Dutch persons, why they would be afraid of the Anglo Saxon work style ? see details . .?

Question

This was from the ABN shareholder meeting . . .

Shareholders were sceptical, however, that Dutch working practices would gel with those of Barclays staff. “What about all the employees that are fearing the Anglo-Saxon way of working?

Please clarify , thank-you for your assistance

Answer 1

I'm presuming that the basic gist of this is that the Dutch prefer a less formal and structured way of working and place a high emphasis on family, and therefore wouldn't be as open to the concept of working late, for example. I live in Brunei where Shell (who are a Dutch company) have sole drilling rights, so there's a large Dutch community here. The school my children attend has a Dutch Stream and an International Stream, so obviously we all interact a lot. There are some cultural differences which impact on how things are done here - for example, the Brits are keen on school uniform, the Dutch are not. The Brits would like school dinners to be available, the Dutch prefer their children to go home for lunch. These are generalisations, of course, but on the whole, they stand true. I would be very surprised if any Dutch were "afraid" of diiferent work-styles as they're a very forthcoming, confident nation who get on with things and are good organisers. I speak only from my own experience, of course, and it'll be interesting to see if there are Dutch responses to this.

Answer 2

f0xymoron is quite a culture expert it seems - good answer.

I'd also chip in with the fact that the Dutch... and Belgians and a few others aren't really in to overtime or being pressured to work past their normal weekly hourly time - and can get a bit bolschy when say the firm might need them to go above and beyond cause of say important deal ect. Shareholders may see this as a lack of flexibility. However don't award me best answer... f0xy gets my vote so far.

Answer 3

I wouldn't worry. the stiff upper lip brits are on thier backs now.
everyones scared that they will be sued for anyting that maybe close to being politicaly incorrect.
It will take a few years to turn it back round.
but it will return !!