Issue 4 2008 > Intercultural Training
Intercultural Training
Global Passport: Your Passport to Global Effectiveness
Crown Relocations in Asia-Pacific is proud to deliver a unique intercultural training program – Global Passport. The Global Passport program was initially sponsored by Crown’s chairman, Jim Thompson. Early on, Jim recognized, especially as India and China began to thrive, that relocating professionals had a need for intercultural training. Jill Bedford, Crown’s regional director for global mobility services in Asia-Pacific led the initiative, conducting extensive research and learning from industry experts. What resulted is Crown’s proprietary intercultural services program, Global Passport.
Over the last two years, the program has gained momentum and grown considerably. The first program was held in Hong Kong in late 2006. Since then, more than 250 programs have taken place in the region. In fact, through the work of Kamariah Abdul-Rahim, regional manager, global mobility systems and training, who is based in Singapore, one of Crown’s clients in the financial industry, is now mandating that all of their international assignees participate in the program.
An Intercultural Team
Jill Bedford is supported by Shaila Gidwani and Eva Kwan, who manage the Global Passport program from Crown’s Hong Kong office.
Shaila Gidwani, regional manager, intercultural and support services has been working with Crown for six years. Her career at Crown began as a mobility consultant after working for an intercultural training firm. Shaila is responsible for managing the trainers and ensuring the quality of service, as well as coordinating the development of the program and increasing the trainer network. Shaila is of Indian ethnicity. She was born in France, raised in the UK and has been living in Hong Kong for the last eight years.
Eva Kwan, regional account manager, intercultural training, has been working with Crown for three years, most recently in a business development role in South China and prior to that, in Corporate Services in the Hong Kong branch. Her key strengths are her strong sales background and her ability to understand the needs of human resource professionals and their relocating employees’ needs. Eva is a Hong Kong national but has also lived in Canada, for eight years, and in the UK, for one year.
Intercultural training program session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
A Growing Network
Currently, Crown has a network of 30 Global Passport trainers across the Asia-Pacific region. Both Hong Kong and Singapore are of course key markets with the number of transferees passing through these locations. The team has conducted a series of intercultural training sessions for human resource managers across Asia including Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Beijing, Shanghai, Delhi and Bangalore.
“We are starting to see an increase in demand from Australian accounts moving staff to Latin America and the Middle East and have recently recruited trainers in Santiago, Chile and Abu Dhabi, UAE" states Shaila. "A coordinator has also been appointed to coordinate and expand the Global Passport program in EMEA."
Your Passport to Global Effectiveness
The Global Passport program supports corporate clients in their efforts to help their transferees, and their families, overcome intercultural-related challenges, cope with key cultural transition challenges and develop critical intercultural competencies.
Shaila Gidwani and Eva Kwan
With intercultural training, relocation professionals who are managing international assignments will enjoy:
- The ability to create and manage a culturally competent team
- Increased productivity across a global team
- A competitive advantage in the marketplace
Transferees will:
- Understand the cultural and emotional challenges they will likely experience
- Be able to identify, anticipate and handle conflicts in their host location
- Adjust their verbal and written communications skills
- Settle in to their new roles quickly and add value to their organization
The Global Passport program also provides training for spouses and families, to help them cope with cultural conflicts in all aspects of their lives–both professionally and personally. The program is tailored, through a comprehensive needs analysis, to meet individual needs and key concerns. Crown’s services include specialized training for relocations, repatriations, group needs and young professionals, offering a true global passport to global effectiveness.
For more information, visit our new Global Passport website at crownrelo.com/globalpassport.