France - Succeed in your international assignment in France

Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in France and their partners

Objectives

This seminar aims at significantly improving the ability of the participants to meet the challenges of living and working in France. The objective is to enable them to identify the stumbling blocks that lie ahead and to be able to adapt and integrate in France.

At the end of this training, participants will have acquired insights and techniques to help them to:

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand the French context and culture
• Analyse situations in which misunderstandings may arise and identify ways of communicating more effectively
• Reduce and manage the symptoms of culture shock
• Understand another mindset, different work practices, decision-making processes and negotiating styles
• Strike the right balance between personal et professional lives

Programme Outline

Module 1 : Successful personal integration in France

1. Cross-cultural awareness : the key to a successful expatriation

• Taking stock of one's own cultural baggage
• Culture shock and the integration process
• Identifying and going beyond cultural stereotypes

2. Key aspects of French culture

• A varied country, a cosmopolitan population, the French language
• A significant historical, philosophical, religious and cultural heritage
• Social and political life, the economic environment
• A dualist educational system, the importance of qualifications

3. Values and behaviour patterns

• Fundamental values  : liberty, equality and… individualism
• A changing family environment, the role of French women: wife, mother and working woman
• French concepts of time and space
• Cartesian reasoning, a critical spirit, a fondness of debate
• A well-rooted sense of hierarchy, a "contestation culture"
• Attitudes to risk and uncertainty, the "D system"

4. Practical day to day information

• Focus on the host town or city
• Transport, administration, housing, security, hygiene and healthcare
• Social life, leisure activities
• Learning the language
• Schools, extracurricular activities, sport

Module 2 : Successful professional integration

1. The corporate world

• French companies: differences between small and major companies
• Working methods, the notion of quality
• Unemployment is the main worry for the French
• The dominant role of the authorities, the social partners
• A managed liberal economy

2. Effective communication with the French

• The importance of mastering the French language and of presentation
• A culture based on the written word but also on non-verbal communication
• Interpersonal relations: permeable social circles

3. Working with French teams

• French management and company culture
• Responsibilities and decision-making
• Recruitment, loyalty building, training, knowledge transmission
• Motivating, delegating, providing feedback and handling conflicts
  

4. Successful meetings and negotiations

• Identifying decision-makers and power chains
• French negotiation: diplomacy, time and deadline management
• The contract: a firm, final and binding agreement
• Organising the post-negotiation phase

5. Final handy tips

• Protocol and etiquette, social customs, gifts, dress code
• Delicate subjects: certain periods in history, immigration, money
• Favourite subjects: gastronomy, wine
• Humour and arrogance