Do you have international employees who are going to live and work in Denmark for a number of years – e.g. leaders, researchers, and technical specialists? Or is there a regular flow of global colleagues at your Danish organization who stay for shorter periods?

Danish cultural training helps your international employees navigate their way through Danish work culture, so they can quickly focus on what they've come to do: to create results with you.

What are the benefits of Danish cultural training?

Your organization will have:

• Better performance and greater efficiency – from the very start
  The training ensures your international employees get off to a good start – so they perform better and faster, and collaborate more effectively with Danish colleagues and leaders.
   
• Fewer frustrations and greater job satisfaction
  Your international staff will have tools to tackle the issues and challenges that most people experience in a new work culture. This results in fewer frustrations and increases motivation and job satisfaction.
   
• Increased retention of key international staff
  It’s much easier to keep international employees who feel well received and well equipped to cope in a Danish workplace. Another important component of staff retention is that the accompanying family can also thrive in Denmark. We can help with that too. Read more about it here.
   
• Maximum benefit from short stays in Denmark
  Perhaps you have global colleagues who come to Denmark for short periods of time – e.g. for training, knowledge transfer, or a specific project? Danish cultural training ensures that employees benefit fully from their stay, so they return home with the required skills.
   
• Optimized communication and collaboration in your global organization
  Whether your international employees are in Denmark for short or long periods of time, Danish cultural training provides them with a common language and a common set of tools to manage differences. It strengthens communication and collaboration across national, cultural and disciplinary boundaries – and stays with your employees when they move on in your global organization.
   
• Visible and long-lasting results
  The participants learn before, during and after the training, and work on their own real-life challenges and cases all the way through the programme. These are some of the reasons why Danish cultural training creates visible and long-lasting results. Read more about how we ensure the training achieves its objectives.

As a participant you will:

• Increase your cultural self-awareness – learn about your own culture first!
  Become aware of your own cultural baggage and everything you take for granted. This is essential to finding the key differences between the Danish culture and your own culture, and learning how to deal with them constructively.
   
• Crack the Danish workplace code
  Understand the core values and dynamics of Danish work culture so you can navigate your way safely in a Danish workplace – and know what is expected of you when you make decisions, hold meetings and work in teams.
   
• Strengthen communication and collaboration with Danish leaders and colleagues
  Learn how to handle the often very direct communication you experience in Denmark – and get practical advice on how to achieve good cooperation with Danish colleagues and leaders.
   
• Find out why Danes behave the way they do!
  Do you find that your Danish boss tries to avoid responsibility? Or do you wonder where your Danish colleagues have disappeared to after 4:00pm? Get all the answers to these questions and more.
   
• Build a solid platform for your day-to-day life in Denmark
  How do you achieve a good life in Denmark – inside as well as outside the workplace? You’ll get a useful introduction to Danish society as well as tips on how to get to know Danes. If you have accompanying family, we can help them settle in Denmark too. Read more about it here.
   
• Discuss your specific tasks and challenges
  Get advice about the tasks and challenges you face in your Danish workplace from trainers who have experienced Danish culture for themselves – from both sides. Meet our trainers here.
   
• Acquire tools that will make you more effective in all types of global work
  The training will equip you with practical tools that are not only useful in your work with Danes, but in all jobs where you work cross-culturally. They are simple and easy to use. Whether you’re online or offline, whether you have to prepare for one meeting or long-term collaboration – they will always be close at hand. See one of them here.

We start by identifying your Danish cultural training needs and then design a programme within the framework that you have set out.

We define the training’s target audience, duration, learning objectives, content, and time and place in close cooperation with you. For example, we can design a three-hour workshop for a group of colleagues from your foreign subsidiary who are visiting Denmark for training purposes. Or we can organize a one-day workshop for your key international employees who will be working in Denmark for several years.

The training is always customized – not just for your organization, but for each and every participant. And we can weave your corporate culture and values into the training too.

Below are some examples of what we can work on.

Typically, we cover the following:

• Cultural awareness starts with self-understanding
• Practical cultural models, e.g. the ‘4R Model’ and the ‘Cultural Investigator’
• Key differences between Danish culture and the participants’ own culture – and how these differences can present opportunities for innovation
• Communication: Direct and indirect communication; meetings and negotiations; the use of Danish and English in a Danish workplace; body language
• Management structure in Danish companies: What are your Danish manager’s needs and expectations? How is responsibility shared? How are decisions made?
• The unwritten rules of the Danish workplace: Teamwork and knowledge sharing; learning from mistakes; work ethic and 'Jante’s Law'; meeting times and agreements; relationships with colleagues
• Handling misunderstandings, disagreements and conflicts with Danish managers and colleagues
• Specific cases and questions from your Danish working day

We can also work on:

• Danish society: History, politics, economics, religion and values
• Your Danish colleagues: Who are they? Work-life balance and family life; education and career; the Danish welfare system; Danish ideals of equality; free time and the Danish concept of ‘hygge’
• Your day-to-day life in Denmark: How can you navigate your way around Danish society? Where and how is the best way to meet Danes?
• Danish self-awareness: How do Danes perceive their own and other cultures? Do many Danes really believe that 'the Danish way' of doing things is always best?
• Danish humor and irony
• Culture and values in your company, department or team

Want to know more?

• Contact us! – So we can have a chat about how we can address your Danish cultural training needs.
• Do you have a manager or a key employee who has relocated to Denmark and needs individual coaching to maximize their performance during their stay? Then read about our intercultural coaching and advice here.
• Still not sure whether C3 should deliver your Danish cultural training? Here are the top six reasons why you should choose us.

Check out our blog posts about Danish culture

• Danish workplace culture – according to your Danish colleagues
• 25 helpful links for expats in Denmark
• Answers to 5 typical questions from Non-Danes working with Danes
• Danish feedback culture seen from within and from outside – plus 5 tips on how to create a culturally intelligent feedback culture
• Danish humour: Tips for Danes working globally – and for internationals working with Danes
• The ultimate list of books, movies and series to make you more knowledgeable about Denmark