Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Indonesia 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 abroad. The objective is to enable them to identify the stumbling blocks that lie ahead and to be able to adapt and integrate in Indonesia.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand  Indonesian 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 Indonesian mindset, 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 personnal integration in Indonesia

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 Indonesian culture

• The world’s largest island chain
• “Unity through diversity”: more than 300 ethnic groups
• The world’s leading Muslim nation
• The Dutch Indies and modern Indonesia
• A national language combined with numerous regional languages
• Agriculture and fishing: the advantages of an economy which remains fragile

3. Indonesian values and behaviour patterns

• The quest for harmony
• Families and social circles: decisive factors
• The “jam karet” a cyclical concept of time
• The importance of personal space
• A community spirit, hidden hierarchies
• Attitudes to risk and uncertainty

4. Practical day-to-day information in Indonesia

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

Module 2 : Successful professionnal integration in Indonesia

1. The Indonesian corporate world

• Indonesian companies: the “family aspect”
• Religion: an unavoidable feature of Indonesian corporate life
• The marketplace, employment and staff turnover
• The role of national and local authorities

2. Effective communication with the Indonesians

• Direct communication or the importance of social contact
• The Indonesian smile: deciphering gestural communication
• The working language, the role of the interpreter

3. Working with Indonesian teams

• Effective management: the Indonesian “bapakisme”
• Understanding the value of mediation
• Respect, understanding and trust
• Maintaining cohesion

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Indonesians

• Rituals to be observed when meeting someone
• Calm perseverance
• Allowing others to save face
• Seeking consensus and approval

5. Final handy tips

• Caution, patience and humility
• Social standards, gifts, business cards, dress code
• Sensitive subjects: politics, history, religion
• Humour: a double-edged sword