Culture shock is real, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be between different countries. It can happen anywhere. If I would have understood the concept of culture and how it affects each and everyone of us, my life would have been a whole lot easier.
When I first moved to North Carolina in 2010, I needed a job. I didn’t have any specific training, other than an Associates degree in law enforcement, and I got a job Carolina Eye Associates, which I knew nothing about. I had just moved from Ohio, and I have always been a hard worker, and I had a history of customer service experience, so this job seemed to be what I needed at the time.
The first problem I had was adjusting to the culture of the south, in general. Culture is defined as “deeply embedded values and assumptions of a group which dictates the acceptable ways by which group members interact and address recurrent problems (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013). The culture of the south is much more laid back, and much more religious than the north, where I had lived for 30 years. My first problem that I had at Carolina Eye with the climate is that because of the laid back culture, I seemed to be moving much faster and getting much more done than my co-workers. The number of patients that I was helping was higher than my co-workers, the billing that I was inputting was higher than my co-workers, and the data that I was inputting into the system was higher than my co-workers. My bosses thought this was fantastic while my co-workers, some of whom had been there for many, many years, were not as enthusiastic about my work ethic.
As to be expected, it became a “everyone against Megan” sort of mentality, and I began getting written up by my bosses for all sorts of things. My desk overlooked a patient waiting room where there was a TV. I received multiple write ups for watching TV rather than doing my job. It didn’t matter that the TV was set to a channel that I would never watch in my life, but co-workers went to my boss and told them that’s what I was doing. Even though my numbers were higher, they had seniority and believed my co-workers over me. I was written up because my pants were too baggy. It didn’t matter that I was losing weight at the time, and didn’t want to buy new pants until I reached my goal weight. My co-workers said that I was dressing sloppy and giving Carolina Eye a bad image. I was only at that job for 5 months because it was becoming a living hell for me, and my mental stability depended on me leaving that job.
Looking back on that job 8 years later, I learned a lot about myself at that job. As much as I hated it, it was my first foray into the south, and I realize now that I was an outsider, and I was disrupting their way of life by coming in “guns blazing” the way that I did. If I would have just stopped and looked around and tried to understand the culture of the workplace at Carolina Eye, I would have realized how important it was for me to realize the differences between the north and the south, which I had never encountered before. The book states that “cultural understanding may minimize the impact of culture shock and maximize intercultural experiences, as well as increase professional development and organizational effectiveness” (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014). My life would have been immensely easier if I would have realized that concept before it was too late.
References:
Folger, J., Poole, M., & Stutman, R. (2013). Working through conflict (7th ed.). New York: Routledge.
Moran, R., Abramson, N., & Moran, S. (2014). Managing cultural differences (9th ed.). Abingdon: Routledge.
tfs5137 says
Hello Megan,
Culture is “considered the driving force behind our human behavior” (Moran, Abramson & Moran, 2014, p. 11)). Your statement is not overly stated: culture shock is real for some people and it comes with varying degree through the state of culture shock. Your relocation led you to a new cultural exposure and cultural adaptation in your new environment. You mentioned that you had a problem adjusting to Southern culture. Is the South really considered laid back? My relatives reside Georgia and they are always on the go. Your work ethics may have been of a higher standard than the people in your Southern work environment. Moran, Abramson and Moran inform us that “culture impacts behavior, morale, and productivity at work, and includes values and patterns that influence company attitudes and actions” (2014, p. 11). Do you think your colleagues had the same work ethics as you did? Do you think they had the same value as you did? Your work experience and strive for success and accomplishment realistically made you an employee who demonstrated having deep passion for work. This adaptation to cultural diversity in your organization made you endure unpleasant work experience? Is this considered discrimination? “Having a sense of culture and its related skills is a unique human attribute. Culture is fundamentally a group of problem-solving tools for coping in a particular environment. It enables people to create a distinctive world around themselves, to control their own destinies, and to grow. Sharing the legacy of diverse cultures advances our social, economic, technological, and human development” (Moran, Abramson & Moran, 2014, p. 31). You have had the privilege to utilize cultural event to cope and learn from your experience as you control your destiny. As Moran, Abramson and Moran informs that diverse culture give rise to social, economic and human development so, you have had the opportunity from this experience to grow intellectually, socially and through the norm of human development.
References
Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing cultural differences. Global leaders, culture, and a changing world. (9th ed.). Oxford: Routledge.