Almost every company has negative experiences with their own Indian management or employees at some point during their commitment to India. As all insiders know, joy and sorrow are often very closely related in India. The initial euphoria when the first problems arise can be followed relatively quickly by disillusionment. It is not uncommon for the mood to turn into frustration when defined (or hoped for) goals are not achieved and result in blanket condemnations of “the Indians” who simply cannot “get” certain things together. The breaking points in German-Indian cooperation often arise in the usual suspicious topics such as quality, adherence to deadlines or commitment. German management – rightly so – does not accept any compromises. On the other hand, Indian decision-makers often complain about unclear formulations of goals and a lack of understanding of the respective local situation.
Almost all problems can be traced back to the different expectations and world views of those involved. The fact that misunderstandings can arise at regular intervals is in the nature of things and should therefore come as no surprise. But there is no reason to let these intercultural differences escalate into collective frustration and general antipathy towards India.
To prevent exactly that from happening, you must discard the assumption that Indians think/act/decide like Germans (and vice versa) as quickly as possible and readjust your own behavior for India.
Other values (and worldviews)
To run an organization successfully in India, you have to adapt to the local environment and not the other way around. Because imposing German company policies and philosophy – no matter how successful it may be – on an Indian entity will almost certainly not work. In India the clocks tick differently, and therefore personnel management is different.
Although most people responsible for India have at some point become theoretically familiar with intercultural differences, very few managers bring this intercultural competence into organizational planning; Unfortunately, this happens precisely when it comes to defining the responsibilities, structures, processes and communication channels in India or setting up the management and control mechanisms with the parent company. Intercultural know-how is not a soft fact or a pure communication topic, but must be taken into account as an integral part of every strategic and operational decision.
In order to understand the behavior of your Indian employees, you need to familiarize yourself with the values, norms and also the worldview and mythology of India. The better you understand the fundamental cultural differences between the linear, structured, logical and (supposedly) unambiguous "Western world" and Indian culture, which is characterized by cycles, relativity, complexity, ambiguity and chaos, the more effective you will be in your Indian culture Can lead employees.
Other customs – using leadership style as an example
Indian culture, for example, was shaped by the caste system for thousands of years, which manifested itself in a highly hierarchical, almost feudal and status-oriented society and, to a large extent, still works that way. At the same time, values such as charity, equality, solidarity and personal freedom prevailed in Central Europe from Jesus Christ through the Enlightenment to the revolutions in the 19th and 20th centuries.
These two completely opposite cultural influences result in strikingly different requirements for leadership behavior in the respective country. While today in Germany an open, largely participatory leadership style is maintained, in India we have to act much more autocratically. Hierarchies and close leadership are not perceived by Indian employees as unpleasant control, but rather as a necessary management tool. If the focus is on teamwork, cooperation and initiative in a cultural environment that is so strongly hierarchical, failure is “pre-programmed”.
In India, well-intentioned is often the opposite of well-done. Because India functions according to its own rules. These not only force you to adjust your organizational structures and processes as well as targets and control procedures for India, but also to rethink your entire communication and personnel policy at the company headquarters from a bird's eye view.
further information on the subject of human resources management as well Management and management of the India business
Human resources management as a core competency
Because of the importance of this topic, Dr. Wamser + Batra GmbH decided to approach the topic with due care and to set up a further focus on “Leadership and Control” of Indian employees and teams in the “Human Resources” department in addition to “Personnel Search/Executive Search”. The focus of the consulting work is on customer-oriented problem analysis for German companies and the creation of practical solutions for the Indian market.
Werner Heesen, formerly “Director South Asia” at Deutsche Lufthansa AG, is responsible for the “Human Resources” department at Dr. Wamser + Batra GmbH. He himself lived in India for 13 years and worked in management positions and shares some of his experiences and views on the complex topic of human resources management in India.
