World View: Focus on the United Kingdom

By Lyrae Myxter

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state comprising four nations: England, Scotland, Wales—these three form Great Britain—and Northern Ireland. As the first country to industrialize in the 18th century, the United Kingdom (UK) is today’s sixth largest economy by GDP. It is a member of the European Union, and its capital, London, is one of the most significant financial centers of the world.

While the islands of the UK have seen tides of human immigration over the last thousands of years—including the influx of Celts, Romans, Anglos and Saxons, Nordic Vikings, Normans, French, Flemish, and others—the composition of the population perhaps has changed most radically since World War II. Since 1945, the number of immigrants has risen steadily and added millions of people from the Caribbean and South Asia to the nation’s rich diversity.

The skills and training required to manage the workforce is a recurring theme for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the main Human Resources (HR) organization in the UK.

Establishing Credibility

Establishing credibility is an important aspect of doing business in the UK. Without establishing sufficient credibility, foreigners initially may encounter resistance to change and difficulty getting things done. What’s more, such resistance may not be immediately evident, since social etiquette dictates that peers and subordinates should act respectfully, avoid confrontation, and not demonstrate resistance overtly.

In training:

• It will be wise for you to present your credentials—or have them presented for you—up front, in a modest but clear manner.
• It is important not to appear condescending or to talk down to those you are training. Maintain an attitude of respect at all times.
• It is best to avoid getting too personal too quickly and to be respectful by allowing your trainees a certain amount of autonomy.
• National and European identity is a sensitive and topical subject. It is important to understand, for example, that a Scot can be called British but never English.

Training Tips

Because orderly advance planning is valued in the UK, it will be best to schedule all needs assessment activity well in advance of design and delivery target dates.

When training in the UK, remember:

• Agendas should be adhered to as closely as possible during the training.
• When using humor in training, bear in mind that back slapping, belly laughing, and long anecdotes will be less effective than dry wit, satire, and self-deprecating humor.
• Do not be surprised if trainees from the UK ask lots of questions early on in the training program. This is often how trainees confirm the credibility of a trainer. If you know the material well and are able to answer these questions competently, chances are that fewer questions will follow.
• A lack of positive feedback through nods and vocal participation does not necessarily mean that the group is unhappy with the training. A better indicator of trainee satisfaction is eye contact. In general, if you experience a lack of eye contact, this is a sign that the trainees may be bored or confused.
• At the conclusion of training, written evaluations are likely to generate more candid feedback than will oral evaluation sessions.

Country to country, region to region, urban to rural, company to company, in the UK, there can be important workplace differences across groups of training participants. Any visitor should work, at first, with a local representative to develop the necessary “inside” knowledge and fit.

Lyrae Myxter is director, Executive Services for Aperian Global (www.aperianglobal.com), and is based in San Francisco, CA. Much of the content in this article was drawn from the book, “Global Diversity: Winning Customers and Engaging Employees Within World Markets” by Ernest Gundling, Ph.D., and Anita Zanchettin, and from Aperian Global’s Web tool, GlobeSmart, which contains information on how to conduct business in more than 65 countries.