Preparatory Phase: The bridge towards the new culture

As soon as the future expatriates are nominated by the company, the preparatory activities can start. To prepare the managers and their families to understand the new culture and environment in Great Britain, we offer you two types of assistance:

• Cross-cultural training for managers and their families
• Premove Orientation Tour "Look & See": Practical information and preselection of housing areas

Each of these two types of assistance can of course be booked individually or together as a package.

Cross-cultural training for managers and their families

Objectives of our assistance

The cross-cultural training of the future expatriates and their families fulfills two main objectives:

• to develop realistic expectations concerning life and work in Great Britain
• to understand the behaviour of local people in a number of important situations
• to get to know possible areas of cross-cultural conflicts and to know how to manage them in a constructive way

The cross-cultural training should facilitate the acclimatisation of the expatriate and his/her family in the new country. This helps to reduce the failure rate and the number of foreign assignments to be interrupted due to cultural conflicts and personal discontent.

Contents and methodology of our approach

The cross-cultural training programme will be adapted to the specific needs and interests of the participants. Normally each training course is carried out individually for one expatriate and his/her family members coming to Great Britain.

Depending on the experiences and expectations of the client, the cross-cultural training lasts one to three days. It is carried out here in Great Britain or on the client's premises. The training programme consists of different modules which can be individually chosen and combined.

Examples of training modules of a cross-cultural training for Great Britain:

1. Information about the country, introduction into culture and history
2. The norms and values of the society of the new country
3. The role and the characteristics of communication in Great Britain
4. Social contacts: Friends and acquaintances
5. The life and the role of the woman in Great Britain
6. Leisure activities and customs in Great Britain
7. Eating and drinking in Great Britain
8. The relations at work and management of local staff
9. Doing business with local business partners
10. Education in Great Britain
11. Studies and professional training in Great Britain
12. Action plan of the expatriate for the first two months in Great Britain

The training is highy interactive. It is based on different training methods and pedagogic instruments: Presentations, discussions, case studies, structured exercises, role plays, a quiz, reports of expatriates etc.

Premove orientation tour "Look & See": Practical information and preselection of housing areas

Objectives of our assistance

To know the future city or region better and to make a first selection of housing areas, we offer you a premove orientation tour "Look & See". The objectives of this tour are:

• to obtain practical premove information to facilitate the further steps of decision taking
• to be able to make a preselection of adequate housing areas
• to reduce possible fears concering the furture move to Great Britain

Contents and methodology of our approach

Depending on the needs of the client, Management Mobility Consulting develops an individual "Look & See" Programme. The duration of the tour and the contents of the programme largely depend on the agenda and on the expectations of the participants.

Example of a premove orientation tour "Look & See":

• Practical Information about renting of accommodation in the region, transport, schools, bank system, health, shopping etc.
• Visits of several districts and housing areas, visits of a number of different types of individual houses and apartments