The Hindu Business Line : Homecoming blues

In a previous article I had talked of some of the issues that returning non-resident Indians — we called them RNRIs for short — faced while trying to meld into their country of birth. The problems are few but they do have nuisance value, and can affect satisfaction and productivity levels.

Global Adjustments’ recent coaching sessions with RNRIs have thrown up a sample of typical issues which should be of interest to readers of this column.

These issues echo the concerns of any RNRI reader, and will also help those of us who work with RNRIs figure out why they are having such a difficult time, after all they are ‘one of us’ and should have it easier than expatriates!

In reality, it is harder for Indian returnees — in some ways, they have changed too much and in others, the country they left behind has changed while they were away.

So here’s the list:

The colonial hangover still exists. As an Indian expatriate, I get less attention than a white expatriate. How do I deal with this?

Focus on the work and let this feeling pass. Hold your ground, and gradually, people will come round and appreciate your efforts.

Piyush Shah from a UK-based chemical company took our advice. A couple of months later he reported that he had focused on the process training he was mandated to give, and slowly but surely, the India team began respecting him as much as his white co-trainer.

Here’s a tip: Ask for some India info, and thus become the teacher and also the taught.

Kiran Sengupta of Supergraphics, USA, who returned to India after a long stint abroad having earned degrees and work experience alike, asks:

I’d like to be seen as ‘just another qualified guy’ and not the ‘foreign-qualified bloke’. How do I get my Indian team to see me as ‘one of us’?

Relationships hold the key to acceptance in India. Keep communication channels with your team open and spend time with them — this could even be at the coffee machine or the restaurant, . Ask about their families, aspirations and experiences. Listen.

Kiran had unlearnt this relationship-building technique and had replaced it with efficient work-related interactions during his tenure abroad. Now, he had to go back to building a rapport first.

At an open workshop he said that it was not his intention to downplay Indian methodology, which he had himself benefited from, but that his comments were aimed at a common goal of success for the company’s India presence. This helped ease matters. Plus, the regular exchange of case studies kept the momentum going — the ‘phoren’ element was forgotten and the ‘efficiency’ mode stayed in mind.

RNRI Preetha Sreenivasan offers another take:

“As an Indian expatriate leading an Indian team, I highlight my Indian connections and talk more about Hyderabad than I do of California. People here need to connect to that, and this is how I build my team. This is how I make myself ‘accessible’ to them because community still matters here.”

To get back to our list…

It’s a myth to think that working in teams comes naturally to Indians. How do I make them see the larger picture and make them work towards that? This was Lalitha Menon’s problem.

Share your aspirations and your excitement about the project with them. Use the three Ps:

Purpose: Show them why you are making changes or setting specific goals

Picture: Show them the bigger picture of how it will look when you get there

Part: Clearly outline the part each of them has to play to get to it

Remember, India’s workforce is young, and you may be dealing with people who are on their first jobs. Family hierarchy colours Indian thinking, despite burgeoning nuclear units. This attitude spills into work relationships, and you need to play surrogate head to the group working under you if you want to mould it into a team.

Two offshoots of this issue we encounter over and over again. In a nutshell:

Here people are caught up with promotions and bonuses. They are vociferous regarding these matters but rarely discuss work issues.

How do I get them more involved in what they are doing?

The younger professionals need more structure and goal-setting than their counterparts in western individual-driven cultures. Holding regular meetings and updates of good news both help. Indian teams need to feel good and if you show that their work can value add, they will buy it.

Talk about bonus and promotions won’t go away though, we will have to live with it, as it comes with the territory.

A programme manager who is the interface is seen as a task master. How do I inculcate ownership and accountability?

People here need to understand the challenges of the global environment and RNRIs need to understand they are dealing with a demography that wants it all at once — the excitement, the pay hikes, the recognition. Seek creative ways of harnessing this energy and making it productive.

Get the India team to understand their role/contributions and reward exceptional work.

Here’s a tip: Do a rotating meeting chair — your team will appreciate the sharing of importance.

How do I get them to be on time for meetings?

Keep trying, make a little game of it. In our company we reserve a group applause for anyone who ‘makes it’ 10 minutes late or more.

Coercion works only up to a point. Lead by example but never complain about ‘Indian’ punctuality, go with the flow…believe me it changes if the meeting format is interesting.

And I’ll leave you to think about Suresh Thomas’s concern:

In India, rank and title determine the kind of response you get. How do I go about making sure that people listen to me without a fancy handle?

There are no shortcuts to this, take the title that will open doors in the Indian scenario.

One of my clients has two different business cards — the one he uses when he meets Indian Government officials identifies him as Vice-President and the other one says Associate Manager as per company policy.

What do YOU say?

(The writer is the CEO of Global Adjustments, a relocation and cross-cultural services company, and is also the author of Doing Business in India for Dummies. Contact: info@globaladjustments.com)

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Homecoming blues