Our approach to supporting organizations engaged in nationalization programs are based on the belief that inter-culturally intelligent individuals are better able to integrate nationals as effective team members.

Herein lies the secret, as individuals, nationals compete for recognition and reward to reinforce their existing paradigm (exclusive of the organization) – as team members, nationals collaborate for recognition and reward while defining and embracing an enriched world view (inclusive of the organization).

In supporting nationalization programs we recognize that an inter-cultural intelligence (ICI) initiative interacts with the existing HR strategy to influence the manner in which team members structure their organizational environment. If this interaction is effective nationals engage in the process of organizational effectiveness and they perform.

ICI and HR Strategy

We support the organization’s process of visioning to become an employer of choice by:

Review of existing HR policy and procedure

Engaging sources of talent

Creating partnerships with community stakeholders

Creating opportunities through HRD

Structuring

By applying inter-cultural mapping tools we are able to optimize the national employee’s ability to structure the organizational environment positively while he/she appropriates benefits effectively and faithfully.

Engaging and Performing

We support the organization in engaging national employees as productive employees through:

Team Dynamics

Developing Foundational Behaviors

Implementing a Leadership Pipeline

Performance Management

ICI and HR Strategy: Cultural Awareness

Inter-Cultural Intelligence allows for the leveraging of effective HR strategy. Our assumption is that the objective of an organizations HR strategy is to become an employer of choice in its market or industry.

HR strategy exists as a independent variable that is either effective or ineffective. In order for cultural mapping and navigation to empower successful nationalization, an awareness of the cultural significance of the existing HR strategy is necessary to ensure the potential for leveraging.

In addition to assessing the cultural significance of HR strategy we believe that it is important to fully leverage current sources of national talent. By creating mechanisms to effectively harvest sources of talent the organization procures the raw material required to build. We support in this regard by linking our clients with productive sources that contribute to high yield rates.

Building partnerships with community stakeholders allows for nationalization programs to become industry wide win-win initiatives. To this end, we support and promote the development of industry forums to facilitate sharing of best practice.

As an employer of choice an organization provides growth opportunities for the individuals that join its teams. KnowledgeWorkx provides support in this regard by guiding its clients through the application of the leadership pipeline, a career development methodology that allows for integration of career advancement and appropriate leadership development.

Structuring: Cultural Mapping

Current research indicates that individuals structure their reality based on a world view or paradigm. This world view manifests itself in the form that the psychological processes take which an individual uses to negotiate his or her environment.

Our approach empowers the organization to map the psychological processes used by individuals to negotiate their environment to best advantage. In addition, our approach empowers new team members to understand their own process of structuring. The psychological processes involved in structuring include:

Attitude towards the Organization. When nationals view the organizational environment (in particular their work team) as a positive extension of their natural environment they stay and thrive. We support the development of a positive attitude by empowering employees with an understanding of their own inter-cultural survivability.

Consensus on Appropriation. If nationals reach consensus on their ability to appropriate organizational benefits the HR strategy in place becomes effective. The application of our inter-cultural mapping tools supports the process of consensus building.

Faithful Appropriation. Employee satisfaction is a function of a positive attitude towards the organization and employees ability to appropriate benefits. However, this only becomes an organizational asset once the appropriation process takes place faithfully – i.e. when employees benefit while adding value in prescribed organizational roles. Our methods assist in the identification of practices that lead to faithful appropriation.

Engaging and Performing: Cultural Navigation

Equipped with an effective HR strategy and sufficiently detailed cultural map, organizations are in a position to experience the benefit of nationals who are engaged fully in their organizational roles and are performing well.

In this regard KnowledgeWorkx employs a leadership development methodology that allows nationals to navigate the organizational environment and grow in the organization. In this way the organization ensures both retention of talent and the appropriate application of talent. Our leadership development methodology sets foundational behaviors that form the basis of future career development and progression.

Linked to the process of the development of foundational behaviors is a process of equipping individuals for functioning at the appropriate level of the organization in terms of :

In addition to empowering nationals to navigate their current organizational landscape our method also prepares nationals to navigate future landscapes which they will encounter.

Practical Approach

Our approach to nationalization programs is implemented via a combination of training, coaching and mentoring, and consulting interventions. The precise make-up of the intervention is dependant on the needs of the client.