Prague, 17 August 2009 

Three years ago this month I moved back to Europe after living some 12+ years in Texas. They talk (ExPats do) about a thing called reverse culture shock and I know why. 

It is quite different in Europe on many fronts. In fact, arriving in the USA all those years ago was a big culture shock. Brits tend to think that going to the United States will be easy—after all we speak the same language (almost!) and our culture is permeated with American TV, movies and fast food chains. But, like many Brits going to the United States, I found America more alien than any other foreign country I had ever been to. Of course, you get used to it in the end which is why coming back is also a shock.

Pace of Life

One of the first things that hits a person is the pace of things. In Europe, things seem to take longer and involve more time lining up for things. I'm not just talking about lining up to buy my groceries, but also about the time it takes to do a business deal here. Europeans tend to like to get to know you before dong business, whereas many Americans will give you a small project quite rapidly to see how well you do. Entering European markets takes time. You have to build relationships first and ask for the business later—and you need to be patient during the process.

Then, of course, there are all of the rules! Watch out when sending e-mail in Europe, as you require your intended recipient to “opt in” to receiving marketing e-mails and there are quite heavy-handed laws protecting people against spam here. That means that you must be cautious about building e-mail lists for those marketing blasts and that you must actively manage your lists with far more attention to detail than in North America. So how can you market here in Europe?

Well, forget online seminars for a start. Popular in the United States, online seminars are pretty alien to the culture here and not very popular as a result. Of course, blasting marketing e-mails to promote the event is difficult (see above) but it does seem that folks are much less inclined to take an hour out of their day to sit on the phone for a webinar here. Again, it may have something to do with the requirement to build a relationship before asking for their time and business. So marketing in Europe has to be conducted quite differently to in the United States. Press announcements, building personal relationships through face-to-face meetings and visibility are the key aspects of marketing ere in my experience.

The good news is though that once you have a client, they are much more likely to stick with you in Europe over the long-term.

Employing People

Thinking about opening an office in Europe? Well, Europe sets more importance on employees than employers and U.S. firms need to check the lay of the land pretty thoroughly. Each country has its own laws and there are also European Union employment laws, too. Here are a few general differences that I have observed that should of course be checked by any firm opening an office in Europe depending on the country your office will be located in (I am not a lawyer nor an expert so please get good legal advice).

You will hire prospective employees in some locations on a trial basis—most likely 90-days. During that period, you can fire them at any time for any reason, but after that notice is up you will be mandated to provide a minimum of 90-days notice on either side and you may not fire them except for cause. For more senior employees, anticipated notice periods can be 12-months or more if you wish to be competitive. Proving cause is also more rigorous than in the United States. You will need to keep written logs and provide written warnings with the help of a lawyer familiar with employment law and what may constitute “cause” in the United Sttes may not be at all relevant here—see below.

Don't even bother writing in non-compete clauses into employment contracts—there is no such thing here as it infringes the individual's rights to seek employment. Here in the Czech Republic, you don't want them to compete, so you pay them not to. It's similar in other European locations too.

Many other restrictive covenants common to U.S. employment contracts are illegal in Europe. Want to protect your inventions, methodologies and so on? Forget it. In many European countries this is a non-starter.

Benefits—benefits are an expected part of any employment package and can run from company cars to meal vouchers. Oh and four weeks' vacation and a 35 hour week are pretty standard too!

Remember, Europe favors the employee in all matters and the employer has therefore to be careful in hiring.

What this all means is that the hiring process is slower here, too. Employers are more cautious before offering employment because once they do it's difficult to fire an employee that does not perform. Good legal advice is a must before hiring anyone in Europe in my view.

Additionally, bringing U.S. staff over can be fraught with difficulties including work permits, visas, registration issues and so forth. One good aspect of Europe is the existence of free healthcare which is variable in quality and is often supplemented with private insurance. Here in the Czech Republic, social medicine is excellent, but requires the employee to be paying health taxes via local payroll in order to qualify, for example. Again, this is an area that requires good legal advice up front.

Summary

Life in Europe is neither better nor worse than life in the USA. It is just different. It does take a personality that is open to doing things differently and someone who has a good measure of patience, however. There are also many other benefits to life here that include the ability to visit some amazing places, sample local cultures and language and … the energy industry at least is very similar!

Ends --

Gary M. Vasey, Ph.D. CommodityPoint, General Manager, UtiliPoint Europe