Christan Höferle assists German companies to overcome Intercultural Start-up Problems: Intercultural Training, Seminars & Workshops, Executive Coaching, Destination Services, Relocation Support, Spousal Support, Transatlantic business, Translation & Interpretation
Living in the Southern United States as an expatriate has its benefits and its challenges. Atlanta, Georgia, and the entire Southeastern region are desirable destinations for professionals. However, these benefits make it easy to overlook the pitfalls of a foreign assignment.
This is especially true for European expats who expect their adopted home to be similar to the one they are leaving behind. This ‘illusion of similarity’, combined with American experiences made as a tourist can easily set expats up for disappointment. Cultural differences, misjudgments about the daily living environment, the linguistic skills gap and a predisposition for making (false) assumptions create the perfect setting for misunderstandings.
In fact, roughly 20% of all executives who move abroad for a new role with their company give up and return home within two years – well before the end of their assignment – leaving their employers in a difficult position. Often too little time and resources are spent on helping expats assimilate into a new culture. Many companies also fail to assess the “cultural adaptability” within their talent pool – a important skill for foreign assignment success.
Since 2009, Christian Höferle has been providing support services in the US from the greater Chattanooga, TN area. Höferle Consulting is specialized on assisting companies in bridging intercultural gaps and maximizing their employee effectiveness in foreign markets resulting in improvement of their international productivity rates. While Höferle Consulting mainly focuses on building solid transatlantic bridges for its clients, the company has also been working extensively with expatriates from Asia and South America. The company’s core credo is: Never assume that the norms you consider “normal” are “normal” elsewhere.
Christian Höferle | Skype christianhoeferle, Tel. 423.285.8589 | www.hoeferle.com
