Module 1 : Successful personnal integration in Guiana

1. Cross-cultural awareness : the key to a successful expatriation

• Taking stock of one's own cultural baggage
• Culture shock and the integration process
• Identifying and going beyond cultural stereotypes

2. Key aspects of Guianese culture

• Both a region and a French département located in the very heart of the Amerindian continent
• The "land of the sacred soil": a luxurious equatorial environment.
• An age-old French presence
• Prisons, gold and the conquest of space: a highly dependent economy
• A young and racially mixed population facing a precarious employment situation

3.  French Guianese values and behaviour patterns

• A patchwork quilt of separate cultures: the importance of ethnic origin
• The difference between urban and rural inhabitants
• Clearly defined social classes, visible religious fervour
• Sexual equality in theory, even if the reality is rather less clear
• The importance of "being" and of being "seen to be".
• A polychronic view of time
• The importance of collective and communal life

4. Practical day-to-day information

• Transport, administration, housing, security, hygiene and healthcare
• Social life, leisure activities
• Schools, extracurricular activities, sport

Module 2 : Successful professionnal integration in Guiana

1. The Guianese corporate world

• The labour market: a source of betterment but also social discrimination
• The prevalence of unemployment, poverty and illegal labour
• Strictly defined and supervised roles and duties

2. Effective communication with the French Guianese

• Politeness, small talk and greetings
• The importance of networking
• The frequent use of hints and implicit communication: a communication style heavily dependent upon context

3. Working with Guianese teams

• Effective management: charisma, experience and a willingness to listen
• Supervising, adapting and giving praise where praise is due
• Supervised decision-making processes, combined with an ability to listen and to consider new proposals and ideas
• Encouraging initiative to promote a sense of responsibility

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the French Guianese

• Understanding and clarifying the situation
• Forging relationships based on trust and confidence: the importance of the personal touch
• Adapting your strategic position: persistence and responsiveness
• Written contracts, their interpretation and implications

5. Final handy tips

• Caution, patience and humility
• Social standards, gifts, business cards, dress code
• Sensitive subjects: politics, history, religion
• Humour: a double-edged sword