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A widespread source of cultural misunderstandings related to preparation for the labour market between new immigrants and staff of integration agencies is the different degrees of importance labour market systems attach to formality. In Austria, access to labour market training programmes is highly regulated. Job seekers need to be assigned to courses by the Public Employment Service (Arbeitsmarktservice (AMS). Moreover, in Austria, known for its elaborate vocational training system, formal qualifications are absolutely crucial for most professions. It cannot be taken for granted that immigrants from other cultures are aware of this.

On the basis of Edward Hall’s ‘monochronic/polychronic’ understanding of time Richard Lewis developed his concept for which he divided societies into multi-actives, linear-actives and reactives.

Multi-active cultures, which can be compared to Hall’s polychronic ones, are likely to manage several tasks at one time, working  less formally and switching priorities according to what they deem to be more important in that particular moment. For this reason, time schedules and punctuality are secondary to the importance and significance attributed to the specific task, meeting or appointment. This doesn’t mean that multi-active cultures like some South-European and Arab and African ones do not respect deadlines or don’t care for punctuality. It is just that they have to see the importance of it on a personal level in order to commit to it.

Linear-active cultures such as  the German, the Swiss, British and Scandinavian cultures take a more formal, step-by-step approach and place importance on plans and schedules. They tend to do one thing at a time and adhere to deadlines and punctuality which they perceive as being very important.

In the context of Vocal in Need this has to be taken into account as many migrants coming to Germany or Austria are from multi-active cultures to which belong countries such as  Nigeria, Sudan or Algeria. From the perspective of linear-active countries, people from multi-active cultures may seem unstructured, disorganised, even irresponsible and lazy. The impression of irresponsibility may be due to the fact that they have a different understanding of time; the impression of laziness may be due to the different prioritisation of tasks. An unfulfilled task does not mean it is not important – it is just not important enough in that particular moment and circumstance.

The third group are the so-called reactive cultures such as Asia. These are cultures that place importance on respect and gentleness. As far as time is concerned, their understanding is different to the linear-active and multi-active cultures. This can be compared to reactions in handling the gears of a car, where multi-active people go immediately into first gear, enabling them to put their foot down to accelerate (the discussion) and to pass quickly through second and third gears as the argument intensifies. Reactive cultures prefer to avoid crashing through the gear box. Too many revs might cause damage to the engine (discussion). The big wheel turns more slowly at first and the foot is put down gently. But when momentum is finally achieved it is likely to be maintained, and, moreover, tends to be in the right direction. https://www.crossculture.com/about-us/the-model/reactive/

Advice

• Observe to understand to which group your counterpart belongs: Multi-active, linear-active or reactive
• Convey the importance of tasks and appointments on a personal level to enhance commitment.
• Avoid taking delays personally. This is about different approaches, not about you.

Communication

Different cultures communicate in different ways. Some cultures are more direct, some are less. The concept of direct and indirect communication defines to what extent cultures rely not just on what is said but also on non-verbal messages to express things. Of course we can only describe general tendencies. Even within one country there can be variations.

High context cultures are not used to a direct communication style. This means for example, that negative messages (critique, difficult situations) may not be addressed openly. People from high context cultures (like Afghan, Pakistani, Persian, Asian, Arabic, African, French, Italian) will rely on the fact that their counterpart will interpret the message correctly by reading ‘between the lines’, for example by observing the facial expressions, gestures, pauses in communication or by understanding the metaphors used (Hall, 1976).

Low context cultures like German, Dutch, Swiss and American culture, on the other hand say what they mean openly and do not pay much attention to the wording or to the ‘packaging’ of their words. ‘Yes’ means ‘yes, I agree’ and doesn’t mean ‘yes, I heard what you said’. Criticism is freely addressed, negative situations are talked about without taking the counterpart’s feelings too much into consideration because the aim of the communication is to improve the situation or get the job or task done better.

Cross-cultural challenges may arise when, for example a German police officer or NGO communicates with a refugee from a high context culture like Afghanistan. In the eyes of someone from a high context culture, the direct way of addressing difficult topics like flight, integration and responsibilities in the new society may seem too direct and hurt the refugee’s personal feelings.

Advice:

• If you come from a low context culture choose your words carefully
• Observe your counterpart’s non-verbal language to understand how he reacts to your words
• If you come from a high context culture, don’t hesitate to choose explicit wording when communicating with somebody from a low context culture. Otherwise they may not understand you what you mean.

Relationship orientation – rule adherence

Some cultures place more importance on relationships than on rules and the task at hand (Trompenaars, 1997).

Compared to some West European countries, such as Germany, Switzerland and other Northern-European regions, people from Arab and East-European often communicate on a more personal level. For people from those countries it is important to establish personal ground first before moving on to work activities or serious topics.

Especially in an NGO context this task-oriented attitude may lead to difficult situations. People from relationship-oriented countries may not ‘open up’ directly without a little bit of ‘warming up’ before moving on to serious topics.

In some cultures with a high relationship-orientation, adhering to rules may be less important. The reason for this is that the personal relationship is valued more than strict rule adherence. In such countries rules may be not observed for the benefit of a working relationship. If a conflict arises because of disobeying a rule, it may be helpful to engage on a personal level to reach personal commitment. Then chances are high that the conflict will be solved.

Advice:

• Make some small talk at the beginning of the conversation. This will help to build trust.
• Be ready to open yourself up even if it may seem strange to you to do so.
• Reflect not just on what you would “like” to say, but also on “how” you are expressing yourself.
• Be flexible in your willingness to build relationships.

Bibliography

Hall, E. T. (1976).Beyond Culture. New York: Anchor Books.

Trompenaars, F. (1997). Riding the waves of culture. 2. ed., London, Boston: Nicholas Brealey Publishing,

Body language

It is generally accepted that posture and the orientation of the body is universal in all humans. Regardless of culture specifics, we can usually recognise aggression, easiness, familiarity and so on. However, how personal space is used when interacting with others is influenced by culture and can have a symbolic meaning (Ekman, 1992).

It is known for example, that in some Arab, Asian, South-European or Latin American cultures the acceptable distance between persons in formal encounters may be less than in North-American or North-European ones. The positioning of the body is also different: In Arab countries, for example, people stand more face to face than in the U.S.A. or in European countries. http://www.payer.de/kommkulturen/kultur043.htmPoxemic Hall (26.6.2018)

These factors can lead to cross-cultural misunderstandings. For example, according to the protocol, police officers are asked to position themselves in specific ways in order to protect each other in case of emergency. A German police officer would probably expect a civilian to keep a distance of more or less 1m and wouldn’t position himself directly in front of him. A shorter distance and a face-to-face position may be interpreted as aggressive or dominant behaviour. This wouldn’t necessarily be the case if the civilian came from a culture where such a distance and position is normal for formal occasions.

Advice:

• Actively observe your counterpart’s body language
• Avoid misinterpreting your counterpart’s bodylanguage
• Remember that bodylanguage is culture specific
• Find out where your counterpart is from. This helps you understand their bodylanguage.

Emotion

All human beings express emotions such as fear, anger, sadness, happiness and others by certain non-verbal elements ( for example lip/mouth or eye movements) which are universal. However, the  way and the extent to which we display emotions is influenced by culture. This means that there is a difference in how cultures judge the appropriateness of showing certain emotions.

Research shows that there seems to be some correlation between the cultural dimensions ‘Collectivism – Individualism’, ‘High-Low Power distance’ as well as ‘Masculinity – Femininity’ and the display and regulation of emotion. (Fernández, Carrera, Pilar et al., 2000)

In cultures with a higher score in individualism, emotions will be shown more easily than in cultures with higher scores in collectivism. The reason for this is that in collectivistic cultures, for example Asian ones, individual displays of happiness or anger may disturb the group harmony.

Cultures with higher scores in Power distance and Masculinity may show emotions less openly than countries with lower scores because an outburst of emotion could mean disrespect. For this reason Germans may appear quite neutral.

However, this topic is very complex as the cultural shaping of the same type of emotion may vary from country to country. For example smiling and laughing has different meanings in Asian cultures. Of course it can mean happiness. But it can also be the expression of various negative emotions. Giggling and laughing can be a sign of unease, a laugh can hide fear or other strongly felt emotions like sadness or sorrow. Some other cultures of Muslim religion have ritualised the display of distress in the case of death, other Mediterranean cultures show distress more openly than Northern-European ones, but without (nowadays) having proper ritualised forms.

Advice:

• Try to avoid misinterpreting your counterpart by your own emotional standards
• Remember that displays of emotion are culture specific
• Ask questions that help you to understand the situation

Ekman, Paul (1992). “Are there basic emotions?”, in: Psychological Review, vol. 99 (3), pp. 550–553.

Fernández, Itziar, Carrera, Pilar et al. (2000). “Differences between cultures in emotional verbal and non-verbal Reactions”, in: Psicotema, Vol. 12, Supl., pp. 83-92 https://www2.uned.es/dpto-psicologia-social-y-organizaciones/paginas/profesores/Itziar/Psicothema2000.pdf (24.7.2018)

Hall, Edward (1966). The Hidden Dimension, Garden City, N.Y.

http://www.payer.de/kommkulturen/kultur043.htmPoxemic Hall (26.6.2018)

https://www.management-issues.com/opinion/7239/emotional-differences-across-cultures/ (24.7.2018)

Module 4 offers language training for staff working in integration courses for refugees and other new immigrants.

A needs analysis carried out as part of the Vocal in Need project revealed that language and communication skills for trainers and coaches are of particular relevance in three typical situations:

• when first receiving a new migrant participant;
• when identifying a participant’s career aims and qualification profile;
• when analysing a job offer and assessing the migrant’s eligibility as a job candidate.

According to these findings from the needs analysis, the module focuses on three scenarios reflecting these situations, taking into account typical conversations that occur there. In these situations, trainers, coaches and other integration agency staff need to be able to communicate in easily understandable, clear language, and at the same time use elements of the technical vocabulary of assessment of competences and qualifications, career orientation and job application.

Gender issues have been dealt with sensitively by deliberately choosing gender personae not stereotypical for certain professions (e.g. male nurse).

The objective of Module 4 is to develop language and communication skills with regard to:

• using basic labour market system terms, labour market training and job application procedures;
• introducing migrants to the integration programme and explaining procedures;
• checking and re-formulating phrases to overcome language barriers;
• encouraging migrant course participants to prepare for the labour market and at the same time helping them to get a realistic picture of their situation;
• informing migrants job seekers about formal and informal requirements of the labour market;
• giving support in finding an adequate job.

Module 4 involves three scenarios. They take place in Austria and therefore some references reflect the Austrian integration system. Procedures in other countries may differ.

Scenario 1: “First Contact and Course Admission” in which the learner practices how to:

• welcome a new participant of a labour market preparation course;
• find out which course the participant wants to join;
• describe the aims and the content of the course;
• find out the participant’s level of qualification;
• explain the formalities of course registration.

Scenario 2: “Assessment of Qualifications” in which the learner practices how to:

• identify a job seeker’s career aims;
• talk about opportunities in the labour market;
• find out which formal qualification a job seeker has acquired;
• give advice on how foreign qualifications can be officially recognised;
• make adequate recommendations for further training.

Scenario 3: “Analysing job ads” in which the learner practices how to:

• talk about requirements of a specific job:
• talk about the importance of soft skills in the labour market;
• help migrant job seekers gain a realistic picture of the labour market;
• encourage them in the application phase;
• use key terminology of job applications.