Global Talent Development

 

Developing your company’s talent is more crucial than ever to compete in today’s dynamic innovation economy. IOR partners with you during all the stages of the talent management cycle from recruitment through onboarding to retention.Whether your employees are frequent business travelers or on-the-ground in corporate headquarters, IOR works with individuals and teams to expand the skills needed to confidently and successfully engage in virtual and face-to-face interactions with global colleagues, clients, and other business associates.

Country Specific/Working With

  • Recognizing differences in business practices and workplace culture in other countries are critical to building productive and rewarding business relationships. We take this a step further by working with teams to develop strategies for targeting key challenges and bridging differences.
  • IOR’s Country-Specific programs offer in-depth country information combined with a strategic approach to managing and bridging cultural differences. Intercultural Trainers with deep and targeted intercultural competence provide insights on the way business practices may differ in the target country and guidance on developing effective approaches to addressing business challenges and establishing more successful interactions with colleagues and business associates across cultures.

All IOR programs offer the option to include Country Navigator for each participant – an online tool offering business insights on more than 90 countries as well as an individualized Cultural Profile that can be compared with countries of interest.

 

Communication Across Cultures

  • IOR’s Communication Across Cultures programs target core communication differences across cultures, with a special emphasis on building global teams through effective use of email, teleconference and virtual platforms.
  • Effective intercultural communication requires the ability to recognize differences in communication styles and, at times, adapt communication styles to achieve desired results. Even without leaving the office, most employees are working across cultures through email, teleconference, IM and other platforms on a daily basis.

IOR’s Communication Across Cultures sessions offer insights into differences across cultural boundaries: how to communicate agreement / disagreement; verbal and non-verbal communication; eye contact and body language; tone in email communication; titles and greetings; time zones and language challenges. Participants leave the session with individual and team action plans for more successful interactions.

 

Leadership Development

  • Successful global leaders are culturally competent. They can recognize, articulate and adapt to cultural differences as they move through international markets. IOR’s highly-customized sessions target company-specific and team-specific goals for building effective leaders across cultures.
  • Highly effective leaders in one country often find that their assumptions about what makes a good leader are challenged as they attempt to apply the same strategies to leading a global team in another country. IOR’s Global Leadership Development programs address very specific differences in expectations of a “strong leader” in the target culture(s).  Using Country Navigator, leaders identify their preferred work styles and communication styles and compare them with those of colleagues and generalized profiles of the target cultures.

Leaders analyze dynamics such as: directness in communication: superior / subordinate relationships; hierarchy; decision-making; reasoning style; presentation and meeting styles. With an additional spotlight on key elements of the workplace culture, leaders develop strategies for bridging cultural differences and creating more successful global teams.

 

 Building Intercultural competence

  • Intercultural competence can be divided into a core set of development skills. Using assessment tools and a targeted, customized approach, IOR’s programs launch the ongoing development of the skills required to be successful in the global market. 
  • Intercultural competence – also referred to as Cultural Intelligence, Cultural Agility, Global Mindset – is a skill set that contributes to the success of truly global organizations. The skill set required includes the ability to recognize one’s own work and communication styles, compare them with those who may have a different set of preferences, and adapt, as needed, to achieve desired outcomes. Intercultural competence is not natural for all employees, but it can be developed. IOR’s programs provide a unique opportunity to explore each step of intercultural development. Using Country Navigator and other assessment tools, participants gain greater awareness of themselves, their workplace culture and the way their interactions may be perceived by others. Next, they develop strategies for answering the question, “Who adapts to whom?” when they encounter differences. And finally, they leave with individual or team action plans for applying this new skill in the global workplace.

 

The ability to navigate successfully across cultures is not a luxury; it is a necessity.