Global Awareness and Cultural Sensitivity Strategies for Expats in S Korea

 

Rahul Prabhakar originally wrote this post for his blog under the title – South Korea Beckons:  Global Awareness and Cultural Sensitivity Strategies for Western Technical Communicators. I invited Rahul to share his experiences on this website, mainly because he has been working in South Korea for quite a few years now. You might also want to check out his blog, “When the Muse Strikes!“.

Global Awareness and Cultural Sensitivity Strategies for Expats in S Korea

For the past four years, I’ve lived outside India. Being an expatriate has given me a unique perspective; it has made me more responsive toward the issues of global awareness and cultural sensitivity. More importantly, working as a technical communicator in East Asia has rewarded me with firsthand experience of the cultural differences and their implications on both my professional and personal life. Through this article, I’d like to share my experiences—good and bad—about what it’s like to work for a Korean company.

Overcoming Cultural Pangs

As an expatriate in Korea, it took me just one week to realize how different Korean culture is compared to Indian culture. The Japanese occupation and the war with North Korea have left footprints on modern Korean culture.

The traditional values in South Korea stem from deep-rooted Confucian ideology. Confucianism or “The School of the Scholars” revolves around social, political, philosophical, ethical, and religious thoughts that have influenced the culture and history of South Korea up to the 21st century. Nowhere is this more evident than in Korea’s corporate system.

Learning to Appreciate a Different Culture

As more and more workplaces become multicultural, there’s a great sense of appreciation and respect toward employees from different countries, cultural backgrounds, or ethnicities. Take South Korean conglomerates like Samsung, for instance, where the concept of “global” employees has become quite popular. At Samsung, you’re more likely to meet contract employees from India, China, Russia, Ukraine, Japan, Germany, America, France, Turkey, Philippines, and Belarus.

Respecting the Hierarchy

In every culture, unwritten rules govern many interactions. Understanding these rules can help you succeed in that culture.

Confucianism has introduced a structure of hierarchy, rather than a matrix, in most Korean organizations. Professionals are hired on merit, in tandem with social considerations. School affiliation and age play a major role in most hiring decisions in Korea.

Koreans place a lot of emphasis on title; it could be said that nowhere in East Asia does title hold more prominence than in Korea. Try addressing a Korean colleague of the same age group but higher designation with his name, and chances are you’ll be asked to prefix a title. If you don’t use a title to address someone higher in the value chain, Koreans are likely to consider you disrespectful or discourteous.

If the distance between top- and bottom-level organizational hierarchies is wide, technical communicators should resort to formal communication. If the culture encourages a flat organization, the communication automatically becomes less formal.

In order to succeed in a Korean company, you must consider the hierarchy between you and the final decision maker. Allow everybody in the middle to give their opinion and be included as much as possible.

Some Differences Between Korean and Western Workplaces

According to an in-depth analysis of the “2004 Time Use Survey,” South Koreans spend more time at work than Westerners. Most Korean managers throw a fit each time a subordinate enters the premises late, even by a minute. Koreans are sticklers for punctuality, and most jobs vary from 30 to 40 hours a week, but you’ll always be encouraged to spend more time at work. If you’re interested in working in Korea, and you’re accustomed to flex time and telecommuting, be prepared to make some major adjustments to your lifestyle.

In most East Asian nations, cultures tend to be collectivist. In other words, people pursue group objectives and respond to the groups’ needs. But again, several Western countries propagate individualistic culture, where personal achievement holds more prominence than other things.

People in East Asian countries—mostly Korea and Japan—prefer indirect modes of communication to direct modes of communication. Countries like the United States, India, and Canada typically prefer direct communication. Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages. Koreans tend to shy away from Westerners who are loud, direct, or candid in any form of expression. In the Western world, it might be okay to ask questions, such as age and rank. However, in this part of the world, it’s considered inappropriate to ask many questions during meetings or conference calls. If you sit quietly and absorb everything that’s thrown at you, you’ll probably fare better than someone who doesn’t. People in East Asian cultures also generally do not contradict their supervisors or seniors as a point of respect.

What Lies Ahead

Finally, my recommendation for dealing with intercultural issues is to have an open mind and heart. While we are all unique in some ways, at the core we’re all the same. Our values, goals, and daily issues are pretty much the same. We might exercise different practices and customs, but they all fulfill the same basic needs or desires.

One thing I can say for sure: obtaining the necessary knowledge and skills to survive in a culture and practicing those skills until they become second nature requires effort, but the rewards are both heartwarming and dramatic.


About the Writer

Rahul Prabhakar
Seoul, South Korea

Rahul Prabhakar is a writer and he writes about technology. He is a leading member of the technical writing community in Asia, having spearheaded many initiatives to elevate the profession in the region. He owns and moderates the widely popular Technical Writers India listserv on Yahoo! Groups.

Rahul regularly blogs about his travel exploits and technical communication on his blog – When the Muse Strikes! His work has appeared in STC Intercom, Korea.net, About.com, Wealth, Chandamama, Khaleej Times, IndiaPRWire.com, SouthAsiaNews.com, India Economy Review, Gearlog (a PC Magazine Blog), The Smart Techie, Express Computer, Dataquest, TMCnet.com, Expressitpeople.com, The Content Wrangler, PCS (IEEE Newsletter), among others. To contact Rahul you can email him at [email protected]