Working With Africans

During the years I have been living in different African countries, I have met with many expatriates who treated their local colleagues, subordinates and peers with the highest respect. At least that was what they were convinced of… Interestingly enough, during my field research and during the interviews I made with local human resources, I came across many indigenous working with foreigners who thought otherwise…

Who is right and who is wrong?

Can people from different cultures hold different definitions of what it means to be respectful?

Many foreigners come to African countries with a genuine desire to respect the indigenous populations. They learn the local language, inquire about the etiquette, adjust to the local greetings and they are aware of the societal Do and Don’t. Some go as far as getting dressed the local way and they participate in the local social life. Such profile is prevalent among foreigners working in the development field.

Global leaders and other business executives, who have just begun to flock to some African countries, do not ignore the indigenous’ cultures either. They are aware of the importance of trust building in order to motivate the indigenous labor force and in order to enhance human productivity. This is why some foreigners adjust their management and communication styles to the local expectations.

However laudable such approach might be, the subsequent adjustment is often limited to very superficial and visible cultural differences.

A deeper analysis uncovers that cultural differences encompass people’ world vision as well as the way they tackle problems, situations and people.

Let us examine one invisible cultural difference: in many African cultures, people do not separate work and life. This means that during the course of a working day, it is acceptable to perform some activities that are not work-related: going to a doctor’s appointment, attending some funerals up- country, using the company van for personal reasons, leaving work to attend a meeting with a child’s teacher….

These social duties and tasks are as important as work duties. Locally, people do not have to take a day off to perform them. They must not catch up with longer hours in the following days either… Such approach to people and situations is taken for-granted by indigenous who cannot think that their foreign managers, suppliers, customers would have a different view of the matter.

By reference to many Western societies, such mixing of work and not-work-related activities is totally unacceptable.

Since no one would warn foreigners about this local way to look at work and life, the first scenario of workers disappearing from the work place will be a rather unpleasant experience for many foreigners. Often the next step is to clarify what is permitted or not.

Most of the time foreigners will impose their own view of the matter. Why? Because foreign managers are accountable and responsible for meeting their objectives…They report to their foreign-based hierarchy that translates their local results in terms of figures (output, turnover, market share…) With no working experience abroad and with their own vision of the place of work and life in mind, indigenous staff legitimately perceive foreigners who forbid not-work-related activities during the working hours as disrespectful.

Nevertheless they will not openly speak up their mind. Some cultural specifics prevent them from doing so.

Yet the impact of the frustration is real. Might the indigenous staff be in a weak position, they might stick to express their frustration through less involvement in their work. However, might the indigenous be in a strong position, they might just organize strike and sabotage.

The example that I have selected uncovers the complexity of intercultural work synergies but also the challenges to address conflict of values in the work place. What is right for one side is wrong for the other! My example is not isolated and it explains why many foreigners who had an experience in an African country, become very emotional when they come across a cultural trainer who insists on respecting the local values.

They wish the trainer to acknowledge the limit of the adjustment and they wish the indigenous staff to develop their cross-cultural competences as well! The fact is that when stakeholders deal with contradictory and conflicting values and visions of the world, there is a need to go beyond the unilateral adjustment and to develop mutual acceptance and empathy.

Within the frame of a cross-cultural dialogue, parties coached by a facilitator, develop new approaches to people and situations that imply some mutual compromises.

The respect that is restored from this exercise will ensure effective cooperation!