In today’s global economy companies often have to look outside their country’s borders for talents with specific skills. It does come with a few challenges however, like the actual matching and practical hurdles like finding housing for these international talents. On top of these obvious matters we also have culture. Companies need to become culture smart; understanding the cultural set-up of their prospective employees, fight their own unconscious bias as well as train their teams and management so that there not only is acceptance of differences but also the readiness to harness the added value that the different perspectives offer.
Last night I spoke at the second occasion of “Global Talent – Working Your Way to Gothenburg” hosted at the West Swedish Chamber of Commerce. My talk was about cultural differences and for global talents to feel confident to use their cultural set-up and background as well as their personality as assets to be proud of and promote. Some adaptation in behavior is of course always needed when working across cultures, but it has to be understood that for instance, in a team in a culture of playing safe, having a member coming from a culture more prone to take risks can boost an innovative process. Culture is a treasure box and it needs to be recognized as such.
For some more information on the Global Talent project in Gothenburg – please visit the web pages below.