Most smaller companies reside in one country, and their consciousness is rooted in that culture. However large companies are typically multinational by nature and network around the globe for talent and resources making them more sophisticated and competitive. I ran across a call center that was managed and owned by Japanese people, with the workers and middle level management being Filipino. I like this blend of cultures as the Japanese are very solid and reliable while the Filipinos are known for their warmth and hospitality. I think they make a perfect marriage of attributes.
Is your staff exclusively from your country?
Most outsourcing companies are either in India, The Philippines, or Eastern Europe with a few in various parts of Africa and Central America. Most companies tend to have staff exclusively from their home country while a few have an American or European higher level manager or sales rep. As outsourcers, you need to realize that you are catering to the needs of overseas clients who have very different sensibilities than you do. Indians tend to not be in tune at all with Americans. The communication skills and timeliness of Indians never seems to measure up to American standards. I believe it makes sense for all outsourcing companies to have some overseas people to work with them.
Hiring foreigners might help
If you are based in Bangalore, but cater to the United States, it might make sense to hire an American to work with you. It might make sense for that American to interface with clients in America. They might feel more comfortable with him assuming he is solid on technical knowledge and is helpful. Even if they don’t like talking to him, they will appreciate that he is on payroll — “one of us is on board over there!” Getting his opinions on how things are run may or may not help. If you get a lower level American, he might have very American opinions, but they might not be very business-like. The other alternative is to have an American CEO visit your company for a few days and make a list of pointers. There are probably dozens of things you are doing wrong. When I talk to Indian companies on the phone, during the first three seconds they start off by making social mistakes. Yes, there is a lot that you are doing wrong. The question is, how willing are you to learn what you are doing wrong and fix it?
Communication is always lacking overseas
Sometimes you get good workers in foreign countries. However, their communication skills are always below our American standards. The Eastern Europeans are only a little below par as far as my standards for communication go. The South Africans communicate much better than Americans as they speak the Queen’s English with tremendous style (love the accent.) The Filipinos speak clearly, but are not always good at communicating factual information. While the Indians typically have good higher level managers with the others speaking garbled English. Working on the language skills of your workers is not a bad idea. You could hire a school to give you a few hours a week of lessons for “communicationally” challenged workers. In addition to bringing up the interaction skills of all of your workers, it might not be a bad idea to hire a native speaker of English to make talking to Americans and British people smooth and pleasant. Just make sure you get someone who is socially graceful with solid technical knowledge and who is responsible in all aspects.
But, what about management?
Yes, having workers from different countries can be a plus in today’s world. But, it is also helpful to have higher level managers from a different country. If you are in India which is an unorganized country, no matter who you hire as a top manager will have the consciousness of chaos as that is what they grew up with. Indians are very tolerant of messes, negligence and other bad behavior while the Koreans will chop your head of on the first offense. Having a Korean manager who knows how to deal with Indians might be the magic that cleans up your company. You will need a Korean who can stand the insanity of India without losing his head. However, if you can find one who is tolerant of India, they might do miracles of maintaining high standards for your company. Koreans and Japanese do not tolerate people who are late, disrespectful or negligent. They will not allow any of the nonsense that is going on now at your company. Swiss, British and Germans are also methodical people. Americans are more moderate. We are not extreme about responsibility — we are somewhere halfway between India and Japan in this respect. If you do pick a foreigner to be a higher level manager at your company, regardless of which culture you pick, and which individual you pick, the new culture will have a profound impact on how things are done which could improve your company’s performance in a huge way.
Even if you don’t hire a foreigner to manage your company, you would do wonders by having one consult you on how things should be done. If you are from a country rampant with negligence, a British person could set you straight very quickly as a consultant. On a converse note, Japan is a country where people are too uptight. One company hired hippies from America to teach them how to relax which is the point of this article. That foreign influence can go a long way. Which direction it goes is unpredictable, but you will get mileage!