Por Guillermo R. Dodson

“Estúpido. Usted es estúpido!” mi amigo chino me acusa. No me había sentido que merecí esa clase de abuso. Había negociado una transacción en lengua china y pensado había conseguido un reparto bastante bueno. Mi amigo persistió en llamarme “estúpido,” puesto que habría podido recibir las mercancías para las décimas el precio en Beijing. Estaba cerca de colgar encima del teléfono en mi amigo en la exasperación. ¡El amigo, confundido, gritado, “espera un minuto! ¡Espere un minuto! ¡Pienso que he incurrido en una equivocación! En chino decimos el “shah” para cerrar a amigos. Significa absurdo, estúpido. Pienso que utilicé la palabra inglesa incorrecta.” Me refresqué inmediatamente abajo una vez que entendiera la barrera cultural y lingüística que había bloqueado nuestra comunicación - y amistad.

Uno del recurso chino de las razones al silencio en compañías occidentales es el miedo de dar ofensa. Un gaffe de la lengua o de la cultura es una enorme pérdida de cara para el altavoz chino y - el chino se siente - para el oyente occidental. Pues discutimos en otra parte de la serie de bambú del techo, la cara es a veces más importante que el dinero para un chino. El chino vaya a las grandes longitudes a proteger la cara de otras y a preservar sus el propios tanto cuanto sea posible.

El dueño chino de una contabilidad en América sabía que uno de sus empleados chinos deseó trabajar para una compañía americana con los encargados americanos. El dueño aconsejó a empleado que ella “dominara por lo menos el vocabulario más básico del negocio: words like file, folder, and staples” before she works for American managers. “Americans will think you’re stupid,” the owner continued, “if you can’t say these basic things. Or, if you must be given direction or instruction more than a couple times because of language, then Americans will also think you’re stupid.” (I knew she didn’t mean the shah kind of stupid).

“The secret then,” the accountancy owner counseled the Chinese employee, “is to learn your job the best you can, do the best job you can, speak the least you can; then leave the company with the knowledge.”

Western managers base a substantial portion of performance reviews, salaries and bonuses on the degree to which they perceive an employee is visibly, vocally struggling to overcome the challenges of the business. Chinese employees compensation suffers as a result of simply not knowing how to present themselves to employers. The Chinese bank employee explained, “If a Western manager asks a Western employee to do something new, the Westerner will likely answer, ‘No problem,’ and begin work on the issue immediately. A Chinese employee will likely say, ‘I’ll try the best; but I will need some practice,’” which is considered an admirable response of modesty in Chinese society. This sounds like an inadequate response of disinterest to a Western manager, who expects %110 employee investment at all times.

The Western manager’s view of the Chinese employee is further dimmed by the lack of conversation or banter the Chinese makes with the manager. Friendly banter about sports or the family or the household renovation are important to Western managers, who gauge the degree to which an employee fits into the group in this way. “But if I see the President is busy, how do I bother him? And if he’s not, what do I say? I don’t know his culture. Of course, in China [in a Chinese company] I talked all the time,” the Chinese bank worker explained.

Essentially, Western managers will never be able to empathize with the barriers Chinese employees perceive in Western companies until the managers try to learn about and operate in Chinese modes of perception and communication. When Western managers take even fifteen minutes a day to engage their Chinese staff on some aspect of Chinese culture or language, they will find a garrulous and appreciative staff that will do whatever is required to make the business – and the manager – successful.

William Dodson is Managing Director of Silk Road Advisors, a China Strategic Site Selection consultancy based in Shanghai, Suzhou and Chicago. He can be reached at: contact [at] silkrc [dot] com