Learning Needs Assessment Plan: Cultural Awareness Training at AB CIB

Needs Assessment Plan 1

Learning Needs Assessment Plan:

Cultural Awareness Training at AB CIB

Melissa Rigas

© Melissa Rigas 2007


Abstract

This final project is the culmination of a needs assessment

plan created for AB CIB New York, a French financial

institution and aims to determine if the multicultural Y

division is indeed in need of cultural awareness training. A

site-based evaluation and interviews with key stakeholders

from senior management have served as the starting point for

key points in this analysis and they include: issue

definition, needs identification, performance standards

identification and gaps, a target population analysis,

establishing training objectives, a feasibility analysis and

finally, a contextual analysis. The implications of my

findings underscore a genuine need and hence recommendation

for training of this sort so as to eliminate high non-French

employee turnover and to ensure interpersonal harmony,

maximum divisional productivity between the three core

groups and the division’s prime position as a world leader

in its field.



Learning Needs Assessment Plan:Cultural Awareness Training at AB CIB

The Organization

AB is the 7th largest French company by market capitalization and one of the leading financial services groups in Europe. The group has an extensive international network; it is present in 45 countries worldwide and employs103,000 people. Their corporate values include innovation, professionalism and team spirit. AB Corporate and InvestmentBanking (AB CIB), one of the three core businesses of the


group, has approximately 10,000 employees, with more than half of this number working outside France.

AB CIB in the Americas represented 21% of the revenues of the group as a whole for 2005. It serves the global financing needs of its multinational clients and offers expertise in certain specialized industries. Within the aforementioned percentage, client-driven revenues have risensince 2003 to equal 2/3 of total banking income and therefore, ensuring an excellence in client service is crucial. One of client relationship management’s responsibilities is to accompany their clients in local and cross-border development as well as to create customized financial packages that fit global and local market needs (http://www.sgcib.com). It follows quite logically then thatto succeed in this capacity, AB CIB must know the “world” and more importantly, it must understand the cultural realities of both their employees and their clients within that world.

As concerns my Needs Assessment Plan, I would like to concentrate on a very small division of AB CIB New York, more particularly, the Y division. In spite of its size, it is the world leader in the products it develops and as such maintaining this status is a priority.

Issue Definition

Franco-American cultural awareness and hence, effective cross-cultural communication and management techniques within the Y division at AB CIB New York stem first and foremost from cultural differences and not structural inconsistencies. As it is a trading floor located in America, the policies are American. As it is a French bank, the expertise, skills and techniques utilized in this division are often times French. The goals related to trading on the stock market are clear and universal – they are to make money and hence this is not a source of conflictin itself. The interpretation and subsequent methods that


the Americans (non-French) and the French use to achieve this goal are sources of conflict that eventually touch the bottom line.


Within the Y division at AB CIB New York, where the employee population is both French and non-French, employees’ expectations of the “other” are based on theirown basic assumptions, values and norms, which are rooted in their own national cultures. As a result, conflicts and misunderstandings arise and cause the team to become a mere word and not a reality. Good relationships, more efficient work and thus, more profit, both in financial and in human terms are allimpaired.

Needs Identification

My overall objective of this needs analysis is to discern ifthe Y division at AB CIB can benefit from cross-cultural awareness training. Some of the components that I would liketo cover in the eventuality that it does occur are:

- Culture defined- Stereotypes- Knowing your own culture (expectations and reactions)- Knowing your expectations of others- The importance of culture in business- The impact of culture on working in teams- The impact of culture on decision-making- The impact of culture on conflict resolution- National culture v. corporate culture - is there a link?- The culture of exclusion


Barbazette (2006) outlines the key elements in constructing written surveys and although I shall not utilize the fourteen here, I found that defining the first three was of great help in giving me direction for this survey.

Objective: Given the eventuality of cross-cultural training for the Y division at AB CIB, I shall collect information from the said division (both supervisors and employees) as well as from certain members of senior management to identify which topics both groups deem to be important and thus have an impact on their performance in the workplace.

Results/Interpretation of Data: The results will be tabulated first to identify the current cultural awareness of the survey participants and second, they will be analyzedso as to formulate further questions for the face to face interviews with the eventual training participants. The results shall be interpreted by me and then presented to Mr.Z (senior management), Ms. P (Human Resource Director) and Mr. T (COO of Y division) for feedback, discussion and further direction.


Survey

Some of the following are causes of failure in cross-cultural business situations, whether these situations are internal or external. Please check off those points in the table below that you feel have been the cause of misunderstandings, problems or conflicts in your own personal experience within the Y division. Leave a blank if you don’t think the cause concerns you and if you find that any particular causes are not listed; please write them in the space provided.


Use the following scale to rate each cause and remember to leave a blank if it doesn’t concern you.

1 = not important2 = of little importance3 = somewhat important4 = important5 = essential

1 2 3 4 51. Lack of understanding of the implications of culture in general2. Lack of understanding of different ways of thinking3. Difficulty in placing yourself in the other person’s shoes4. Existence of pre-conceived ideas and stereotypes about another culture5. Lack of understanding of the importance of culture in business6. Lack of understanding of the impact of culture on working in multi-cultural teams7. Lack of understanding of the impact of culture on decision making8. Lack of understanding of the impact of culture on conflict resolution9. Lack of personal interaction with your colleagues and supervisors



Other causes? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As I have stated previously, one of the questions in this project is how aware the participants are with respect to the impact of culture on their relationships and dealings with each other within the workplace. In formulating my questions, I expect to see whether they are in fact conscious of certain cultural elements or not. The problem is that the French, who constitute 80% of the employees in the division, may not think that there is a problem at all. The non-French, on the other hand, who constitute the remaining 20%, may not be making an effort to “get to know” their counterparts either. Both groups may be aware that there are issues, but may not be able to put a finger on where they are coming from. Questioning supervisors and management should close the circle and give me a total view of the situation. I am hoping that this will assist me in honing my interview questions so that I can specifically meet their needs in any type of training that may follow.

Contracts with Supervisors

Contract Statement

The purpose of this contract, albeit not legally binding, isto determine if the “Y” division at AB CIB can benefit from cross-cultural awareness training. This will be carried out through a preliminary needs assessment of the said division,


which will include the assistance and support of various stakeholders.

Overview

The stakeholders that will be implicated in this effort are Mr. Z, a member of senior management, Ms. P, the Director of Human Resources, Ms. C, Mr. Z’s Executive Assistant, Mr. T, the COO of the Y division and the supervisors and employees concerned in the targeted division. It is primordial that Mr. Z gives his permission to collect data and conduct interviews with the Human Resource Director as well as with the supervisors and employees of the “Y” division. Ms. P andMr. T will be instrumental in all that concerns the targetedemployees themselves and prior cross-cultural training that was effectuated. Informal conversations with Ms. C, who is bi-cultural and has lived in both countries, will be invaluable for an outside point of view and eventual clarifications. She has already been more than helpful in that she informally met with me before the


project began. She introduced the idea to her boss and set up my first meeting with him. This input, plus the results of the interviews with the targeted division members will then be analyzed so that a decision may be taken as to whether training is a necessity and hence, moves forward or not.

Stakeholder Involvement

Mr. Z has already graciously accorded me a meeting whereby wediscussed the issue of a particular bi-cultural division, “Y”, where cross-cultural misunderstandings and conflict have been observed and have thus affected the performance ofcertain members of this group.

His agreement to proceed has been and will remain crucial toany further action that takes place concerning both the


needs assessment and any eventual training experience. Afterour informal conversation, he chose the division that he feels needs cross-cultural assistance and has mandated face-to-face interviews with all employees of this division. He also suggested that I meet with the Director of Human Resources and the COO of the Y division to discuss the problems in more depth and detail in addition to setting up the data collection phase.

As each phase of the needs assessment is completed, I shall be providing Mr. Z with all of my findings so that he may bekept abreast of the progression of the project. His role as an advisor in this project is invaluable and I expect to meet with him at various times during the course of the assessment to procure feedback, suggestions and direction. Should the needs assessment be converted to actual training,his role will remain the same as in the former. I would envision supplying him with data at this point that illustrated an evolution in the communication and behaviour of “Y” division’s employees and the concrete steps that werebeing taken towards their eventual cultural awareness.

Ms. P, the Human Resource Director and Mr. T, the COO of the Y division will also be instrumental in the success of the plan. I will first of all interview them to obtain a generaloverview of training that is provided at AB CIB and more detailed information on the targeted division. Affording me a certain liberty in knowing what type of information existsconcerning the potential participants, both in terms of problems and praise, will allow me to procure a preliminary understanding of the situation before I meet with the participants themselves. Their suggestions and insight will be particularly precious because they have first-hand experience in both French and American cultures. I will relyon them to set up the interviews and they will become the liaison between the division being assessed and me. If the project reveals that there is indeed a need for training, Ms. P and Mr. T are obviously of critical importance in all


aspects of training implementation, follow up and post assessment.


The supervisors in the targeted division will need to be interviewed, at least as far as their comprehension of and reaction to the situation is concerned. It is imperative that I know what is actually done when cross-cultural misunderstandings and conflicts arise. From this point, I could gauge whether or not training would be necessary for them.

I would also need their utmost cooperation with the needs assessment interviews. They will have to permit those that work under them to be interviewed with no restrictions of time or frequency and that they in fact encourage it in viewof fostering cross-cultural awareness and hence, ultimate harmony in the division.

A decision to commence training would further necessitate commitment on their part to permit real learning to take place and this would translate into ample time given and thewillingness to become cross-cultural observers themselves.

It is clear that the participants, although the focus of this assessment, will not evolve if management is not sending theright messages by being supportive of their effort in solving the misunderstandings and conflict. These employees will have to feel at ease in the interview setting so that they may speak freely and share their frustrations with me. If not, I will not be able to procure essential information for the subsequent analysis. If training follows, management’s full support to resolve the problems once and for all will need to prevail in order for it to be successful.


Performance Standards

Performance Standards/ Gaps

One cannot speak about performance standards in this domain per se, as the knowledge that there is an issue does not yetexist. In my initial interview with Ms. C, the Executive Assistant, she suggested that French employees do know that they have to culturally adapt because they are in the UnitedStates, but she did not know if they recognized that there were “cultural” conflicts. Even Ms. C, who is half American and half French and has lived and worked in both countries and cultures, admitted that she didn’t necessarily recognizeall the cultural differences either. There were instances, because of her bi-cultural experience that certain issues “jumped out at her”, but it was not each and every time. In fact, the conflicts that surface are generally categorized as conflicts of interest rather than having anything to do with intrinsic cultural differences.

Upon closer inspection of what Ms. C revealed to me in our discussion, there are clear standards of what is and what should be happening. I prefer to use the terminology of Gay and LaBonte (2003, May), that is to say, performance gaps, which they define as “…the difference between expected achievement and actual results” (p. 68). It helps to note that the performance being measured here lies within the realm of successful cross-cultural communication, behavior and management.


It would be helpful to understand the two types of gaps thatexist: quantitative and qualitative. Gay and LeBonte provideclear definitions when they state that the former is “…hard business measures involving revenue, expense, and productivity” and the latter “…include[s] customer, internalclient, and associate satisfaction; quality process; and product indicators” (p. 68). AB CIB is experiencing gaps in


both categories, which merit closer inspection and eventually corrective action.

Quantitative

- Lessen the high turnover of the American (non-French) as compared to the French employees.

There is currently a high turnover of American (non-French) employees, especially in the Sales department, as compared to the French employees. AB CIB is a French bank, granted, but its presence in the United States presupposes that clients are American. Hence, Americans within the Sales department in particular would give the bank credibility in the United States as an American entity and would reach out to more American clients. More clients clearly translate into more revenue and profit.

- Reduce wasted time in training new employees.

The aforementioned problem necessitates the frequent hiring of new employees and that means time, energy and money is spent training them before they are 100% operational. It also means that time is not being spent on prospecting new clients or markets. This situation will eventually (if it isnot already doing so) affect the ROI and productivity negatively.

Qualitative

- Maintain long-term trust in employee and client relationships.

Following from this emanates a situation where two problems arise, one internal and the other external. Internally, the French employees know that American employees do not last long and it could be creating a reticence to share information and to treat them as colleagues and not “the Americans”. Similarly, the Americans who have stayed on may


be developing a feeling of “us versus them”. In both cases there is an ambiance that is counter productive to teamwork.

Externally, the Sales team must deal with clients and because employee turnover is high in this department, the trust base that has been forged by one person must be reestablished by his or her successor. Once again, this is precious time that could be spent in gaining ground in otherareas or in selling new products and thus, in bringing in revenue and profit.


- Expanding new markets.

Expansion into new markets abroad demands a stable business environment that is sensitive to the cultures of those markets as well as solidarity among colleagues at home. A successful in-house cultural awareness is the perfect role model for that which happens elsewhere. This ensures qualityservice and client satisfaction.

Target Population Analysis

Target Population Statement

AB CIB is a financial institution and the New York branch deals exclusively in corporate and investment banking. The Ydivision is comprised of three core groups that deal with the following: Financial Engineering, Asset Management and Structured Products Sales.

There are 56 people in all three groups combined, with a little less than half that number in Sales. The age range ison average between 25 and 35 and the ratio of men to women is approximately 3:1. Although only 17 of the 56 employees are non-French, the cultural composition of each group is interesting to note. Engineering has the least amount of


non-French with 2, Asset Management is 50% non-French with 7and there are 8 non-French employees in Sales. A point thatis worth mentioning here is that a portion of the non-Frenchare in fact of Asian descent. Hence, for 39 employees in theY division, English is their second language. The French employees’ average length of employment is 4 to 5 years within the Y division and they view their position as permanent within the bank as a whole whereas for the non-French it is 2 to 3 years within the company and then they leave.

On an educational level, they have all finished graduate or engineering school and the last time they were in a formal educational setting was between 5 and 10 years ago. As far as training is concerned, the Sales team attends training sessions every week to stay up to date on topics such as products and clients. The only training to my knowledge thatthey have all attended with respect to cultural awareness was a one-hour introduction to cultural theory and theoristsgiven by Ms. P in November 2006. This will serve as an excellent prerequisite for any eventual and subsequent cultural awareness training.

Outside of finance, the Y division’s interests include soccer, golf, skiing, good food and restaurants and good wine. This is indicative of a very present and strong Frenchculture and I am not certain that the non-French are represented equally here. In any case, all employees keep upto date on current affairs both in France and in the United States by either reading the paper or by surfing the Internet.

The Y division is a world leader in its field and as such, maintenance of this positioning is primordial. The three core groups that make up the division are interrelated and do



work with each other. For example, the Engineering group creates the products that are subsequently sold by Sales. Finance is by its very nature results oriented and this, combined with the bottom-line mentality of American businessculture make for a division that has little time to spare onactivities that are not contributing to either. As long as the participants demonstrate some sort of positive change ineither cross-cultural communication, behavior or both, they and management alike will be motivated to move forward. It is pertinent to note that other attempts in this direction short of training have not worked.

Decision Points List

As there are 56 employees in the Y division and 3 supervisors across the three core groups, not everyone can be trained at the same time. The ideal would be to not have more than 10 to 12 participants to a group and within each group there should be a mix of engineers, asset management employees and salespeople. There should equally be a combination of men and women, French and non-French and supervisors should join the groups for select exercises.

I propose to begin with 18 hours of training for each employee, that is to say, three hours twice a month for three months or, if length of time spent in training and noton the job is an issue, three hours three times a month for two months. Exact times (morning or afternoon) and days of the week for each group will have to be planned with management in relation to the participants’ schedules. The aforementioned mix is not only imperative for cultural reasons, but also so that the work can continue to be carried out by remaining members of the respective groups.

Although it is not imperative, I believe that personalized examples mirroring the participants’ actual circumstances would be highly beneficial in case studies, role-plays and simulations. There will be times when other examples that


are not organization specific will be needed to allow participants a certain liberty of expression. In the case ofthe latter, both work and social scenarios should be included. The employees of the Y division all attended a cultural overview in November 2006 and that was a perfect prerequisite to interactive training and can be drawn from and added to throughout the 18 hours that they attend.

A proposal has already been sent to senior management outlining the situation and including a goal analysis statement, objectives for an eventual training, why a learner-centered approach is recommendable and the possible challenges that a trainer would face with respect to the individual participants as well as organizational restraints.

This training, which is targeting solely the Y division, does not currently have a secondary target population. If the Y division is seen as an experimental group and benefitsfrom the cultural awareness training, it is perhaps possibleto envisage the same


sort of sensitization to other departments, divisions or select personnel of AB CIB New York in the future.

Finally, what are the potential benefits of this training? Globally speaking, there would be more effective cross-cultural communication and management. Looking at the benefits in more detail helps in understanding the complete picture:

Increased awareness of one’s own culture and cultural expectations

Increased awareness of the “other’s” culture and culturalexpectations

Eradication of negative stereotypes


Increased awareness of what constitutes releasing the right responses

Increased capacity to work within multicultural teams

Increased capacity to work between and with the three core groups

Increased capacity to work through misunderstandings and conflicts of a cultural nature

Increased capacity for supervisors to make decisions thatare culturally sensitive and good for business

Decrease and eventual eradication of non-French employee turnover due to cultural misunderstandings and conflicts

I would just like to close with the idea that underlying theissue and hence, the training, is not just a necessity for the French to make a grand effort to include their non-French colleagues in their “circle”. While it is true that this needs to be done and they also need to try to “Americanize” to a certain degree, they are not “les grands méchants loups” (the big bad wolves). In spite of the fact that AB CIB is located in the United States, it is a French corporation. The non-French who accept to work there must also be conscious of this and be responsible for their part in the process. With mutual effort comes adaptation and integration to both cultures and the result can be symbiosis. This in turn could very well lead to the creationof a new culture, a corporate culture specific to AB CIB NewYork that is multicultural, that is successful and that celebrates the differences inherent in us all.



Training Objectives, Evaluation Criteria and Results

Objectives

- Demonstrate ability to recognize one’s own cultural norms, values and basic assumptions. (Individual)

- Demonstrate ability to recognize one’s own cultural expectations in others’ reactions, both communicative and behavioral. (Individual)

- Demonstrate ability to recognize the “other’s” norms, values and basic assumptions. (Individual)

- Identify behavior that causes cross-cultural misunderstandings and conflict in communication and behavior. (Individual and organizational)

- Demonstrate ability to work successfully in multicultural teams. (Individual and organizational)

- Identify unconscious cultural behavior that incites non-French to leave the company earlier than desired. (Individual and organizational)

Goal Analysis Statement

If the totality of employees and managers in the Y division at AB CIB were to become more culturally aware, they would create and experience a more culture-friendly work environment, communicate more effectively across cultures, integrate more easily, be more successful within multicultural teams and experience greater job satisfaction through enriching personal relationships. This in turn wouldreduce the high turnover rate of non-French employees due tocultural misunderstandings and conflict by 100%. Each employee in the Y division would begin this process with 18


hours of cross-cultural training in the time span of two months and would subsequently complete a minimum of one cross-cultural training seminar/workshop per year (length and hours to be decided). This goal will be reviewed for employees’ and managers’ production of cross-cultural competencies after the completion of each training seminar/workshop.

A flow chart would be an ideal tool that would take culturalawareness into consideration from pre-hire to termination/resignation and attempt to illustrate steps thatmight be taken by Human Resources to reduce or eliminate instances of employees leaving for reasons associated with cultural misunderstandings.


Data collection would be pertinent to each employee hired and would be kept in and follow him or her in a dossier. Supervisors, managers and the trainer would add to it at each step of the employee’s process and could optimally be material used on the individual’s annual performance review.In this respect, supervisors should be encouraged to continually add to the dossier. Moreover, it could be used in the annual workshops by the trainer to help that individual work on specific problems and used by the individual to increase his or her awareness of his or her cultural issues and strengths.

Training Costs/Feasibility Analysis

In spite of the fact that the company is non-American and islocated in the United States, the unequal ratio of French(80%) to American (20%) employees does not oblige the Frenchto become any more American than if they were in France andit leaves the Americans out of the circle, unable to “…


decipher the complex, unspoken rules of [French] culture”(Hall & Hall, 1990, p. 4). This not only leads to an ever-increasing hostile work environment, ultimately riddled withsuspicion and a lack of trust, but it has been the cause ofa high turnover of the American employees. If you can’t jointhem, leave, and that is precisely what the Americans havebeen doing.

Holton states “…increasing global competition has led tointense pressure on HR to demonstrate that programs aredirectly contributing to the ‘bottom-line’ of theorganization” (as cited in Rowden, 2001, p. 6). Rowden(2001, January) reiterates this message at the end of his article when he attests to theimportance of justifying training investment and expenses inlight of our current economy, with downsizing and worldwideglobal competition being the reality (p. 11). AB CIB is aleading institution in its field and the Y division’s product is one of the best inthe world. If we speak solely about global competition, theY division cannot afford not to be culturally aware.

Barbazette (2006) defines a feasibility analysis as one that“…identifies whether conducting the training costs less thandoing nothing” (p. 62). It is clear that employee turnoverand job and workplace satisfaction cost money, but as Rowden(2001) stipulates, an ROI calculation for soft-data items,such as those just mentioned, is more difficult (p. 8).

Although this may be the case, in AB’s 2007 Annual Report,they underscore that one of the Group’s three mainpriorities is pro-active and responsible management ofstaff. In addition, the Group feels that “Diversity is asource of dynamism which fosters innovation and creativity,both of which are essential attributes in the competitivesectors in which [AB] operates” (p. 106). Taking intoaccount this statement, the worldwide leadership positionthat the Y division holds and the secure long-term growth


that the AB Group entertains, cross-cultural awareness mustcertainly become a priority on the agenda.


Cost/Benefit Analysis

Currently there is an 80% turnover within the American population of the Ydivision. No cross-cultural training has ever been given.

Training Program: Cross-cultural awareness (18 hours perparticipant)

Target Population: 25 people of the Y Division (7 smallergroups within Y)

Objective: Create satisfaction in the internal workenvironment so as to reduce turnover (100%) of the Americanemployee population due to cross-cultural conflicts.

TOTAL PLH (participant learning hours) = 450 (3 hours oftraining x twice a month x 3 months for 25 people)

COST

Direct CostsCourse design $13,500Instructor $31,500Travel for instructor$6,750Material to participants

$2,250

Total Direct Costs$54,000

Indirect Costs $0(Training will take place withinthe offices. Any administrativecost for the instructor will be

BENEFIT(Based on conservativeassumptions)

Average # of employees = 25Cost to train a new employee= $30,000($250 x 60 days for the trainer whois not doing business during thattime = $15,000 $250 x 60 days for the trainee whois not fully operational duringthat time = $15,000)

3 new employees/year x$30,000 = $90,000 cost /year


included within the hourly rate,e.g. phone calls, internetconnection, etc. … for the purposeof the training and communicationto the managers)

Participant Compensation$0(Teams will be broken up fortraining so that work will still beexecuted by remaining team members)

Total Cost $54,000

$90,000x 1.0 (target)

$90,000 benefit

$36,000 net savings

PLH cost is $120 = $54,000 (total cost) / 450 (PLH)Program Cost per Participant is $2,160 = $54,000 / 25 or$120 x 18 Benefit$90,000 Net $36,000

= 2:1 CBR x 100 =66.6% ROI Cost $54,000 Savings$54,000


Contextual Analysis

The contextual environment, that is to say the delivery mediums, scheduling issues and other logistics within the context of the organization (Barbazette, 2007, p. 100), of any training must be presented in the most favorable manner possible if that training is to be successful. Cultural awareness training necessitates some very distinct requirements and the target group at AB CIB is no exception.The following is a contextual analysis for the Y division atAB CIB:

How

Training will be delivered face to face in small groups of 12 to 14 employees and each group will include supervisors when the session is applicable to them. It would be ideal ifsupervisors could be present at each session, but due to


their position, it cannot be made mandatory. Once inside the“class”, this group will be further broken down into smallergroups of 4 to 5, depending on the activity. Interaction is essential and is one of the larger goals of this training. Mastery is not expected here, but a growing awareness is andso groups of more than 20 or individual training would not be realistic in achieving the learning objectives.

Where

Training will take place in an on-site conference room at ABCIB New York, thereby ensuring greater attendance, maintaining zero location cost and facilitating a high ease of scheduling. The person who reserves this room is Ms. C, the Executive Assistant and as soon as she knows the exact dates, a room will be made available for training purposes.

I would like to note that the only computer-based requirement is a copy of Ms. P’s Power Point presentation oncultural theory and theorists. It will be sent to all participants’ professional e-mail addresses for reference purposes.

When

The 18 hours of training per participant will be held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and must be completed within 3 months. This translates into 2 sessions of 3 hours each per month. The 4 or 5 groups will rotate within the chosen weeks, taking into account workload, peak periods, vacations and holidays.

This leaves 6 possible slots per chosen week, as sessions will be held either in the morning (9am – 12pm) or in the afternoon (2pm – 5pm) during working hours. Knowing that each participant would only be obliged to do 6 hours a month(= 2 sessions), that leaves ample time for anything that maycome up. However, it is important to remember that courses will be sequential and each one will be built on the


previous one. Hence, a participant who misses a course one week will have to make it up in that same week and


not the week after, as the content will have changed at thatpoint. Similarly, a participant cannot do his or her 6 monthly hours in one week. The same theme will be dealt within all of the courses in the same week.

The training should not take place in the summer months, as it is a peak vacation period and the trainer, who is being contracted externally, will schedule around the participants’ availability.

Other Requirements

There will not be any pre-work options save for reviewing the Human Resource Director’s Power Point presentation before training begins. It can be used as a guide and a reference when needed.

There will not be any practice required in between training sessions apart from the participants observing and keeping mental notes of “real life” cultural awareness incidents inside and outside of the workplace. They will spend perhaps5 to 10 minutes at the beginning of each session jotting down any observations they may have had of a cultural nature.

Attendance would be mandatory, with the possibility of making up a missed session within one of the slots given in that particular week. Hence, attendance sheets will be kept and will be used to track cultural progress/stagnation rather than be used in any punitive sense. In addition, the trainer will create dossiers for each participant, starting from an initial pre-training interview and update them with comments and feedback on their cultural evolution after eachsession.


Learning and Organizational Goals

This contextual analysis is quite a positive fit for achieving both the learning and the organizational goals. The former embraces cultural awareness, a quality that is not quantifiable in the strict sense of the word, but will certainly be noticeable in the level of cultural sensitivitydisplayed in the communication and behavior of the Y division’s employees.

The divisional goals, like the learning objectives, are for communication to flow and for the French and non-French alike to be able to understand each other and behave in a culturally acceptable way. This way, multicultural teams between the three core groups of the division can flourish and the high turnover of the non-French in the division due to cultural misunderstandings and conflict will cease to exist.

In time, the aforementioned will lead to the realization of a key point in AB CIB’s objectives and policies stated in their 2007 Registration Document and that is to ensure “…a recruitment policy that seeks to promote diversity, strategies to enhance the skills


and employability of staff by reconciling professional development with personal fulfillment and remuneration policies designed to give employees a stake in the performance and results of the Group” (p. 115).

Summary Justification Statement

There are universal institutions that influence each and every person on this planet regardless of their culture: family, school and the workplace. However, it is also clear that all that one learns from the cradle to the grave is based in cultures that are not the same and these cultures are not solely, but to a very large degree, national


cultures. The plethora of the other “cultures” that we can identify is in my opinion subjugated to what one is as an American, a French person, a Dane, a Japanese person and thelist goes on. National culture shapes our basic assumptions and hence, our very core. It is introduced by one’s parents,reinforced by one’s educators and evident in the way that wecarry out business, irrespective of what the nature of that business may be. Differences in organizational or corporate culture have their roots in national cultural values and norms in spite of the omnipresence of the American business model. AB CIB New York is a perfect example of this.

My proposition for training at AB CIB is anchored in both national and corporate culture. This very successful financial institution has the chance of using the best from two worlds, that of France and that of America. It has the potential to produce employees and a system of management that exceed the expectations, effectiveness and creativity of any mono-cultural entity. This possibility of strengthening an already renowned global company, where organizational performance mirrors that of the brilliance ofits employees, can only be achieved when and if cultures complement each other rather than clash simply because differences are misunderstood instead of celebrated.

In order for this to become a reality, the employees of AB CIB who work with culturally different “others” must be at acertain level of cultural awareness so that the multicultural environment works for and not against them. They must strive to attain this awareness for the success ofinterpersonal relationships, successful multicultural teams and optimal organizational performance. Managers and supervisors must be at the forefront of this culturally aware dynamic so that they can serve as positive role modelsand be sources of information, reinforcement and at times, solace and understanding. The company as a whole must support, believe in and put this awareness into practice to maintain its presence successfully in new countries and new markets.


We are not necessarily taught to analyze our own culture or look at ourselves from the outside in when we live in a mono-cultural world. It is a fact that AB CIB New York does not only embrace one culture. By adopting a cultural awareness training now and reinforcing this training with annual workshops, by building the demand for cultural awareness into the hiring system and interviewing process, by making sure that those who leave are not doing so for cultural reasons and finding out why if they are, AB CIB


New York can only set the ball in motion for long-term cultural and organizational success on every level.



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Learning Needs Assessment Plan: Cultural Awareness Training at AB CIB

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