Managing an International Workforce by Brooke Faulkner via @faulknercreek The worldwide web has also led to a more worldwide economy, and despite recent political manoeuvrings and issues with trade, that situation is not likely to change anytime soon. Many companies have moved toward not only a remote workforce, but one that is international as well. Think of the social media sharing app Buffer. The company has a 100 percent remote workforce with no physical home office. Employees and often their spouses are treated to a once-a-year retreat paid for with the money the company saves on infrastructure. Employees work around the world, in many different places and environments. How do they manage this workforce? How do other countries do it? What does […]

We talked about why building professional relationships is harder for expats. Now let’s discuss another side of the coin – how to create an inclusive environment for expats. If you were Dr. Rainer Schulz you’d probably ask yourself what you could do to build a safe and collaborative environment with people from different cultures. 1 – Deal with your Gollum If you are an expat leader and want to create an environment where people trust each other, you will need to show vulnerability and role-model trustworthy behavior. If you wish to be trusted you might have to show your weaknesses, your Achilles’ heel, and let your team know how they can best support you. You might have to explain what […]

Human Touch in Global Mobility We are robots. At least you could get this impression when you deal with us. Virginia Robot is an observer in our “Global Mobility Academy.” They* regularly comment on our work. For example, when we analyze the process landscape or help expats with their immigration process, Virginia butts in with a comment about how AI could do all that faster, better, and cheaper. For the last three years, we’ve been experimenting with digital global mobility coaching and transition support with you. We are in a good position to criticize the digitalization buzz and AI hype. Don’t get me wrong: I’m a fan of new and shiny tech tools, and I get excited about apps, but somewhere down […]

Elevator Pitches for Dummies I’m teaching others how to do a two-minute elevator pitch. But I’m less than perfect when it comes to pitching myself. I sometimes have to rush to an event and am not well prepared. Once, I saw the issue coming when more and more other coaches (competition!) entered the hall. It was like a movie scene. The potential clients came streaming towards us as if they had thought about it. I ended up chatting with one woman. Then the coordinator asked us to pitch. I wanted to use storytelling, but it did not fit into her structure, and (damn!) I had not even written down what to say. It was a matter of unpreparedness because I […]

Presentation Tips, Upgrade your Presentation Tips for Female Managers with Top Ten  A guest post by Barbara Hesse When I first met Angie Weinberger, I had just spent a few months in Switzerland and was on the verge of a crisis of purpose. On the one hand, everything seemed so easy (a misconception when you come from a neighboring country) and friendly. On the other hand, with great effort, I adapted my gruff northern German temperament to Swiss customs – instead of staying true to myself. This put me in a pretty bad spot for some time, but after I understood how to get along here in Switzerland, even with my character, things went uphill. I also understood how different […]