November Special Edition 2021

27 An American VP, who loved Dubai, found himself three months into the job on the plane back to the U.S. Why? He was sent to Dubai to introduce new working strategies to an Emirati family-owned organization. Coming from a transactional culture, he failed to understand the importance of having to first build relationships to motivate his team. He also witnessed a hierarchical management structure and a slow process to integrate change. Furthermore, the decision-making process for new business opportunities was at a much slower pace than he was used to. He tried to bring the organization “up to speed” including reviewing everyone’s employment contract, giving direct feedback, and enabling the senior level management decision making power. By now several significant collaboration initiatives have been signed between the UAE and Israel. The second stage, the operational part of the collaboration, is understanding how to work successfully with your Emirati colleagues and how theWestern working styles differ from those in the UAE. UAE’s work environment is defined as multicultural as only a small percentage of the workforce is local. Out of a population of 9.5M, only 11.5% are Emiratis. They come from Pakistan (12.69%), India (27.49%), and 38.55 represent 200 other nationalities. (Global Media Insight). These different cultures mix harmoniously, but there is nonetheless a hierarchy, albeit an invisible one, in which some groups regard themselves as superior to others. Cultural awareness and sensitivity are essential in every aspect of working life, including how teams are managed and motivated, how feedback is structured and delivered and how disputes are handled. Emirati working styles differ from the American and the Israeli in the following four categories: Teamwork Chances are any team in the UAE will be multicultural and a manager will have to be mindful to the different working styles. Europeans may prefer a more structured approach to teamwork, with targets and benchmarking, Israelis work quite independently as a team, Indians, on the other hand, appreciate a strong leadership. Emiratis, however, have different priorities. Loyalty and kinship are important. At work, there is usually a bond between managers and their subordinates, based on trust. Teamwork does not exist in the traditional sense, but more in the capacity of cooperating with one another in the workplace and helping someone when asked. The culture is collectivistic, and people work collectively towards the goals of the company, and individuals are not singled out for praise. Arona Maskil Cross-Cultural Business Development Consultant Arona@TrainingCQ.com