Cultural aspects between Ukrainian and Dutch work environments

I’ve been working more than seven years in the Netherlands and incrementally adjusted myself to the different working culture and attitudes reigning over the work relationships among the Dutch employees. There are of course some similarities between Ukrainian and Dutch working cultures but still the differences are much bigger. Since I never came across any comparison of two working cultures elsewhere I’ll try to give some reflection about the differences in this article.

One of the common cultural traits is a direct negative feedback. Both Ukrainians and Dutch prefer this style of communication. They can criticize a colleague openly in front of others stating that that’s the honest way and the way to give the message straight. The negative feedback will be given frankly, bluntly, honestly, not softened in any way. In the Netherlands and in Ukraine if people are displeased about something, they will openly complain and criticize without being afraid of “destroying” the harmony of the situation. If I’m displeased with the service in the shop of restaurant - I will tell my displeasure directly to the waiter without being bothered by the fact that other people watch the situation unfolding.

The second common cultural trait is that both Ukrainians and Dutch people can engage in spirited public debates with no apparent impact on their friendship . Everyone is expected to have a different idea from everyone else thus open confrontation is appropriate and is positive for the team or organization. There is even a Russian saying that goes: “The truth is born through the dispute”.

That’s about the cultural things that are common.

What is different?

Dutch people communicate as literally, simply, clear and explicitly as possible. "If you don’t understand, it’s my fault" thinks the average Dutch. "Say what you mean and mean what you say".

In Ukraine the messages are sophisticated, nuanced and layered. We “read between the lines” what another person truly wants to say. What is he implying? We search always the “hidden meaning” behind the words. The big Van Dale Dutch dictionary has 240.000 words. The largest Russian dictionaries have only 130.000 words. Almost twice less! You have to be very explicit in Dutch, so you need a lot of words to be as clear and unambiguous as possible. The Russian and Ukrainian words have hundreds of meanings depending on the emphasis, the place of the word in the sentence and the intonation of the speaker. You need less words to convey your message since you share common history and “read between the lines”. The Dutch people may perceive Ukrainians as secretive, lacking transparency, or unable to communicate effectively. The Ukrainians may perceive Dutch as inappropriately stating the obvious or patronizing (“you don’t have to say that since it’s obvious!”).

The way Dutch and Ukrainians persuade is also different. In the Netherlands all discussions are approached in a practical and concrete manner avoiding theoretical or philosophical discussions in the business. The Dutch are more focused on “how” while Ukrainians on “why”.

In the Netherlands the ideal distance between a manager and a subordinate is low. The best manager will be “facilitator among equals”. The structures of the companies are not hierarchical and the hierarchical lines can be easily skipped. In Ukraine the ideal distance between a manager and a subordinate is high. The best manager is a strong director who leads the team. Showing-off your status is important. The communication will always follow set hierarchical lines. You cannot call everyone by name. You cannot push power down in the organization and expect people to get motivated. The average Ukrainians employees will always ask manager opinion, will be reluctant to take initiative and will always ask for manager approval. The Dutch manager in Ukraine will be perceived as weak, ineffective leader who doesn’t know how to manage.

The Ukrainian manager is always supposed to have at hand precise answers to all questions subordinates may have. The Dutch manager would think that the team should figure out the things themselves while Ukrainian manager would argue: “ If I don’t provide my people with answers they need, how do they move forward to achieve their goals?” In the Netherlands you may openly disagree with your manager, can do something without getting manager’s OK, can call or mail employees who several layers below or above you while all of these is simply impossible in the Ukrainian working culture.

Then of course, Dutch “polder model” of making decisions differs dramatically from top-down decisions pushed by managers in the Ukraine. In Ukraine, the manager says “that’s what we will do” without giving a damn about opinions of subordinates. The Ukrainians dislike long discussions arguing that they slow down the things and managers make decisions quickly often based on very little information. In the Netherlands, decision-making may take quite a long time, since everyone’s opinion have to be heard. Once the decision is made, it is rigid and cannot be reversed back. It is noted in “agendas”, planned and started being implemented. The decision is a commitment. A promise.

In Ukraine, the decisions are taken very fast and are flexible and subject to continual revision. We’ve decided something in the morning to do in the evening but after couple of hours the circumstances changed and we do something completely different. We change our minds quickly, or we bring in more data suggesting a new path. The Ukrainians may complain that it takes weeks for Dutch people to make a decision, and once it is made, they cling to it with their lives. However, the world is dynamic and things are changing and in order to beat the competition the decisions have to be flexible. The Dutch may complain about Ukrainians that all carefully planned agendas and days spent are for nothing since the quick decisions changing slows down and hampers the decisions implementation and bring unnecessary unplanned and not well-discussed risks.

Another difference is that in Ukrainian working culture trust is built through sharing meals, evening drinks, sauna visits, etc. and builds up very slowly over the long time. I trust my colleague only if I’ve seen who he is at a deep level and I know others well who trust him. In the Netherlands the trust is build and dropped easily, based on the practicality of situation. You do your work well, then you are a reliable person and therefore I enjoy working with you and I trust you. If you leave the company, I’m not going see you probably again since we don’t share business-related activities.

The Dutch smile frequently at strangers, move quickly to first-name usage, share information about themselves, and ask personal questions of those they hardly know like “what do you do for living?" The Dutch friendliness doesn’t equal friendship.

In Ukraine, we are more closed with those we don’t have friendship with. We rarely smile at strangers, ask casual questions and don’t provide personal information to those whom we don’t know intimately. It takes a while to get through the initial hard shell, but as you do, we are warmer and friendlier. In Ukraine friendliness equals friendship.

While it comes to time, the Ukrainians live by flexible time agendas: changing tasks as opportunities arise, dealing with many things at once, adapting now and then. Dutch plan months in advance, one thing at a time, no interruptions : meetings according to agendas. You can probably schedule your entire year in the Netherlands on the assumption that your environment is not likely to interfere with you plans. You know in the Netherlands that after 8 months you will go to vacation since you’ve already bought the tickets. With such flexible, volatile and unstable environment in Ukraine it is simply not possible.

Of course, there are more things that I’ve not mentioned but still, those ones that I did, sheds some light, I hope, on the cultural aspects between Ukrainian and Dutch working cultures. After almost eight years in the Netherlands, I’ve adjusted myself to Dutch working culture and take pleasure reflecting upon the fact how the culture plays a role in the way we think, act and get things done on the daily basis in different working environments.