Work and Culture

Why is it so important to pay attention to different cultures in the work environment? What role does work culture play? In this chapter, you will find answers to the importance of interculturality in the work context. Different cultures in a company mean different values. This can often lead to misunderstandings, which is why many companies see international professionals as a challenge and on the other hand, these professionals encounter misunderstanding. For this, CEOs and HR managers in local companies have already been surveyed in many studies. However, the perspective of the international professionals has so far remained unexplored. Therefore, the focus of this chapter is on the study conducted by the authors on the situation of international professionals. Their experience and perception of the conditions in the companies of the DACH region provide new insights and a supplement to the existing literature on the Employee Journey. The chapter begins with an overview of the relevant interculturalists and the concept of corporate culture. Here you will gain insight into the work of Edward Hall, Geert Hofstede, and Erin Meyer. Meyer is currently a much-cited interculturalist who primarily refers to Hall and Hofstede. She shows company-relevant and current solutions in a global working world. This is followed by an overview of the Employee Journey, to create a basis for the next section. The conducted research on international professionals provided many insights into their experiences and the opportunities that companies often miss in recruitment and retention. After discussing these research findings, the transition back to the eight dimensions of Erin Meyer is made to find practical answers for companies. These answers were formulated based on the statements of the interviews with the international professionals.