit of HR managers, local team leaders and international assignees. In the case of the latter, training their spouses and families as well can pay highly beneficial social and domestic dividends.
The Harvard Business Review stated recently that “the number one most valuable skill for the 21st century manager is the ability to work across cultures”. I think this is even more true for the energy sector today.
Glen Doris is a senior consultant and trainer at FQM Ltd, a health, safety, environment and quality consultancy and training organisation
