Australian chief executives andfound only 9 per cent had dealingswith our closest Asian neighbours.

In the year since the report,McCarthy says little has changed.

“Australians have been inde-pendent for too long and they’vebecome complacent,” she says.

The Melbourne-based con-sultant says many business own-ers are unaware of howAustralians are perceived and canbe too relaxed and informal whendealing with international busi-nesses where protocols, hierarch-ies and relationship building areessential. The “she’ll be right” atti-tude can also be damaging.

“People assume the Australianreputation for being laid-back iswhat everybody likes, but noteverybody does; when you’redealing with a hierarchical coun-try, they don’t like being called bytheir first names. Some culturesdon’t want to be treated asfriends.”

In many Asian countries Mc-

Carthy says chief executives areoften figureheads and prefer to beaddressed before referring inquir-ies to a junior colleague.

In other countries manage-ment can be more hands-on andstaff are rewarded for doing whatthey are told, rather than using in-itiative, as in Australia.

In some countries senior man-agement will ensure their Austra-lian counterparts are entertainedin the evenings, but in AustraliaMcCarthy says managers willoften go home and leave theircounterparts to their own devices— which may be insulting.

Courtesy and cultural under-standing can be the difference be-tween signing a deal or watching itfall through because of ignorance.

“If there were two people sell-ing the same widget and one ofthem sold it to you in the way thatyou like and one doesn’t, you’regoing to buy from the person whounderstands you,” she says.

“If you want to sell your widg-

ets you have to think about howthey want to buy them, not justhow you want to sell them.”

Michel van Maanen, who is theperformance director at the inter-national transport services com-pany Transdev, moved toAustralia from Europe 18 monthsago and struggled to adapt to cul-tural differences.

Van Maanen, 46, was born inHolland and has worked in Portu-gal, Belgium and Germany. Hehas found the Australian way ofdoing business and the culturaldifferences significant, noting analignment to Britain rather thanEurope. “If you go around Europethere’s more of a standard workethic, there are standard ap-proaches on how you run a busi-ness,” van Maanen says.

“Maybe there are differencesbetween countries in educationand the politics might be different,but the approach to contracts andIT and modernisation and im-plementation are mostly alike.

“Australia is quite different toEurope and it’s isolated anddoesn’t have a lot of businessharmony and synchronisation.”

Van Maanen regrets notundertaking cultural training inhis first six months in Australiaand found it quite difficult andlonely at times because he did notunderstand why people acted cer-tain ways. “It’s different, the way ofthinking, the way of talking, it’smore superficial when you askhow someone is, but you don’t re-ally care,” he says.

“We’re Dutch, we say what wethink, but you don’t do that inAustralia; you be nice. You have toadapt to the way of the people.”

He says the business culture isalso more hierarchical, and he istrying to ensure his companycatches up to Europe and South-east Asia by innovating and im-proving IT processes.

Van Maanen now ensures allrecruits from overseas have cul-tural training before arriving.

It can be as simple as failing tooffer a gift, not seating a visitinginternational guest at the head ofthe table, or handing over a busi-ness card without bowing, withcross-cultural faux pas detrimen-tal when establishing relation-ships and signing deals.

Cultural Chemistry founderPatti McCarthy says Australianbusinesses and white-collar em-ployees who move overseas forwork — or those who relocate toAustralia — most often fail to pre-pare staff for what lies ahead and itcan have significant consequen-ces. “When you have cross-cul-tural training you’re three to fourtimes more likely to have a suc-cessful outcome,” McCarthy says.

“When you’re getting a$300,000 or $400,000 salarypackage in Singapore includingprivate school fees and accommo-dation, why are people putting upwith a 40 per cent chance of fail-ure? It doesn’t make sense.”

McCarthy has been worked incultural training for more than adecade and knows what it can belike to move to a different countryafter having relocated to Australiawith her husband 20 years ago.

She is certified to deliver theCultural Intelligence Assessmentprogram, which was developed in

Avoiding cultural pitfallsTrainer Patti McCarthy has tips to make you tick

VERITY EDWARDS

the US and is used to assess thecultural intelligence of individualsand teams and identify gaps. Thetool is widely used at Google, Uni-lever and Coca-Cola Amatil.

It may seem like moving be-tween English-speaking countrieswould be easy, but McCarthy saysthere are few support networkscompared to those established forFrench or German speakers, oreven asylum-seekers, leading to asense of isolation.

She estimates the expat failurerate at between 39 and 42 per cent,and the divorce rate among expatsto be 50 per cent higher than nor-mal, particularly for coupleswhere one person is not working.

When one partner stays homeit can lead to low self-esteem,loneliness and loss of confidence.It can place unprecedented strainon a relationship, and McCarthysays it can be pronounced if onepartner cannot find a job.

“People have no idea. Theythink once they get to their newhouse it’s all going to be lovely, butunless you’ve got connections andfriends to come to your house, youmight not want to stay,” she says.“People are not prepared emo-tionally and professionally andthat naivety is very expensive.”

McCarthy says people need tobe prepared for the existence theywill lead, and not just excitedabout moving. Training also in-cludes work expectations, how of-fices operate in differentcountries, and how to work withcolleagues, particularly in South-east Asia.

In 2014 PwC interviewed 1000

Action plan to ensure you’re meeting needs of 21st century business

Is there one feature of your com-pany’s meetings that frustratesyou the most?

Perhaps you’ll find it amongthis top five list compiled at an off-site conference by one of Austra-lia’s largest infrastructure

companies. The top five frustrat-ions included people being poorlyorganised, meetings held back-to-back, going for too long, peoplesending emails and texts, and nooutcomes.

When presented with this listthe facilitator of the offsite asked aprovocative question — Do youcontrol these meetings or do theycontrol you?

Fortunately the chief executivewas attending and encouraged arobust conversation that led tocommitment by all the leaders to a90-day action learning projectthat has transformed the meetingculture.

If any of those top five frustrat-ions are alive and well in yourmeetings, then the lessons fromthose 90 days, particularly thethree root causes, might be rel-

evant. The leaders identified thefirst cause of poorly organised andineffective meetings was lack ofownership and accountability.

For some reason the usual cul-ture of individual accountability— which worked well on financialand operational issues — justdidn’t extend to the way thatmeetings were planned and exe-cuted.

The first action in the 90-dayproject was therefore to give everymeeting an owner with account-ability to spend the investment oftime and resources wisely.

The impact was immediate andprofound because the accountableleader created the sense of pur-pose and structure that had beenmissing.

The second cause was the lackof a disciplined and consistent

approach to meetings that meantthat agendas, decision-makingprocesses and action planningwere often done on the run.

A small cross-functional teamvolunteered to create a meetingtoolkit with a set of simple rulesand protocols.

Examples of the simple rulesincluded circulating the purposeand agenda in advance; no email-ing or texting; starting on time;and finishing with a three-minutedebrief of meetings.

The three-minute debriefingusing a simple online tool revealeda 35 per cent improvement inmeeting process and outcomesacross the company, which equat-ed to an amazing $3 million-pluslift in productivity based on hourlyrates of attendees.

The third root cause was silo

thinking, which emerged as twoseparate issues. The first was thelack of breakthrough ideas frommeetings.

The culture didn’t encouragepeople to challenge the thinkingof experts and that needed ad-dressing, along with the habit ofonly inviting people with similarperspectives.

Senior leaders committed toinviting people into meetings tobring fresh perspectives and this,together with human resourcesintroducing constructive conver-sation techniques, created betterquality discussions and decisions.

The second issue involvedwaiting for a meeting before mak-ing decisions.

In a business going throughtransformation this was too slow,so an online collaboration space

was configured to enable issues tobe explored and resolved withoutface-to-face meetings.

People no longer waited for ameeting to discuss ideas and getapproval. Issues were actionedweeks faster than had happenedpreviously.

The world is going too fast andthe opportunities too abundant torely on 20th century meetingmethods and practices.

This case shows a nice combin-ation of common sense, disci-plines-without-bureaucracy andleveraging the link between peo-ple and technology.

Perhaps it’s time to purge a fewmillion dollars of wasted moneyfrom your meetings.

Graham Winter is the author of Think One Team.

Are you in control of your meetings, or do they control you?

GRAHAM WINTER

MORE THAN 22,752 JOBS ACROSS AUSTRALIA

JANUARY 23-24, 2016 P32

WORKOUT

Curious facts A survey by cloud-based information technology outfit Rackspace has found not enough companies are placing suitable emphasis on curiosity in the workplace.

Rackspace questioned 1368Australian and New Zealand white-collar workers and found 44 per cent of respondents agreed their organisation was curious and 84 per cent agreed curiosity played an important role in driving revenue.

In organisations that valuedcuriosity and inquisitiveness, 84 per cent of workers agreed they were more satisfied with their job, compared with 45 per cent in non-curious organisations, the survey found.

Rackspace director Angus Dorney says Australian businesses need to focus on what people and companies might do to disrupt the business, rather than what they have done previously, and that inquisitiveness is central to that.

“We need to focus on the potential to adapt, to change and to be curious,” Dorney says.

“Our study sets a benchmarkfor Australian businesses to understand their corporate possibility and the role curiosity can play in helping to increase revenue and job satisfaction.”

The company ranked 11 human values, including a personal sense of curiosity in daily life, professional contexts and how workers feel their organisation would prioritise values.

An MBA first

The University of South Australia’s Business School will this year collaborate with the Australian Institute of Company Directors to see the AICD Company Directors Course embedded in the curriculum of the university’s Masters of Business Administration.

In an Australian first, UniSAMBA graduates who complete the AICD course as part of their MBA will be recognised by the AICD.

Pro vice-chancellor Marie Wilson says the partnership will enable MBA students to gain an insight into the role of boards and the elements of finance, strategy and decision-making that ensures a board is operating according to high standards.

Leading question

A Hudson study of more than 100 human resource leaders has uncovered a gap between intention and action in leadership development among Australia and New Zealand companies.

The recruitment company found 92 per cent of HR leaders found leadership to be important, although only 54 per cent of companies had a clearly

articulated leadership strategy in place.

Head of talent managementSimon Moylan says the lack of leadership planning is inhibiting companies’ ability to develop efficient business strategies.

“Every organisation needs aprocess for assessing the leadership team’s strengths, weaknesses and skills gaps, which then maps to the business strategy,” Moylan says.

“It’s impossible to do this successfully without a plan — it’s like heading off on a road trip without a map.”

The survey also discovered alack of established talent identification processes in Australian and New Zealand companies, with 46 per cent not having one in place and one-third without a process to recruit or promote potential leaders.

Progress needed

A Morgan McKinley survey of more than 1000 professionals has found the main reason people leave their jobs is out of frustration for not progressing up the ladder.

The survey found more than49 per cent cited lack of career progression as their main motivation for leaving a job.

When it came to what was most important about career progression, 55 per cent were concerned about the overall package they would receive as the most important aspect, and only 23 per cent cited their need for a broader work remit.

The research shows 53 per cent would consider a job opportunity overseas to gain more interesting experiences and progress their careers, and 30 per cent cited the US or Canada as their top destinations ahead of Singapore and Hong Kong.

Joint managing director Louise Langridge says the survey shows professional Australians are highly sophisticated in their ambitions and at the same time, the Australian workforce is characterised by its talent shortages.

Weekend Professional editor: Verity Edwards edwardsv@theaustralian.com.au; phone: 08 8206 2682

Rackspace’s Angus Dorney

AARON FRANCIS

Professional culture trainer Patti McCarthy with Transdev executive Michel van Maanen

AUSE01Z60MA - V1

Executive Adviser to the Secretary for Health, National Department of Health (Port Moresby)

The PNG National Department of Health is seeking an Executive Adviser to support the Secretary of Health to lead the government’s extended reform agenda. The adviser will provide both strategic advice and administrative support, including briefngs, attending to correspondence, provision of advice, following up priority matters, and other tasks as directed.

• At least 10 years’ experience/education in health policy, legal frameworks, strategy development and management, preferably with PNG health sector experience.

• Demonstrated experience producing accurate, timely and concise written products for senior government and non-government customers.

• Degree in law, business/public/health administration, or similar (masters preferred).

Closing date: Monday 1 February, 2016

Director of Corporate Services for Hela Provincial Hospital, Tari (Hela Province)

The Hela Provincial Hospital requires an experienced Director of Corporate Services to provide strategic, fduciary and risk management leadership for the day-to-day operations of the hospital.

• A minimum 7-10 years’ experience in a senior managerial position in a large organisation, preferably a hospital.

• Preferably Masters in Business Administration, CPA or equivalent.

• Ability to live in remote and challenging environment.

Closing date: Friday 5 February, 2016

Long-term health leadership roles in Port Moresby and Tari, Papua New Guinea

How to Apply

Information for Applicants pack is available at: www.abtjta.com.au/careers. For further information, please contact us on +61 7 3114 4631 or at stephen.kennedy@abtjta.com.au.

OPPORTUNITY FOR LEADERS TO SHAPE THE FUTURE OF HEALTH SERVICES IN PNGGreat Southern Grammar (GSG) is an independent,

co-educational day and boarding school, K-12. Our

mission is to provide the young people of the Great

Southern Region and beyond, a world class school

incorporating a liberal education, the Christian faith

and a maritime heritage.

GSG seeks a Principal to replace Mr Stuart Marquardt

who has led the School with distinction for eight years.

Mr Marquardt joins Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School

in NSW as Principal in 2016.

The incoming GSG Principal will be a person of initiative and integrity with a demonstrated enthusiasm for 21st

Century learning and a commitment to supporting the Great Southern community. Leading from the front,

the Principal’s educational and personal philosophies will align with the mission and values of GSG. The Principal

will be a role model in promoting the Christian life of the school.

Download the information booklet for applicants from our website: www.gsg.wa.edu.au

Enquiries to Mr Andrew Orr via (08) 9844 0304

or andrew.orr@gsg.wa.edu.au

Applications close at 5.00pm, Friday 26 February 2016.

Applications are to be emailed to the Chair of School Council,

Mrs Audrey Jackson AM via principalsappointment@gsg.wa.edu.au

T: (08) 9844 0300 E: admin@gsg.wa.edu.au

PO Box 1151 ALBANY WA 6331

www.gsg.wa.edu.au

CRICOS Provider Code 03178E

PRINCIPAL