Preparing Trinidadian Managers for Jamaican

Companies

By Francis WadeFramework Consulting Inc.

HRMATT Biennial Conference 2007Nov 9th, 2007

Jamaicans are admired, feared and not well understood

Caribbean Human Resource

professionals want to be well-prepared

Recent news has been bad,

disturbing and confusing

Powerful insights will enable you to take a leadership role

Challenge Company Executives to Step Up

1. Clarifying Company Culture Makes the Transition

Easier

Culture

A Cultural Audit Creates Understanding

A Cultural Audit:

Surfaces assumptions about which

culture is “better”

A Cultural Audit:Allows the

existing cultures to be

acknowledged and validated

A Cultural Audit:

Allows the blend of both cultures to be

better than either single

culture

Defining new and specific Cultural Attributes build a firm foundation

Core Values

Vision

Mission

Brand Promise

Strategic plans

History

Clear Attributes prevent “Trinidadian culture” from

becoming the new standard

Clear Attributes: Allow HR to create plans and programmes

Interventions HR Strategy Performance Review

Leadership Development Training

Coaching Expat Transition Services

Orientation Cultural Sensitivity

Executive Succession Pension Planning

Health Insurance Payroll Processing

Transition PoliciesPay Scales

RecruitingInternal Branding

Job Design Retention Outplacement

Common training puts everyone on the same page

The past is left behind for both companies

A new, joint vision can be created

2. Culturally- Sensitive

Leaders Can Build Trust

Leaders can see how strengths turn into weaknesses

Informality, and lack of hierarchy connote disrespect

A focus on profits is seen as exploitation

Pecong is taken quite seriously

Leaders understand and adapt to Jamaican work culture

They understand the importance of

respect

The realize they need to be much more hands on

They know that the workplace emotional maturity is lower

Q: Is there an Anti-Trinidadian bias?

There are negative utterancesButNo wide-spread hard feelings*

* (pre-LNG deal)

3. Teaching Executives to Be Reflective Helps Them Deal With Obstacles

Showing them their own path gives them awareness

They can…

… see their own overconfidence

/arrogance at the start

… expect resistance, and some big surprises

… try to avoid overcompensating

… avoid cynicism

They can find resolution through effective reflecting

With improved reflection skills, comes superior listening skills:

What is in the Unsaid?

…when listening to employees?

… when listening to the company?

… when listening to the country’s “mood”

Listening to the Unsaid:

Miracles

How can the HR professional take a

leadership role in cross-cultural situations?

“Unknown” cultures are scary.

Become effective by learning to take

specific, informed actions

Ensuring your company’s success as it does business across the Caribbean region

and beyond

Human Resource Professional: leading the regional transition of

your company

For further information on this topic, send email toHRMATT2007@aweber.com

Framework Consulting Inc.www.fwconsulting.com