The Importance of Everyone Talking the Same Language

One of the main challenges that big corporations are consistently faced with is the need for clear communication. While linguistic and cultural misunderstandings occur every now and then in multicultural environments, companies need to safeguard an accurate communicative policy if they are to handle effectively the challenges they are confronted with. Maria Pierdicchi, Standard and Poor's Board Member, focuses on the mutual impact between a multinational corporate environment and cross-cultural communication.

During your career you have covered a variety of roles in different corporate contexts. What is the lesson that you drew from those experiences?

Before I entered Standard and Poor's ratings, my professional experience included working for the Italian Stock Exchange, for a family company, for Citibank and also a short academic career with Università Bocconi, where I graduated. Being exposed to such diverse corporate environments got me accustomed to diversified communicative styles, not only inside the company but also in front of an external audience, including clients, institutions and the media. The more I experienced different and often challenging situations, the more I became confident when I had to deal with those kind of circumstances. However, external communication needs to be perfectly aligned to the company's policy and it is always best to agree on contents with communication experts, especially during moments of crisis. As I proceeded with my professional path, I have become more and more aware of the importance of effective communication and of the need to adjust my rhetoric each time.

Does this peculiar communicative awareness have an impact on your position?

Starting from the assumption that accuracy in the delivery of messages is fundamental not only in external communication, but also when it comes to internal communication, as a leader I have invested enormously in the communicative style of my team. Until last month I was Head of Southern Europe and the members of the virtual team I was working with were dispersed all over Europe and sometimes the US, therefore we would often have to communicate via email or in conference calls. Moreover in a multinational organization like Standard and Poor's a variety of languages and cultures are represented. As a result, misunderstandings and misinterpretations are extremely likely to occur. Sometimes people are completely unaware that their words will be perceived by the recipient as having a totally different meaning. In order to address that, I have tried to develop a common language, a sort of lingua franca that everybody can understand and that I encourage my team to adopt, in verbal and written communication. I also constantly emphasize the importance of following up and keeping everybody updated because in a rating agency it is vital that information is shared not only vertically, but also across teams and among colleagues.

Similarly, Standard and Poor's has been developing cross-cultural communication programs that can help employees to be prepared when they collaborate with colleagues from different areas of the world. We have people in India, China, Japan, and the company needs to make sure that everybody can communicate and be understood correctly. Our teams get practical experience while they work on projects and at the same time they are supported with workshops and seminars provided by the company. The rationale behind this kind of professional training is to make everybody flexible enough from the communicative point of view to take advantage of linguistic and cultural diversity.

How do you ensure that communication is always effective?

Apart from developing and implementing a common understandable language, I personally believe that the best method to get your messages across is building relationships face-to-face. Although it might not be straightforward in a global company, meeting people is the most effective way to build networks and especially trust, which is fundamental to good communication. It also reduces the potential for misunderstanding. At the same time, given that networking is based on human contact, it is also important to keep developing a personal communicative style. Taking the time to meet people in person represents a great opportunity to practice our intercultural skills as well.

From your experience, what are the guidelines to follow to approach a multinational corporate environment?

First of all, if you are to deal with people from a different cultural background, be prepared and try to learn and understand their history, their traditions, their language. On another note, working in an organization like Standard and Poor's requires the ability to value change and flexibility, and to draw lessons from difficult situations. I think that developing cross-cultural skills and personal resilience are two key ingredients in the recipe of personal growth.