Recently, ENTER received help from a number of students from Fontys Hogescholen in Eindhoven. These students followed the minor 'Your Future Work' of the Fontys HRM & Psychology program. This minor focuses on international cultural differences. ENTER gave the students the assignment to come up with a workshop on 'captivating and binding the international cultural differences within ENTER'. After a period of research and development, this workshop was actually carried out with a number of international colleagues of ENTER.
The students had devised three working methods with the goal of building a bond between different parties. For example, there was an assignment where one person had to give instructions to the rest only verbally, with his hands behind his back, about what they should build out of Lego. This assignment is all about clear and good communication, but with ‘a handicap’. Differences between cultures clearly emerged. There was serious work, but also a lot of laughter. There were positive reactions from the participants.
Impact
Besides the cooperation with the minor, ENTER's Talent Manager Erica Schepers also gave an interactive course on diversity to a number of Fontys students. Since ENTER has many international employees, Erica explained how we at ENTER support this group. After all, what many people underestimate is how much impact a move has on people. Also, expats end up in a very different working environment with a different work culture. Therefore, good guidance is important. As a group, the students shared their own experiences, revealing the differences in cultures.
