Archive for July, 2009
Posted on July 29, 2009 by Atul
By Rusty Weston
If you work in high-tech or pharma and collaborate with co-workers,
customers, suppliers or partners located in other countries, there's an
increasing likelihood that your company will offer you some form of
training to help you master cross-cultural or virtual work challenges.
Beyond those two fields, however, it's hit-and-miss, according to
top cultural trainers. Without the insights of cross-cultural training,
many American managers – who often lack international travel or global
business experience – face a heightened risk of project failure.
The return on investment in training global workers isn't always
evident to senior management, many of whom have never played a globally
collaborative role in the organization. "What I have learned is that
it's extremely difficult to [initiate] formal training," says Natasha
Crundwell, President of People Going Global, a Washington-D.C. cultural consulting firm. "In many cases executives may not see the need for structured training."
Yet, companies that hire third-party trainers typically approve
group classes that last just one half day up to two days at most. Is
some training better than none at all? Absolutely – I went through Berlitz
training shortly before assuming a cross-cultural editorial management
role in the fall of 2005. I came out of it with a better understanding
of Indian culture, which improved my ability to absorb other
information later. However, I felt eight hours was just scratching the
surface.
"I
would love two days of building and bonding and making it work but
we're not given that," concedes Lu Ellen Schafer, president of Global Savvy
in Palo Alto, Calif. She says the key takeaway, after eight hours, is
this: "Most important is to get over the hump of not being able to
communicate across cross-cultural or distance barriers. Once you get
over that barrier than you can figure things out with international
colleagues. "
The training sessions are typically jam-packed with interactive
discussions, study guides, videos, and thick training manuals. "We look
at whole thing from contrast and compare perspective," explains
Crundwell. "By the end of eight hours we come up with a global
communication protocol. It's just how to become a more aware
communicator in a global workplace."
Even if senior executives don't see the ROI, the executives engaged
in cross-culturally collaborative roles certainly value the
information, says Crundwell. "There's a lot of awareness that they need
this skill and there's an awareness that if they want to stay
competitive that they have to work with cross-cultural peers."
Considering what's at stake for workers engaged in
globally-collaborative roles, the wisest course of action is to start
with one of these courses and then dive into the additional reading
list to deepen your skills as needed.
Blog courtesy of My Global Career.
Posted on July 26, 2009 by Atul
By Rusty Weston
Ask anyone who has sourced or managed a globally distributed
project. Collaborating with a customer, supplier, or co-worker located
in another country typically brings more than you bargained for – a
multicultural learning experience.
You can muddle through on your own or get help. Specialized trainers
can heighten your cultural awareness and teach you about the tendencies
and work styles of one culture compared to another. But there's a
catch: Fostering multicultural awareness usually involves perpetuating
generalizations.
Let's face it, cultural stereotypes often have more than grain of
truth to them, but they also tend to rub people the wrong way. Is it
possible to educate globally-collaborative workers about different
cultures without making generalizations?
"People don't like to be generalized about," concedes Craig Storti,
one of the leading cultural consultants. "And they especially don't
like somebody from another culture doing it. What I say in my book and
in my workshops is I'm describing how Indians come across to westerners
- it's not how Indians see themselves."
Storti, the author of Figuring Foreigners Out, wrote that "a generalization can tell you at best how people from a particular culture may behave in a given situation but necessarily how they will behave …"
Storti has written a book called Speaking of India: Bridging the Communication Gap Between India and the West.
While useful for westerners seeking to distribute work to India, the
insights may vex Indian outsourcers – especially the ones contending
that no such gap exists.
Naturally, the communication gap is unintentional. Take it from
someone who misses his share of cultural cues, especially when I'm
tired or under stress. "When Americans hear questions [from Indian
citizens] they just answer them because they don't realize that
they're polite ways of saying something," says Storti. "When an Indian
asks 'Does that work for you'? It's not a question – it's a polite way of saying it doesn't work for me."
Storti explains that stereotyping is "what higher-order intelligence
does – we have to put things into boxes or it doesn't make sense. And
as long as you realize you're never going to meet the [stereo]type. In
the end you have to listen to the person in front of you."
Are you better off knowing how people from other cultures view your
culturally-driven communication style or behavior? Arguably yes. Then
you have the possibility of anticipating gaps and meeting one another
in the middle.
Blog courtesy of My Global Career.
Posted on July 21, 2009 by Atul
We would love to have industry experts join us on this blog and share their thoughts and opinions. If you are interested, send me an email at blog@bestoutsourcingjobs.com.
- Atul Vashistha, Founder, Best Outsourcing Jobs Inc.
Posted on July 21, 2009 by Atul
By Atul Vashistha
What are
the most important things you need to know about seeking employment with a
global services provider?
To find out, we polled our professional connections on looking for ideas
applicable to evaluating global (or multinational) service providers, rather
than strictly domestic employers. The ideas range from micro issues, such as
knowing the leadership style of your direct supervisor, to macro issues about
the company's financials and reputation of its senior leadership.
To help encourage discussion and debate about these ideas, I am going to rank
them from 5th to 1st in importance to you, a global job candidate.
5 – Company Culture
Does the company
have a strong record of diversity? Does it employ leaders from outside of its
home country? Does it promote women to key positions of authority? Is the
company culture primarily top-down or a bit more collaborative and
entrepreneurial? What are the stated and actual expectations for your work
hours? Is work-life balance something embraced by this firm? Does the company
donate money – or employee hours – to advance any social causes?
4 – Compensation & Benefits
Some global service providers provide stock options or warrants to employees,
while others do not. Is the company public or privately held? What percentage
of the compensation is tied to variables goals that are beyond your span of
influence? Has the company met its group compensation targets despite the
downturn?
Executive education is also a factor for executives looking to assume more
responsibility. Does the company provide continuous education for all of its
employees? Does the company have a commitment to provide paid executive
education?
3 – Working Globally
Does the company have competitive and generous relocation policies? Does the
company provide relocated executives with perks such as housing and
transportation stipends? Where are
the company's main offices? How long has the company been in that location? (That
demonstrates a commitment by the company to the location.) Does the location
provide good quality housing, schools, infrastructure, and security? Could your
spouse work in that location – and would he or she be happy there?
2 – Management
Find out about the reputation of the firms and its leaders. Are executives
rotated through different positions to give them a range of experience? Are
executives in that organization cherry-picked or recruited by competing firms?
What's the leadership style of your direct supervisor? Is he or she flexible
and interested in advancing your career?
1 – Know the company's financials
Find out if the company is profitable. How does the company's earnings compare
to its peers? What's the target profit margin on a sale? Which lines of
business drive its profits or losses? Will you be asked to work in a group that
is under-resourced or in need of a transformation?
I am hoping that as many of you look at career options in
this economy, you still take the time to make sure that you are looking at the
above five keys to evaluate the employer.
Finally, I hope that employers look at this to build an inviting work
environment.
Atul Vashistha is Founder & Chairman of neoIT, a leading
management consultancy since 1999, focused on independent, objective and
actionable advice to enterprises that seek to transform their organizations by
capitalizing on services globalization. He is also Founder & CEO of
NeoGroup, a firm focused on providing outsourced program management and
governance. His latest venture is BestOutsourcingJobs.com, an online job portal
focused on outsourcing careers.
Posted on July 21, 2009 by Atul
By Marc Dorio
To call today’s economy tough is like calling Moby
Dick a big fish. Let’s face it, with the threat of double digit
unemployment looming ahead it is down right scary for the vast majority
of people I hear from each day.
However, if you can stay focused, determined, upbeat
and flexible these times offer opportunities for not only continuing
but also advancing your career. Here is the straight scoop as I see it.
While the number of jobs may be on the decline there is still work to
be done. Doing more with less is a mantra I hear resonating with
employers I speak to around the country.
So here are a few tips to help you get and stay employed:
- Be a “force multiplier”. Both in interviews or with your existing
employer show that you will make a difference by giving 110% and being
willing to wear more than one hat. Become that “go to” person in your
department.
- Upgrade you skills immediately. Look for new opportunities in your
existing role. Develop a “new and improved” skill set. Take some
courses, volunteer for a new project.
- Sell your skills first and then your experience. Remember, your
experience is your past; your skills are what you bring to the
workplace now and in the future. Demonstrate your flexibility to tackle
whatever needs to be done.
- Interview with your ears. Eighty-five percent of all job seekers
talk too much in the interview. Listen closely to what the employer
needs then respond as someone who can satisfy those needs. An
open-ended question such as “Could you please tell me more about that?”
will elicit additional information from an interviewer as well as
clearly demonstrate your interest in learning more about the position.
- What your boss tells you directly about your performance is
important. However, what he or she doesn’t say may be even more
important. Watch for the more informal signals such as what meetings
you are invited to, what emails you are copied on, or even off handed
comments that come your way at a meeting. Stay focused on this informal
feedback and the signals it sends to you about where you stand in our
boss’s eyes.
- In an interview, ask questions that set you up to make the sale. A
question such as “What results do you ant me to produce immediately?”
sends a strong message that you will hit the ground running if they
hire you.
- Brand and promote yourself. Your personal brand is the image you
want others to have of you. Put this in writing. For example, if you
want to be seen as the “consummate team player” be sure to write down
the specific behaviors you will do everyday to create that brand image.
- For older job seekers, you don’t have to fake youth to get a good
job, but you usually do need to present yourself as in touch with
relevant current trends, in synch with current technology, generally
energetic and vigorous. Look for opportunities to present age as an
asset by translating “age” into “experience”, “maturity”, and “sound
judgment”.
Marc Dorio is a results oriented Organizational Effectiveness and Training professional and the author of books such as The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Perfect Interview .
Blog courtesy of My Global Career.
Posted on July 16, 2009 by Atul
By Sharon Reed Abboud
Fernando Ara faces an extreme virtual commute from his Orange
County, CA office to Madrid, Spain. Ara is in the vanguard of worldwide
cross-border telecommuters. Ara is the U.S. country manager for Redkaraoke, a social networking website, but works out of his California-based home office and travels when necessary for meetings.
Ara's colleague, Justin Abbott, based in Baltimore, MD, heads up
business development for the company. Another manager, Jose Miguel
Segurra, lives in Japan. They communicate with HQ mostly via Skype.
"The biggest issues are managing between multiple time zones – from
Spain, to the United States, to our Country Manager in Japan," Abbott
said. "And, of course, making sure that we all understand each other
and are on the same page."
WorldatWork, a Scottsdale, AZ, Washington, DC and Toronto, Canada-based organization, predicted in a recent report
that 100 million Americans will be teleworking by 2010. Most of them
will be working for companies located in the U.S.-but as the trend
continues, it can be expected that as steadily increasing number of
people will find cross-border opportunities.
It's not just a virtual career choice, it's a quiet workplace trend that goes mostly unremarked-upon by media or governments.
The Gartner Group
estimates that there are 137 million teleworkers worldwide. "This
growth will mushroom as companies learn more about telework benefits
and its highly advantageous return on investment, and the proliferation
and use of online job boards and virtual hiring," according to a report
in Innovisons Canada.
The report contends that cross-border commuting poses "some serious
competition for North American jobs, and ought to be a wake-up call to
all of us."
But to workers, this trend represents a much larger career playing
field. "One of the advantages of being a cross-border telecommuter is
that it can open up horizons and opportunities that could not otherwise
be widely available to a lot of employees…" Ara said.
Michael M. Kiefer, General Manager for Brandprotect.com,
is an American who telecommutes from Chicago for the Toronto, Canada
Company. "In the virtual world, the Internet makes up for great
distance, assuming you are not too many time zones off," Kiefer said.
Kiefer travels to the company headquarters" every month or so. "I think
in today's world, with today's technology, the game is much easier,"
but, he said, "Nothing makes up for face-to-face contact and group
interaction. Monthly is just enough."
Laura Harris owns an Allstate insurance company in Texas, but is
engaged to a man who lives in Canada. Instead of moving her base of
operations, she now runs her company from Canada. "With computers and
Vonage my customers don't even know that I don't live in Texas. Well,
they might now … but, then again, in today's increasingly
virtually-based economy, location is becoming increasingly less
important.
A growing number of companies are reaching out to prospective employees who can work virtually from, well, anywhere.
While there are tax and legal issues involved, today's global
marketplace has flung open the door for worldwide to Internet-based job
and entrepreneurial opportunities.
In a Fast Company article, Michelle Bowman, a senior vice president at Boston-based Global Foresight Associates, predicted that in the future, "Cybership will
vie for importance with citizenship. Companies will need to increase
their tolerance for change, and view boundaries – whether national,
corporate, or divisional – as more and more nebulous."
"In today's global economy we are all competing with everyone from everywhere for everything," Ara said.
Guest blogger Sharon Reed Abboud is a freelance journalist
specializing in careers and business trends. She is the author of All Moms Work, Short-term Career Opportunities for Long-Range Success, Capital Books.
Blog courtesy of My Global Career.
Posted on July 12, 2009 by Atul
By Rusty Weston
Lost in the heated rhetoric of the endless immigration debate is the
basic fact that people want to go where there is work and governments
want to regulate the matter.
In a tight labor market it's not surprising to see workers relocate
for the right opportunity. In a recent study Manpower reports that 78
percent of the workers it interviewed worldwide said they would be
willing to relocate for a job. Nearly 37 percent said they would leave
their home country. Of those willing to move, two in five said they
would do so permanently.
But what happens to the countries and cities these migrating workers
leave behind? Does brain drain cause economic pain? Apparently, yes,
many employers around the globe are feeling that the global talent
market is working against them, at least according to a new study.
Internationally, 31 percent of employers express concern about the global migration of talent, according to a Manpower
study of 28,000 employers in 27 countries. The same study reports that
only 15 percent of employers feel that government and business are
"doing enough" to stem the flow of talent to other countries.
Controlling
the flow of talent around the world doesn't sound like a progressive
idea, but it is universally practiced by governments around the world -
no matter what type of political system is in force. In theory, without
some labor controls in place, wage inflation and deflation would run
rampant. And there would be critical shortages of skilled professions
in some countries.
According to the Manpower study, "employers in Peru (82%), Argentina
(66%), South Africa (65%), Taiwan (64%) India (57%), and New Zealand
(52%) express the most concern about the impact of 'brain drain' on
their labor markets resulting from talent leaving their country to work
in another country. On the other hand, employers in China (1%), Ireland
(7%), Japan (12%) and Switzerland (12%) are least concerned about the
issue."
I have been writing about global careers for several years now I
have never encountered data suggesting that large-scale, cross-border
migrations of skilled workers are taking place in numbers that could
undermine a hiring base for employers. All indications are that the
percentage of college-educated workers expatriating themselves from
"first world" countries to explore 'foreign" options is well under five
percent.
Among workers considering foreign opportunities, the U.S., China, UK
and Spain are the preferred destinations. What would prompt these moves?
- Increased pay was cited by 82% of respondents.
- Surprisingly, nearly half the respondents said they would move to learn a new language.
- The higher the level of educational attainment, the greater the
willingness to move. And, undoubtedly, the greater the appeal of the
worker to a potential employer in another country.
Meanwhile, for adventurous workers in a tight economy it's easier to
stay ahead of inflation by finding a new job rather than a raise or
promotion. Undoubtedly, there will continue to be churn in job markets,
with increasing political scrutiny paid to the ebb and flow of global
talent. Watch for it to become a significant issue in 2008 races with
virtually no one ready to stand up for the people who simply want the
freedom to move to support themselves or their family.
Top 10 Jobs Filled with Foreign Talent
The top 10 jobs that employers are filling with foreign talent across the 27 countries and territories surveyed by Manpower:
- Laborers
- Engineers
- Production Operators
- Technicians
- IT Staff
- Sales Representatives
- Administrative Assistants / PAs
- Customer Service Representatives
- Senior Executives / Board Members
- Accounting & Finance Staff
Source: Manpower Borderless Workforce Study of 28,000 employers in 27 countries, June 2008
Blog courtesy of My Global Career.
Posted on July 6, 2009 by Atul
By Rusty Weston
Americans have a funny way of dealing with our lack of global business experience – we typically import the expertise.
Alexis de Bretteville, CEO of the Americas at Michael Page International
in New York is a case in point. The European born executive, who heads
up the Americas region for one of the world's largest executive
recruiting firms, addressed the American Business Forum on Europe recently on the Risks & Opportunities of Managing an International Career.
When it comes to exporting globally experienced executives,
we're a little undersupplied. "Companies are always struggling to find
good people to move abroad," says de Bretteville, who offers advice
about positioning yourself for a global opportunity.
"Offer or propose new products for new markets abroad," says de
Bretteville. "Show interest, passion and commitment and make people
(especially your mentors) aware that's what you're looking for. Show
that you have language, skills, adaptability to moving to new
environments. "
A
lot of U.S. executives do the math and decide against pursuing global
opportunities, often because they're not multilingual or worry it will
derail their career. "It all comes down to risk and opportunities,"
says de Bretteville. "Some people have the fear to move abroad because
they think that they will be forgotten by their home country."
Expatriating American executives is nothing if not complicated.
"International mobility is still not as easy as it looks, especially
for top executives," says de Bretteville. "It's easier for younger
people because they have less links or ties – but for senior people
it's harder because of some issues – spouse's career is sometimes an
issue." A survey they participated in showed that in 80 percent of
cases the spouse's career was the key reason an executive refused to
move abroad.
"Mostly people recruit locally because it's less risky and less
expensive," says de Bretteville. "We do have some [multi-country]
assignments in high tech or IT sector, some sales people with tech
skills. These are the kind of people you can move globally."
Michael Page's clients are often multinational or global companies
seeking third-party expertise in sourcing global-ready talent. Most of
the candidates they place don't repatriate, says de Bretteville.
How do you manage a successful international career? There are three main principles according to de Bretteville:
1- The Mentor
- The person who sent you abroad, often someone who was an expatriate himself
- Keep him informed of your actions
- Ask for advice, get your mentor involved
2- Keep an active professional network
- Continue to attend conferences or fairs in your home country
- Develop contacts in your sector, stay visible
- Keep in touch with your colleagues in your company
- Write them emails; send them interesting articles, etc…
- Share your experience, the trends of your sector
3- Stay visible at the headquarters
- Keep visiting on a regular basis
- Expose yourself to those who matter in the organization
- Organize meetings, or lunch/ drinks in advance of your visit
- Propose think-tank meetings, lead projects, etc…
- Send emails and memos (above and below you)
My advice is to take on an assignment where you can open up new
markets or expand existing ones – or even find a way to cut costs
overseas. Distinguish yourself, if possible, but mostly immerse
yourself in another culture and learn what you can about how to thrive
in the global economy.
It helps to work at a company that has a global DNA, says de
Bretteville. Michael Page International, for instance, promises to move
its high performing recruiters to other country assignments after two
to three years.
Blog courtesy of My Global Career.
Posted on July 1, 2009 by Atul
By Larry Gordon, President of Global Channel Sales, iYogi
Today we are really looking for deep industry
expertise. iYogi sells branded premium customer technology support
both direct to consumers and through retailers,
ISPs, OEMs, and ISVs. Our US hires have at least 10 years experience in
those industries on the business side, not on the operations or IT side and I think that has been a big change
in the last decade both for the new companies like ours and the older, top tier
outsourcers.
For example, we just hired people with experience from the merchandising side of blue chip
retailers and the subscriber services side of the MSOs. We are currently
looking for someone to run our memberships and associations business who has experience at
organizations such as AAA, AARP, Affinion, etc.
I think the hiring change is driven by availability of the
talent, the changing nature of the business, particularly for newer companies,
and the need for differentiation. The better global outsourcers are seen
as higher value and offering more effective solutions if they are able to
attract American talent that enhance the relationship with American
buyers. The point is to offer the best and most efficient solution and
that is generally some combination of lower labor costs, better architecture
and design, and a better understanding of customer needs and capabilities.
Most executives now are very willing to work for a global
employer. Most have experienced global outsourcing in some fashion, so it
is a lot easier to find talented people who are familiar with the model.
Still, it's hard to find execs with deep industry experience
who also value the highly collaborative virtual team model favored by global
service providers. Execs need to see the globalization of their
work in a comfort zone rather than as a threat. If the executive is not
willing to share control in exchange for support, expertise, and help with the
workload then he or she is doomed to failure or subpar performance.
I've seen many examples of this dynamic in action. For
example, I've seen executives not want to share business relationships with his
offshore team. This is due to fears that they will hurt his deal, steal
the relationship once it becomes operational, or misunderstand customer
requirements. Contrary to these fears his relationship will become more
solid if he helps his offshore team understand what is required to deliver and grow the account. In addition he needs to keep delivering value
and industry related expertise in the new model, which requires continued
innovation and oversight. The client wants the advantages the global
model offers. If managers and leaders put the brakes on the momentum it only frustrates the customer, and
de-values what the onshore executive has to offer.
Not everyone is right for a global opportunity. The global
employers are thorough – the due diligence and reference check process is much
more rigorous than it used to be. Customers, investors, board members and
others are all on the list of reference checks for employees in any sort of
business-driving role. Having spent more
than ten years in various executive roles for global service
providers, I know that this can be a rewarding and interesting career move –
and I have never had to relocate from my home in New Jersey.
Larry has held leadership positions in the global IT services industry
with Cognizant, Kanbay and Capgemini. He joined iYogi as President, Global Channel Sales this year
after it purchased a company he founded called Clean Machine, Inc.
