"Weaving strength from differences"
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How to Select an Intercultural Training Vendor Dianne Hofner Saphiere, Nipporica Associates This list originally appeared in "Japan Related" magazine, May-June 1995
Selection Client Preparation • Have clear objectives and desired outcomes for your project. • Be up-front with potential vendors about past history and politics involved with the project. • Involve as many key players from your organization as possible early in the project to secure buy-in. • Clarify your needs: for example, are you looking for a training program or a vendor to partner with you as your organization develops cross-culturally. • Integrate the training with other organizational efforts. Professional Credentials • Vendor has a solid academic background in intercultural communication: is able to cite key texts, theories, practitioners, and has up-to-date knowledge of methods, techniques and exercises. • Vendor is familiar with human development, adult learning, the cultural adjustment process, culture acquisition, instructional design, and organizational design, as appropriate. • Vendor is active in key professional societies: SIETAR International, ASTD, ODN, etc., and has presented at recent conferences. • Vendor has recent professional development experience: Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication, professional workshops. • Vendor staff are bi- or multilingual. • Vendor staff have significant personal overseas life and work experience – really living in the culture as a minority, not just being honorably hosted for a few years. • Vendor has meaningful business experience, talks your language, connects with your people, and can relate anecdotes and examples of intercultural miscommunication and success which you can relate to. • Vendor has both training and consulting expertise, has done projects similar to those you are commissioning, and gives you appropriate references. Approach • Watch to see whether the vendor asks questions to learn about your business and its people. • Ask who will actually do the training; will their competence be as good as the marketing person you are meeting with? • Precisely define the vendor's meaning of "customized": will they learn about your organization, both corporate and overseas; what level of needs assessment will they engage in; are materials created for each program – role plays, case studies, summaries of key realities for your organization, organization-specific skills assessments? • Be sure that the vendor can clearly state their philosophy and organizational growth strategy; check whether these mesh with your own. • Clarify whether the vendor will work independently or with you as a team; which do you prefer?; how will you coordinate? • Evaluate whether the vendor is able to involve your overseas staff in needs assessment, design, implementation and evaluation?; involvement should be face-to-face whenever possible • Observe whether the vendor is open with you about the possible downsides, dangers, and challenges of the project; does the vendor appear to follow professional ethical guidelines? Mastery of Key Concepts • Is the vendor familiar with the terminology "culture-general/culture-specific"; can they explain the pros and cons of each approach, and how the two can be integrated? • Can the vendor explain the difference between "briefing", "orientation", "skills training", "cross-cultural counseling", and "process consulting"; do they appear honest and descriptive about the approach they take? • Does the vendor acknowledge language education, counseling, area studies and communication skills as distinct disciplines? • Can the vendor explain the difference between "comparative cultures", "cross-cultural", and "intercultural"? • Does the vendor acknowledge that the style people use to relate to others in their own culture is not necessarily the style they use with foreigners? Organizational Characteristics • Look at the size of the vendor organization; will they be able to handle the workload you envision? • Examine the vendor's organizational structure: salaried staff will be assigned to projects on a time-available basis, and "fit" with the client or the project may be a secondary concern. Implementation • development of the whole person • complete learning cycles with adequate debriefing (average debrief = twice the interaction time) • application to real-time business; connection with bottom-line results • integrated with team or work group realities • facilitative and consultative; not purely cognitive • trainers as role models – i.e., a bicultural team of trainers • mutual learning/no blaming • progressive design/flow of the training; each portion builds on and connects with the last • allows trainees time to digest and reflect; apply learnings to their jobs • incorporates a diversity of learning styles, methods and activities Evaluation • improvements in communication: less redundancy, improved accuracy • increased credibility of certain personnel or groups • enhanced collaboration between people or groups • decrease in negative judgments of others • improved employee confidence/decreased anxiety • increased productivity • revised business practices and systems • decreased "labeling" of "us" and "them" • quicker effectiveness upon assignment overseas • continuous improvement/revision of the training program • increased understanding and empathy between divisions, functions, locations, levels • career-pathing: non-home-office or "in-group" personnel promoted to responsible positions • enhanced proactivity and positive attitudes |
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