Sam2185 - 02 July 2008 05:48 PM
Hi everyone,
Since a while I am living in Spain and work within a Spanish company.
Me too.
Fun isn`t it.
During this time I experienced some difference in work-style.
Me too.
I found out that there is a lot of hierarchy within in the company.
In mine comes with politics as well.
Every manager or supervisor has certain limitations in making decisions, therefore certain things take a while before they eventually can be arranged.
My experience they don`t listen either.
A new manager arrived in 2006, fresh from University.
He wouldn`t accept advise from a senior member of the team who whilst wasn`t graduate ability had been with the company 10 yrs.Senior managers wouldn`t get involved, they prefered to accept mistakes from the new manager.
Also the power of the bosses in the highest regions of the company is quite huge. If you asked for approval and you received an OK, then at the last minute they decide you can’t go through with it…
My Senior Manager for Andalucia region over ruled a decision by the Service Director of Spain, in front of me.
That was funny, the decision by me and agreed by the Director would have improved productivity, but because the director moved from the USA to Spain only 8 months before and the Regional Manager has relatives on the board of the company, he has more power.
I am really curious about your reactions!
My immediate manager has been with the company 30 odd yrs, everybody was spoken too with a swear word, everything Hijo De P…. this, Joder that.
When any senior mangers arrive, he like a pussy cat following them around with the hands behind the back, everything “Si Senor”.
In the UK, (the same company I worked for in Both UK and Spain) we have “Team Meetings” once a month, we disscus issues and problems to our Managers.
Who then go to head office and have the same kinda meeting.
In Spain, we have the meeting after the Managers, they arrive and tell everybody how bad everything is.
The one thing I`ve learned in Spain is that they don`t work as a unit, all trying to solve a problem.
I had an issue with some software, I`d already taken the usual steps, but they didn`t resolve the issue, so i approached my manager, explained that i needed a replacement or go of line and speak to IT.
He decided to spend 5 hours doin what i had done, but he repeated the same steps over and over, after 5 hrs he replaced my unit and contacted IT, I was left to catch up on the 7 hrs missed work.
I was told they don`t like to contact outside help in case its monitored by Head office, they prefer to try to resolve issues themselves, i pointed out that head office monitor the production that has been delayed, so they`d know and they probably would have prefered the issue resolved within an hour by IT than 7 hrs without.
I then got a shrug of the shoulder and “Typical Spanish” and a laugh.
My wives family are Spanish and a cousin of mine works for a lift Service company, there vehicles are a pile of crap, the tools are pathetic and he`s always moaning about similar problems to me.
On a visit to the UK once he noticed the same company he works for in Spain is based in the UK as well, we were walking in the street when he noticed there van with a guy in the back, he couldn`t believe the van and the equipment the guy had, even their uniform was better.
You see it a lot if you travel between Spain and the UK now that there are companies in both countries and I have to say the UK tends to look more presentable.An Electrolux guy came to fix our Washing Machine last year was driving what looked like a death trap with wheels, didn`t look as if he`d shaved or washed in weeks, smoked in our kitchen whilst at the back of the thing, grunted a lot, then disappeared for a month.
