Kari Karlsbjerg's "Canadian Employment Culture" column reports every Wednesday (local time) in the Korea IT Times. Today's article is the first story of 'Month Seven':
1. Canadian Workplace Culture
2. Meetings, Meetings, and More Meetings
3. Insider Information: The Value of Internal Mentors
4. Social Life/Work Boundaries
Our series began with articles explaining the practical information and advice you need to find, apply, interview, and obtain an IT position in Canada. However, we all know that getting a job and keeping a job are two very different tasks indeed. Therefore, the next few articles will provide the cultural information and advice needed to do well in the Canadian workplace environment in your probation period and beyond.
Workplace culture is basically a subset of national culture. Therefore, to better understand what a typical Canadian workplace is like, it is helpful to have a basic idea of the cultural norms and values of Canadian culture overall. The following are typical Canadian characteristics:
• Generally, Canadians are polite, tactful, diplomatic, and peace-loving. They value tolerance, humility, non-violence, punctuality, and order. Because of their very multicultural society, they are more embracing of differences and do not approve of criticizing another person’s looks, beliefs, age, gender, and status in life.
• Canadians tend to be informal and prefer casual dress or language. There are very few workplaces with uniforms. High rank is not something that people show off, not even for bosses who would prefer to be part of the group instead of above the group. Most people prefer to be called by their first name - although the titles of Mr./Mrs./Ms./Dr. with the last name are used for the first meeting and especially with older people, clients, and guests.
• Personal privacy is very protected and important. It is not considered acceptable to ask about age, salary, family life, weight, religion, and other personal topics. In addition, other peoples’ personal space and privacy are respected. Although they value independence, Canadians also feel it is important to take care of each other by volunteering, donating, and providing help to the community.
• Canada is proud of its long history of welcoming immigrants and is the first country in the world to have a policy of multiculturalism which it established in 1971. This policy encouraged immigrants to maintain their cultural identity, while also participating in the local culture. Canadians have a strong belief in equality and that everyone has the same rights and opportunities no matter their gender, age, race, sexuality, or beliefs. Therefore, any words or actions that disrespect groups of people are carefully avoided to preserve harmony.
You will also find all these typical Canadian characteristics in the workplace as well. Overall, they result in a workplace where kindness, respect, and understanding of differences underlie all activities, meetings, and interactions with co-workers.
This serial article is written by Kari Karlsbjerg , author of "Everyday Vancouver." Elaine Chu, co-author of "Everyday Vancouver" provides translation services in Korean. "Everyday Vancouver" is a must-read bilingual book for immigrants from Korea who are interested in Vancouver culture, or plan to study or get a job in Canada. Kari Karlsbjerg is currently a college instructor, and Elaine Chu is a Korean student representative at the Delta City Office of Education, helping their career in college. The book can be purchased from Amazon.
