The International Profiler – the DNA of intercultural skills

The following situations highlight some best uses for the International Profiler (TIP)®

Organisations:

Managers being sent on international assignment

At times organisations can meet with some resistance from managers when they are being sent on an international assignment. The notion of being sent to a foreign country to work can be a highly intimidating one. How are they going to communicate successfully? How will they meet their objectives when they are not certain of the different working practices? How can they best prepare for the unknown environment they are going to encounter?

Assigned with deliverables in an unfamiliar cultural environment TIP can be used to reflect on ‘people skills’, personal styles and help assignees get some idea of what they can bring to the assignment.

Needing to build international awareness and perspective

International deals fail when you try to enforce your own cultural norms on your potential partner. Misunderstandings, miscommunication and embarrassing situations can all occur when there is a failure to recognise what we carry with us in to an unfamiliar working environment.

Encouraging a more international perspective within an organisation is incredibly beneficial especially when it is looking to expand on a global scale. Helping leaders and managers to develop their intercultural awareness enables them to forge more successful relationships with partners and businesses from other countries. An international perspective lends empathy with which to better grow intercultural business relationships

Barriers to communication

Uncertainty can build barriers to communication
and without effective communication businesses fail no matter their location. Raising the self-awareness
of your employees’ cross-cultural approach prior to
sending them on an international assignment will give them confidence to know how to approach
their international counterparts.

Learning how to deal with partners from a different culture, over coming the fear of working and communicating with people from another part of the world is a part of what the International Profiler can deliver for your business.

Cross-cultural mergers and acquisitions

International mergers and acquisitions herald a lot of changes, re-shuffles and movement – along with this there can be confusion, disorder, mistrust and misapprehensions, adding further aggravation to an already possibly volatile working environment.

The International Profiler starts with the individual, when embedded throughout the organisation it can help to provide a common language within the business to discuss and reflect on approaches and keep everyone on the same page as they will all share the heightened self-awareness that can be developed through use of the tool, leading to a better understanding of how to work with their new colleagues from another cultural background.

Training needs analysis

TIP can be used to perform a training needs analysis especially where employees are working across cultures and want to build more cultural awareness.

Use TIP to discover what dimensions are being given less emphasis as an organisation and provide HR or the training and development department
with a relevant guide on improvements to focus on and how to better prepare employees for working in a multi-national environment.

HR / Training and Development

TIP can be embedded as part of the on-boarding process for new employees so that they come in to the organisation with an awareness of the potential differences in cultural working styles amongst new colleagues, they are also aware of their personal levels of cross-cultural focus and emphasis and how to leverage this to be more effective. It can be used as part of an organisational culture change management programme.

It can be implemented as part of a performance review process to gauge development. It can also be applied as part of a framework for the structure and set up of specific international performance objectives.