11/24/2004 - 11/25/2004

The dos and donts of party etiquette

With the countdown to Christmas well under way, many companies will already have made plans to celebrate the festive season in traditional spirit and, for most, the firm’s Christmas ‘do’ is as much a part of the fun as mince pies and a glass of fizz.

For some employers and their staff however, there’s a sting in the tail this year as employment legislation and the results of recent employment tribunals impact on the do’s and don’ts of who to invite to the party.

Call of India lures European workers

The big hall fills with the cacophony of different languages - English, French, German, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish.

European companies may be outsourcing work to Indian firms but in one Delhi-based call centre it's Europeans who make up a fair number of the workforce.

"It's so different from Europe - the culture and the way you live - and I think it's fantastic," says Marie Blomquist from Stockholm.

Holiday Do's And Don'ts

The holiday season is here, and with it all sorts of considerations on how to conduct yourself when getting and receiving gifts. The key, says Peggy Post, is respect, thoughfulness and honesty.

"Our society follows these guidelines, and people do want to know what to do, but practicing etiquette doesn't have to be a turnoff. It's just how we do things to make life easier. These are our social skills, and how we get along with each other."

Putin comment on EU mis-translated in Portugal

A key statement by President Vladimir Putin over the EU's position on the elections crisis in Ukraine was mis-translated by a translator in Portugal, giving the impression the Russian leader's stance was tougher than he had meant it to be.

According to a translation of his comments in Portuguese during a press conference in Lisbon yesterday, Putin supposedly said the EU's comments on the crisis in Ukraine were 'inadmissible'.

In fact, according to the text of his comments published by Russian agencies, he had used the word 'inappropriate'.

Stop trailing in your spouse's wake

Moving abroad can be tough on expatriate employees, but often it's just as hard - if not harder - on accompanying spouses or partners, who may have given up their careers to go overseas. Mary Kissel from Career Journal Europe looks at ways to succeed in your new expat life.

Language skills could mean extra pay

Knowing a foreign language could earn federal civilian and military employees more money under a provision of the 2005 Defense Authorization Act. But Congress is still concerned that financial incentives will not be enough to ensure that enough people with critical language skills are retained in the defense and intelligence arenas.

The House and Senate Armed Services committees want a report from the Pentagon by April 1 about how to meet short- and long-term needs for people who can work as translators and interpreters.

PC alumna talks about role of diversity in nursing

Presentation College alumna Amanda Matthaei returned to her alma mater Monday to talk about multi-cultural diversity in the practice of nursing.

Matthaei, who graduated from PC in 2002, now works at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn.

Speaking to 40 members of PC's Nursing Student Association, Matthaei related how relocation to a metropolitan area affected her view of cultural communication in the workplace.

Marines Take A Closer Look at Cultural Awareness

Training and Education Command leaders held a seminar here Friday in order to explore the possibility of a future comprehensive, cohesive, systemic cultural awareness training package for the Marine Corps that would build upon and enhance current training offered to deploying Marines.

Dr. Barak A. Salmoni, an assistant professor of National Security Affairs at U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif., said that an improved awareness of indigenous culture could provide a tactical advantage to Marines on the ground.

"We need to understand whatever the local dynamics are in a way that permits you to not weaponize, but to maximize your understanding of the local culture and to use it effectively against the indigenous population. The vision is that every Marine, regardless of rank, who has interaction with indigenous populations, will receive that amount and kind of knowledge about the indigenous environment that will let him interact with civilians and security forces.[Marines will achieve] the minimum required language capability to derive meaning about the basic cultural mores, about male to female interaction, about introductions, about how you use force in a way that communicates not arrogance but strength, for example."

E-Mail Translation Service

In response to customer's growing needs to deal with e-mails in foreign languages, Kwintessential have launched a new E-mail translation service.

With more and more companies targeting foreign customers through translations of their their website, the number of e-mails being received in languages unfamiliar with most staff is steadily rising.

Unless companies hire a wide range of multi-lingual staff, the revenue potential of these new foreign customers will never be realised. Kwintessential are now assisting such companies through their e-mail translation service.

Chinese Culture Box

The Institute for Chinese Studies is offering "The Chinese Culture Box" - four different activity kits: art and writing, drama and music, history and geography, and numbers and games - to anyone who would like a deeper understanding of Chinese culture.

"We made four boxes, but each entire box contains four kits," said Zhiwei Bi, an assistant director of the Institute for Chinese Studies. "It contains a lot of instruction tools to lend it to educators to help them to teach Chinese culture.

Forum for foreign business figures

Invest KOREA, affiliated with the Korea Investment-Trade Promotion Agency, will hold a forum to help foreign staff and their family members become better acquainted with Korean traditions, business culture and everyday living.

Culture Matters

Culture Matters: Cross-cultural issues in Humanitarian Work

Event date : 04 Dec 2004 - 07 Dec 2004

Summary:
What is culture and whose culture is it? This course aims to enhance the quality of humanitarian assistance by providing a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the various contexts in which assistance takes place.

Organiser: RedR London

Location :Hassocks, East Sussex, UK

Contact name : Sarah Last

Contact e-mail: training@redr.org

Contact telephone: +44 (0) 207 233 3116

Website address: http://www.redr.org/training/programme/full.htm

Event description:

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
1. Identify the role and significance of culture in humanitarian work.
2. Apply an anthropological approach to analysing humanitarian working environment.
3. Integrate meaningful participatory strategies into their daily work.
4. Identify key considerations for working with local structures and for using local capacities.

Course cost:
Organisational rate: £465 GBP
Individual rate: £225 GBP

Both rates are fully inclusive of food, accommodation, training and training materials from the evening of Saturday 4th December to the afternoon of Tuesday 7th December.