Did you watch the trending video of a Nigerian lady who lost her job in the UK for saying “I am sorry” to her boss who alleged her of misconduct? Sorry is one of the most abused words in Nigeria.
Nigerians say “sorry” for everything. Some Nigerians say “sorry” as a strategy to pretentiously appeal to emotions and attract pity. Others use it as a lame, weak mental construct to escape logical explanations. In the Western world, saying “sorry” means you are acknowledging that you regret your action.
It is considered an admittance of guilt. Rather than saying “sorry”, prove your innocence by explaining your notion. In the Western culture, saying “sorry” unnecessarily will get you into trouble.
Every artiste (even if you are a Grammy Award winner) who performs at Obafemi Awolowo University, understands that the first thing you do as soon as you get on stage is to dòbálè (prostrate) for the students whom you are going perform for. Sounds weird. Right?
Failure to do so will lead to a nightmare performance for you. Even the presence of the Vice Chancellor cannot intimidate the students at that point. The culture of dòbálè has been passed through generations of students.
I remember working in a firm where over 85 percent of staff were OAU graduates and my boss also finished from OAU. It’s a risky thing to do.
There are three reasons you should never employ more OAU graduates in your firm; (1) They will always question any policy they consider wrong. They know how to disagree with their superiors politely. (2) They always exercise their rights as employees. They understand every full-stop in your employee handbook and company policy. (3) They are always prepared to resign (worst case scenario), rather than have their rights being trampled upon.
An average OAU graduate in any company is a protest comrade. They are always considered the ‘rebels’ of the company. Interestingly, you cannot fire them easily because they are always very smart, productive and versatile.
Regardless of their gender or gentle appearance, they are a necessary evil. They are only a product of a free speech culture that OAU is renowned for.
In Yorubaland, you don’t give a customer money or goods with your left hand. That may be termed as being rude and disrespectful.
Why do most Igbos travel ‘home’ during festive seasons? Culture! They proudly lock up their shops and offices to celebrate Christmas. If you have an Igbo man as a business partner, you must make room for this and understand this. Omenala bụ omenala.
During one of the AFCON matches where Nigeria played against South Africa, my church was almost empty during the Midweek service. Yes! Nigerians love football.
Fixing a business meeting at a time of a crucial football match may be a bad business decision. Understand the culture and align.
In Nigeria, we celebrate the dead than the living. So, understand well when your Nigerian supplier says he is out of business temporarily to celebrate the 25-year remembrance of his great-grandfather.
You are ‘lucky’ if your business headquarters is not in Ijebu. Your employees will submit letters of request for permission just to attend parties.
Culture is a way of life of people – customers, employees, suppliers or investors. Culture is the values, norms and customs that a group of people share.
Understanding the culture of your business is key to efficiency. People usually perceive any behaviour within their culture’s range as normal.
Two young fishes were swimming along when they passed an older one. The older fish said, “Water is nice today. Isn’t it?” The younger fish nod and swim off. After a bit, one said to the other, “What the heck is water?”
The young fish were so surrounded by water that they never noticed it. And yet it completely shapes their world. This is how most of us relate to our native cultures. Because the beliefs ingrained in our culture are so deep, we often don’t realize how our culture influences our behaviour.
Be a culture-sensitive business owner. Don’t run your business like tourists who don’t necessarily share values. That is a dangerous way to kill your business. For your employees, customers and business partners to be on the same with you, you need to understand their terrain.
Whether you are branching out to another location or you are starting your business in an entirely new location, understanding the culture is necessary for business success. Don’t neglect culture when drafting your company’s policy document. Let culture drive the mission, vision and operations of your business.
When the key players in your business have different standards of behaviour, your business may turn into a war zone or you may be perceived as being too autocratic or too bureaucratic because you will think everyone is doing a bad job, whereas, in the real sense, nobody is objectively right or wrong. They simply have different cultures.
An Igbo culture greets with a handshake, regardless of the age while the Yoruba culture demands that a younger one prostrate or kneel to greet the elderly one, depending on the gender.
If these two cultures meet in a business setting, the Igbo folk who stretch forth their handshake to greet a Yoruba superior may come off as disrespectful.
The French work culture is deeply influenced by the country’s rich cultural heritage. In the French work culture, formal greetings are the norm.
Colleagues greet each other with their surnames, adding monsieur or madame. As a female, you might also come across the custom of la bise – the culture of greeting with cheek kisses.
Do you know that in France, every employee has the right to a minimum of 5 weeks of vacation per year? The summer exodus, known as “les grandes vacances” is a cherished tradition when many businesses temporarily close for vacation.
Make sure to not schedule important meetings in the months of May-August or December. That is when many employees go on vacation.
Engaging in “le dèjeuner” and participating in the post-meal “cafè” is a social ritual in the French work culture. The French law states that every employee must spend at least 11 consecutive hours away from work.
However, just like the Ghanaians, the French aren’t as obsessed with punctuality as some other countries. The most annoying part about French culture is that you have to get permits for almost everything.
To succeed in today’s multicultural business environment, you need cultural intelligence. Cultural intelligence is an outsider’s ability to interpret someone’s unfamiliar and ambiguous gestures in the same way in the same way that a person’s coworker would, to build a close or successful relationship.
Cultural intelligence can be learned. If you have a low cultural intelligence, you may misinterpret the harmless intentions of your customers, employees or partners.
Whenever there seems to be a distinction between what works for the company’s efficiency and what works for the culture, you need to strategically engage to bridge the divide.
Demonstrating a high cultural intelligence does not always mean copying exactly what a different culture does. It is about understanding others and finding a way to form a good business relationship.
Aside from the cultural shock, when you get to a new place, you may become irritated and frustrated. Business culture in Africa is different from the Western culture. It is risky to copy a company policy from another culture and enforce it on your staff. You may build a team that will continuously fight your company policies, or eventually resign from your company.
Build your business like a chameleon. Learn to adapt to different cultures and avoid cross-cultural conflicts caused by cultural differences. This will reduce your employee turnover rate and business failure.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant