As the economy progresses, we have free flow of information, data about people ( be it personal or professional) and a lot of trade and other exchange process. But on the other hand, we are keen to protect them from rising trade wars between different countries and jingoistic nationalism. Not only technical or management skill will take the person to new heights but also one must have that high Emotional Quotient (EQ). Along with Domain knowledge and expertise, management of peoples and groups is also required.
Coming from IT background, having worked for various verticals like Banking and financial services, life sciences, Insurance etc I experienced different culture that resulted in different outcomes. From corporate parties to weekend support work, from celebrating Lohri to Onam, we experienced a feeling of real India which was completely unexplored till now. So by working in all kind of environment I made many mistakes and also the learning from those mistakes was so good that it impacted my life forever. The biggest challenge which I faced during this phase was aligning myself to different work culture to achieve the goal. From my experience I would like to share few ideas that impact the work culture the most.
The Age and the hierarchy Factor: In many culture we have seen that people give preference to person older in age. Suppose in Asia, there is a mentality of many corporate that the one who is older in age is wiser and the juniors should only listen to them and should not question them. This may not work out with the managers are developed in a westernized management culture and he/she may find difficulty in aligning to the company’s objective. Similarly, designation of a person is given higher preference. For example:- if a junior has some idea and that idea may sound creative then also he/she would be listened or their ideas would be appreciated or not depends upon the seniors superior to them i.e. the experience of a person is considered as a virtue when comparison of talent is done.
Team vs Individual: In many countries there is a one man army culture and also in India there are certain firms that rely upon a single person to make a turnaround in critical situation rather than having faith in the team. There are possibilities that to make quick decision and achieve targets in minimum possible time sometimes firms depend upon individuals to take the center stage for decision making but that can be a short time goal oriented approach.
Personal Grudges: It has been observed in many industries that at the time of appraisals and ratings the managers or seniors take decisions more on the basis of personal issues as compared to the performance. This not only harms the company’s growth but set a bad work culture for the upcoming generation.
Staying True to business values:-
The cultural transplants have to be carefully curated i.e. if the person is moving to a new work location he must possess high emotional quotient. Developing a culture that add values to the ethics must be practiced the most. For ex:- no compromise on quality and delivery. No shortcuts to achieve the targets. If we are at fault, we must accept our shortcomings and should work on it consistently to establish a better work culture and also one must ensure that the value created by him/her must be taken ahead by the future generation otherwise it won’t benefit the company in a longer run.
People 