CULTURAL TRAINING FOR MOBILE EMPLOYEES: WHAT TO WATCH

Ed HannibalMercer, Partner, MobilityChicago

JULY 11, 2013

Grayson LeverenzRW3 LLC, Director, Client ServicesNew York

MERCER WEBCAST 1

Agenda• Introduction

• Culture’s Impact on Assignment Success

• Introducing CulturalTrainingPassport™

• Supporting Family Adjustment: A Midwest family moves to Japan

• Supporting Business Travelers and Short-Term Assignments: An Extended Stay for Americans in Libya

• Achieving Return on Investment: Segmenting for Success

MERCER WEBCAST 2

Mercer Stats

• As the leader in global mobility data and consulting services, Mercer understands how important assignees’cultural adjustment is to successful international assignments

• Mercer is delighted to collaborate with RW³ to provide employers with Cultural Training solutions that can help assignees optimize their experience during the assignment, while maximizing ROI on cultural training

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RW³ LLC

• Established in 2001• 30+ years experience with cultural

training• Serving clients from 100+ global

companies • Creators of RW³ CultureWizard

online learning platform• Partnered with Mercer in

CulturalTrainingPassport™• Authors of Managing Across

Cultures and Capitalizing on the Global Workforce

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How does cultural training impact international assignment success?

Becoming Productive Quickly

Working with Local Colleagues

Thriving Personally & Professionally

Adjusting & Managing Culture Shock

Achieving Assignment Objectives & Company ROI

Supporting Family Adjustment

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Introducing CulturalTrainingPassport™

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Benefits of CulturalTrainingPassport™

Reduce assignment preparation costs by up to 90% per expat

Shorten time to adapt with actionable,

country-specific information

Make cultural training accessible for all assignees

and families

Facilitate knowledge integration through just-in-time delivery: pre-departure or in-country

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SUPPORTING FAMILY ADJUSTMENTA MIDWEST FAMILY MOVES TO JAPAN

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Background

• Midwest-based consumer goods company

• Hundreds of assignees every year

• Offer all assignees in-person, daily living training

8

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Background

• Family with two teenagers moves to Japan for long-term international assignment

• Wife’s older parents staying in the US

• Wife is close to her parents and church community

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Challenge

• Wife open to assignment

• Teenagers were not

• Good reports at first

• Reports shifted to negative as culture shock set in

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Challenge

• Kids not making friends

• Wife missing her church community

• All struggling to communicate

• After six months, the wife took the kids and went home

• After six more months, the assignee returned home –two years earlier than expected

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Proposed Solution • Evolve training approach to begin with SAGE readiness assessment

• Measures Personality Characteristics, Family and Personal Life, and Career and Professional Development

• Identifies gaps in readiness

• SAGE for Spouses / Partners

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Results

• Engaged spouses / partners early on

• Included them in initial meetings

• Incorporated CulturalTrainingPassport™with the 1-day programs

• No assignments have ended due to family issues

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SUPPORTING BUSINESS TRAVELERS & SHORT-TERM ASSIGNMENTSAN EXTENDED STAY FOR AMERICANS IN LIBYA

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Background

• Government contractor based in Washington, DC

• Sending a dozen American business travelers to Libya to support state-building process

• Numerous business trips of 2 – 3 weeks at a time

MERCER WEBCAST 17

Challenge

• Little to no familiarity with Libya, North Africa, or Islam

• Preparing for and adjusting to life in Tripoli and other parts of Libya

• Training to work with and teach Libyans effectively

• Dearth of business experience working with Libyans

• No budget or time for traditional, classroom training

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Proposed Solution

• Provide access to CulturalTrainingPassport™ for Libya

• Engage Culture Coach to review business scenarios via webinar

• Culture Coach provides specific guidance around collaboration with Libyan governmental officials

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Results

• Business travelers mentally prepared to navigate basic business situations in Libya

• City data supports adjustment to life in hardship location

• Culture Calculator provides awarenessof personal style in comparison to Libyan

cultural values

• Personal action planning to adjust to local culture

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ACHIEVING RETURN ON INVESTMENTSEGMENTING FOR SUCCESS

MERCER WEBCAST 22

Background

• Company in oil & gas industry

• About 50 assignees annually opt for training

• Committed to offering cultural training to all assignees and families– Understand the research– Made some mistakes along the way– Many employees don’t think they need it

Current Solution Current Budget

1-day, pre-departure instructor-led training for assignees and families

• $175,000– 50 assignees @ $3,500/day

MERCER WEBCAST 23

Challenge

• Management asks Global Mobility team to cut their budget by 50%

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Proposed Solution

• Segment assignees into: long term, short term and commuter

• Offer different levels of training to each segment

• Long term = 1-day instructor-led training

• Short term = CulturalTrainingPassport™

• Commuter = CulturalTrainingPassport™

MERCER WEBCAST 25

Budget Comparison

Existing Budget Proposed Budget

• $175,000– 50 assignees @ $3,500/day

• $76,000– 17 LT @ $3,500 = $59,500– 30 ST @ $500 = $15,000– 3 C @ $500 = $1,500

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Results

• Proposed budget reduced costs by 57%

• Feedback on just-in-time availability of CulturalTrainingPassport™ was strong

• Word-of-mouth positive

• Able to use remaining budget money to provide CulturalTrainingPassport™as an ongoing resource to long-term assignees and people that previously opted out

MERCER WEBCAST 28

How does cultural training impact international assignment success?

Becoming Productive Quickly

Working with Local Colleagues

Thriving Personally & Professionally

Adjusting & Managing Culture Shock

Achieving Assignment Objectives & Company ROI

Supporting Family Adjustment

MERCER WEBCAST 29

Questions

Grayson LeverenzNew Yorkgrayson.leverenz@rw-3.com

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Ed HannibalChicagoEd.Hannibal@mercer.com