Learning to Navigate the Danish Workplace: Online Coaching Accommodates a Busy Travel Schedule
C3 Consulting has an ongoing cooperation with Grundfos to provide Danish cultural training for international assignees and accompanying family members who are relocating to Denmark. For one manager, a busy travel schedule made it difficult to find time to meet in-person, so C3 delivered the training virtually, where and when it suited him best.
C3 Consulting is proud to be a Grundfos training vendor. When Grundfos employees relocate to Denmark, they are provided with four hours of cultural training to help them adapt to and thrive in the Danish workplace.
The trainings are always tailored to the individual's unique situation, taking into account their background and including any accompanying family members.
One of these international assignees, Kapil Goyal, moved from Germany to Denmark to accept the role of Strategy Execution Manager for Grundfos Service & Solutions.
Because Kapil's role involves a great deal of global travel, finding time for in-person training was difficult. In less than a year, his job took him to the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Dubai, and the United States.
Virtual training offered the flexibility he needed. Four hours of global mobility coaching with C3's CEO and Chief Trainer, Annette Dahl, were delivered over several sessions. Annette used online tools to create an interactive, real-time experience:
"I was travelling a lot, so we couldn't find a suitable time to meet in person. Therefore we decided that we should just do the training online.
We used video chat with screen sharing – she drew pictures and models on the screen, and it worked quite well for me."
Client feedback: positive outcomes both in Denmark and globally
Kapil was already adept at working cross-culturally, having moved from his native India to Germany several years prior.
But there were plenty of new things to learn about Denmark, which differs from Germany in a number of ways.
One big difference was the importance of teamwork and group decision making:
"I think the most important thing I learned about were the nuances of working in Denmark.
I worked in Germany for quite some time, but a lot of things were still very new to me.
I learned that in Denmark, there is a strong team culture – the team decides.
One example Annette gave was this: a manager was on vacation, and the team decided something. When the manager came back, he was told what decisions had been made. This is very different from many other cultures, including Germany."
Another difference was the high level of trust he experienced:
"Germany is a lot more process driven, so it was quite interesting for me to understand that a lot of things in Denmark are very trust-based. It's unlike many other cultures, even in Europe.
So it was helpful to have that sensitivity, that it’s a high-trust culture and it’s a team-based culture."
The main focus of Kapil's training was to prepare him to work in Denmark, but he found that the concepts could also be applied globally. The tools he gained were simple, easy-to-use, and useful in any cross-cultural collaboration, whether in-person or online.
The 4R Model, which examines Rank, Responsibility, Risk, and Relationship, was particularly helpful in helping him understand both high-trust Danish culture and other very different cultures as well:
"In terms of tools, what really helped me was the 4R Model.
I used this when I was assigned to a project in the Middle East – I kept the 4R Model I made and shared it with my team. It's a good reference to know why certain things are happening."
