Who Should Attend?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Martinique 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 Martinique.

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

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand Martinican 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 Martinican 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 Martinique

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 Martinican culture

• Windward and Caribbean: a tropical island with irregular terrain
• A racially mixed population whose presence in the area is relatively recent
• A French overseas region and département
• An economy based chiefly on agriculture and tourism

3.  Martinican values and behaviour patterns

• A well-rooted macho and paternalistic tradition
• Significant social compartmentalisation
• Spatial proximity and an adaptable view of time
• Black, West Indian and Creole identity: a distinctive national consciousness
• The importance of commemorative and festive social occasions
• A sense of honour and the need to save face

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 professionnal integration 

1. The Martinican corporate world

• A hierarchical corporate structure
• A work ethic which places the emphasis on performance
• Privilege, favouritism and nepotism
• The prevalence of public sector employment and the cruel reality of unemployment

2. Effective communication with the Martinican French

• Gossip and rumours: closely knit social networks
• The importance of protocol and etiquette
• A combination of direct and non-verbal communication

3. Working with Martinican teams

• Establishing your credibility: prudence, perseverance and discretion
• Dealing with touchy and sensitive people: taking the time to listen and seeking to reach a consensus
• Consulting, deciding and acting
• Encouraging initiative and dynamism

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Martinican French

• Preparing your arguments and your action plan
• Proposals, compromises, follow-up and perseverance
• The comparative advantage to be gained from networking
• 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
• Humour: a double-edged sword