Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Turkey 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 Turkey.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand Turkish context and the culture
• Analyse situations in which misunderstandings may arise and identify ways of communicating more effectively
• Reduce and manage the symptoms of culture shock
• Understand Turkish 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 Turkey

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 Turkish culture

• One country spanning two continents
• An ageing, multi-ethnic population
• The Ottoman Empire, the Kemalist revolution, Atatürk
• Islam and secularism in Turkey
• A country at a crossroads between tradition and modernity

3. Turkish values and behaviour patterns

• A nomadic heritage
• Patriotism and openness
• The importance of family values
• The role of women in Turkish society
• A respect for hierarchies and authority
• The value of money and a sense of generosity
• Turkish pragmatism

4. Practical day-to-day information in Turkey

• 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 professionnal integration in Turkey

1. The Turkish corporate world

• Key factors in understanding the way companies operate
• A paternalistic structure open to consensus: flexibility and availability
• Understanding the Turkish notion of productivity
• The liberalisation of working methods
• Continued control by the State and the authorities

2. Effective communication with the Turks

• The decisive role played by networks
• Encouraging direct and instructive dialogue
• The characteristics and challenges of the Turkish language

3. Working with Turkish teams

• Building trust and confidence: kindness and benevolence
• Effective management: objectivity and the personal touch
• Recruitment, loyalty-building, training and imparting knowledge
• Take decisions. Conflict resolution: a sense of honour 

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Turks

• Preparation: sincerity, patience and perspective
• Identifying decision-makers to improve relationships
• The value of silence
• Attitudes to contracts and their implications

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