HonoluluAdvertiser.com | Hali'a Hawaii

The specialist heard her boss mutter “you just don’t fit in here” as she was being fired. He had recruited her to Hawaii a few months earlier and paid for her move and training for licensure to practice in Hawaii, but was unable to emphatically present his expectations and develop her performance.

In another instance, a husband-and-wife team was recruited from the East Coast to fill highly specialized positions in the same department of an organization. When the wife’s performance was not meeting expectations, her local manager approached the husband with his concerns, assuming indirect communication would be appreciated and save face for everyone involved.

The enraged wife was in her manager’s office before 8 a.m. the next day, demanding an explanation for his “unprofessional” behavior.

The above situations are examples of local managers lacking “cultural competence” when dealing with nonlocal employees. Such situations will become more common if Hawaii diversifies its industrial base into the global economy. Then local managers must be able to successfully manage people from different cultures.

Culturally competent managers have a basic responsibility to “meet their employees where they are.” It means understanding the employee’s cultural expectations, preferred methods of communication, motivation and career goals.

In the example of the specialist being fired because she did not fit in, the local manager was unable to directly and forcefully convey his expectations for the position, as is the custom in most organizations on the Mainland.

He tried to drop hints, but she seemed unaware. Unaccustomed to operating with little feedback or clear direction, she felt demotivated and confused.

The husband and wife were astounded at the local manager’s technique of approaching the husband to address the wife’s performance. This indirect maneuver created feelings of betrayal in the department.

The local manager’s mistake was his assumption that a couple from the East Coast would share his culture’s appreciation of an indirect communication of his dissatisfaction.

Both local managers failed to move beyond their own cultural expectations and relate to nonlocal employees effectively. Employees from a Mainland cultural set may need:

• Specific discussions regarding the organization’s norms.

• Explicit explanations of the workload and productivity requirements.

• Follow-up with detailed feedback if expectations are not met.

• Clear discussion of opportunities (or lack of opportunities) for advancement.

• Explanation of unspoken rules or ways of getting things done.

• Training on how to work within Hawaii’s culture.

Jeff Crawford, a management development consultant, operates Executive Assessment & Development. He can be reached at execdevelopment@telebot.net or write him c/o of the Business Section, The Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802.