How to welcome international employees
Get to know the culture of your international colleagues and put your own culture into an international perspective
Get to know the cultures of your international colleagues and their ways but do also get to know what they find different and difficult about Danish culture and about working in Denmark.
Why is this relevant?
Our own culture is our so called “blind spot” and we are not used to question why we do things in certain ways. This course is all about how we as Danes work, our work related values, our systems and what others find difficult.
Here is what it is all about:
It is all about awareness. It is about being aware of both foreign and own cultures, what we do, how we do it and why we do it. An awareness that is necessary in being able to clearly explain to international colleagues what we expect from them.
Participant profile
This is course is for you who, as a Dane, work with international colleagues and for companies who will be hiring international employees.
It is especially for you who:
- Will be working with international colleagues in the future
- Have welcomed international colleagues recently
- Work with international onboarding
- Will be working with international colleagues overseas in for example subsidiaries
- Will be studying with international students
- Meet and greet foreigners in for example hospitality and tourist related businesses
Course benefits
Participation will give you:
- Knowledge about what you as a Dane take for granted about your own culture and what can be difficult for you to describe for foreigners.
- The basics of cultural intelligence
- Knowledge about the cultures of your international colleagues, their backgrounds, values and perspectives
- Understanding of how Danes and Danish culture is seen from an international point of view
- Insight into what defines Danish leadership, management, leadership values and expectations to co-operation
- Useful tools and tips to be used when working with international colleagues as a Dane
- Ideas on how to clarify expectations and working methods when working with foreigners
Course content
A solid knowledge of our own culture is important but often overlooked when focus is on the new international employees.
This course gives you a thorough understanding of our own culture and what others find difficult but it also gives an insight into other cultures and their values.
A range of practical examples are used during the course and it requires active participation from participants. The course includes:
- Danish culture and Danish values
- Other cultures and their views focusing on European cultures
- Danish leadership and expectations to co-operation
- Useful theories and models
- Etiquette
- Denmark from an international perspective
- International employees’ perception of Denmark and Danes
- How to integrate international employees both professionally and socially even when language is an issue
The course is normally taught in Danish
Course structure
2 day course
For a group of Danes
Time for reflection
A 2 day course does not only offer sufficient time for going through similarities and differences it offers time for quality and reflection.
Not a minute is wasted but there is time for the deeper perspectives, questions and comments.
Unique circumstances
The baseline of the course is the daily lives of the participants.
Course content is related to their specific situation and circumstances and participants are encouraged to share their knowledge and experiences which is linked to relevant models and theories.
Applicable tools
During the 2 day course, participants will be introduced to a range of applicable tools, tips and tricks to be used in their daily work and cooperation with foreigners.
A course package
For Danish and international colleagues
The main component of a course package is the follow- up sessions.
We all know the feeling of attending a knowledge-packed course but once back in our daily routines we either don’t have the time to implement changes or we have a number of questions.
The follow-up sessions address both these side effects as they keep content fresh in memory and give participants a time for asking questions.
A course package is does normally include:
- A course for international employees who have recently arrived in Denmark. Apart from topics on Denmark, Danish culture and Danish work-related culture the course includes Danish etiquette and expectations to behaviour.
- A course for the Danish employees who will be working with the new international colleagues where focus is on Danish culture as a blind spot but also on differences and similarities with other cultures.
- Approximately 5-10 follow up sessions where duration and content will be agreed with the individual company.
Customised training
Specially designed for you
Full flexibility
Not two companies are alike and I am happy to adapt both content and structure to accommodate your specific requests.
Adapted content:
The course content can be adapted to focus on specific nationalities and cultures of interest. Depending on preference, content can also be adapted to suit a specific type of business or specific subjects that you know by experience are important to you.
Flexible structure
The course can be held as an intense course over 2 days or the modules can be extended over a longer period of time taking one session at a time. Let us discuss what suits you.
1 day course
Short and intense
When time is limited
A 1 day course is a very intense course with lots of information presented in a short amount of time.
The course is a stand-alone option but due to the intense nature there is limited time for exercises, activities and questions.
As part of another training
The 1 day option is often used as part of another and related training program where the intense form is very suitable such as team building activities or staff training days.
Content
Participants will gain a lot of knowledge and be introduced to models and theories but in a concentrated and compressed form. As the course structure allows little time for active participation of participants, the planning phase becomes more important.