While doing business internationally, many cultural challenges are faced. In my experience opening a call center in Jamaica, time management was one such challenge. The lack of urgency on their part was not due to disrespect or inability, but rather built into who they were as a people. This quick case study demonstrates how we overcame the issue of lacking time management skills.

1. Case Study – Time Management
By Sabrina Baker, PHR
Human Resource Consultant and Recruiter
FAST FACTS:
Project: Teaching time
management to employees in a
brand new call center.
Challenges: New call center was in
Jamaica where employees are
naturally more relaxed with time
management. In addition, the fear
of a US corporation trying to
change culture held Jamaican
employees back from embracing
key elements of their job.
Solution: Training. Patience.
Ongoing development.
Business Summary:
A call center company expanded operations into
Kingston, Jamaica. Everything in a call center is
driven by time. Associates are expected to adhere to a
strict schedule of clocking in, taking breaks and
clocking out so that proper phone coverage can be
maintained. In addition, associates are expected to
monitor the length of calls to ensure the best solution
in the shortest amount of time possible. This not only
increases customer satisfaction, but allows the call
center to take more calls throughout the day.
Leaders from the US operation spent a significant
amount of time in Jamaica building the call center.
From site construction to hiring and training, the
entire startup project was maintained by leaders
from the US.
Business Challenge:
The very culture of Jamaica is known to be very laid
back. While it is not as relaxed as some of the siesta
cultures of South America, the pace at which people
move is generally slower than what the US
population is used to. In both cultures, people work
hard, come home and enjoy their family. In Jamaican
culture however, the pace of how each of those items
are accomplished can be much slower than in the US.
Results: Jamaican employees were
able to develop and master time
management as a skill while US
employees learned valuable
lessons in doing international
business.
Immediately upon working with newly hired Jamaican staff, the US leaders realized that
time management was going to be an issue. Meetings would be called for 9am and
typically only the participants from the US would actually be there at 9am. If participants
from Jamaica showed up at 9:15 or 9:30 that was considered very normal in the culture.
Acacia HR Solutions
www.acaciahrsolutions.com

2. Case Study – Teaching Time Management
2
In a time driven organization, this was a big problem. The biggest part of this challenge was
that this behavior was ingrained in their culture. They were not doing it to be disrespectful;
it was a part of who they were.
In addition to time management being an issue, Jamaican employees felt that rather than
adapting to American culture, since this was an American company coming into Jamaica,
the company should have to adapt to them.
Business Solution:
At the time, Sabrina Baker held the position of Director of Human
Resources. Along with the General Manager, she set out to make
time management a priority. Realizing that employees in Jamaica
were hesitant about adapting to the American way verified her
belief that using discipline to force time management would
not be the answer. The answer was training; granular, in-depth
training about both time management and its importance.
Starting with the leadership team, Sabrina talked about time
management from a business perspective. Tackling the cultural
adaptation first, Sabrina removed the idea that Jamaicans needed
to adapt because the company was American, but because the
customers were. Since the center was handling calls from the US,
the customers' expectations were most important. This training
eased the fear that a US corporation was just trying to make the
Jamaican team "just like them" but were actually focused on the
customer.
Acacia HR Solutions is
a Human Resource Consulting
and Recruiting firm located in
the Chicago suburbs.
Founder, Sabrina Baker, PHR
draws on her experience in
corporate human resource
leadership positions, like the
one described here, to
provide full cycle HR solutions
to clients.
In addition, leaders from the US were trained on cultural cues that would help the team in
Jamaica focus on time management. For example, saying "let's meet at 10" was very
different than "the meeting will start at 10". The former leaves room for a more relaxed
arrival while the later clearly states when the meeting will start.
Acacia HR Solutions
www.acaciahrsolutions.com

3. Case Study – Teaching Time Management
3
When both leaders and front line employees were trained on important aspects of the job
and the overall performance management process, time management was introduced as a
concept they would need to learn and master. It was a skill that was taught and given time
to develop. It was never forced or disciplined until appropriate time was given to acclimate.
Business Results:
Treating time management as a newly introduced skill set that may be hard for some
individuals to master gave both the Jamaican and US employees time to adjust to a different
way of doing things. US leaders had to learn to be patient and realize that the culture of
urgency is not engrained everywhere. It was a great lesson in international business.
At the same time, training to time management gave the Jamaican team the ability to adapt
to a new skill, one they had not needed before. It allowed them to master time management
not because it was forced upon them and therefore was something they did begrudgingly,
but something they learned and then were able to use.
sabrina@acaciahrsolutions.com
847.893.9756
Acacia HR Solutions
www.acaciahrsolutions.com