Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment  in Yemen 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 Yemen.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand Yemeni 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 Yemeni 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 Personnal Integration in Yemen

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 Yemeni Culture

• A country on the Arab Peninsula between the desert and the Persian Gulf
• A young and diverse population
• One of the world's oldest civilisations
• Colonisation, the protectorate and Yemeni unity: the birth of a nation
• A fragile economy based on trade and agriculture

3. Yemeni Values and Behaviour Patterns

• Hospitality, curiosity and affability
• Men and women: clearly identified roles and interactions
• The family and the tribe as a bedrock: a tightly knit communal space
• Respect for age, authority and status
• A polychronic and flexible view of time
• Reserve and self-control
• Pride and a sense of honour
• Religious belief as part of day-to-day life

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 Yemen

1. The Yemeni Coroporate World

• A clearly structured and extremely hierarchical corporate environment
• Islam as part of business life
• The marketplace, employment and staff turnover

2. Effective Communication with the Yemenis

• Smalltalk, greetings and politeness
• Recognising and using non-verbal communication
• The importance of networking and of reputation
• English for business and the added benefits of learning Arabic

3. Working with the Yemeni Teams

• Effective management: leadership, discipline and experience
• Building trust and confidence: a willingness to listen, patience and doggedness
• Identifying and formally recording roles and objectives
• Boosting empathy: socialising outside work

4.  Successful Meeting and Negotiations with the Yemenis

•  The noble art of haggling
• Planning, anticipating and reacting
• Creating opportunities by giving relationships that personal touch
• The importance of commitments

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