Day 5 | Context

When we walked into PepsiCo's offices in Dubai, a short elevator ride brought us up to a casual environment where Pavan Bhatia, the CHRO for AMENA, greeted us all with individual handshakes as we settled into a conference room decorated with various PepsiCo snacks. Pavan eventually settled in, the sleeves of his denim button down rolled up--leaning sideways with his arm draped casually over the chair--and proceeded to give us a brief overview of his professional background before telling us more about the structure of PepsiCo and the critical experiences that mark an individual's journey through the company. PepsiCo has an impressive slate of processes and procedures around people management that Pavan shared, from annual 180-degree reviews for leadership to gather feedback from below to a highly structured succession planning process to formal leadership development training programs.

When we walked in Emirates Airlines offices in Dubai, Dr. Heba Makram greeted us in the lobby and navigated us through a massive office space organized around a large central space from which you could gaze up at the balconies of the 7 stories. We made our way up to the to the top floor--where the executives sit--and settled into a conference room with modest decor highlighted by a portrait of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of Dubai. After we were settled, Heba escorted in CHRO Abdulaziz Al Ali, dressed in traditional Emirati atire, and SVP Business Partnership Wayne Davies, dressed in a full western suit. The two sat at the head of the table, flanked by Hakram, and the beginning of the conversation highlighted the background of Al Ali helping build the company, the 167 nationalities represented at the Emirates, and the culture of respect and trust that defines the organization.

Though I didn't realize it in the moment, reflecting on today was a fascinating case study in cultural context. High-context cultures are defined as those in which relationships are largely based on trust and interpersonal relationships where knowledge of histories or backgrounds--such as titles, tribes, etc.--is both expected and valued. "Eastern" cultures in Asia, Africa, & the Middle East are typically high-context. Low-context cultures tend to be more direct in communication and place a higher value on individual achievement than collectivism. "Western" cultures in the North America, Europe, and Australia tend to be low-context.

While the culture was casual at PepsiCo, the conversation with Bhatia continually came back to processes utilized at PepsiCo to manage people--perhaps necessary in an organization developed in a high-context culture to counter the individualism built into society. While more outward formality marked the experience at Emirates, the conversation continually came back to a leadership that trusts its people--and vice versa--to do what works best for the organization as a whole. This concept of trust seems to be weaved into the fibers of everything we experience in the UAE. These two organizations represent a fascinating look into how cultural context impacts workplaces and we were lucky to have visited them back to back.