Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Cambodia and their partners

Benefits of Attendance

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

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand Cambodian 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 Cambodian mindset, different work practices, decision-making processes and negotiating styles
• Strike the right balance between personal et professional lives

Training Approach

• A cross-cultural approach of International Mobility
• Country specific trainers
• Personalized and familiy focused action plan
• Access to the Nomad’ Network, an exclusive online tool for Akteos’ clients and experts:  find resources, exchange experiences, knowledge and insights

Programme Outline

Module 1 : Successful personal integration in Cambodia

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 Cambodian culture :

• A kingdom in Southeast Asia, located in the Gulf of Thailand
• Khmers, Thais, Chinese and Vietnamese: a multi-ethnic population
• An ancient, unique and proud civilisation
• Colonisation, the Khmer rouge and the dictatorship: the painful scars of a turbulent past
• A fragile agrarian economy

3. Cambodian values and behaviour patterns

• Royalist devotion and Buddhist fervour
• A highly stratified society with gender-specific differences
• Respect for age, status and authority
• Attachment to the land and to one's origins
• Consistency, discipline, reservation and affability
• The importance attached to appearances
• A relatively adaptable approach to time

4. Practical day-to-day information

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

Module 2 : Successful professional integration in Cambodia

1. The Cambodian corporate world

• Keys to understanding how companies operate in the host country
• Differences in working methods and the notion of quality
• The marketplace, employment and staff turnover
• The role of national and local authorities

2. Effective communication with the Cambodians

• Networking and a good reputation: two vital aspects
• The importance of greetings: the correct use of titles
• Gestural and implicit communication
• Business English, Khmer and Chinese: learning the language and using interpreters

3. Working with Cambodian teams

• The key qualities of a manager: experience, qualifications and leadership
• Effective management: a willingness to listen, guidance and suppor
• Building trust and confidence: socialising outside working hours
• Encouraging dialogue and feedback: questioning, requesting and reformulating

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Cambodians

• Successful dialogue: sociability, respect and sincerity
• Small-talk and attentiveness: building and maintaining relationships
• Proposing, suggesting and reacting: negotiation as an art and as a game
• Written contracts, their interpretation and implications

5. Final handy tips

• Caution, patience and humility
• Social standards, gifts, business cards, dress code
• Sensitive subjects: politics, history, religion