Intercultural training in Russia is no longer in high demand. Once one of our bestsellers, economic relations have weakened considerably since the annexation of Crimea and the associated sanctions. Nevertheless, we continue to run such training courses, just less frequently. The last training was a prime example of a good plan and poor implementation.
Intercultural training Russia – the situation
A company based in Germany, which had been taken over by a Russian group some time ago, had the good idea of providing its employees with cultural training in Russia. The background: there was a great deal of dissatisfaction, the demands from the new headquarters in Moscow kept causing head shaking and the mood was not the best. A series of seminars was to improve this situation and ensure greater transparency and understanding. A good plan.
Intercultural training Russia – the plan
In principle, the customer’s workforce consists of three groups of employees:
- Germans who have no experience with Russia
- Germans who have experience with Russia and also speak Russian, at least to some extent.
- Russians and Russian-Germans whose mother tongue is Russian, but who have lived in Germany for a long time and also speak German
The training was designed for groups 1 and 2, group 3 was already familiar with Russia.
There are also people who work closely with the head office in Russia and those who have little contact with Russia. A two-day in-depth training course was designed for the former, while the second group was to attend a half-day information event. A very sensible arrangement.
Intercultural training Russia – the implementation
The seminar leader was herself Russian from Moscow and very experienced, as she had been running such seminars for over 10 years. However, the original plan was not adhered to. Instead of the intended groups, all employees were required to take part, at least in the short seminars. This meant that Russian-Germans and Russians also took part in the seminar.
Intercultural training Russia – the result
The result was polarizing because it was judgmental:
- Many Germans found the seminar good and informative.
- Some Germans who were already familiar with Russia felt that the Russians were portrayed too favorably. They would have preferred a rosy description.
- Many of the Russians and Russian-Germans thought it was bad because it was inaccurate.
Intercultural training Russia – the evaluation
Russians are people like others, with advantages and disadvantages. Above all, however, they are very different from Germans in many respects. This is where the problem of judgment begins. Intercultural differences are never good or bad – they are just different. But this is precisely what many people find difficult. They unconsciously bring in a judgment because they perceive different behaviors as negative. That’s exactly what happened here:
- Some participants used the neutral information to confirm their prejudices.
- Some participants perceived the differences as negative and would have liked Russia to be portrayed much more positively – Disneyland sends its regards
- Russian participants often disagreed. That was no wonder. They too were evaluating from their German background, and for a Russian it is almost a loss of face if Russia is supposedly portrayed negatively.
Intercultural training Russia – the result
The polarization was also reflected in the ratings: half were very positive, the other half negative. There was nothing in between. As a result, the seminar series was canceled after four seminars. What a pity. A loss for Global Cultures, but especially for the customer.
The seminar leader was very experienced and Russian herself. So she knows from her own experience what Russia is like compared to Germany and has no interest in denigrating her home country. But that didn’t count. The resistance was ultimately too great. Home-grown resistance, mind you. Breaking down resistance takes time, and the seminar was unfortunately only short. And it doesn’t always work. It is not the first time that such resistance has arisen in seminars, but it is the first time that there have been such stark contrasts.
Intercultural training Russia – the lessons learned
The following lessons can be drawn from this for intercultural seminars in general:
- The group of participants should be carefully defined and this concept should then be implemented.
- Participants should have a certain openness towards other cultures – otherwise such a seminar is of no use to anyone.
- Openness is the most important criterion – if you hate classical music, for example, and then go to a concert anyway, you won’t like it no matter what piece is played.
- Intercultural training is not a propaganda event – awareness of reality is essential.
Ultimately, the aim here is to ensure that the resources used by companies are used sensibly and for the benefit of the company. We will be happy to advise you.
