Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Ireland 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 Ireland.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand Irish 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 Irish 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 Ireland

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 Irish culture

• An Emerald Isle with a distinctive identity
• A land of emigration
• The open wounds of a painful past
• Resurrection within the European Union
• An agricultural and service sector economy

3. Irish values and behaviour patterns

• Firmly entrenched catholic traditions
• On the road to equality between men and women
• The Irish concept of time: between rigidity and flexibility
• Sociability and hospitality
• A community spirit
• Worries when confronted with risks

4. Practical day-to-day information

• 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 Ireland

1. The Irish corporate world

• Anglo Saxon influences and specifically Irish national characteristics
• A visible but flexible hierarchy
• Professional commitment in Ireland: a modern reality
• Unemployment as a factor
• The role of the state and the authorities

2. Effective communication with the Irish

• Two-way communication: adding the personal touch
• Deciphering underlying messages
• Small talk and verbal communication: hidden messages
• Irish English and Gaelic: the advantages of learning the language

3. Working with Irish teams

• Being active and responsive to ensure your personal credibility
• Building loyalty: sociability outside work
• The vital keys to performance: flexibility, adaptability and autonomy
• Conflict resolution: dealing with touchy people

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Irish

• Effective preparation: gathering the right information
• Identifying decision makers and negotiation styles
• Deadline management
• Ensuring the long-term future of partnerships

5. Final handy tips

• Caution, patience and humility
• Social standards, gifts, business cards, dress code
• Sensitive subjects: Northen Ireland, abortion, religion