A friend from the Staffordshire University just got the job in IT sector in Austria and asked me to give my opinion and to explain the way the business is done in Austria. He was interested in working culture, expectations from employee, communication principles and similar. My personal opinion is that the Austria is the great place to be employed. Not perfect, but almost there. Austria is among the top countries in the world regarding GDP per capita, ease of doing business, and worker rights and there are few cultural aspects that I consider as the main reasons for such business situation. So, here they are:
“In the middle” is one of the most important Austrian concepts. Meaning, it’s not all about you, your wishes, or your understanding of the reality. Your part of the business is important to you, but other parts of the business are as much important to others. If you have a specific requirement or an idea you find great, you have to understand that others have them too. No matter how high opinion you have about your proposal, Austrians expect to consider, accept, and incorporate meaningful ideas from others into your proposal. You have to find the “optimal middle” acceptable for all – not just for you. So, Austrians prefer collaboration instead of bossing.
The opinion of every stakeholder should be heard and seriously considered. We all have different experiences, background, knowledge, and different points of view; thus, we all see the big picture and priorities differently. We have to let others to explain their opinion to understand them and their considerations. Just because we are sure that our opinion is the right one, it doesn’t mean that the opinion of others is wrong. To illustrate this, let us imagine two persons, A and B, sitting at the same table, but directly facing each other. By putting the paper with the number “6” in the middle of the table and directing it to the person A, we have a situation where the person A sees number “6”, while the person B sees number “9”. So, both persons sit in the same environment, see the very same thing, but because of the different points of view they have different understanding of the truth. And both are right. Thus, it is very important to let the others to explain their opinions and concerns, no matter how trivial or irrelevant it may look like.
It is Austrian philosophy that a “good job” can be done only in calm and relaxed environment. Meaning, no hurry please! Despite the fact that the most of us like their job and really enjoy what they do, Austrians work to live and don’t live to work. Austrians prefer doing their job without the hassle and hate stress. If there is a solution to the problem or to the challenge that requires longer time to be applied, than why to make the stress. It will be done anyway. So, let us enjoy doing it!
Austrians are very pragmatic when it comes to the business communication. The form or the language of the communication is not so much important as the meaning and message of the communication itself. Everybody here speak using their own dialect, including myself. People don’t care much about official grammar as long as they understand each other and the point of the discussion. You don’t have to speak perfect official Austrian-German to achieve success or to make a career. You can communicate in any language you want as long as others understand you.
It is import to show that you’re motivated, engaged, and proactive employee that wants stability and success for his company. However, it is not desirable to beat yourself by working. Most of the Austrian companies care about social reputation and they don’t want to lose it. Many of them have different generations of the employees coming from the same families – just on the basis of positive image and good social reputation. Having satisfied and loyal employees is good for the companies, having reliable and secure employer is good for the families as well. There is a local saying here, at least in Salzburg, that nobody can read your mind, so Austrians expect you to speak with your manager if you’re unhappy with your current situation – not to quit.
You should join the party. Austrians are very open for communication, and almost every single company in Austria, including small ones, organize various celebrations through the year, such as summer festivals, Christmas or end of the year parties, etc. If you can, you should join those parties. Those parties give you the possibility to have informal chit-chat with the highest management in the company or with you colleagues and to drink a pint of a beer together. By participating you confirm that you are the part of the team and you strengthen your position in the company.