Authentic Journeys

How Not to Get Promoted to a Manager’s Position

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar) — Thu, 17 May 2012 10:40:00 +0000

By: Jennifer Kumar
Edited by: Sufi Swarup

Do you dream of becoming a manager? Do you think it’s “your turn” because you have already been in this job for the right amount of time? You already passed all the other promotions, but why not this one?

Are you thinking, “They should just give it to me, I’m entitled?”

Unlike traditional cultures, many Western companies do not promote based on seniority alone, but on a combination of education, experience, and initiative. This means, a newcomer on the job can get the promotion a seasoned employee was looking forward to. Why is this so? Employees engaging in the below activities are much less likely to be promoted than those who don’t and work at the company less time.

1. Not showing up to meetings.
Showing up, and showing up on time, sets a good impression.

2. Not participating in meetings
Showing up for a meeting is useless without participating - creating conversations, helping to solve problems, offering advice or lessons on the recent projects, and though it may be difficult, learning to ask the right questions. Asking questions for the sake of asking question is not what we are talking about. Questions can be used to “clear doubts,” collect information, paraphrase, and continue the conversation. Using questions shows the American side that you are listening, participating, curious, eager to learn, and are a team player.

3. Not being a problem solver and taking initiative.
Some of this are seen in meetings. While every day, and in every hour or minute, there are opportunities to go the extra mile and demonstrate problem solving skills. Taking initiative means that one should not be expected to be spoon-fed or micromanaged. Understand the tasks to be completed, figure out ways to get them done, and learn ways to be an independent worker.

4. Taking cell phone calls in meetings.
Although voice mail is rare or non-existent in India, a typical American in India does not know this. Taking a cell phone call unexpectedly during a meeting without prior notice creates a bad impression to the American / Western counterparts. In addition to attending to calls, texting, checking e-mails, and surfing the web along with other non-related activities must be avoided. They will think that you are not paying attention, easily distracted, and are more interested in things happening outside the meeting. This is not an impression someone who wants to be a manager wants to create.

5. Not understanding the sensitivity or importance of answering e-mails.
Never leave e-mails unanswered. Learn the ins and outs of proper email etiquette. Never leave an email unanswered for longer than a business day (or ask your manager what the best practices are). If on vacation, or out a few days, use the auto responder vacation response. For those with critical assignments, possibly having a back-up to answer emails in their absence is a good idea.

6. Not seeking out or accepting mentorship from managers or the Western counterparts.
The Western counterparts are successful when you are successful. They are the best guides to understanding and helping you to learn the practices needed to be successful in the company, on your team and on your project. Don’t be afraid to ask for mentorship. Asking for help can be considered a respectable thing in many American offices. Managers are honored to be asked to be mentors to their employees and can mold and groom you appropriately.

7. Never understanding the true roles and responsibilities of a manager (but only want the title).
Mentorship and keen observation can be two things that can help overcome this issue. Always be open to learn. Understand management and leadership principles intellectually. Take it a step further and put these principles into practice. Walk the talk, and show them what you’re really made of.

8. Waiting for your manager to tell you the next steps- step by painful step.
American and Western managers generally pride themselves on trusting their employees to do the job that they must do on their own. This means that the employees who get ahead show self-initiative and do not need to be told what to do at every step. Spoonfeeding or micromanaging is generally an activity managers in the West avoid. American employees generally feel bitter and spiteful towards those managers who micromanage.

9. Saying you are working from home, but not really working from home.
Working from home is still gaining respect in many parts of India, as compared to the West. Society in India still may consider working from home “not serious” or “a time to relax and not take work seriously.” However, the Western manager does not see it this way. Those who relax and do not complete work, respond to emails or show they have completed work while working from home set a bad example to the manager, and may even get a stern talking to and told that ‘working from home’ is no longer an option for them. This is not an impression you want to create if you want to become a manager.

10. Not respecting your manager’s time / schedule.
“Time is money.” This is a popular phrase in the United States. Americans take this very seriously. Each moment at work is to be dedicated to tasks at hand. In opposition to some Eastern cultures, small talk and relationship building on a personal level is often minimal, and getting down to ‘business at hand’ is often much more valued. Whereas some may prefer to build relationships and work later, Americans often prefer to do work during work hours, and build relationships after working hours by meeting business contacts during lunch hours, happy hours, or for dinner. These times are considered ‘off the clock’ or unpaid time, even if it is during the working day (lunch, for example). In addition to this, remaining sensitive to all the other points in this article will help the non-American worker to show respect to the time of their American colleagues, managers or bosses.

11. Demanding a promotion to become a manager, when you haven’t shown any of the above to prove it.
Find out the job description of the manger’s position that you desire. How can you get to this position? What do you need to do? Maybe using this article as a good guideline will help you succeed in a few major areas. A Western boss will not look at your seniority level to qualify you for a manager’s position, but would look at your skills, talents, and abilities. Do they match the manager’s job description? What proves that you are management material?

Are you a Western manager in India? Which of these tips apply to your workplace situation? Do you have any employees who are management material but need a little extra push? Contact me and see how my coaching services can help bring out the best in your top employees!

Take care to learn what is actually required in your company to acquire a management position. It is quite possible that in some Western companies, the senior employees may be surprised and even offended to hear that a junior has been promoted simply because he/she has actually researched and groomed himself/herself appropriately for the promotion at hand.

Jennifer Kumar, Owner and Program Director of Authentic Journeys, based in Kochi, India, offers personalized cross-cultural soft-skills training to Indians working in or for American companies.

Sufi Swarup is a freelance writer and editor based in Bangalore India. Contact Sufi.

Photo credit: Andee Duncan @flickr, used under creative commons.

Related Posts:
Process and Communication Styles in American Work Culture
Mistakes Indians make when communicating with Americans
How to Impress American Customers

What to Write In The Statement of Purpose (SOP)

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar) — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:34:00 +0000

by: Jennifer Kumar
View and Subscribe to Jennifer's YouTube Channel!
When you apply to colleges in the United States, you will be required to provide documents that you create yourself. One of these documents is a Statement of Purpose.

For many, this will be a document unlike any you have yet created. The purpose of your statement of purpose is to razzle dazzle the committee. You need to answer the question "Why do I stand out of the crowd when applying to their program?" You talk about YOU. You talk about your unique life experience that led you to this career path. You talk about YOUR achievements, struggles and how you overcame them to get to where you are today. You talk about how these aspects of your uniqueness will add value at their institute.

In this video, I talk about some of the things that admissions recruiters will look for in your statement of purpose. For more information check out this link.

If you need help with spoken or written English, I offer individual coaching via Skype or in person in Kochi, India. Click here for more information.

For more information on how we can help you with planning your studies to the USA, click here.

Tips for Impressing American Recruiters in a Reference Letter

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar, Cross-Cultural Coach) — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:14:00 +0000

By: Jennifer Kumar
Edited by: Sufi Swarup

The aspects Americans and Indians find important in a reference or recommendation letter may be similar, but there are a few key differences to keep in mind.

1. Individual achievements matter
American recruiters and managers want to bring people on board that can talk about their personal achievements. From some Indian viewpoints, this is seen as boasting, which is a different mindset altogether. In the U.S., it is important to set yourself apart from the rest. You are not like everyone else from your country, college, society, or family group. You are judged based on ‘you’ and your unique accomplishments, strengths, and challenges. Keep a file of your personal achievements and refer to the appropriate ones based on the application in hand.

2. Quantify, quantify, quantify
When writing your personal achievements, quantify them in the best way possible using whole numbers or percentages. How did your achievement increase profits, customer loyalty, save money and time, or bring about a positive change? Can you quantify it?

3. Problem solving or innovation on the job
How did you achieve your personal achievements? Have you taken a non-traditional approach or did you always follow the book? Do you follow the book sometimes and innovate otherwise? What in your personal style helps you to achieve your unique goals that are different from others? American managers and college representatives want to know if, when faced with a problem, you can think on your feet. You may refer to tried and tested methods which have not worked and led you to create and apply new solutions.

4. Rank or Status doesn’t always matter
Recommendations from those with status alone are meaningless to an American boss or recruiter. Principals, deans, Head of Departments (HODs), CEOs, bosses, and others of high status may have impressive titles, but an American will want to know, “Has this person worked directly with the applicant? How can this person attest to the applicant’s claims in the resume?” In the eyes of an American, it is better to get references from people of various ranks and titles who have worked directly with you, mentored or guided you, or who can personally attest to the good work and accomplishments noted on your resume.

When asking for a reference letter for a job, provide your referrer a copy of the job description and your resume. When asking for a college reference letter, give a copy of your Statement of Purpose (SOP) and resume (the ones that you submitted along with your college application.) The key here is that whatever your reference writes about you should also be reflected in some way in your application materials.

If you are applying for a job or college program in the U.S. and need help Americanizing your resume, writing your SOP, or polishing yourself for your job hunt and interviews, contact me at authenticjourneys@gmail.com. In just a few short coaching sessions, I can help you prepare yourself for your cross-cultural career move!

How to Impress American Customers

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar, Cross-Cultural Coach) — Tue, 08 May 2012 09:05:00 +0000

By: Jennifer Kumar
Edited by: Sufi Swarup

The tips presented in this article will help in interacting with American customers. Many tips can be given as Americans have a particular mindset and sometimes approach things very differently than others.

Here are a few random tips that can help to make an American customer happy:

1. Tell the customer about the features and benefits – IN YOUR OWN WORDS
An American often would get frustrated and impatient if he/she hears the customer service representative (henceforth, CSR) repeat something to him/her word for word from a product manual. If the CSR takes the time to listen to the customer’s problem, finds out the cause of the problem in real-time, and offers solutions based on practical experience from helping other customers with similar problems, most Americans will be impressed. However, as this is not possible in all situations, helping the customer to brainstorm solutions, offering to let him/her talk to supervisors or colleagues, and calling or sending e-mails to the customer later with the solutions are ideal. If there is no solution, an American customer wants to know what can be done next, or if the product or components of the product can be replaced.

2. Treat the customer like an individual, not as one among the masses
When a customer wants to buy a product and is confused about which model to buy, help the customer understand which one best suits his/her needs and not the needs of the thousands of other customers. Ask the customer questions to learn about what he/she will use the product for and why he/she really wants to buy it.
While talking to one customer, if there are others waiting to talk to you, don’t talk to them without letting the current customer know that he/she is not forgotten. Say “Excuse me sir/madam, give me a moment, while I talk to these customers here. I will come back to you.” Or, find other colleagues to help with the other customers while taking care of the current customer. This makes the customer feel good and special, and will be more inclined to come back as a customer to your facility. Otherwise, the customer may think that you are rude.

3. Make sure that the customer is really satisfied
Don’t just disconnect the phone or walk away from the customer to manage other customers without completing your conversation. Ask the customer if he/she is satisfied, or if there is anything else you can help him/her with. Tell him/her “See you again.” Or “It was a pleasure to talk to you. Hope we can help you again with your XXX needs.” Please do not assume that the customer is done just because he/she has purchased your product or told you that that she/he is not interested in purchasing your product. Ask the customer questions, or maybe he/she has questions to ask you. Always end with “Is there any further questions I can answer for you?” or “Is there anything else I can help you with today?” before disconnecting the call or ending your conversation in the showroom and helping another customer.

4. Don’t forget the pleasantries.
Most of what is discussed here are simple ‘cultural pleasantries’ that Americans take for granted while growing up in the American culture. Though they are habitual and may seem meaningless to some people, without these habits and behaviors, an American:

• Will feel that something is wrong
• Will think that the CSR is not well trained (which looks bad for the company)
• May take it personally and if possible, may not return to do business with that establishment again.

If you want to impress your American customers even in interactions over the phone, keep these handy tips in mind. For those working with American customers, clients or stakeholders who require one on one or small group cross-cultural communication coaching or cross-cultural preparation training, contact me (Jennifer Kumar) at authenticjourneys@gmail.com.

American Sayings Used at Work

Mistakes in the Restaurant Business

Crisis for Kochi (Kerala) based IT Professionals (Video)

Culture Shock Lessons from E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar) — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:51:00 +0000

By: Jennifer Kumar
Edited by: Sufi Swarup

“An alien from outer space lands on another planet.” That’s how many of us expats and foreigners feel when in another country – it’s like an out–of-body experience. So many things are different, and we have to relearn all the things we thought we knew … all over again! Life in another country, in many cases is nothing short of feeling like an alien on another planet.

Here is a list of lessons I learnt about culture shock from the movie E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial:

Others should be sensitive to the fact that we are different and do not understand everything.
Elliott, the boy who finds, befriends, and becomes the guardian of E.T., is, from the first moment of meeting, aware that this “being” is from somewhere else and doesn’t know how to cope in his temporary home.
Question to ask ourselves: Being a host national, what can we do to help newcomers and foreigners (be they tourists, temporary or permanent residents) feel comfortable and safe?
Openness to new experiences
E.T. may be scared, and he certainly wants to ‘phone home,’ but he tries to learn about his environment and experiment with the things in it to find something he understands and can relate to.
Question to ask ourselves: As a foreigner in a new land, are we really open to new experiences or do we just hope it is the way it always has been where we came from? How does this affect our openness to new experiences?
Learning a new language
E.T. has to learn to communicate. Somehow he picks up English very fast, and says “E.T. phone home.” Of course, it’s not a complete sentence, but it doesn’t matter. He is able to learn something to communicate to his host culture friends in a language they can comprehend.
Question to ask ourselves: How willing are we to learn a new language? If we already know the language of our hosts, are we willing to adjust our way of talking to be better understood by locals?

Points 2 and 3 can be seen in this clip:
Looking for the familiar
Since E.T. is on another planet, living in another culture, and everything feels abnormal, he looks for anything in the environment that he can relate to. The funniest scene was when Elliot and his siblings dressed E.T. up as a ghost to take him trick-or-treating and he saw another kid dressed as Yoda. When E.T. saw Yoda, he went a little crazy seeing something remotely familiar and started saying “Home. Home. Home.”
Question to ask ourselves: When away from home, and everything is different, and it seems like we are on another planet. What do we see, feel, taste, or hear that is ‘homely’ or ‘like home’? Do those things keep us from truly experiencing and understanding our host culture?
People from other cultures have different skills/talents
E.T. has talents that beings from his host culture don’t have. He can light up his finger, make things fly, and he seems too quick at learning new languages.
Question to ask ourselves: What kind of skills or talents do people from other countries or cultures living in your neighborhood have? How can you find out? How can you help them to showcase their talents? How can their talents help the entire community to flourish? How does their approach to life differ and how can we learn from each other?
Others are eager to learn about us, but sometimes at an arms’ length like a science experiment.
E.T. is hunted by NASA because he’s a foreigner, an alien. But, no one really wants to ‘get to know him’. They just want to ‘collect him’ as a trophy to show the other scientists. Also, people are a little afraid if this ‘being’ is safe to be around. Will they get sick, die, or have something weird happen to them if they touch him or he breathes on them? Though they are enamored and curious about him, they really don’t want to interact with him in a deep, meaningful way to ‘get the information they need.’
Question to ask ourselves: Do you know people who want to hang out with foreigners just to look cool or get a ‘higher status’ but at the end of the day, really want no meaningful connection with them? Besides encouraging self-segregation (which leads to misunderstanding between cultures and sub-cultures) between cultural groups, what else can this behavior encourage?
“He communicates through Elliott. Elliott feels his feelings.”
Elliot’s brother tells this to the NASA people when they ask him how E.T. communicates with them. Coming from a different place, it’s not always easy to communicate with the host culture in the way that they understand and relate to, even if it is the same language. And, in this case, for E.T., everything, even down to basic things like wearing or not wearing clothes, was different.
Question to ask ourselves: Have you ever met someone you couldn’t ‘talk’ to, but, yet you communicated better with them than anyone you ever talked to? What was that experience like? How would you describe it to others?
Bridging cultures comes through true and authentic connections.
In the end, what brings E.T. back to life? It is Elliot’s care for E.T. and also the fact that Elliot understands E.T.’s energy and non-verbal language. Yes, it’s a Hollywood movie, but this lesson applies to real life and real relationships as well.
Question to ask ourselves: Have you ever had a friendship with someone totally different than you? How were they different? How do you think you both bridged that gap to make an authentic, deep connection?

Have you watched E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial? What other lessons about culture shock, acceptance, understanding, and relationships did you learn? Please feel free to share below in the comments section.

Photo credit: ladybugbkt@flickr. Used under creative commons.

Jennifer Kumar is Owner of Authentic Journeys. Check out her program on cross-cultural adjustment for expats to the U.S.A. by clicking here.

Motivation Across Cultures: Same Value – Different Approach

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 00:50:00 +0000

By: Jennifer Kumar
Editor: Sufi Swarup

All cultures have values which are common to the people in that culture. Many cultures have similar values so, some argue that there is no need to learn ‘Indian cultural values’ or ‘American cultural values.’ While we may not need to know that people in both of these cultures hold ‘truth’ and ‘honesty’ as a value, we may want to understand how these values are bought out in day to day life through actions, behaviors, thoughts, and words. That being said, no culture wants to deny that they have values. For instance, which culture will deny that they have ‘family values’?
.
After thinking about this, I considered the value of ‘motivation.’ This is not one of the values I discuss explicitly in my American cross-cultural training, but it is an important American value. It is not exclusive to America. People from all cultures are motivated and want motivation. But, how and why are different people in different cultures (or people within the same culture) motivated? Here are some simple thoughts:

Motivation in the Professional World
Motivation is a vast topic. The source of motivation may differ from person to person. In the work environment, many believe that the level of satisfaction at work is a strong motivator. However, ‘work satisfaction’ as a motivator can mean two completely different things to two different people. Let’s analyze this.

Two Aspects to “Work Satisfaction” as a Motivational Factor
I understand there are many aspects to work satisfaction. For lack of time and space, I will limit this discussion to only two aspects.

Person #1 may define work satisfaction’ as: "Going with the status quo - getting to a particular rank / position and just being happy there. Not rocking the boat, but making it to this place, and feeling pretty good about it."
Where does his/her motivation come from? The motivation comes from predictability, tradition, and process (‘I understand my place in the hierarchy. Things don't change and I am fine with that. It motivates me.’)

Person #2 may define ‘work satisfaction’ as: "I don't notice career development unless I can change my position - either in duties, rank, or title. I don't want to do the same thing for 20 years. I want to grow, acquire new skills, and mature in my thoughts and career, every year. Without change in my position, I'd be bored and never motivated."
Where does his/her motivation come from? The motivation comes from change, new challenges, learning new things, innovation, creativity, among others.

What can we learn from these scenarios?
Both Person #1 and Person #2 have work satisfaction as a value but, they are motivated differently in their day to day life. They may appreciate each other's point of view, but may not really understand it. They may not want to live the other's idea of this value at all.

It is true that people change throughout their life. A person who once was motivated by change may may not enjoy it anymore. Whereas, the person who loves monotony may want to experience change to get something different in their lives, or just to see if they are good at something else than what they been doing for many, many years.

An Example: A Six Decade Job as a Telephone Operator
There was a story of an American woman who at the age of 80 would not stop working. What was her job? She was a telephone receptionist at a hospital. She worked there since she was 16! She did the same job all those years. She was able to find motivation in this job without a change in status for that long.

Reflection Questions:

Between Person #1 or Person #2, who do you think has a personality that matches that of the telephone operator?
After listening to this story, how do you think Person #1 and Person #2 will react to the telephone operator’s idea of motivation?
If you had the job of the telephone operator, would you have felt motivated? Why or why not?
Does your motivational behavior match with Person #1 or Person #2. Or do you think you have a motivation behavior that is different from them?
What are all the things that motivate you?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Conclusion
This is a simplistic way of looking at how the same value is expressed by two different people with two different mindsets (and possibly from two different cultures). There are, of course, many more ways to approach this topic. That’s why the world is made up of so many people and so many different cultures. What are your thoughts about ‘motivation’ among different groups of people and cultures? What are your thoughts about ‘work satisfaction’? How would you adjust to a job and a company whose approach to motivation is different from yours?

Jennifer Kumar, Owner of Authentic Journeys, based in Kochi, India, helps you to realize success in your career abroad when there are communication and cultural barriers to overcome. Learn more about the Welcome to the USA Cross-Cultural Class, or contact her for one on one coaching or specialized soft-skills training programs.

Motivation Seminar In Kochi: Reflections

Understanding our own values and identity

Motivation - The Answer to "Why do I do this?"

Kinds of Household Help Hired in India

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:53:00 +0000

By: Pallavi Rao
Edited by: Jennifer Kumar & Sufi Swarup

In the previous post, I shared some general tips on hiring household help in Mumbai, India. Today, I would like to introduce you to all the different kinds of help that you can hire to for household jobs in Mumbai, India.

Extra (Household) Help
In Mumbai, the cost is calculated based on the kind of work as well as the area (neighborhood). Some areas are more expensive than the others.
Maids can be hired for a full day (morning until evening) or for chutta work. A full day’s pay is a minimum of Rs 5,500 onwards.

Chutta work is about Rs. 550/700 per job. In such cases, dusting and jharoo pocha are considered as two jobs. When chores like cleaning the bathroom, making the bed, washing the dishes, washing the clothes, and drying the clothes are added, it can become expensive though the price can be negotiated.
Budget your time: A couple of hours. (2-3 hours)

Cook
A cook’s payment will depend on their capabilities. They charge according to how many cuisines they have to cook. The number of recipes that they can cook is equally proportionate to their charge. Their salary starts from Rs. 1,500/2,000 for very basic cooking, and can go up to Rs. 3,000/4,000 or more depending on how many times they would cook in a house.
Budget your time: About one hour or more.

Driver
Their salaries are above Rs. 8,000 depending on the brand of car he drives. The bigger the car, the higher their charge.
Tips: Generally, a whole month’s salary is given as a bonus for Diwali. Some drivers who been with you for a while also expect 15 days or more paid leave.
There are three kinds of drivers: Home Duty, Office Duty, and Daily Wagers.
Home Duty – They stay with you at home and take you for shopping, errands, taking kids to school, picking them up, etc.
Office Duty – Takes you to office. Stays at your office and is ready for you if you need to travel around during the day for work-related commitments.
Daily Wage- Paid based per hour or time frame (half day / whole day, etc).
Budget your time: Varies based on commute.

Dhobhi (Washerperson)
The charges are between Rs. 2 to Rs. 5 per garment.
Budget your time: They come daily or thrice a week as per your requirement.

Car cleaner
Car cleaners come six days a week. They charge Rs 250-500 per month depending on what they are cleaning.
Generally car cleaners have other jobs, and do this to make extra money. A driver can also be a car cleaner if negotiated properly.
Budget your time: Car cleaners can come up to six days a week. They prefer to come early in the morning. Twenty minutes is the time required to clean the car.

You can use these tips as guidelines to help you in arranging for particular kinds of household help. Take note that drivers and car cleaners may not be readily available in all parts of India. They seem to be more in demand in bigger cities among particular groups of people.

Do you have any other tips or guidelines that will be helpful to others in regards to household help in India? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments section below. Don’t forget to add in the city you live in India along with your tips for easier reference. Thank you.

Glossary:
chutta work – Freelance work, or work paid by each category of job (For instance these jobs would be paid for separately: making beds, sweeping, dusting, washing dishes, etc.)
jharoo pocha – Sweeping and swabbing (mopping)

**Take note that prices quoted in this article will vary based on cost of living in a particular city, neighborhood, and area or section of town.

Pallavi Rao, lives in Mumbai and enjoys helping people understand the culture and lifestyle of Mumbai and India. She can be reached at: pallavidrao at yahoo.co.uk.

Photo credit: reused under creative commons by- opalpeterliu @ flickr.

Related Posts:
India- America Cross-Cultural Holiday Calendar (Helpful for calculating tips)
Tips for moving children back to India
Tip for adjusting to a new neighborhood after moving (video)

Tips for Employing a Maid in India

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar, Cross-Cultural Coach) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:40:00 +0000

Tips given by: Pallavi Rao
Edited by: Jennifer Kumar & Sufi Swarup

Employing a maid and other household help in India is common. Many Non- Resident Indians (NRIs), including myself, have lived in the West where we had to do all the household chores without any help. However, when we come back to India, we realize most of the people behave as if they live in the raja saheb days, so maids and other household help becomes a requirement. While having household help can relieve some burden and simplify life, it also becomes increasingly complicated as we add on hired help to the list. We must remember that maids want their own holidays, take planned or unplanned leave for trips to their native place, or to attend to sickness and family concerns. Because of this, retaining maids can be and is a problem for many. To make life a little easier for you, I am sharing tips I have used to hire and coordinate maids in Mumbai, India.

Tips for Hiring Maids and Household Help in India:

Find out the typical rate of pay in your area and pay 10% more if you want to hold on to good help.
Within the first few days of hire, ask your maid to provide a passport size photo, her full name, address and phone number.
Make terms and conditions very clear so that there are no issues later on.
Understand what times of year and holidays are important to them so you are aware when they plan to make trips to their native place.
If the maid wants to take a break for more then seven or eight days ask them to give a substitute at no extra cost.
Hire them through someone you or your family knows. These days a lot of household help is involved in robberies. Never ever get used to them. From time to time work alongside them. This will help you keep those muscles flexed and 'keep in touch 'with how things are done.
Refrain from hiring help from the same family. If both husband and wife work for you, they will take leave around the same time. If you fire one of them for any reason, you are retaining one resenting partner at home.
Be aware of the holidays in your area and always give tips on major holidays like Diwali. A good tip in metros is a whole month’s salary, or something equally valuable. [Only after the help has stayed with you for a year or more.] A tip is also calculated based on the area you live, and what others give. Ask around so you are giving enough and not giving too much.
If your maid is coughing a lot or doesn’t look 'healthy,' do get a routine blood check up done at your own cost.
Schedule your staff/help to come early in the morning or evenings. This frees up your afternoon for your own commitments. For weekend help, ask them to come a bit later in the morning or early afternoon so you can relax.
Avoid discussing personal matters with them or in car when they are present; especially monetary transactions.
Opt for literate help as far as possible.
Salaries mentioned are for experienced literate help over 18 years of age. Refrain from hiring underage kids who are easily available at cheaper pay.

Please use these tips as guidelines for hiring household help. When moving into your new area, do consult with your neighbors about their experiences to get the most up-to-date relevant information. In addition to general tips, there are also some guidelines to consider when hiring particular types of household help. I will discuss them in the next post. Thank you for reading.

Do you have any other tips or guidelines that will be helpful to others in regards to household help in India? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments section below. Don’t forget to add the name of the city you live in along with your tips, for easy reference. Thank you.

Glossary:
raja saheb – Kings who did not do any household chores during their reign.

**Take note that prices quoted in this article will vary based on cost of living in a particular city, neighborhood, area or section of town.

Pallavi Rao, lives in Mumbai and enjoys helping people understand the culture and lifestyle of Mumbai and India. She can be reached at: pallavidrao at yahoo.co.uk.

photo credit: locket479 @flickr used under creative commons.

Related Posts:
India- America Cross-Cultural Holiday Calendar

Diwali - What is it, how's it celebrated, stories about the days of Diwali
Tips for moving children back to India
Tip for adjusting to a new neighborhood after moving (video)

Achieving YOUR Spoken English Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar, Cross-Cultural Coach) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:26:00 +0000

Completing 20 hours of intense one on one Spoken English Coaching is no small feat. Dedicating time to meet, undertaking the personalized assignments and using English in everyday, practical social and professional situations outside sessions are all key to completing and achieving goals in this form of conversational English coaching.

At the end of a cycle of classes (usually 10 class, 2 hours each), a coachee feels progress has been made and their confidence in using the language has helped them personally and professionally. Not only is the student proud and relieved to notice this tangible progress, but I as the coach is also overjoyed and extremely proud for the coachee.

Though many coachees have completed 20 hours of coaching, recently, a coachee in India requested a certificate of recognition from me. Being I am in a new culture, and a cross-cultural coach, I understood the cultural importance in India of such a certificate, and agreed to issue him a first personalized certificate.

Going through this process was an amazing experience for me as the coach, and I can only suggest the same of my coachee. I am reprinting the following photos with permission of the coachee. Thanks Hari! I hope I have given you at least half the gift you have given me by allowing me to help you on your path of achieving your goals and dreams!

Read what this coachee's Outsourcing partner who hired me had to say about this experience.

Disclaimer: As all services through Authentic Journeys are confidential (see confidentiality agreement), all photos, names, or identifying information on the website is always used with previous permission of the person being named.

Jennifer Kumar, coach, is based in Kochi, India. If you have questions about individualized sessions in spoken English coaching, e-mail me at authenticjourneys at gmail dot com or learn more by reading the frequently asked questions. Through an honest self-test, we work together to close the gaps between your current English fluency and your ideal English fluency. More about this gap analysis in this video.

Help for NRIs in Munich, Germany

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar, Cross-Cultural Coach) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 07:59:00 +0000

Interview by: Jennifer Kumar

Edited by: Sufi Swarup

Johanna Marius Languages + Intercultural Training is a good resource for Indians moving to Munich, Germany. Non-resident Indians (NRIs), other immigrants, and newcomers can find a wealth of information here that will help them to adjust and find comfort in their ‘home away from home’. In my attempt to share worldwide resources to help Indians who live abroad, I would like to introduce this organization to you.. If you live in the Munich area, you may be interested in the program listed at the bottom of this post.

Here are a few FAQs that will give you some information about this crucial resource:

What inspired your organization to work specifically with Indians?
The idea of developing a program specifically for Indian women was conceived after a chance meeting with Ms Radha Shah. Radha is a language and intercultural trainer who went through her own challenges of settling down in Germany and felt a latent demand for a program like “Ghulo Milo Integrate Karo”.

How many Indians live in the Munich area?
According to the statistical office in Munich, 3.291 (almost four thousand) Indians were living in Munich in February 2012.

From how far away do Indians come for programs in your office?
At the moment, “Ghulo Milo Integrate Karo” is situatedin Munich and caters to the demands of Indians in and around Munich.

How do Indians find out about the programs in your office?
Our programs are marketed on platforms frequented by Indians, be it online platforms or local events for Indians. We also do extensive mailer campaigns. Last, but not the least, our programs get publicity through word of mouth advertising.

Besides this program, what other services do you have available for Indians?
Indian customers also enjoy our Business English courses which are “interculturally intelligent”. That means we don`t only teach the relevant grammar and vocabulary for business settings but, focus on the communication style. We teach Indians what Germans like to talk about and how to build a relationship with them. We also have Indians in our team building seminars where we implement a common work culture to boost international cooperation.

What feedback have you received from your Indian customers?
We often hear that we are emotionally open and caring and that they never expected to learn so much.

What are the other groups of immigrants you help?
We help immigrants of all nationalities.

Editor’s note: For instance, they attempt to help newcomers understand the different cross-cultural communication styles. This video, How to Present Internationally demonstrates three different styles. Do you recognize the differences in the German, USA, and British styles of communication as presented in the video?

Do you help Germans who relocate to Munich or focus on immigrants?
The focus is on immigrants.

What are some services you have provided to Indians/foreigners that are different or unique?
“Ghulo Milo Integrate Karo” is unique in the sense that it is not just another German language program. It combines language with essential information required for settling in, intercultural inputs, exposure to real life situations through excursions, and a lot more.

What compels a person to sign up for your service?
People see value in our programs because they are customer-centric and are designed with empathy to their needs. Most importantly, the trainers in the program are people who themselves have taken the journey and are therefore, knowledgeable and completely tuned in.

Johanna Marius Languages + Intercultural Training is presenting a unique program for Indians shifting to Munich. "Ghulo Milo Integrate Karo" is a program specifically targeted at Indian women and is conducted by Indian expats and experienced locals.

This is a six week program combining German language (practical and important topics up to A1 level), essential information for a peaceful stay in Germany, cultural inputs, excursions with an opportunity to practice the language learnt, and a lot more.

Ghulo Milo Integrate Karo welcomes you to join them for an informative session on April 20, 2012. It’s an excellent opportunity to find out more about the scope of their program.

Time: 5.00 PM – 7.00 PM

Address: 81543 Munich, Freibadstr. 30 (U1/U2 Kolumbusplatz)Read more details about "Ghulo Milo Integrate Karo"here.

The Johanna Marius Languages + Intercultural Training team,

photo, right. From left to right: Johanna Marius, Radha Shah und Sophie Appl.

Additional links"
Go Global with Business Interculture!

More expat, NRI, and cross-cultural resources here.

Stepping Outside the Normal Purview of Life to Create Change

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar, Cross-Cultural Coach) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 20:44:00 +0000

By: Jennifer Kumar
Edited by: Sufi Swarup

When I think of those whom I have coached, these words and thoughts come to my mind:

• Eager
• Enthusiastic
• Self-motivated
• Taking initiative
• Probing deeper
• Insight and foresight
• Desire to go the extra mile
• Sensitive and compassionate
• Able to give and take, learn and teach
• Exposing vulnerability to learn and grow
• Always having an attitude of gratitude
• Respect and patience for the process (This is not easy when one is impatient to see and experience change! Kudos!)

I am honored, blessed, and humbled by those who have come to me for short or long term coaching. I am also thankful for those who have contacted me for coaching but, are yet to start. It takes a certain vulnerability to approach someone for help. I am honored that you chose to approach me.

I am writing this ‘thank you’ note because almost everyday I am reminded of the lessons and insights given to me by my coachees. These inspiring individuals decided to step outside the normal purview of life and take the extra step to create change and meaning in their life.

Though I appreciate all prospective, current, and past coachees, I am particularly moved to share with you the insight of a few coachees.

My recent coachee, Hari lives in Kochi, India. Four years into his career as a PHP developer, Hari makes the most of every learning opportunity he gets. This intelligent young man recently wrote about his one-year anniversary at his job. You can read his blog about his experience by clicking here.

Sajitha is an Indian from Kerala living in the U.S. She inspires me on so many levels. Read about her experiences adjusting to the American ways and the sacrifices she had to make.

Chiyomi is Japanese. She was living in the U.S for a few years. She was one of my first coachees and will always inspire me to be the best person I can be! Read a little about her experience in adjusting to the U.S culture by clicking here.

To read the success stories of all my past clients, click here.

Thank you for spending your valuable time on this blog.

Have a wonderful day!!

Understanding the Confusing U.S. American Culture: The Scheduled, Relaxing Vacation!?

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar, Cross-Cultural Coach) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:09:00 +0000

Real-Life American Culture Lesson by: Jennifer Kumar
Edited by: Sufi Swarup

One of the values of the American society that newcomers must know is “Work Hard & Play Hard.”

Americans have tightly packed schedules, day in and day out. Many times things get ‘checked off’ on a to-do list. These include activities and events typically known as ‘fun and relaxing’. Time off work, whether it’s a typical workday, a weekend, or a longer vacation is of process, procedure, and the time is broken into small blocks of scheduled activities. Some of these activities are scheduled based on the family’s organizational and planning skills, while the others are planned and purchased fun activities. These activities may be scenic train rides, group tours, zip line rides, amusement park rides, or other planned and paid vacation activities.

This incessant, almost obsessive need to have things prepackaged, planned, and prepared (ready-to-use) was highlighted in an episode of Phineas and Ferb. I like this cartoon as it often portrays the humor or absurdity in ordinary American activities. In this episode, the family takes a vacation to Hawaii. In the video below at 5 minute 24 second mark, Candace, the teenage daughter is relaxing poolside while a hotel employee announces ‘yoga classes’ that are supposed to help one relax in a controlled environment. Candace replies, “Pathetic, isn’t it? Some people don’t have the discipline to relax on their own. They need to take a… Who are you kidding? You’re takin’ a class!” But like most Americans, she is relieved to actually partake in a relaxing activity with parameters and goes to join the crowd.

I think this value stems from the Puritan work ethic followed by the early settlers of the US. The settlers couldn’t relax as they were setting up their new home. Any chance of relaxation was taken as a sin because the new environment was so unpredictable. The only way to make sense out of this unpredictability was to create structure, process, and ‘busy work’. This seems to be a hallmark of the American culture. To learn more about the other cultural values, behavior, and mindset of Americans, in preparation for your visit, move, or expat work assignment to the US, check out the comprehensive online e-learning program “Living and Working in the U.S.”

Thank you for your time.

Jennifer Kumar is a cross-cultural trainer based in Kochi, India. She specializes in helping students, families and career-minded people transition between cultures. More about her services here.

How is it done in India?

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar, Cross-Cultural Coach) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:13:00 +0000

Book Review by: Jennifer Kumar
Edited by: Sufi Swarup

Living in another country is very different from visiting. We may have an option to visit an international location before moving there; but this introduction may or may not always prepare us for living day in and day out in a totally different environment. The things that we took for granted back home; the things we did out of habit and assumed that they were the same everywhere are suddenly so different. We feel like a fish out of water and find the simplest of things frustrating and overwhelming. We may look for advice from other expats or locals. Some of us have the opportunity of attending cross-cultural training before going or reading a few books to prepare ourselves. One such book that addresses some of these practical tips for daily life is Living and Working in India by Kris Rao and Ian Beadham.

A few questions the book answers are:
• How does immigration and identity work in India? What do I need to do to register myself? Are there any formalities to follow before leaving India?
• Who is allowed to rent apartments and what is the process of renting?
• What types of food are available at restaurants and with street vendors?
• How does public transportation work in India? What safety issues/measures must I keep in mind?
• What are the services found in an Indian post office?
• How to dial a phone and emergency phone numbers?
• How do students, unmarried, or married people in India socialize and have fun with friends?
• How is Indian English unique? What phrases or words must we be aware of?
• What kinds of things do I need to set up my living space in India? Where can I buy the items that I need?

As a foreign woman married into an Indian family, living in a second tier city in India, I found the information on safety, especially safety for women, lacking. Though there are safety tips sprinkled throughout the book, it seems to ignore the fact that women have to take additional measures to stay safe.

Since India varies widely, and a majority of expats may tend to gravitate to particular areas that may not be as traditional or conservative, the book does not address safety tips for female expats who may live in more traditional and conservative areas. This is a topic that authors should seriously research through talking to female expats, NRI women, and also to local women in various areas of India. This will help them learn of the precautions that women in India take as many of these precautions may not be taken by foreign women or NRIs living abroad.

Overall, I recommend this book for any foreigner or NRI moving to India as an expat worker, student, or trailing spouse. The positive and practical tips definitely outweigh any shortcomings of the book. Thank you to the authors for allowing me to read and review this book on Authentic Journeys.

Spring Ahead & Fall Back: What is Daylight Savings Time?

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 23:16:00 +0000

by Jennifer Kumar
This article appeared in Midweek Magazine (Canada), 2012.

Every spring and fall the clocks are changed in the United States (U.S.). in almost all states. People that come to the US from abroad may not have day light savings time in their countries. At the end of this article is a map that shows which countries participate in daylight savings time.

In this article, I hope to provide a tutorial to international students, expats, foreigners and others new to America about daylight savings time (DST).

What is daylight savings time?
Day light savings time is a way to change the clock time ahead one hour (in the spring) or back one hour (in the fall) to 'save time'. Originally, "they" claim this was done for farmers, but now-a-days I think it's done more for social reasons. A few being:

1) Kids will not have to go to school in the dark (especially in fall/winter).
2) So we have more light in the mornings in the winter (coincides with #1).
3) So kids can 'trick or treat' on Halloween when it's still light out. (They changed day light savings time in 2009 from October to November for this reason.)
4) So it stays bright out later in the summer so we can enjoy the summer weather with longer daylight.

Maybe there are other reasons, these are my guesses.

When do we observe daylight savings time?
In the spring- Second Sunday in March at 2am local time.

In the fall- First Sunday in November at 2am local time.

How do we observe daylight savings time? What do we do?
In the spring at 2am on the second Sunday in March, we should turn our clocks ahead. So instead of it being 2am at 2am it will now be 3am. We loose one hour of time that weekend.

In the fall at 2am on the fist Sunday in November, we should turn our clocks back. So instead of it being 2am at 2am it will now be 1am. We gain one hour of time that weekend.

Does one have to do it at 2am?
Well, no, though it will make the alarm clock wake you up at the right time Sunday if you do! We can do it when we fall asleep the night before so our alarm will wake us up in the morning. We do not have to get up at 2am to change it this way.

If I forget or am confused how do I know the correct time?
There are a few tricks if this is confusing! Breathe a sigh of relief!

Firstly, if you have computers or cell phones, these modern devices can change the time automatically as long as you have set them up to the right time zone.

Secondly, turn on the TV news as soon as you get up. Most news stations have a clock somewhere on the screen. When we see this, we can get the right time!

After this, remember to manually change all clocks that have times on them, this includes
- watches
- microwaves/ ovens
- alarm clocks
- clocks in cars
- wrist watches
- any other gadget with a clock/watch on it!

How does DST affect our family and friends abroad?
Our friends and family abroad want to call us in America. We want to call them. But, don't forget though our time has changed, theirs may not have, so keep track of the time by visiting this website and putting in your local current time to compare against where you want to call.

World Clock- Time Zones on timeanddate.com

When are the days and dates of DST for 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015?
2012
Spring ahead - March 11
Fall back - November 4

2013
Spring ahead - March 10
Fall back - November 3

2014
Spring ahead - March 9
Fall back - November 2

2015
Spring ahead - March 8
Fall back - November 1

Author of this post and owner of this blog; Jennifer Kumar, CC, MSW, is a cross-cultural coach helping people find comfort in foreign lands through multicultural advising, interfaith coaching, expat mentoring, English as Second Language conversational and life skills coaching and more! Contact her for more information at authenticjourneys at gmail dot com.

Images in this post:

IPhone Courtesy Peter Ouwerkerk @flickr.
Map Courtesy Wikipedia

Thanks for your valuable time.

4 Mistakes to Avoid in the Restaurant Business

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar, Cross-Cultural Coach) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 19:28:00 +0000

By: Jennifer Kumar
Edited by: Sufi Swarup

Baja Fresh, a casual Mexican dining chain was featured in one episode of Undercover Boss. Throughout the episode we learn a few things that employees can do to improve customer service and the overall reputation of the restaurant in an American context.

Keeping with the Status Quo and Not Trying Different Approaches

Baja Fresh, like other chain eateries are based on a cookie-cutter concept. In this concept, there are many aspects that are copied from individual store to individual store. However, customer demographic and need may differ based on many factors. An apt manager and line employees can take this into account while creating unique programs to fit the needs of the unique demographic. For instance, in the episode, Carrie who works in the Boise, Idaho store, has implemented various schemes like lunch delivery and catering to make life a bit easier for her customers. Jose, in Mesa, Arizona thanks regular customers for their patronage by buying them a free lunch from time to time.

Doing these atypical things can be risky, or they can reap great rewards; improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. Happy customers are repeat customers. Happy customers are more apt to bring in new customers to share in the experience they enjoyed. It is because of innovative customer strategies which may break the normal process that some franchises in a chain can excel while others do not.

(Learn more about American values and cultural variables and

how they will impact your expat assignment to the USA.)

Relying on Coupons or Promotions

Carrie in Boise mentioned that when their location opened initially they provided the guests a plethora of coupon offers. While these offers encouraged sales, they discouraged the customers paying the regular prices of the menu items. Due to this, over time the promotions devalued the brand. When this happened, she had to think of new ways to restructure the menu options and prices so that the location did not lose money, but was able to sell product at the correct price to maintain a particular profit margin.

This lesson is very important for many businesses. It may seem attractive to offer discounts, coupons, promotions and lower prices than a competitor. However, when this is done over a span of time, customers rely on this and do not appreciate the actual value of what they are buying. Promotions not only hurt the locations relying on them to bring in customers, but can adversely affect the entire industry, bring prices, revenue and profit down for people across the industry.

Not Apologizing to Customers for Lackluster and Bad Service
When customer service is not up to mark, customers become disgruntled and do not have a good experience. Any number of things can create customer discontentment. A manager on duty (along with the line staff) should be sensitive to this, adapt their behavior accordingly and follow up with a sincere apology. In one location, our Undercover Boss was left alone to fend for himself during a lunch hour rush at the cash register. He, of course, new to the cash register and menu options was very slow and may have filled orders incorrectly. After the rush slowed down, the manager took the Undercover Boss into the dining room to apologize for the service delay due to on-the-job-training. The apology included a “sorry” and a coupon to get free or discounted food on another visit. This coupled with the tip above this, doesn’t appear to be a recipe for success.

Being Grumpy or Disengaged with Customers
American customers expect the employees to greet them with a smile, often ask “How are you?” and try to create affable conversation in the short amount of time it takes to give the order. This is an acquired skill at a fast food restaurant for a cashier. When the cashier is happy, joyful, smiling, engaging and full of enthusiasm, the customers get the idea that the employee is having a good day, enjoys his job and feels comfortable in handling customers and his job. Even if this is not true, this is the kind of enthusiasm that is expected by the customers and from the company as it projects a positive image of the company. This behavior also increases customer satisfaction and repeat business. Would a customer prefer to go to a restaurant where the employees are happy, smiling, engaging and know their job or a restaurant where the employees are miserable, make mistakes, and ignore customers? Answer this question correctly, and you will have no problem pleasing most American customers.

Photo credit: Leo Reynolds at flickr.

As an immigrant or BPO professional, if you struggling with customer service interactions with your American clients or customers and require a communications strategy assessment to boost confidence and clear communication, contact Jennifer Kumar at authenticjourneys@gmail.com.

Interracial Marriage in the USA- Trends and Experiences

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:09:00 +0000

by: Jennifer Kumar

Did you know that in the USA in 2010 15% of new marriages were mixed race in the US (interracial or interethnic)?
Can you believe that 35% of Americans say they have someone in their immediate family that is married to someone of another race?
Isn't it interesting that two-thirds of Americans say it's fine if someone in their family 'married out' (to someone of another race / ethnicity / culture)?

The curiosity these questions evoked inspired a recent discussion on National Public Radio's (NPR) show Talk of the Nation. During this show, guests called in to talk about their interracial marriage and immediate and extended family perceptions of this kind of relationship.

The answers to the following can be found by listening to the podcast (embedded below):

Is the process of cross-cultural relationship acceptance a one-time deal or an ongoing process?
Acceptance of interracial marriages by youngster and older adults: how does it compare?
What are the legitimate concerns parents have over hesitating to accept intercultural marriages?
How does the society characterize children born of mixed race or intercultural unions?

A few insights from this podcast that make me think are:

A stated face that "Asian woman are three times as likely to 'marry out' than men."
How different races may characterize children of mixed race marriages.
Parents could be concerned that marrying out dilutes the quality of life (culturally as well as socially and financially in some cases).

Relationships discussed:

African American / White
African American / East Indian (south Asian)
African American / Haitian / White
Mexican-American / Asian-Caucasian
Mexican / White

Listen to the podcast here. If you'd like to read the transcripts, click here.

Related Posts:
Marrying Cross-Culturally is MORE than a Cross-Cultural Experience
Helping Us With Our Cross-Cultural Relationship
Indian Women... Want a Western Husband?

Embracing Cross-Cultural Identity: A Work of Art

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar, Cross-Cultural Coach) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:19:00 +0000

Guest Post by: Haikaa Yamamoto

My name is Haikaa, I am a singer-songwriter and I was born in Brazil and I have studied and lived in the US and in Japan. The contradictory notions of right or wrong that I was exposed to led me to develop a “chameleon-like” personality and I could have spent my entire life going from one identity to another depending on where I was.

Fortunately, music wasn’t going to let me keep such an exhausting pattern of behavior. The driving force behind my music has always been the urge to express myself. That means that basically I had to understand who this self was in the first place. What I slowly began to understand was that the values that I appreciated in myself and in others were the same regardless of culture or circumstances. I like to say that there’s no such thing as American honesty or Brazilian tears or even Japanese fulfillment. By identifying the underlying values that were important to me regardless of where I was or who I was interacting with, I began to develop a stronger sense of who I am in essence.

On the title track of my latest album “Work of Art”, I celebrate this understanding and the sense of self-acceptance that emerged out of it. Even though my discovery came as a result of the multicultural experiences in my life and my passion for music, I felt strongly that this message was quite universal. In order to express this musically, I started looking for people who would want to do versions of the song “Work of Art” in their own language based on the concept of “Six Degrees of Separation”. I asked my friends who then referred their friends who in turn introduced me to their acquaintance and thus “The Work of Art Global Project” was born. In a period of one year and a half, I had already recorded the song in 20 languages with the help of more than 40 collaborators across the globe. I even recorded a video where I sing parts of the song in 19 languages . The 20 full length versions and stories are available on the project’s website – www.woaglobalproject.com .

I approached each of the versions as a new poem and not a translation as I wanted to convey the core of the message respecting the different cultural contexts. For example, what may sound like assertiveness in English could come across as an incredible display of arrogance in Japanese. So, while the focus on the original English version is on self-acceptance, the Japanese version has a greater focus on the feeling of hope and understanding. It is more geared towards the society and not the individual, which I think is actually a strong characteristic of Japanese culture.

Navigating through different cultures and embracing new aspects to your lifestyle is an incredibly enriching and unique opportunity. I only knew two of the lyricists that worked on this project. I managed to connect with all the others based on values that we share as human beings because in essence, we are a lot more similar than different. However, the differences are here to make our world more interesting and diverse. By embracing new cultural aspects, I think we become more colorful individuals.

If you wish to download a free mp3 of “Work of Art”, just go to www.noisetrade.com/haikaa .
Thank you!!!

Love,

Haikaa
www.haikaa.com
Love has led me to live a life
that gives me lots to sing about.

PS - Believe it or not, I still don't have any version in an Indian language!!! So if anyone out there would like to give it a try, please get in touch with me at contacthaikaa@gmail.com , thank you.
[sic]

Last three guest posts:
Communication in an Intercultural Setting by Kristy Kumari
Tips for Expats Relocating to Dubai by MoveOne, Inc.
Safety for Foreigners in India - by Valentina Griffin

On-the-Job Training Gone Bad

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar, Cross-Cultural Coach) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 03:18:00 +0000

By: Jennifer Kumar

Edited by: Sufi Swarup

Running a cash register, dealing with customers, and understanding the multitude of differences in a fast food menu within minutes of stepping behind the counter can be a humbling experience.

This is the situation that David Kim, CEO of Baja Fresh found himself in, when he was thrown into the roles of a cashier and manager in the television show ‘Undercover Boss’.

After having worked in various fast food restaurants and grocery store delis, I understood the time and training it takes to do the job well. Being expected to undertake this job within minutes of entering the door is not only unfair, but unmanageable by a vast majority of people. Of course, to create the drama in the reality television, rather than give David the training that any other average worker would get, they throw him right in the mix and expect stellar service, multitasking abilities, and speedy service from a total newcomer. It did provide for some dramatic outcomes, though, at the same time, it made me wonder if this was a good way in which the company should showcase itself on national television.

By the time I finished watching this episode, I had three important questions:

1. Why is the new employee left alone?
Throughout the episode, we see David taking up various jobs from mopping the floor, cleaning toilets, making salsa, creating complicated sandwiches, setting up a cold table, delivering food, and of course, trying his hand at the cash register during a busy lunch hour.

During each of these jobs, he was either left alone, or made to look inept at even the simplest jobs. I wonder if this was really David’s fault or of that of the writers of the show trying to script in some drama and awkward moments, which otherwise would not have existed.

2. Without any guidance, how was he to know what he must do?
In any case, the biggest fault of this show was to throw David into the mix without a shred of training. Anyone who has watched this would think that a new employee to Baja Fresh must innately know how to run the complicated register and understand the complicated menu while suavely interacting with customers without a flaw inspite of any training or support (as his partners in each section of the show seem to have left him to his own devices). Even in desperate situations, a newcomer is not put on the lunch rush. In fact, a newcomer would probably work his way up to a rush by working with a trainer or alone during slow times of the day, building up speed and confidence until he can show to work at busier and busier times of the day. Thankfully Baja Fresh did not have a ‘drive through’. ‘Drive through’ workers are usually under more stress than the lunch rush cashiers, and it would have given a really bad image to the company if they had done this.

3. Did showing the CEO as an Undercover Boss help the company’s image?
Though it may be ‘fun’ at times to see a CEO try his hand at ‘regular Joe’ jobs, it can also adversely affect customer relations. If the customers in the lunch rush line were indeed not handpicked to be there, they would have been coming in for lunch on their lunch break and severely pressed for time. They would be overly irritated or even simply leave the store to be confronted with such a slow cashier. They may be so irritated that they would infrequently or never return to the location. During the busy work day, the last thing anyone wants is to be held up in a queue at a restaurant waiting for food!

Overall, this episode of Undercover Boss left me with mixed emotions. I was inspired by David Kim and the other immigrant workers who were featured in the show. I was a bit dismayed that the one American worker from Boise was not showcased as prominently as the immigrants, although she has a burden of raising a family and was also sacrificing just as much as the three immigrant workers. I was confused about the prize distribution, not having a company reveal, and when the show finished, I was left wondering if Baja Fresh was successful in identifying their real problems or if the whole episode was staged.

photo credit: randomcuriosity @flickr

Jennifer Kumar is a cross-cultural coach helping Indians understand American workplace etiquette. If you need assistance, contact her at authenticjourneys@gmail.com.

Communication in an Intercultural Setting

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 18:31:00 +0000

by Guest Blogger: Kristy Kumari

Throughout history individuals from various cultures have interacted through trade, conflicts and relationships but never so much as today’s generations. People from all walks of life have the opportunity to interact with multiple cultures each day whereas in the past these interactions were only afforded to the rich and affluent members of society. Today cultures are bonding in a global society forcing us to pay closer attention to intercultural issues. Regardless of which culture you interact with, it is important to consider your actions as well as your words to avoid unnecessary conflict.

Communication is one of the most important issues faced during intercultural reactions, even among English speaking cultures. For example, someone speaking American English would say “sunglasses” whereas a British English speaker could refer to them as “specs” and an individual from a country speaking old English would refer to them as “goggles”. In addition to the different words, there are often different pronunciations for the same word. If you are not familiar with the different words and pronunciations used to describe an item, then a communication issue may arise.

Hand gestures are not much different as most cultures engage in some form of communication via hand signals or other body movements. In the US a thumbs up sign is a signal that something is good or has met with a person’s approval. In Islamic and some Asian cultures a thumbs up sign is an insult. In the US it is common to move your index finger in an upwards curling motion to request someone to come closer to you however, in Singapore this is a symbol for death and in Japan it is just as offensive as if someone in America was to stick up their middle finger.

Body language, also known as non-verbal communication, can be deemed equally offensive when interacting between many cultures. While it is acceptable to have your hands in your pockets while you are chatting with friends or colleagues in most Western countries, it is considered disrespectful if you are in Turkey. You also should avoid sitting with your legs crossed while in Turkey as well as Ghana as it is considered offensive. Even smiling can be taken wrong by some cultures. Some cultures see smiling as a sign of shallowness or that you have a lack of control whereas in America it is a popular gesture aimed at neutralizing a tense or negative situation.

Video - Daily Living in a Cross-Cultural Setting

Read Kristy Kumari's Blog - An American Married to an Indian, Living in India

Last three guest blogs:

Tips for Expats Relocating to Dubai by MoveOne, Inc.

Safety for Foreigners in India - by Valentina Griffin

Culture Shock - Is it Possible to Be Prepared for Everything? - by Kristy Kumari

Better English - Money Well Invested

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 12:37:00 +0000

Client Testimonial from Job Smulders, www.rentautobus.com. More Testimonials.

Why I hired Jennifer:
The original aim was to help my outsourcing partner in his career as I feel his development skills are already good he can ‘improve’ by building more rapport through a clearer English communication. Because of the process I became more aware about how we communicate and that helped me in giving more direction to the discussions.

Outcomes:
Thanks a lot for writing up the final progress report. It was interesting and good to read about my outsourcing partner’s learning! Makes me feel it was well invested money.

Job Smulders
www.rentautobus.com

[sic]

Lessons in Restaurant Cleanliness from Undercover Boss

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:13:00 +0000

By: Jennifer Kumar
Edited by: Sufi Swarup

In the episode featuring Baja Fresh, we learn a few things about how restaurants are run in the United States. Three examples include:

Always Look Professional
Uniforms are compulsory in most establishments. By default, uniforms must be laundered regularly and changed if soiled. This is why throughout the episode, we see the Undercover Boss change into his uniform in the workplace itself and not wear it to work. Having worked in a few fast food establishments, my coworkers and I found it easier to wear ‘street clothes’ to work, change into the uniform in the restroom, and then change back into our ‘street clothes’ when leaving work for the day. This protects the uniform from getting dirty on the way to and from work, as having a clean uniform provides a consistent and professional appearance to the customers. In the episode, we saw our Undercover Boss spot his white shirt with green salsa. The manager asks him if he has an additional shirt to change into. Often, an employee may bring with him an extra uniform in case it becomes dirty and unpresentable to the public. Companies may provide uniforms free of cost or at nominal fees.

Maintain Hygiene
Coupled with the uniform protocol, employees in a restaurant must maintain the prescribed set of hygiene standards. These personal and company standards are often a combination of an employee’s personal hygiene plus the standards set by state, federal, and company regulations. In the US, there are government bodies that often inspect restaurants and food preparatory establishments to ensure that the hygiene standards are met. In this episode, a range of hygiene protocol was noticed:

Maintaining a clean uniform
Not touching the face while preparing food
Keeping floors and food preparation areas sparkling clean
Keeping tables, doors, windows, and counters (all surfaces) clean
Maintaining a level of cleanliness in the restroom

Maintain Food Standards
Part of the hygiene in food preparation includes a range of standards for food safety. These regulations are set by the US and state governments, and are reviewed on a regular basis by the authorities. Among the many regulations, some are:

Wearing gloves while preparing foods (though some US states may not follow this rule)
Keeping their hair clean and well-kept (long hair kept in a ponytail, with a hair net covering it, and facial hair may or may not be allowed depending on the establishment)
Maintaining a particular temperature where food is stored for short and long term use (we saw the example of the cold table not meeting expectations in the episode)

The restaurant business is probably one of the most difficult in the US due to all the regulations surrounding it. American customers demand excellence and a consistent, appetizing product that besides tasting the same in subsequent visits also looks “picture perfect.” Maintaining such standards not only standardizes processes and allows for easy replication of items but, also reduces chances of the outbreak of food-borne illnesses. I congratulate food service establishments who maintain these standards over long periods of time. It is not an easy job but, as a customer, I truly appreciate it.

Jennifer Kumar is a cross-cultural coach helping Indians understand American workplace etiquette. If you need assistance, contact her at authenticjourneys@gmail.com.

10 American English Idioms Commonly Used at Work

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar, Cross-Cultural Coach) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:07:00 +0000

By: Jennifer Kumar
Edited by: Sufi Swarup

This list of idioms is derived from the second segment of the television show Undercover Boss where Chiquita Corporation is highlighted.

Go Into Battle
Some may also say ‘This office is a battle zone.’ People use this when they are confronted with a new job, a series of familiar tasks that are overwhelming, or parts of a task that are challenging in some way or the other. Generally, Americans use this phrase to build up excitement over difficult or undesirable jobs as well. The spirit is ‘Yes, the job is hard, but we will not only meet the expectations but, we will exceed them. We will win.”

Make you sweat
Again, this is not meant to be taken literally. Though we may actually sweat when we are under pressure or ‘in the battle zone’, this idiom implies that there is a stress factor involved in the tasks that lay ahead of us. They will make us think or challenge us. But, again we shouldn’t shy away from them just because they are hard.

Keep an eye on it
This implies that we have to watch something carefully. In this episode, the undercover boss had to carefully watch machinery and products to make sure they were not being wasted.

Leave it to the professionals
At one point, CEO Manuel was overwhelmed and wasting the food because he was not managing the process efficiently. The boss there (Magic was his name) told him “Let’s leave it to the professionals.” This idiom implies two things. The first meaning is to allow those who are better trained with more experience do the job. The other meaning has a sarcastic and condescending tone. The implied meaning is “You are not doing this job up to the mark. We don’t have patience with you. We will allow those better than you to take over.” If an employee hears this, as an American, he or she may feel sad, offended, or inept.

Write up
A ‘write up’ is something an employee avoids. When an employee does bad work, is not performing up to expectations, breaks the rules, has problems with other employees, or has a bad attitude, the manager can ‘write him up’. This is a permanent written complaint put in the employee’s file that explains why he or she was misbehaving on the job. Employees want to avoid being written up. In some companies, there is a rule that a particular number of write ups can lead to suspension or loss of job (fired) depending on the situations for which one is written up.

Take your break
No, no one is breaking anything! A break is a short time away from the normal duties of work when an employee can chat with others, have something to eat or drink, and relax a few minutes. Breaks are a predetermined amount of time and may vary depending on rules or convenience (may be 10 minutes). Taking prolonged and frequent breaks may be a cause for a write up.

Cooped Up
Magic tells CEO Manuel people like to “take their break” outside because they feel all “cooped up” inside the factory. Feeling “cooped up” implies being confined to a small space doing the same job over and over again. I think this idiom is derived from ‘chicken coops’ or small cages in which chicken are kept. Employees feel caged like a ‘chicken in a chicken coop’ hence, are ‘cooped up.’

Letting people go
This is a euphemism for firing someone.

Watch your attitude.
This idiom will be told to a person with a bad attitude. “Watching your attitude” is nothing more than “controlling your behavior” and not showing frustration or negativity.

Built for an office job
Because CEO Manuel couldn’t do factory work, Magic said he was ‘built for an office job.” Being “built for” something means “suited for” something. Or, in another way, we can say based on that person’s skill and personality, he will perform better in another role.

As a post script, I watched this episode of Undercover Boss on BBC World in India. There were subtitles in English at the bottom. Two of these idioms must have been misunderstood by the writers of the captions as they were misspelled on the screen. ‘Take a break’ was spelled as ‘take a brake’ (which due to the misspelling makes no sense here) and ‘write up’ was spelled as ‘right up’ (again, this makes no sense in the written form).

There were a few more lessons from this segment of Undercover Boss that I’d like to share. I will post those in next week’s installment.

Jennifer Kumar, author is a cross-cultural coach helping Indians understand communication and workplace culture in America. Check out her program for expat workers planning to work in the USA entitled Living and Working in the USA. Contact her at authenticjourneys@gmail.com

Prepare to Study in the USA - Cross-Cultural Lessons

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:14:00 +0000

by: Jennifer Kumar

When we get ready to study abroad, we think of the practical things to check off the list. Often we forget that we are moving to another culture, not just another country.

I have put together a series of online tutorials to expose you to the mindset, culture, academic requirements, college social life, on campus resources and much more. These tutorials will provide an overview of helpful resources to ease your adjustment so you can achieve your highest potential inside and outside the classroom. (This will also help you minimize culture shock.)

These tutorials include conversation, videos from various colleges, and reflection questions to help you start thinking of things differently. Take full advantage of the opportunity to start questioning, exploring and challenging your world now. It's a valuable cultural mindset preparation for what's to come when you step foot on the US campus.

The tutorials will answer some of the frequently asked questions about studying in the US from a cross-cultural perspective:

Jennifer Kumar, Brijesh Nair and Deepa Madathil are co-creators of the Study Abroad to the US program entitled "Chasing the American Dream: From Take off To Landing." Contact Jennifer Kumar to answer your questions at authenticjourneys@gmail.com.

Photo credit: Ralph & Jenny at flickr
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Three Mistakes Non-Indian Women Make In Marrying Indian Men

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:57:00 +0000

By: Jennifer Kumar
Edited by: Kristy Robinson

Through the last fifteen years of being involved in the Indian community and interacting with many non-Indian, Western,and white women who struggle with relationships and commitments with their Indian boyfriends, I share the top three mistakes that most of these women make while trying to overcome the challenges of acceptance from their Indian boyfriend or to-be's family.

Mistake #1 - Thinking Love Can Conquer All
Because of the American cultural value of ‘equality,’ many Americans hold a high ideal that regardless of social standing, culture, economic status, educational background and religion, love will overcome all these problems or differences and make everything ‘ok.’ This can be true if and only if the couple have extensive discussions before marriage about expectations after marriage and into the long term, such as both partners’ career aspirations, family planning, traditions, values, choosing the place to live among many other variables. Of course, not everything can be breached ahead of time. Situations do change after marriage and through time. But, to avoid or deny particular situations out of fear of not finding common ground ahead of time is one of the biggest problems that later causes broken marriages both in cross cultural marriages and non-cross-cultural marriages.

Mistaking Love for Commitment
To many Westerners, the statement “I love you” often stands for a long-term commitment. That is one reason why many American programs broach the hard choices people make and situations that arise when one partner says “I love you” and the other isn’t ready to say it yet.

This being said, when most American [women] hear the words “I love you,” they take this very seriously. Due to mistake number one, she believes the man will do anything and everything in his power to create a long term commitment which will sooner than later evolve into marriage.

The problem is that in many Indian families, many may still believe love comes after marriage. This is of course due to the arranged marriage which is still very common among many segments of society and even Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). Thinking of this from the point of view of the Indian’s relationship with you, keep in mind he may hold back physical and emotional forms of affection as well as verbal confirmations of love. This is not because he doesn’t love you. In fact, many Indian guys who really do love you will withhold this out of respect for you and wanting to reserve these special occasions for after tying the knot. The problem here is that, in many Indian’s minds, they may not commit to any of these forms of affection until their parents have given the go-ahead. His relationship with you in this case, is not separate from his relationship with his family in that way. When his family accepts you; you are now family, so in his mind he is more willing to be open and available to you.

Giving Up Everything – Even Their Very Identity for “Love”
Due to the upsurge of the Internet, the incidence of cross-cultural love affairs takes place without the two people ever interacting face to face (in person as compared to Skype, which is not the same). In some cases, the first time the non-Indian meets the Indian to-be face to face is during her trip to India to marry and move into the extended family. The irony in all this is that this set-up is very similar to an arranged marriage minus the family pairing you up. You as the girl are acting as the super-traditional Indian girl who gives up everything; including her family, place of home, independence and identity to marry and move to India. Ironically, as the incidence of Western women taking part in this behavior increases, Indian man’s desire to marry the Westerner may increase as more and more modern Indian women are not interested in being so confined and traditional. Ironic that a Westerner is willing to be more traditional than an Indian (who is stereotyped as more traditional), isn’t it?

Because the Western woman is wrapped up in the exotic that is India; the traditional culture with the perceived higher sense of family values due to living in an extended family, and the idea of love conquering all, she is blinded by the reality that is about to hit her like a pile of bricks. The honeymoon in many of these cases never begins or ends before the marriage takes place. There is no honeymoon because the culture shock, reality and gravity of the situation hits the woman sometimes as soon as the heat hits her face as she deboards the plane.

Tying Things Up
Many say “The first year of marriage is the hardest.” This is often said among Americans who marry other Americans – not in a typical cross-cultural relationship. Yes, the first year of marriage can be the hardest even when the mindsets, environment and communication challenges seem very similar. Compound this with moving to another county; one not yet experienced or barely experienced, with moving into a family situation that is far from being anything remotely close to what you’re used to and even dealing with communication challenges, society’s impression toward women (losing freedom in the American sense) and the other multitude of differences that will be obvious and subtle, and the first year of marriage becomes the most difficult year of your life.

As a side note: this post is not meant to discourage you from attempting a cross-cultural marriage; it’s meant to knock some sense into you in the bluntest sense. Life will NOT be easy, the romanticism and exoticism will die fast and love may not conquer all when you land up in India and are in the midst of culture shock and your new family doesn’t approach life the same way as you. In these cases, women begin to lose themselves, feel misunderstood and become bitter toward their new family and life in general. This, coupled with the fact that culture shock is cyclical and it will bombard you throughout your life in a cross-cultural marriage, such decisions to marry and move abroad with minimal knowledge only hurt you in the long run. I am here to help you and your to-be sort all these things out. Contact me, Jennifer Kumar at authenticjourneys@gmail.com.

Jennifer Kumar, Owner of Authentic Journeys is a certified life coach and Master's of Social Work (from India) with a background in counseling, case management, and soft skills and life skills coaching. She is available for professional, paid and confidential sessions in person (in Kochi, India), by phone or the Internet. Contact her at authenticjourneys@gmail.com

Photo in this article used by permission by Kristy Robinson.

Related Articles:
Marrying Cross-Culturally is More than a Cross-Cultural Experience
Mother in Law or Monster in Law? An Exercise in Self-Improvement
What it's Like to Live in Another Country

Helping Orient Newcomers to the USA and American English - Thank You!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Kumar) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:42:00 +0000

Back in November, I posted a “Wall of Thanks.” In this “Wall of Thanks,” I showed appreciation to those who have helped me over the past year or two.

After posting this, I contacted those on the wall to ask them to send me a short bio of their current work to share here on the Authentic Journeys blog.

I have received bios from U in the USA and Rachel’s English, which I am posting below.

U in the USA – Bio
U in the USA believes everything it does is to help international students discover, see and experience what inspires them so that they all can live out their dreams.

The way we assist international students is by creating services that help in them the following ways:
• Discover and articulate their personal missions.
• Discover hidden resources and opportunities supporting their passions and causes.
• Sell their personal credibility, likeability and helpfulness.
• Demonstrate their unique business values to the right decision makers.
• Make positive differences in the lives of others.
• Build a strong support group of professional and personal allies.
• Take calculated risks.
• Embrace the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence.
• Develop a better understanding of people of different backgrounds and cultures.
• Think differently, creatively and independently.
We happen to help international students achieve their career goals in the USA with career, lifestyle and cultural services. [sic]

Check out U in the USA on Facebook.

Rachel’s English – Bio
Rachel has been working on Rachel's English for over 3 years. Having taught ESL off and on since 1999, she became interested in developing a pronunciation-focused resource while living in Germany under the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship program in 2008.

Rachel's initial idea in developing Rachel's English was to make the kind of resource for self-study that she wished she could find for her own foreign language study. As a classical singer, Rachel has spent much time immersed in singing in German, French, Italian, and Spanish. As a singer she studied with highly acclaimed vocal teachers and coaches and brings a body of detailed knowledge connected to the voice, placement, and the musical nature of speech to her work as a pronunciation coach.

Rachel lives in New York City. She was born and raised in Florida, went to college in Indiana where she studied Applied Math, Computer Science, and Music, and graduate school for Opera Performance in Boston. She loves being connected to people throughout the world through Rachel's English. [sic]

Check out Rachel's English by watching her useful videos on YouTube.

There are still 15 members left on the wall of thanks that are not featured in bios here in this blog. I leave this offer open to add your bio on Authentic Journeys. I will post bios once a month on the first day of the month if you submit yours to me at authenticjourneys@gmail.com.

All the companies on the Wall of Thanks include: Rotary Club of Cochin Knights, Internations, U in the USA, Move One, Expat Arrivals, Green Pepper, RIT OASIS, Roberts Wesleyan Graduate School of Business, Jai Bharath College, Literacy Volunteers of Rochester, Nazareth College School of Social Work, NRI Matters, Open Coffee Kerala, Contentment India, The Self Realization Foundation and Visual IQ.

Here is the image of the ‘Wall of Thanks’ with all the company’s logos.

Thank you for reading this blog.