US/Canada Employees V Euro Employees - What Sweeping Generalizations is it Fair to Make?
 

OK, so everyone's an individual and all that, but what trends are there, do Euros expect tonnes of paid leave? Do US/Canada work longer hours? If you've worked with employees from both continents what trends have you noticed? (if any)

One of my employees is an early 70s Brit - still puts in his 8 hr. shift each day...and keeps up with the youngsters (guys in their 20s & 30s).

I wouldn't base any generalities on that singular anecdote, though.

But he definitely earns my respect and admiration for his work ethic and tenacity.

In france:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stage_e..._en_entreprise

Europeans employees (remote) tend to stick to their scheduled hours, where North Americans working from home tend to be more flexible.

French - very social people. Lots of time spent kissing/greeting (being nice to each other) and drinking coffee at the office. Honestly I think in a 8 hour work day, you get 3.5 hours of work done.

Germans - not the easiest to approach with new business opportunities, but when they agree to do business with you, they do.

North Americans - specifically Americans are absolutely horrible with follow up. With that said, so am I. Next Americans are very distracted by doing other things counter productive to work, like checking personal emails, on the phone with friends and family, posting personal comments on FB, and surfing YouTube for interesting things to watch.

This has been my lifetime experience. Am I wrong?

That's a great answer NALEM :thumbsup

Yes, a good reminder that European can mean so many different things, as can USA. It must be nice to work in France, but I can understand why multi-national corps prefer to setup shop elsewhere when possible. Germans are capable of putting most others to shame.

Germans, in my experience, which is only 3 people really, tend to work "hard" but not produce results. They also get angry and protective, and you're always inadvertently insulting them. Americans love to talk about the things they'll do, but hardly ever do them. Canadians seem to love to delegate. They don't mind assigning you 100% of the job, and then producing reports and criticisms on your progress, even if they are the employee. English lower class do seem to work, but the upper class are like Americans, all talk but even worse, because they love to hear themselves talk.

I currently work for Dating Factory in the UK and they love their "holidays". Dating Factory enjoys giving us "extra time" when traveling.

For example, last year I had a connecting flight in London on my way to Buddapest, and they flew me into London two days early so I can enjoy some time there.

This year for TES, they are flying me in even earlier, and I'll be spending a few days working in the office in England, then a few days on my own in England, and then Monday we fly to Prague. After the show in Prague, all of us are spending an extra two days there. The extra two days is great - while Dating Factory has two huge offices with fifty plus employees each, us affiliate managers tend to work remotely from home and it's a good chance for us to get to know each other and spend some time together.

yes, germans do not produce any results, thats why their economy is doing so horrible :upsidedow

but i do agree to the latter - as you can see in my reply :1orglaugh

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh Got that right brother!

:1orglaugh

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh I don't see how you respond to this thread without making someone upset - no offense meant this is only 3 people I have worked with, but based on them if Germany would relax 1% it would accomplish even more.

Europeans do expect more paid leave than US folks.

Although I am not the biggest fan of "unions" (as it's has gone too excessive), it seems that in US this thing goes like this: when workers demand paid leaves = socialism, and when employers rip workers = capitalism. So in other words when employers use their negotiation skills/ position for better deals for themselves, it's good, but when employees do so, its bad and socialism (bad). LOL.

US companies have done their work well, I have do admit that. Not in that many countries will workers voluntarily and actively act againts their own interests.

That said, US folks and Lutheran folks (like Germans) seem to be the hardest working ones (based on studies), although not for the same reasons (excluding Lutherans in US).

Yep, but 3 employees is too small sample, as proven in this instance.

All waste too much time posting on gfy

yes, 3 out of 60 million may be to small to be representative :winkwink: