Six tips to enjoy working in India

Working in India is a joy - at least if you have a bit of an adventurous European merchant's spirit. Michel Koopman, who runs the Leela hotel in Gurgaon, is just such a person. "It's fun to work with Indians," Koopman says enthusiastically. "The fact that they speak English helps tremendously. Quite a difference from China. If you make a joke there, they don't understand you. With Indians, you can laugh."

Gosse Wielinga at the Suzlon factory in India (Photo: Suzlon)

Gosse Wielinga who works for the large Indian wind energy company Suzlon also has an "incredible time in India." Wielinga thrives in the informal corporate culture at family-owned Suzlon, which he compares to the Dutch polder culture.

Or take Jos van Haaren, former research leader at the Philips innovation campus, who recently returned to Eindhoven. During the interview, he seemed almost homesick for India. "I would have liked to have stayed longer," he said with regret in his voice.

Even hockey coach Paul van Ass, who was sacked after only five months as national coach of the Indian hockey team, has good memories of India. He hopes to do business there again.

Jos van Haaren at the Philips Innovation Campus in Bangalore (Photo: Berkeley - Haas)

Six tips to make working in India a joy:

1. Take young employees by the hand

"Indians are very ambitious, they fight to get ahead. You can see that at the baggage belt at the airport: everyone is in the lead. You can see it on the work floor as well. There are a lot of young people who are very driven. The trick is to take them by the hand and tap into their potential. That gives me great satisfaction. Gosse Wielinga, Suzlon Energy

2. Enjoy the game

"To make a good deal, you have to play the game Indian style. That means sometimes you have to say you have no time or not answer the phone. Then you play the difficult European, while your staff massage the other party in the meantime. This way of doing business can be frustrating in the beginning, but after a while you learn to enjoy the game. Then you become half an Indian." Gandert Roosen, Roosen Industries.

3. Use an interpreter

"Of course, many Indians speak excellent English, but even though you speak the same language, that doesn't mean you understand each other. An interpreter who knows both cultures can bridge the gap between Europeans doing business in India and their Indian executives, partners and/or employees." Gosse Wielinga, Suzlon Energy.

4. Give smart feedback

"Never publicly attack a manager. That is fatal. If you want to share critical ideas, do it in private. That is often appreciated and they usually do something with it." Gosse Wielinga, Suzlon Energy.

5. Set aside more time than usual to prepare properly

"Many foreigners who have been to India on business are dead tired when they get back on the plane to Europe. This is often because they do not take enough time in India. If you have an important meeting on Monday, fly the Friday before. That way you can acclimatise and appear fresh and sharp at your appointment." Gosse Wielinga, Suzlon Energy.

6. Be flexible

"In India, it is often not quite clear how things work. If that bothers you, working in India takes a lot of energy. But if you can deal with it, it's actually a lot of fun. As a foreign company or employee, you have to ask yourself whether you can thrive in such an environment." Jos van Haaren, Philips.

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How to make your organisation successful in India in 2018

Although India rose 30 places in 2017 on the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index, it remains difficult for many Dutch companies to capitalise on their opportunities in India. This is partly because their employees are not properly prepared for the challenges that await them there.

Image: Network 18 Creative

Achieving KPIs
Do you employ Indian staff, do you outsource work to India or do you have a joint venture with an Indian partner? Chances are that you regularly complain to your Dutch colleagues about missing a deadline or exceeding the budget of your project. That you are frustrated about the lack of growth in India or that you grumble about the quality of production. But whose fault is that? The Indians, of course, I hear you thinking. That may be, but you can get away with that very easily. Moreover, it does not do you much good: after all, you are responsible for achieving the KPIs.

Learning to work more effectively
According to research by McKinsey(Why Diversity Matters, 2015), culturally diverse teams perform 35% better than their homogeneous competitors. There is a catch: multicultural teams also have 44% more conflicts than homogeneous teams. Therefore, employees of international organisations must learn how to deal with dissenters. How do you effectively lead Indian employees? How do you work smartly together with your Indian partner? How do you motivate your Indian colleagues? How do you build trust and commitment? Without these skills, your KPIs are guaranteed to be compromised.

Team training
In order to increase the effectiveness of Dutch organisations in India, IndiaConnected has been offering team training courses since 2015. Although these trainings are well reviewed by our customers, there are a number of practical drawbacks. For example, all employees must be physically present at the same time, for example to participate in role plays. An important meeting with a client, a deadline or illness? Then the training will not take place for these employees. Another disadvantage is that you can explain how Indians think and act, but you cannot show it. There is also the risk that the insights and practical tips learnt will sink in after the training day and the organisation will fall back into old patterns. Of course, this can be remedied by regular follow-up training, but in practice, this does not happen very often.

Innovative training programme
From 1 January 2018, IndiaConnected is therefore officially working with Global Business Academy. Together, we are offering an innovative online training programme that is entirely video-based and specifically focused on India. A programme that you can go through individually and at your own pace during a period that suits you best. In this way, the insights you have learned can be put into practice immediately and the subject matter remains top-of-mind. This overcomes the most important disadvantages of team training.

Reality TV
The training programme is made up of directed scenes that aptly portray cooperation and communication in a fictional Indian company. Just like in a reality TV series, this ensures that you don't give up during the programme. Each video focuses on a workplace theme, such as getting feedback, stimulating pro-activity and dealing with conflicts. Next, Indian business professionals reflect on the scenes and explain why Indians behave in a certain way. These conversations provide extremely valuable insights into Indian culture: Indians are, of course, best placed to interpret their own culture.

Practical and goal-oriented
The programme covers twelve key learnings, such as how to build commitment and trust and how to recognise an Indian "No" in a "Yes". After each Key Learning, you apply what you have learned to your own work. The training programme is therefore not a theoretical manual, but a practical tool that can be used immediately. In the closed personal learning environment of the programme, you work on your personal strategy to achieve your KPIs, such as meeting deadlines on time, increasing turnover or market share or saving costs.

Do you want to achieve your KPIs, cash in on growth and stay ahead of the competition in India? Contact us to get off to a great start in 2018.

Dutchman thrives in polder culture Indian family business

Gosse Wielinga (1964) has been working for the listed Indian family company Suzlon Energy for ten years. Almost every month he visits the Indian factories in Pune and Vadodara (Gujarat) where Suzlon builds its wind turbines. "You have to do your best to understand Indians, otherwise they won't understand you either."

Gosse Wielinga at the production site in India

He is "having a great time" in India, says Gosse Wielinga enthusiastically over the phone. Wielinga is involved in the development of new rotor blades, the blades of wind turbines. He is also the link between the R&D departments of Suzlon and the production locations of the Indian family business. Earlier, Wielinga set up a new production facility in the United States for Suzlon, one of the largest producers of wind turbines in the world.

"Ten years ago, I went in quite naively," says Wielinga. "I had no idea of the Indian business culture. Nowadays, I often describe Suzlon as an onion: at the core is the family and all the shells around it form the organisation. The closer you are to that core, the more influence you have." 

Although Wielinga does not report directly to the family, he is quite close to the fire. "I am in regular contact with family members, often informally when they visit the Netherlands or when I am there. When I meet the big boss, Mr. Tanti, I always tell him what I am doing. It is important to keep the line open - even when there is nothing new to report. It is also important to always treat the family with great respect. Some call Mr Tanti by his first name, but I still don't do that after all these years. I keep that distance very consciously.

Production of wind turbines in India

On paper, Suzlon has a strong, formal corporate culture, but in practice it is very informal, says Wielinga. "Actually, we have an enormous polder culture. Plans are prepared at lower levels and discussed informally between the various departments. This goes back and forth for a while, until there is a proposal that satisfies everyone. In formal meetings, such a plan is then only a hammer piece. Some Western colleagues find it annoying because this way of working is slow, but I find it very pleasant myself. Moreover, Indians look at efficiency in a different way than we Dutch do. That's logical, because labour is not as expensive in India as it is here.

Moreover, Suzlon's approach is bearing fruit. In thirteen years, the company has grown into one of the largest players in the world in the wind energy market. Wielinga: "India is our main market, but we also sell turbines in the United States, Australia and South America. We had a difficult time during the crisis, but with the advent of the Modi government, a real business administration, a huge amount of investments have been made again. Wind energy in India is growing at a tremendous rate." 

Read here the 5 tips from Gosse Wielinga to work effectively in India.