Lessons in scaling from Apple's former CEO in Japan & Korea
Recruitment, time zones and cultural differences...there's more to scaling overseas, explains Colin Greene.
- Series A
- Series B
Expanding in a new part of the world can be challenging and often one of the biggest considerations for founders and management teams is who to hire. Often, it’s best to go through experienced recruiters who specialise in dealing with multinational companies. Don’t make the mistake of discounting candidates who have heavily localised accents or don’t conform to norms in the interviewer’s parent country. Likewise, don’t assume that someone with better English language skills is automatically a better candidate. For example, if someone is less accented, it may just be because they were educated in the UK or US; this doesn’t always put them heads above the competition. Likewise, expat hiring and staffing is hard. Don’t assume that just because someone “likes the idea” of becoming the beach head in a newly expanded country, they will be right for the task. Spending some time in a country short-term is very different to living and working there full time. The hotel or Airbnb can also lose its novelty very quickly.
Be totally familiar and prepared to embrace cultural norms. In addition, try to be sensitive to local business etiquette, especially around face-to-face meetings. Titles can be important, as can the seating within a meeting room. Be aware of outdated expressions like the “Far East”, which while not offensive, is considered an antiquated and Eurocentric term. Country MD/CEO hires are critical. I would steer towards hiring people with experience, as opposed to taking a risk on a “step up” candidate. Consider investing in the induction of anyone you recruit in the parent country. Once in place, be wary of their representation of how things are going. Arm yourself with touch points feedback from elsewhere and make time to see how a person leads and inspires his or her team in-person.
The sales, operations, finance triangle
When you have solid leaders or managers appointed in each of these functions, anything can be possible. Staying connected to your international businesses is obviously very important. Recognise that the country lead as you expand internationally is not necessarily a CEO or MD – they could just as likely be an operation lead or a sales lead. My advice is that those initial hires are local hires that you have evaluated during the hiring process in-person and in country. Consider that it’s also tempting to do a “country review” more frequently than is necessary. Be wary that such reviews require considerable preparation from the team which, by definition, will take away from local execution. Done well, you will already have KPIs in place that enable you to monitor the business remotely without having to conduct detailed country “deep dives”.
Navigating time zones and local customs
Managing across multiple time zones can be hard, and you should be organising meetings, particularly weekly or monthly “process” meetings, at times that make sense locally. This can possibly be at the very beginning or the very end of your business day. On no account should you expect your local teams to be on calls at unsocial hours just because it ‘fits in’ with HQ. As you permeate the organisation’s culture, try and avoid the perception that all decisions get made at HQ in the “parent” country. You should be hiring and staffing locally to a point where the country lead, with your support, is capable of making decisions locally. When you are spending time in another country, it’s important to meet your team, customers and business partners “out of the office” as much as possible to get a first-hand experience of the local culture. Make time for less formal meetings and one to ones and ensure that you have dinner with the local team alone as well as with customers.
What I've learned
Spending time on the detail of etiquette particularly in less formal situations will always go a long way. In South Korea, for example, you will always have your drink poured for you by someone else, and likewise it’s appropriate for you reciprocate (don’t pour your own drink). When someone is pouring you a drink, it considered good manners to touch the bottom of the glass as it is being poured. In Japan, it’s extremely good manners to see someone to the elevator and to bid farewell until the elevator doors have closed. Present your business card with both hands, and when you receive a business card, do so with both hands. Business cards should always be kept out, either on top of your holder, facing your colleague, or – in the case of numerous cards – set out on the desk in the order of the colleagues opposite you, to help remember names if nothing else. Your first card should always be presented to the most senior staff member, working down the hierarchy after that. Business cards should also be exchanged on meeting. You should be standing, and never hand it over with just one hand – hold it out with both, with the localised side facing up.
