Facts about Business Culture & Expat Skills in the Netherlands

Dutch business culture is known for its conservative, forthright, forceful, stubborn and tough negotiable nature. Such a culture has gained success globally since many years although kept its culture non-acclimatised. A well known acclaimed business culture cannot stay well rooted without a contribution from its people. Dutch people just like the Dutch business culture are known for their hard working abilities, practical involvement of their skills and well organized in every sector.

Dutch business culture is typically bound with some business etiquette and principles. Every detail of work is given equal importance which is globally appreciated. Comparatively, whether a person is working in Netherlands or taking the entire Dutch business culture into consideration, communication should be direct and to the point. Behavioral gestures such as movement of hands while speaking, hugging or unnecessarily getting emotional while speaking are not entertained.

The good part is that this business culture considers every employee equally and listens to everyone whatever they have to say. Generally, group discussions are anticipated and encouraged. Without understanding and verifying facts and figures or other relevant details, no decision is taken. The decision making process, called "poldermodel", may take time but a solid output comes out ultimately.

Now, in such a conservative business culture, problem arises for expats who come to Netherlands to work or the company a person is working is getting collaborated with a Dutch company. Expats working in the Netherlands need to understand the Dutch business culture thoroughly. Although Dutch people work as per protocol, they are not strangers to other country's business cultures.

It is advisable for working professionals migrating to the Netherlands to know the expat skills required. Learning expat skills required in Dutch business culture is not that tough. It requires an open mind, an observant nature and the ability and patience to recognize Dutch behavior at compare it to your own.

For expats who are working in the Netherlands, it is important to know that employees working under Dutch jurisdiction are protected by Dutch law and many benefits are provided to them. A normal working week for an employee is forty hours; structural overtime is not allowed. However, the average working week in the Netherlands is around 31 hours, due to the importance given to private life. Getting a BSN number from the local tax office is the foremost thing to do once an expat moves to the Netherlands. This is a mandatory requirement for any expat working in the Netherlands as their employer has to undergo some formalities on their behalf.