Turn Problems into Solutions – Four Approaches to Solving Problems
“Experience is, for me, the highest authority. The touchstone of validity is my own experience. No other person’s ideas and none of my ideas are as authoritative as my experience. It is to experience that I must return again and again, to discover a closer approximation to truth as it is in the process of becoming me.” – Carl R. Rogers, On Becoming a Person, 1954
1 – Talk about “Problems” to Find a Solution
When I was a teenager, we had set meal times and would sit at a table together at least twice a day. Our Sunday family brunch often led to a conversation about a “problem.” My dad was studying to be a Carl Rogers client-centered therapist at the time, and I am not sure if he sometimes tried to use a questioning method or if he was just very skilled in giving my sister and me the space and safety in which we could just “let it out.” We never covered anything under the carpet, which is probably why I finally became a coach.
Having this kind of open environment where you can talk through anything is a family tradition that we still live with when we are together. Even though my dad and sister left this earth long ago, my mum, aunt, and I often sit down and talk through anything; we love to analyze why a person shows a particular behavior and how we can solve relationship issues. This is so normal for me that I sometimes need to remind myself that it is not “normal” but rather extraordinary, especially in German. I would assume other families have a more robust discussion around political topics, money issues (how to save it), or even more mundane topics like sports.
On the other hand, I have realized in conversations with friends that sharing problems and openly talking about feelings, insecurities, or areas of your life where you might not feel like “Wonder Woman” could be misinterpreted or come across as if you don’t know where you are going.
This is funny because I feel completely safe and on the right path in my life. I have a strong sense of alignment between my strengths and my life’s work. Insecurities of artistic types are normal because we expose ourselves to critiques much more often than the average business professional. Still, most companies also train people to use words other than “problem,” or we are not allowed to use words such as “drama.”
It took me years to weed out the “corporate speak” in my writing, and even a word like “alignment” creeps me out a bit as it feels “corporate”. Solving problems is one of my roots and hence I wanted to share four beliefs behind problems with you.
2 – Apply Time Pressure
When I think of problems, I think of my favorite math teacher (who also died rather young) and his gigantic triangle. He had the outer appearance of a garden dwarf but was a great math and physics teacher. He even made me like physics at some stage. In math, we had to solve problems constantly; sometimes, this would cause stress. I can’t remember this from school or university, but I wouldn’t say I like those psychometric tests, which are sometimes still used in banks and consulting firms to weed out candidates. The classical IQ tests focussing on calculations in your head can be stressful if you grew up using a calculator.
“Being bad with numbers” is a common stereotype of women and is often used against women. I’m concerned that women might usually not be “bad with numbers” but with the pressure of solving a mathematical problem without using Excel or a calculator and under time constraints. Considering this, every math problem will usually be solved with practice and a good teacher. And this is precisely what I mean by a “problem.” It’s a complex riddle that will need time, practice, and different angles to be solved. Do you like crossword puzzles? Could you imagine an upcoming “issue” or pickle to be approached like a crossword puzzle? Write down all the pieces, paint a picture, and see if a solution exists.
3 – Reduce the Complexity by breaking them down
Sometimes, solving problems alone is not possible. Problems might seem too complex to solve. You might have a machine in front of you and always follow the same steps and end up with the same error messages. For this problem, you need to Google or ask someone who understands the machine better than you do. It would be best if you tried several times and potentially several different approaches. You can write down what you did to solve the problem, ask a bot for help, or ask around in your network. Maybe someone else has encountered the same problem and has a solution or a workaround. I advise breaking the problem into smaller tasks or painting an image to understand the components and how they are interconnected. Are you confronted with a problem you cannot solve? Which steps have you taken and tried already? Would it be time to ask for help? If you aren’t getting help, should you escalate the issue to the next level now? What is at stake? Can you allow yourself a bit of discomfort?
4 – Challenge Your Self-Image
Having problems is often associated with shortcomings and harms our self-image of being a perfect “Wonder Woman.” However, this self-image also creates a lot of harm, especially when life isn’t perfect. For example, when I was in my thirties and forties, not being able to get pregnant nor holding my marriage together in two locations with two careers was a real problem. Until then, I lived in this illusion that we could PLAN our lives and that we had to take action. I might have exaggerated this a bit too much since I lost half of my family rather early in life. I probably thought, “Okay, I will just plan this better from now on.” (I love plans, spreadsheets, and to-do lists.)
Life isn’t like that, and during my coach training, I learned to accept that. I also learned that you cannot change others; you can only change yourself. Do you know who a “Wonder Woman” is? It’s a woman who loves herself anyway, despite the failure of her body to produce offspring, her failed marriage, and the stain on her top. Ask yourself if you could accept a little more each day and what it would take to “be yourself”? What does it mean for you? Maybe start with a small change, like wearing a different outfit or letting your hair down.
Often, a problem is a conflict of two or three interests that pulls them in different directions. It can also stem from opposing beliefs and constructs of reality. If we cannot solve a problem alone, we might feel dependent, and many of us don’t like to ask for help. It’s a common stereotype that men don’t want to ask for directions. However, I don’t like to ask for directions either. Sometimes, I have difficulty differentiating left and right, and asking how something is done best could show a weakness. Are you afraid to ask for help?
Problems are here to guide us.
Obstacles are learning opportunities,
Pain is beneficial.
Approach your day with a small problem you wish to solve, and add a weekly practice to your RockMeApp around solving problems. If you feel overwhelmed with a more significant problem and don’t know how to ask for help or who to turn to, maybe it’s time to talk to me.
Resources
The Social Media Newbie Series – Part 2
GUEST POST BY NABEHA LATIF
Instagram has seen dramatic development in recent years, from roughly a million clients in 2010 to more than one billion. One could contend that Instagram is an online media network like no other. Rather than words, the stage is constructed on the whole around sharing pictures and recordings. This visual contort is the reason Instagram is the social stalwart it is today — “Instagramming” is authoritatively an action word now.
Assuming you are keen on getting an Instagram account or just made one but are not sure how to utilize it, you are in the right place – Here, we will cover every one of the fundamentals, so you can see why Instagram is the top online media stage for commitment today.
To assist you with the beginning, we will stroll through the basics with your Instagram account.
Why Instagram?
Instagram is an online media stage that underlines photograph and video sharing through its portable application. You can take, alter, and distribute visual content for your followers and build a lasting relationship. With roughly two billion monthly active users, Instagram belongs to the most popular social networks worldwide.
It’s hard to remember a time before Instagram. “Do it for the ‘gram” has turned into a typical saying, which implies, basically, “Accomplish something so we can snap a photo and post it to Instagram.”
72% of users report making purchase decisions based on something they saw on Instagram. It makes Instagram a must-have for brands/businesses for building brand image via visuals. Also, it’s an amazing stage for staying connected to the target audience. Remember the trends are changing so quickly nowadays that if you have to keep an eye on social media in real time! (or hire a social media marketer to do it for you!)
Before you get started, connect with your social media and networking purpose again. Remember what you would like to achieve with social media and being connected with more people, grow a following or an audience, and what your one-sentence mission statement is. If you are in one of our programs or work with Angie Weinberger as a coach you probably already know that you need to make a few strategic decisions before you start. You should have clarity on your personal brand, your three labels, your main mission statement, your color scheme, and discussion themes, and decide about your filter already. You don’t just randomly add photos to Instagram, you do this with a purpose and mission in mind.
How To Get Started
To get on Instagram, you should simply download the Instagram application on your phone and get started on your new account by tapping “Join” Instagram is designed to be used via your smartphone only. You can access the platform via a desktop, but you won’t be able to upload content. You can decide to join through Facebook, email, or telephone number. Then, you have to pick a username (short, witty, and relatable to your brand) and password. After that, you’re ready to get started!
Once you are done setting up the profile, follow the steps below:
- Download the application via App Store (iPhone) or Google Play Store (Android).
- To sign up, click “Sign in with Facebook” if you wish to link the two together, or fill in the usual details such as phone number or email, name, username, and secret key. Then, at that point, click “Join.”
- On Android, click “Join With Email or Phone Number.” On an iPhone, select “Make New Account.”
- Enter your email address and phone number, then click “Next.” You can also join Facebook to reduce the time and effort to log in.
- Whenever you’ve finished setting up your username and password, you will be told to complete your profile information. When you have, tap “Done.”
- Remember your Short bio is crucial to reflect your brand’s personality. It should include a brief self-description, contact information, emojis, hashtags, and more.
Bad Example:
A Coach, Author, and Keynote Speaker.
Good example:
Redefining success ✨
💡 Successful but stuck? I got you covered.
Global Mobility Lecturer * Author * Keynote Speaker
🛋️ #HireMeExpress #RockMeRetreat 👩🏻💻
👩🏻🏫 #CareerStrategist
The Basics
At its core, Instagram is a friendly and casual platform, with most of the talking done through the visual content being posted. Each time you open the application, you’ll see the fundamental feed of ongoing posts from the accounts (people) you follow. A menu bar is available everywhere in the application at the base.
The Instagram menu bar, or the hub, has five buttons at the lower part of the application screen. Each has a unique function and will be the easiest way to navigate the platform. This is what each button does, from left to right:
- Home Button (Little House): Your fundamental feed where you can look through photographs and recordings posted by the people you follow.
- Explore (Magnifying Glass): The magnifying glass symbol takes you to the Explore page, where you can look at and peruse content from accounts you don’t follow yet may find interesting.
- Upload (The “+” sign): Select the photo (or video) you wish to post from your device’s library or tap the camera icon to take a new image with your smartphone camera. This is where you get creative and share engaging content!
- Activity/Notifications (The heart sign): The heart symbol takes you to a page that showcases likes and comments on your posts.
- Profile (Your own picture!): Clicking your own image takes you to your account wherein you can see your posts, edit your profile settings as well as view your posts insights. Posts insights are crucial in understanding the type of posts which are attracting relevant audience.
How To Post
To share a photograph or video on Instagram, tap the “+” button on the bottom middle of the screen, where you can choose photographs or recordings from your phone’s camera app to post. Instagram permits you to choose up to 10 photographs and recordings to post immediately.
- Decide your Instagram Theme. Decide a theme that you want to follow – which helps in giving your brand a familiar look. You can decide to apply a filter for each post, which, contingent upon who you ask, is vital for the Instagram experience. Filters make it simple to alter shots with various visual preset overlays.
- Add Suitable Captions. Captions are dependably a smart thought. You can utilize words, emoticons, or hash tags. Very much like in remarks, you can likewise “tag” followers and friends by putting “@” before their username. Remember, you can alter inscriptions whenever — or erase them if it becomes necessary later on.
- Consider Tagging Contacts. Instagram permits you to “tag” somebody in your photographs. When you label somebody, they’ll get a notification in their news feed. Feel free to tag brands/businesses as they will love the promotion done. However, It’s best to ask permission prior to adding tags of people you don’t know.
- Add Your Location. Location labels let others know where your photograph was taken. Tapping on an area label carries you to its related area feed, where you can examine other public posts.
- Post to other Social Accounts. Instagram likewise enables you to simultaneously publish a post to other social records. You can cross-post to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr by connecting accounts.
Explore These Great Features
As you would expect, Instagram carries out new highlights consistently. From a new substance to a continually growing arrangement of inventive devices, Instagram offers a lot of chances for self-articulation and inventiveness. Here are the best-in-class Instagram highlights.
- Instagram (IG) Stories
Many individuals use Instagram solely to make and survey Stories, which are adjustable posts that remain on your feed for 24 hours. These posts, which could be a blend of photographs and short-structure recordings, are introduced in a slideshow design and available through the highest point of the home feed.
- Instagram (IG) Live
Instagram Live is an element that lets you “Livestream” — as such, broadcast live video from your gadget to any individual who needs to watch. Viewers can send you messages and hearts while you stream, making this an extraordinary method for conversing live with audience and doing Q&A sessions in real time!
- IGTV
IGTV is Instagram’s committed video stage, allowing clients to transfer recordings as long as 15 minutes long (or an hour in the event that you utilize the work area variant). IGTV has its own application for iPhone and Android, yet you can likewise find it inside the customary Instagram application.
- Instagram Shopping
Given Instagram’s ubiquity, it’s nothing unexpected that brands are doing all they can to transform Instagram users into clients. As indicated by Instagram, a great many individuals shop on Instagram consistently.
- Instagram Reels
Worked as an adversary to TikTok, Instagram Reels allows you to record and transfer brief recordings as long as 15 seconds in length. When you record a video, you can alter it and add music, text, and enhancements.
Different followers can like or remark on your Reels recordings, which can be a pleasant method for getting more followers.
I know it can be overwhelming in the start so I always recommend to set attainable short term goals and work towards them. Don’t expect to go viral overnight, but stay consistent with postings. Use the right hashtags and engage! You can also run ad campaigns to attract relevant audience but your content needs to be compelling enough that it stands out and keep your audience engaged.
Request:
Please follow Angie Weinberger on Instagram. You find her as angie_weinberger.
About the Author
Nabeha Latif is a Digital Media/Branding Consultant specializing in leveraging online marketing channels to achieve desired goals. Since her majors in digital marketing, she has collaborated with names like UN, Ali Baba Inc, Uber, UNESCO, UNDP, etc., to name just a few. She is also actively involved in providing business development services related to marketing. Drop her an email at nabehalatif21@gmail.com for any queries
The Social Media Newbie Series – Part 1 LinkedIn
GUEST POST BY NABEHA LATIF
With the world going digital and businesses indulging more in online servicing, communications and social interactions have, therefore, become hot spots, especially with the likes of LinkedIn helping Freelance and stay-at-home workers connect and grow.
LinkedIn is no longer a new platform or in its early stages, a well-established and maintained social platform for business-minded individuals and professionals. However, does being a professional on LinkedIn or being a veteran on the site mean you have the best profiles out there? Not at all! Like everything else, each passing moment calls for a new development that brings multiple changes to the platform. So this raises the question: how do you get the professional and sleek-looking profile to stand out?
As an ever-growing platform, certain aspects call for a sturdy base for an end-user, and such can be obtained by adding on and working around a few LinkedIn Must-Haves to boost your profile into the digital world. LinkedIn requires each individual to start by creating their profile, but that’s where most users leave it. There are many options, tips, and tricks to get the most out of your profile and make it attractive.
1 – Use your Real Name on LinkedIn
Your name and title should be exactly how they are in real life. Please refrain from using nicknames or pseudo names like you won’t dare on your resume. LinkedIn is a site full of professionals and businesses looking to get the most out of their work. Hence, keeping it professional will help you get on the bandwagon; people are looking for solutions, not gimmicks!
2 – Use A Professional Headshot
At a glance, your name and photo are the most commonly viewed information regarding yourself. Adding a professional headshot provides the first visual representation of you – do your best! Reme
mber, it will make your profile seven times more likely to be viewed by others.
3 – Optimize Location
Setting your location as accurately as possible helps businesses and other people look for the ones around them, so optimize yours to the best it can be. It’ll help you network where you will work geographically. It doesn’t apply to digital nomads, yet I recommend using your current location as it will help with offline networking.
4 – Profile Headline
We often wish to see a trailer of an individual before we get to know them for a better understanding; your LinkedIn Profile Headline is just that! You’ve 
got 110 characters to aptly describe yourself professionally.
5 – Industry Alignment
Looking for a business that matches your skill set? To make that happen, you’ll need to be more visible. With the right words and by being specific about your industry, you’re paving the way for potential employers and connections.
6 – Get Connected
At its core, LinkedIn is still a social platform. What do we do on social platforms? Get Social! Getting “LinkedIn” the site is part of the name. If you don’t have enough LinkedIn connections, you might not show up on as many LinkedIn searches as a 2nd-degree connection as you should.
7 – Be Reachable
It should be easy to find you on other social networks. This is crucial for checking your credibility as a person. Provide your email address and add links to Twitter and Facebook even if you don’t use them professionally.
Check out these resources, too.
Your Time to Shine: 6 Tips to Create a Strong LinkedIn Profile
Make it Easy to Get Hired on LinkedIn
**Stacking Up Your LinkedIn Profile: A Comprehensive Guide**
In the competitive world of LinkedIn, being a Swiss army knife with a diverse skill set can set you apart. Here’s how to optimize your profile:
**1. Skills Showcase:**
Become a Swiss army knife of skills! Broaden your repertoire from social media and Newsletters to Copy Editing and SEO. Consider adding skills like Knowledge Management, Learning Management Systems, and Talent Management to highlight your teaching abilities.
**2. Show, Don’t Just Tell:**
Provide tangible examples of your expertise. Embed YouTube or Vimeo videos, share Slideshare/Prezi/PowerPoint presentations, and upload documents from your portfolio. Let your work speak for itself.
**3. Vanity URLs for Elegance:**
Craft a sleek and personalized LinkedIn URL. For a professional touch, opt for a vanity URL like linkedin.com/in/YourName, which stands out from generic URLs.
**4. Consistency is Key:**
Make a habit of weekly engagement. Post updates, comment on relevant content, and endorse your connections. Regular status updates keep your profile active and demonstrate industry engagement.
**5. Endorsements Matter:**
Endorsements not only validate your skills but also impact your visibility in searches. Aim for a variety of endorsements, and consider endorsing others too. A vibrant profile attracts more attention.
**6. Polish Your Achievements:**
Highlight your accomplishments, publications, blogs, certifications, and licenses. Even small achievements contribute to a robust profile. Showcase the wealth of experience you’ve accumulated.
**7. Recommendations Add Credibility:**
Seek recommendations from colleagues and friends to build credibility. These testimonials can enhance your profile’s trustworthiness. Don’t hesitate to ask for them—it’s a powerful way to establish your professional standing.
Elevate your LinkedIn game with these strategies and watch your profile become a magnet for opportunities. Remember, a well-crafted profile is not just a snapshot but a narrative of your professional journey.
#LinkedInOptimization #ProfessionalProfile #CareerDevelopment #Networking
—
Feel free to adjust the language and structure according to your preferences!
Request:
If you have worked with Angie Weinberger in the past or you enjoy her regular Club Sandwich, kindly endorse her on LinkedIn for Writing or Executive Coaching.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelaweinberger/
Resources:
About the Author
Nabeha Latif is a Digital Media and Branding Consultant specializing in leveraging online marketing channels to achieve desired goals. Since pursuing her major in digital marketing, she has collaborated with organizations such as the UN, Ali Baba Inc, Uber, UNESCO, and UNDP. She is also actively involved in providing business development services related to marketing. You can follow Nabeha Latif on LinkedIn.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nabehalatif/
Easy to Implement Ideas for Inclusion
A famous Swiss supermarket had an incident where an employee in the sales area wanted to wear a head scarf, but they did not allow her to do that, so she resigned. Unfortunately, this happens to a company that promotes being open and living diversity, equity, and inclusion. I don’t see a s*** storm happening, and it seems that in Switzerland, this is acceptable, and I’m afraid I have to disagree.
In Switzerland, the land of Zwingli and Calvin, the majority religious group is Roman Catholic, with approximately 37% of the Swiss population. The reformed Evangelical community makes up 25%. 5% of the Swiss population is Muslim, mainly from the Balkans and Turkey. Around 30% of the population have no religious affiliation.
According to Wikipedia, there are approximately 20’000 Jews in Switzerland, and more than 50 percent of Jewish households reside in Zurich, Geneva, and Basel. There is also growing concern about antisemitism in Switzerland, as in many other countries in the world.
With global polarization growing, I am compelled to remind everyone how we can contribute to building a more inclusive work environment. If you haven’t yet bought “The Global Rockstar Album,” this would be an excellent first step.
How you can help Religious Minorities in Companies in Switzerland
Multinational companies in Switzerland promote an “inclusive” culture. Everyone should have the same opportunities within the company, regardless of their religious or cultural background. While I often hear that Switzerland is so intercultural because it has four different language regions and is located in the middle of Europe, I experience a different reality. In public discussions, we discuss differences but hardly touch on pragmatic solutions for helping each other get along. Here are 14 easy-to-implement ideas to make your minority employees feel more included in your workforce.
We help our clients gain confidence. We point out that Switzerland is an open country with a long history of religious freedom. That includes the freedom to not believe in anything at all. We raise the intercultural competence of the employees in the companies we work with, but we cannot reach everyone in the country. I am embarrassed when I hear stories of attacks, fear, and overt discrimination. We wish for our clients to be welcomed with open arms in everyday life and in the companies they work for, regardless of their cultural and religious backgrounds.
Since 2000, I have observed that many global companies have developed intercultural competence in their staff and managers, mainly through training and legislative minimum standards. While this is better than nothing, more is needed. In Switzerland, the current trend in diversity training is to uncover our “unconscious bias,” i.e., how our unconscious stereotypes affect our hiring and promotion decisions. We tend to like people who look like us, think like us, behave like us, and come from similar backgrounds. This is also called the “Mini-Me syndrome.”
I don’t see many corporate discussions around intercultural, interracial, and interreligious differences and commonalities. The main reason is that these differences tend to be seen as personal differences more often than cultural differences outside of intercultural training. Once there is a conflict, it is usually attributed to the individual rather than cultural background. Or the other way around: Negative judgments are attributed to cultural background rather than individual behavior. Hardly anyone I know has enough knowledge to distinguish between a stereotype and a tendency (that might not be a stereotype but true for most people with this cultural background, provided they have spent most of their lives in that cultural background).
We should encourage intercultural discussions more often. Awareness creates acceptance in a multicultural environment. In Tourism, we treat customers differently according to their cultural background. By considering a few minor but effective adjustments, companies can provide a discrimination-free environment and welcome everyone with open arms.
1) Religion is a private matter for every employee, and it should not affect their work performance. If we focus our assessments on performance rather than on person, we are on the right track.
2) Minorities might need short breaks to pray. If we use a trust-based time management system rather than strict time control, we can ensure that religious minorities have prayer time during the day.
3) In hospitals, physicians must learn gender-related rules that religious minorities must observe, especially when a man treats a woman. In case of doubt, ask the patient.
4) In tourism, we must learn what is important to clients from the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia. For example, due to the ban on burqas, we might no longer be able to serve those clients in Switzerland.
5) In the police, we need to move away from stereotyping and get a clear understanding of why many young men feel overburdened with life in another culture. At the same time, their families at home depend on their financial support.
6) As therapists and other health care professionals, we need to learn how the trauma of war and being alone when you come from a collectivist cultural background might affect your psyche. We also need to understand that counseling might not be a concept in many of the home cultures of minority employees (assuming they did not grow up in Europe or the US).
7) We need to differentiate the social classes of the person we speak to. If you have an Islamic banker or a writer who has fled from Afghanistan, then you are likely to have no misunderstandings because you can communicate with both in German and English. But if you talk to a less educated colleague who has just arrived in Switzerland and does not yet speak the language well, then you will need to simplify your language and use techniques to check if he or she understands you. Avoid speaking in the child’s language and use proper German or English.
8) To better deal with cultural differences, we must train our staff members as authorities, medical assistants, personal assistants, and company receptionists. It would help if they were less judgemental and more understanding of inclusion.
9) We can get the basics right for inclusion. Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Jains, and many other religious minorities need to know what they eat and drink. You can install signs in the canteen and explain what is in the food. You can offer one vegetarian, vegan, halal, and kosher dish. It would be best if you did that anyway in a modern canteen.
10) Stop forcing anybody to drink alcohol: At the infamous Swiss Apéro, you can show which drinks contain alcohol and explain that everyone is welcome, even if they don’t like wine. You can make it a point to offer non-alcoholic cocktails and accept that people will cheer you with a glass of water (even if that is against the “Knigge”).
11) You can approve extended holidays over festivals to fly or drive home. You can adapt your company policy to give more flexibility for different religious holidays by providing a holiday budget. This is especially helpful in restaurants and other businesses with a large proportion of migrants
12) We can congratulate religious minorities on their holidays. Maintaining a global holiday calendar and working out content for your in-house communication is easy.
https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/
13) We can provide prayer and meditation rooms for our staff. This will help all staff members have quiet zones to contemplate, pray, or meditate in these hectic times. This would help all of us, and offering group meditation courses could be a well-being perk you provide in your company because you care about the well-being of all employees.
14) We can provide more internship opportunities to refugees. Many refugees cannot prove their formal qualifications and will fall through the roster of our recruitment processes. Still, we could see how they work if we provide them with more internships. An internship is an excellent way for you to learn more about an employee. We need to change our policies to offer internships to anyone (and take out the age limit). We would also help women who have a hard time returning to the workforce after a career break if we offered more inclusive internships with fewer barriers.
I hope these 14 pragmatic ideas will help you build an environment where your religious minority employees feel more included.
If you want more customized advice, please contact me at angela@globalpeopletransitions.com or book an appointment via Calendly: https://calendly.com/angieweinberger.
Joseph Shaules and Ishita Ray discuss intuition and the “feel-good fallacy.” This is a highly critical discussion of intercultural interactions and #globalcompetency. Many of us fall into this trap and think having the right attitude or mindset is sufficient to “do right by the other”. This is largely a minimizing assumption, denying embodied cultural beliefs, values, and behaviors.
Listen to the latest episode of the #DeepCulture Podcast: Cultural Intuitions and the Feel-good Fallacy to understand why. In this episode, Ishita Ray and I explore cultural intuitions–the ability to “read the air” and interpret our environment.
Resources
https://www.simplywigs.co.uk/blog/are-head-wraps-appropriate-for-work-absolutely/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147176722000918
https://en.qantara.de/content/germanys-headscarf-ruling-the-things-headscarves-reveal
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499933/
https://rm.coe.int/intercultural-competence-for-all/16808ce20c
Our Ten Commandments for the Global Mobility Manager
We have lived in a world dominated by political, economic, and environmental uncertainty for many years. However, the past three years have been exceptional and challenging for most of us. The global health crisis caused by Covid-19 has brought the planet to its knees. The pandemic impacted all aspects of life and radically changed the way we work. The world of Global Mobility will never be the same. We are beyond Global Mobility and ride into a new way of working.
Considering the impact caused by the pandemic, it does not take a fortune teller to foresee that Global Mobility Managers will have to deal with the blow of the crisis in the years to come. If you thought that one global crisis was enough, you were up for a shock in February of this year when Russia invaded Ukraine.
Geopolitical tension, including in and around China, seems more pervasive than ever. Insecurity around energy, food supplies, inflation, and other dystopian scenarios causes many anxieties and mental health issues. The Global Mobility Manager of 2022 is a crisis manager. All “crisis” cycles show that Global Mobility Managers remain incredibly resilient and constantly come up with immediate and creative solutions to face issues that arise overnight.
Imagine the difficulty of suddenly repatriating an Expat (or an Expat family) who was temporarily on holiday in a third country and remains stuck there without any other assistance. You might have to find a quick solution for someone about to go on assignment but had to postpone their departure. Their household goods are on their way to the host location. You book a serviced apartment for them in the home country.
Teams in war zones continue to work or relocate to a haven, refugees integrate into the workforce, and business travelers overstretch their stays in locations and create a tax liability.
Having handled many crises in the past, guarding the lives of Expat families has become our daily bread. We continue to bring the human touch back into Global Mobility. As I already mentioned in my book in 2019, it is more important for all of us to keep our sanity. Putting on our oxygen masks and working on our inner strength is more important than ever.
Let’s continue to build up our support gang and raise the next generation of Global Mobility Managers through an excellent education with the Global Mobility Master Course at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. I also favor a mentor system where experienced Global Mobility Jedis foster and guide a Padawan. (Yes, I draw much inspiration from movies, books, and music.)
When you need guidance, we all have our favorite book, and I turned to my religion for advice and found a fantastic guideline for the winter to come.
1) I am the EXPAT, your client: You shall not have strange people before me.
Our Expat population is changing. Nowadays, an ever more diverse population is embarking on international assignments. Expats vary in cultural background, family situation, age, gender, etc. Addressing these groups’ needs in a one-size-fits-all policy is impossible. A more diverse workforce equals various individual assignees’ expectations, resulting in a proposition that might be desirable for one employee while not appealing for another. The Expat is our main client. We need to take care of their interests before we consider other parties in the process. In case of doubt, focus on people over processes (see also: Agile Manifesto).
In the AIRINC Mobility Outlook Survey 2021, 65% of respondents expect that the demand for flexibility from the business will increase. Meanwhile, 52% of the companies surveyed expect that adding more flexibility to policies is the best response to this demand, followed by 28% who think using a wider variety of policy types is the better solution. According to the Mercer 2019 Flexible Mobility Policies Survey, the most popular policy elements for which the participants introduced flexibility are family-related: housing, spousal support, child education, and home leave tickets are all items that can help improve the Expat Experience while on assignment.
2) You shall not take the name of the POLICY, your bible, in vain.
There are reasons for quoting the policy, the law, or other regulatory insights. However, this should not be your go-to-wording for anything that “is not possible.” With the crisis, we all accepted that the duty of care belongs to our role. Policies should foster the well-being of employees.
Flexible policies have prepared some companies to deal more efficiently with urgent repatriations and unforeseen mobility scenarios. Other companies adopting flexible policies have found them inapplicable and inappropriate in the context of urgency. In my view, we will move away from policies altogether and design individual packages for expats that fit like bespoke, handmade business suits.
We mentioned last year that immigration is becoming more complex, and it could be that the host country’s legislation has not kept up with modern family constructs, for example. Communication about what is possible and how we can support it is critical here. Communicate openly about longer lead times and backlogs at authorities (for example, post-BREXIT, the UK immigration process currently takes much longer than we were used to).
3) Remember to keep holy the DIGITAL DETOX DAY
Keep a “digital detox day” because your work never ends. We have constantly worked across time zones, holiday schedules, and daily demands. For your sanity and energy maintenance, getting away from all media for at least 24 hours is essential. I practice DDD but have observed with my coaching clients that the pandemic has blurred the lines between work and personal time.
Many organizations have focused on digitization, which means moving to more digital formats. Digitalization, on the other hand, means strategically shifting to digital processes and activities. The terms are often used interchangeably.
One of the biggest challenges is incorporating technology into the business to add value to the company and its employees. One positive example of digitalization is reporting assignees through an intuitive HR system and tracking assignees through security apps such as the International SOS Assistance App.
Your level of digital engagement depends on how “digitally mature” your global mobility program is. You might be just ‘exploring digital,’ using robotics to carry out simple and repetitive tasks, while others might be already ‘becoming digital’ with a formal digital strategy. You are already experiencing success where automation performs tasks humans generally handle, such as periodic emails or copying and pasting information from public or private sources. Adopting and introducing those techniques into existing processes will focus on diminishing costs, increasing productivity by improving operational efficiency, and retaining talent.
Some of the latest HR systems, Success Factors or Workday, offer essential workflow functions for international assignments. Still, they cannot yet run the entire end-to-end process with all the external vendors involved. Data needs to shift from the HR System to the vendor platform, but an integrated solution, which I call “the Holy Grail,” has yet to be invented (it exists mainly in my fantasy brain). As I filled another Excel sheet with numbers and birth dates, I kept reminding myself that this was how I started in the field in 1999. Before that, we used to calculate on paper. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) technology is another exciting use of AI in the field. We speed up transactional processes in mobility functions. Equally important is that automation can also reveal itself as crucial in reducing hierarchical thinking. Read more about bringing the Human Touch back into Global Mobility.
Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) deals with more natural ways humans and computers can work together in the future. Watch this space as it could help us in Global Mobility and reduce our stress levels again. For example, instead of sitting at a desk for 12 hours, we could work by walking outside and taking the Expat Family with us on a virtual tour of the city. Or we can use voice commands to fill out a form instead of retyping the data.
Check out our RockMeApp with a free trial account.
4) Honor the Expat’s Host and Home Manager (and Sponsors)
We have structured Global Mobility drivers and assignment types and integrated Global Mobility with the Talent function. We still need to bring back the Human Touch, and we especially need to align the home and host line manager’s interest in the Expat’s goals and performance criteria.
We also need to remember to nominate a sponsor so that the Expat has a home to return to and a guardian angel who watches out for their interests in the home company. You will have fewer headaches if you initially reduce the assignment length to a maximum of two years. It’s always easier to extend an assignment that works well than to “early repatriate” someone for whatever reason.
Since the 1990s, assignment types have evolved from only having long-term or short-term assignments. In the 2000s, new kinds of assignments emerged, such as the rotator, the international transfer, the globalist, and the commuter. Then, the 2010s saw the rise of business travelers, international new hires, and domestic relocations. In the present decade, we will see the assignment types evolve and diversify further with new possibilities like virtual roles, contingent workers, remote workers, and other future mobility options we have not thought about yet.
Depending on your situation, you might want to consider your primary use cases and create suitable assignment types around them. For example, we started the “Cross-Border Project Worker” type as someone who is employed in one location, lives in a second location, and might commute twice a week to a third location. European legislation now adopts the “Teleworker” as an assignment type. Be creative so you have a handle on managing or accepting our other reality of dealing with every case on a customized basis.
5) You shall not fire an EXPAT.
Have you solved the dilemma of succession planning and repatriation in your company yet? If so, I’d be interested in exchanging with you as it still seems that we are utilizing 1999 methods in recruiting and global resourcing. We should have understood that firing an Expat is never a good idea. It shows that we did not do our job well in the selection or assignment. Maybe we forgot to nominate a sponsor in the home company, or we assigned the Expats without a clear Global Mobility driver. We should make it our priority to retain our Expats in the organization.
6) You shall not solicit from your VENDORS.
As I mentioned in the Global Mobility Workbook, we need to collaborate better with all our vendors to enhance the Expat Experience (XX) further. One ground rule is that you cannot poach staff from your vendors. I would also suggest you build long-term relationships with everyone involved in the process.
You are one team at the end of the day, and the Expat and their family will feel it if you work together like a well-oiled machine instead of blaming each other when there is a break in the process. I would encourage you to search for the cracks in the “Process Porcelain” because most of the time, you can solve an issue best if you look at the process in every detail, handover, and sub-step.
7) You shall not reduce BENEFITS.
Now that companies diversify their compensation approaches, you need to dig deeper into base pay, benefits, and short-term and long-term incentives to have a more comprehensive financial understanding of the implications of an international move. It’s time to broaden your reward skills and ensure you understand compensation models, host-based compensation, and inflation rates by country. As a basic principle, try to maintain equity in the compensation approach. Balance out a lower salary than the host market by providing an additional market allowance or a benefit such as corporate housing.
8) You shall not bear false witness against your EXPAT.
Building a trusted relationship with your Expat and their Spouse will be a crucial success factor for any international assignment. Try to communicate openly and honestly and be transparent about your limitations. Let them know how you justify exceptions, make package decisions, offer specific benefits, and under what circumstances. Show them your “box of chocolates” and give them one to taste. We think it is too short-sighted to discuss employee experience only in the context of our work and want you to focus on enhancing the Expat Experience (XX).
9) You shall not Neglect the EXPAT SPOUSE.
The lack of Expat Spouse career opportunities is among the top five reasons assignments fail (AIRINC Mobility Outlook Survey 2021). I have written extensively about why that is and give you ideas on how you can support the Expat Spouse. Over the last ten years, I have seen no significant improvement in how we integrate and support the Expat Spouse. Only a few companies offer Expat Partner Career Support. Let’s also agree that we want to see an improvement on that front.
10) You shall not move your EXPAT’s goods.
The climate and energy crisis will force us to rethink Global Mobility altogether. Expats want to work from anywhere in the world, and at the same time, moving furniture from Hong Kong to Singapore to New York or flying home every week might not be the best and most sustainable solution for the future. If you are serious about reducing the carbon footprint, you must incentivize environmentally friendly solutions in favor of the “classical approach.” For example, you could pay for storage rather than moving household goods. You could support rental furniture instead of giving an allowance for buying new furniture. You could pay for train travel instead of flights within a certain distance.
We will need to give up our resistance to work from anywhere (WFA), workations, and other virtual assignments, which means that employees can also work in a third country of choice (not the home country or the location benefiting from the task performed). This possibility enables Expats to become digital nomads, no longer bound to a specific location. Implementing more Virtual Assignments also means acknowledging and accepting that working arrangements are changing fast in response to technology, generational changes, and sudden business disruptions.
Of course, there are limits to this as well. The most obvious is that not all jobs are remote, which is also one of the reasons why virtual Mobility will not replace traditional Mobility. Tax and compliance issues can pose a risk, too. The company having no existing operations and not wishing to have a permanent establishment where the employee would like to be based can be another possible barrier to Virtual Assignments. Some organizations are also concerned that Virtual Assignments could hinder company culture and teamwork, with the risk of the employee feeling like a perpetual outsider.
Five easy-to-forget critical topics to consider before moving to another country for work
Moving jobs to people instead of moving people to jobs will not substitute the traditional way of thinking about Global Mobility. Still, it is another tool companies can use in their global operations. We live in an era where recruitment should be location-independent.
As organizations gradually embrace best practices to manage a distributed international workforce, it will be essential for Global Mobility teams to adapt to a new way of thinking and learn to implement Virtual Assignments successfully. Also, the Global Employment Company adage will have a rebirth like the latest 80ies fashion.
I wish you, Global Mobility Managers, great success in implementing our decalogue and making it the cornerstone of your department’s policy for future years.
Kind regards
Angie Weinberger
PS: You can always contact me via all my platforms, such as LinkedIn and good old bottle posts, or you can read my weekly brain dump (The Global People Club Sandwich). If you wish to bulk order any of my publications, it’s also best to contact me directly.
References and Further Reading
AIRINC. (2021). Mobility Outlook Survey 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021, from https://www.air-inc.com/library/2021-mobility-outlook-survey/
Baker McKenzie. (2019). ‘The Global Employer: Focus on Global Immigration and Mobility.’ Baker McKenzie. Retrieved May 27, 2020, from https://www.bakermckenzie.com/en-/media/files/insight/publications/2019/12/the-global-employer-focus-on-immigration-and-mobility_041219.pdf
Beck, P., Eisenhut, P. and Thomas, L. (2018). „Fokus Arbeitsmarkt: Fit für die Zukunft?”. Stiftung Zukunft.li. Retrieved 28 May, 2020, from https://www.stiftungzukunft.li/publikationen/fokus-arbeitsmart-fit-fuer-die-zukunft
Bertolino, M. (2020). ‘How Covid-19 Is Disrupting Immigration Policies and Worker Mobility: A Tracker’. Ernst and Young. Retrieved May 28, 2020, from https://www.ey.com/en_gl/tax/how-covid-19-is-disrupting-immigration-policies-and-worker-mobility-a-tracker
Crown. (2021). Five Standout Talent Mobility Trends for 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021, from https://www.crownworldmobility.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/5-standout-talent-mobility-trends-for-2021_digital-CWM.pdf
Deloitte. (2019). ’Global Workforce Insight 2019.’ Deloitte. Retrieved 18 August 2021, from https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/ch/Documents/tax/deloitte-ch-Back-to-the-future-global-workforce.pdf
Deloitte. (2020). ‘2020 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends Survey. Deloitte.’ Deloitte. Retrieved 18 August 2021, from https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/insights/us/articles/us43244_human-capital-trends-2020/us43244_human-capital-trends-2020/di_hc-trends-2020.pdf
Dictionary.cambridge.org. (2021). multi-skilling. Retrieved 18 August 2021, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/multi-skilling
FIDI. (2019). ‘2020 Vision: A Focus on Next Year’s Trends.’ FIDI Global Alliance. Retrieved 18 August 2021, from https://www.fidi.org/blog/2020-vision-focus-next-years-trends
Hauri, D., Eisenhut, P., and Lorenz T. (2016). „Knacknuss Wachstum und Zuwanderung: Hintergründe und Zusammenhänge.” Stiftung Zukunft.li. Retrieved 28 May, 2020, from Knacknuss Wachstum und Zuwanderung
Hershbein, B. and Khan, L. B. (2018). ‘Do Recessions Accelerate Routine-Biased Technological Change? Evidence from Vacancy Postings.’ American Economic Review. Vol. 108, no. 7, pp. 1737-72. Retrieved May 27, 2020, from https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20161570
KPMG. (2020). Global Assignment Policies and Practices Survey. Retrieved 18 August 2021, from https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/xx/pdf/2020/10/gapp-2020-survey-web.pdf
KPMG. (2021). Global Mobility Forecast: Trends in Risk, Talent and Digital. Retrieved 18 August 2021, from https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/xx/pdf/2021/02/global-mobility-forecast-trends-in-risk-talent-and-digital.pdf
Mercer’s 2022 Flexible Mobility Policies Survey
Mercer, (2019). ‘Flexible Mobility Policies Survey.’ Retrieved 18 August 2021, from https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/solutions/data-solutions/policies-and-practices-surveys/flexible-mobility-policies-survey
Mercer. (2017). Worldwide Survey of International Assignment Policies and Practices. Retrieved 18 August 2021, from https://www.imercer.com/products/WorldwideIAPP
Mercer. (2021a). Global mobility policy flexibility in practice. Retrieved 18 August 2021, from https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/Insights/article/Global-mobility-policy-flexibility-in-practice
Mercer. (2021b).The rise of virtual assignments. (2021). Retrieved 18 August 2021, from https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/insights/article/the-rise-of-virtual-assignments
Mercer. (2021c). Upskilling the Mobility Function. (2021). Retrieved 18 August 2021, from https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/Insights/article/Upskilling-the-Mobility-Function
Mercer. (2021d). Talent mobility: looking ahead. Retrieved 18 August 2021, from https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/Insights/article/Talent-mobility-looking-ahead
PWC. (2016). Women of the World: Aligning Gender Diversity and International Mobility in Financial Services. Retrieved 18 August 2021, from https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/financial-services/assets/women-of-the-world.pdf
Robb, A., Frewin, K. and Jagger, P. (2017a). ‘Global Workforce Trends: The Impact of the Digital Age on Global Mobility.’ Deloitte. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/uk/Documents/tax/deloitte-uk-global-mobility-trends-latest.PDF
Robb, A., Frewin, K. and Jagger, P. (2017b). ‘Global Workforce : Digital Innovation in Mobility.’ Deloitte. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/fi/Documents/tax/deloitte-uk-digital-innovation-in-mobility.pd
Vialto https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6943208654061850624/
Weinberger, A. (2019). The Global Mobility Workbook (Third Edition). 978-3-9524284.
Working from anywhere: A differentiator in the war for talent? (2022). Mercer Mobility. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/insights/article/working-from-anywhere-a-differentiator-in-the-war-for-talent
2021 buzzwords and what they tell us about mobility. (n.d.). Mercer Mobility. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/insights/article/2021-buzzwords-and-what-they-tell-us-about-mobility
https://globalpeopletransitions.com/the-brexit-effect-how-global-mobility-is-being-impacted-in-europe-and-beyond/
