What are some proven ways to avoid culture shock?
As more and more companies send their employees overseas, they confront an important reason for relocation failure: culture shock. Finding training in the language of the destination country is a good start on the road to success, but is still only a start.
- Absorb the culture.
To enable you to be effective in your new country, you must also become familiar with the culture of your destination land and understand the roles of customs, language and gestures used there. Ideally, the international transferee will be able to fit into the new culture and feel at home there.
- Learn the language.
Too often, transferees have difficulty with the new language, and, as a result, feel isolated from native co-workers. If there is a population of expatriates, beware of seeking out only fellow countrymen, whose language and culture are familiar, and thereby fail to assimilate yourself into the host country’s culture.
