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Intercultural Training

Want to enhance your cultural intelligence?

Cultural characteristics among people of different backgrounds may impede communication and hinder effective business relations. Intercultural training raises awareness of these differences and builds knowledge of other cultures to ultimately drive business goals and succeed in a global market.

Sending employees and their families to another country represents not only a financial investment for a company, but also a significant investment in a company’s talent. In many cases however, language and culture become a barrier to business. Global Arena helps expatriates to adjust to the social and business environment of their newly adopted home, including country-specific values, behaviors, customs, and traditions. Trainees receive a comprehensive overview of the host country facilitating their transition abroad and increasing their chances of bringing their successful experience into the new country and provide the company with the expected return on investment.

This program examines the social and business culture of a country and what impact this has on how to do business and global business goals. The course compares the management, negotiation and decision-making styles of two countries to reveal what adjustments or considerations are needed for harmonizing the two styles.

Whether physically or virtually interacting with a diverse group across different countries and cultures, this program raises awareness and understanding of the dynamics and challenges of operating in global teams. Trainees gain the tools, techniques and strategies to become effective global leaders, reducing cultural and business liabilities due to misunderstandings or miscommunications. It aims to streamline communication and enhance performance to increase productivity and improve efficiency in a global environment.

The Executive/Manager Coaching program improves a manager’s ability to identify new business opportunities while at the same time reducing the risk of lost opportunities due to cultural insensitivities. It increases awareness of cultural differences in management, marketing, and human resources practices, thereby increasing a company’s global competitiveness.

Up to 20 percent of employees leave their job within 2 years of returning home from an international assignment. Considering the amount of money invested on these assignments; this represents a huge loss for any company. Global Arena assists companies and its expatriates in making a smooth transition back into the home country after an international assignment, identifying the enhanced skills they can now contribute, ensuring employee retention and making sure that what was home before, is home again.

This fully customized program explores the life transition of repatriation. It enables the returning assignee and their family to explore and better understand the cultural, psychological, social and workplace issues involved during this transition. This is delivered in two parts: An informational element that presents an understanding of the four stages of adjustment, the effect on children and suggested strategies to deal with the challenges. The second aspect is an applied component, which incorporates specific activities designed to strategize and apply the information learned to the assignee’s unique situation.

A diverse global workforce brings different perspectives and backgrounds that contribute to the development of innovative solutions. Working and leading across cultures, gender and generational diversity is key to thriving in a diverse and multicultural workforce environment. This training addresses the social makeup of any business and provides a great return on investment (ROI) from a productivity and team-building standpoint.

Training Programs

Global Arena custom designs each program to address the specific challenges and meet the unique needs of corporate and individual clients. Global Arena provides experienced cross-cultural trainers to help employees and their family members better adapt to and communicate in the target culture. Global Arena has the ability to provide intercultural training services in a wide array of cultures and languages globally.

Programs focus on experiential learning and active participation. Our intercultural trainers and consultants are highly experienced integrating interactive training methodologies (including presentation, discussion, case studies, skills practice, and visual media) with their thorough knowledge of intercultural theory and patterns. Trainings are typically a half-day, one, or two days in length. They can be provided to individuals or groups. Youth training is recommended for children ages 12 and over.

Knowledge and understanding of cultures and cultural differences are the essentials for business and organizational success in today’s world.

Trainers

Global Arena has an extensive network of cross-cultural trainers around the world, who combine a wealth and depth of experience, with an understanding of the many issues that arise as a result of relocation, repatriation and working across cultures.

Cross-cultural trainers are deeply knowledgeable on country-specific issues and communication practices. The trainers have worked in different business cultures, and experienced culture shock first hand, allowing for a ‘real-world’ experiential approach while creating the foundation a deep understanding of the challenges when working across cultures.

Online Portal

Global Arena has developed its own proprietary project coordination software to manage its training operations. A customer portal is available that provides up-to-the-minute information on the program to trainees, HR managers and counselors responsible for employees and their families.

To access to the online portal click here.

Quality Control

Participants in our programs complete a comprehensive needs assessment before the curriculum is customized to their individual needs. The customization process ensures that the needs of our clients are met, and so that they receive the maximum benefits of our intercultural training. Using the information from the needs assessment, we are able to appropriately match customers to trainers who perfectly fit their requirements.

Once the selected trainer has been secured, a confirmation is sent to the trainee outlining scheduling details and contact information of the trainer. Once training is complete, customers are asked to provide feedback through a brief evaluation. This final step supports our efforts in ensuring that we continue to deliver the highest level of customer service and superior course content.