How Much Should You Accommodate Local Culture?

I spoke recently with a digital designer from a Southeast Asian country, who works for the local office of a western MNC there. He told me how his new manager — who comes from another Asian country to the north — just does not seem to “get it” when it comes to the style of work she should expect. When I asked him to clarify, he said she does not understand that people in his country will work more slowly, they will get around to things when they get around to them, and in general they take a more relaxed view toward work. The country she is from, on the other hand, tends to move at a very fast pace.

To be honest, though, I am not sure if she should accommodate her employees’ preferred style of work, or if she should instead be pulling them along to become more competitive.

You have to figure that this company opened an office there for the purpose of making money, and a laid-back attitude toward work might not help much with that. They operate in a field where opportunities are constantly emerging and technologies are always evolving. If they can ultimately hit their targets and grow the company with a relaxed view of work, well, that’s one thing. But that will be a real challenge.

Many industries today undergo rapid change, and companies that prefer to drive in the slow lane are unlikely to keep up with their competitors. Being relaxed rather than aggressive makes it far more likely you will fall behind. Back in 2010 a friend and I visited Portugal and we enjoyed how mellow and relaxed everyone seemed, never in a hurry, always with time for some coffee and some of their amazing pastries. By 2011 they were asking the IMF and EU for a 78 billion Euro bailout. A relaxed attitude may not always get you where you want to go.

It’s one thing to incorporate the local culture when it comes to things like holidays, food, office attire, family relationships, religion, and other aspects of daily life. It’s another thing to come in and say, “You don’t want to work as hard as the offices in other countries? Sure, we’re fine with that.” Cultural accommodation needs to have limits.

If you are in a culture where the style of work is pretty relaxed, then you might see that as an opportunity to pull ahead of your competition. You can suggest to your employees that they may want to step up their game, or if not, then perhaps they might prefer working for someone else. Anytime you are in a place where the pace of work is slow and opportunities are being missed, you are going to find a disaffected group of people in that population who want to do more, but who feel constrained by their environment; this is who you should be hiring, and they could take the place of departing employees who felt you were asking too much.

Other important cultural issues often emerge, of course, it’s not just the way people work. Multinationals find themselves challenged by local cultural norms on issues such as the role of women in the workplace, for example, or offering benefits to same-sex partners. Western firms coming to Asia often try to bring a flatter managerial structure with more open communication, which conflicts with a traditional view of hierarchy and the role of seniors vs juniors. As a leader you have to ask yourself how much you can adapt before the cultural expectations impede your goal of maximizing profit, or go too much against your own corporate values.

How much should you accommodate local culture? Until it hurts your business goals, and then no farther.