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The thing that strikes foreign managers working here most about Dutch companies is their love of meetings. There are also advantages, however: even the greengrocer speaks English.

Marcella Breedeveld

Endless meetings, circulars of yet more new proposals, incessant informal get-togethers round the coffee machine. Foreign managers starting out in the Netherlands have much to get used to, not least the deep-rooted culture of consensus that dominates many organisations. Decisions are never taken at once. Rather, they are prepared during a process that can take months, in which almost everyone gets their say. "The major criticism of foreign employees is the large number of meetings," says Jaap Vossestein, course leader with the Royal Institute for the Tropics (KITXX) and author of the book Dealing with the Dutch. "For heaven's sake, let's stop talking and do something," an American participant in one of his courses had once cried out.

Whence the Dutch lust for meetings? That love of consensus and compromise? Vossestein's explanation sounds simple: "This is a country of minorities. No one group is large enough or dominant enough to impose its will on another group. Negotiation is needed before anything can be achieved."

At the same time, what initially surprises foreigners most, is that the culture of many minorities leads the Dutch to be very vocal in expressing their opinions on everything. "If people don't clearly bring forward their ideas, preferably backed up with sound argument, none of these ideas will appear in the final decision. So opinions are expressed, loudly and clearly, especially if they do not concern private emotional matters. And one had better not give in until the final decision arrives", writes Vossestein in his book.

The Dutch don't like using veiled language or beating about the bush, as British businessman John Wilkinson can testify. He has worked at the headquarters in The Hague of the Dutch insurance company Aegon for three years. He is an asset manager for pension funds. Most of his business colleagues are foreigners, although his direct colleagues are Dutch. They speak Dutch amongst themselves while meetings are normally conducted in English. "People here are very direct, which sometimes makes them come over as being very blunt in meetings," says Wilkinson. Not that is matters to him: "You simply have to bear in mind that some things are typically Dutch."

Despite the fact that the majority of Aegon's sales are generated abroad, Wilkinson is one of only a few foreigners at the head office in The Hague. According to Peter van Os, Vice-President Human Resources, Aegon has deliberately opted to maintain a small central office that affords a large degree of independence to the various national organisations around the world. As a result of this, expatriates rarely move from one national organisation to another. That is certainly true for Wilkinson. After working as an asset manager for a company in London, he made a conscious decision to send applications to a number of Dutch insurance companies, including Aegon. He wanted to work abroad and the Dutch pensions market, currently undergoing rapid change, offered the prospect of an attractive working environment.

Those coming to work in the Netherlands are faced with many changes besides their new job. They need to find a house and, if they have children, a school. There are also more bureaucratic things to take care of, such as a bank account, registration with the municipal population register, applying for a Sofi-number. Some multinationals like Unilever and Shell employ their own people to take over many of these hassles. Aegon is one of those companies who prefer to leave this to specialised outside agencies. And of course there are also companies, especially in the IT sector, who buy expensive foreign expertise and feel that their responsibility ends with the payment of salaries.

Sanjay Khosla and Jan Droegemueller both came to the Netherlands for Unilever a number of months ago. They are both equally pleased with the extent to which they were assisted by the company in the process of sorting out the social situation. In the words of Khosla, born in India, "There is interesting work to be found everywhere, but a foreign posting can quickly turn into a nightmare if your family isn't happy." He has worked for Unilever in various countries for twenty years and is now Senior Vice-President Beverages. His previous posting was in England but he noticed few differences between the two countries on a professional level. "This really is a global job. I travel more than half the time. I don't have to learn Dutch because everyone at this level speaks English."

Things are rather different in private life, according to both Khosla and Droegemueller. Droegemueller is still rather surprised at this, even though he comes from neighbouring Germany. He had, for example, never expected to find so many differences in regulation between the two countries. Now that everything has been dealt with, he can afford to laugh. "There is a lot of bureaucracy in Germany as well, but even that is nothing compared to the number of rules and procedures they have over here."

Companies like Shell and Unilever, who have been dispatching people all over the world for decades, know better than anyone how much more productive a happy employee is. They have therefore established extensive networks for partners (mostly women, although the number of men is increasing), not only for social contacts but also for exchanging practical information. When a foreign employee comes to the Netherlands to get acquainted with his new working environment, the partner is also invited. Unilever then ensures that the couple can inspect a number of potential homes during their visit, taking into account, where necessary, such factors as schools or local entertainment. "I'm rarely home," says Khosla, "so it doesn't really matter to me. But for the same reason, it's very important to me to know that my wife and children are happy."

Most expatriates leave after three or four years. Their picture of the Netherlands is based on contacts at work, their children's school and their neighbours. Almost all are very positive about their neighbours. Despite all the scare stories about growing individualism in Dutch society, it turns out that neighbours can still be vital friends and allies. Given the shortness of their stay, the expats are not in a position to comment on the question as to whether the Netherlands is undergoing change, partly as a result of the increasing number of foreign workers. That change is nevertheless happening, according to Jaap Vossestein at the Tropics Institute. His course attendants are complaining increasingly less about the slowness of decision-making in companies. They remain critical about the level of service in the Netherlands when it comes to matters such as finding a good plumber, but have become noticeably more enthusiastic about goods on offer in the shops. And, of course, everyone speaks English, from the man at the grocery store to the girl at the post office. Vossestein concludes: "Some expats used to regard a posting to the Netherlands as a trip to a penal colony. That's no longer the case."

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Secretaries Secretaries play a pivotal role in every company. Managers are dependent on their support. The best-laid plans will come to nothing sooner or later if the secretary is disgruntled. Besides performing their everyday tasks, secretaries are an inexhaustible source of information and the most important communication channel between their boss and the rest of the department. Foreigners who come to work in the Netherlands are often surprised and somewhat taken aback by the relationship between secretaries and their bosses here. The dictatorial style, as practised in countries such as France and Germany, is not appreciated in the Netherlands. Secretaries are, however, quick to address their bosses in familiar terms. "Before long, my secretary was calling me Fritz, said German Akzo Nobel manager Fritz Fröhlich to the Algemeen Dagblad earlier this year. "That took quite some getting used to." In his book Dealing with the Dutch, Jacob Vossestein gives a number of tips on how to deal with these pillars of support in business life: "When dealing with a Dutch secretary, it is advisable to keep a low profile as well, and not be 'bossy'. A good working relation requires mutual trust in capacities and responsibilities, concern about each others' working methods and workload. Your Dutch secretary prefers to be your efficient window to the company and the outside world, rather than a mere executor of chores or a trouble-shooter. Some openness about your family affairs and private interests is important also, and will be reciprocated. It indicates that, whether boss or secretary, both are also just people."