Cultures in the Workplace

My new job is unique in many ways. That is largely why I accepted the role, it is one of those once-in-a-lifetime projects that you can say you have been a part of. One of the more unique aspects is the large diversity of workers on the project. I think that someone worked out that there were 25 different nationalities in total. I don't know if I can think of 25, but I have certainly met most of them.:

 

USA, England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Holland, Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Mexico, Indonesian, Thailand, Australia. Not 25, but those are the ones that I know I have met. Oh, and Swedes, of course.

 

Putting such diverse cultures together in a common work place is a fascinating way to observe cultural differences and similarities. You do start to spot trends after a while.

 

The Poles and Ukrainians seem always to be angry with each other. Not with anyone else, just themselves. They are exceptionally hard workers, work every moment of daylight, and never complain outside of their group.

 

The Hungarians are also extremely hard workers, working the same long hours as the Poles, 6+ days a week. They are very structured, working like clockwork to meet target dates. They are slightly more friendlier than the Poles, possibly helped by me learning a few simple Hungarian language phrases. I think that most people appreciate an effort made to show respect for ones language.

 

The Irish generally work hard, and they do put in the hours. But their progress is often more by good luck than good management. It is a bit like standing outside of the school gates at the end of term bell. Total chaos with people flying in all directions. Yes, they get the job done, but I get the feeling that they will be spending a lot of time later fixing things.

 

The English and Scots are above such things. According to them, at least. If you asked any one of them about their work rate, they would be convinced that they are working at least as hard as anyone else. That's how they see themselves. The reality is that their workrate is maybe half that of the Poles and Ukranians. The Americans are in the same boat. They roared in to town promising the world, now I am lucking to see them 5 hours a day.

 

Croatians are good workers, very technically competant. However, I always have a nagging feeling that they have just pulled some scam that I am going to find out about in 6 months time.

 

The Swedes have been the most interesting. Their stance in the beginning was very much "The Swedish Way". There was one way to do things, they had always done it that way, and they would always do it that way. Black and White, and so it started out that way. However, after about a month or so, they had to face the reality that they were the people who were falling behind everyone else. They held out for a while longer, but then I think that pride finally started to get the better of them. They started to lift their game and really rose to the challenge when asked to carry out work that they earlier would have flat out refused. I even could see them starting to have fun, trying to figure out solutions to problems or how to change work process in order to reduce time and keep pace. I had written them off at the start but they did come through when pushed. Just think how efficient the average Swede could be without having to be whipped along. It has long been one of my major gripes since moving to Sweden but it does show that, in the right environment, even the genetically lazy can become inspired.