Pragmatic and well organised
As well as being found direct, the Dutch are also thought of as pragmatic and practical. This pragmatism manifests in our down-to-earth attitudes, such as towards legalising and tolerating drug use and prostitution, and even in the food culture. The Dutch are seen as people who approach food as something functional: eat quickly and move on. In other cultures, eating is often seen as a social event, sometimes even as a ritual. Having a slice of bread with peanut butter, cheese or ham for lunch is somewhat unusual for people from southern cultures.
SCP’s research found that internationals experience a high level of organisation and regulation within Dutch society, concluding that Dutch people love rules. Up to a certain point, at least. In fact, expats also indicated that they noticed many Dutch people flout rules they do not believe are appropriate in certain situations. However, the survey found that, if there is no rule for something, we do find it somewhat inconvenient.
We like to organise and we like to plan. If you want to do something with anyone Dutch, you need to make an appointment. This applies not only in business but to our private lives too. We’re usually up for having a drink, but we have to grab our calendars and plan it first (probably not until a week from now at the earliest). We’ll do the drinking somewhere in a pub or restaurant too, because we like to keep our home situation to ourselves. This can be a bit of a change for people from the more southern cultures who are more spontaneous and hospitable by nature.
Informal and not very hierarchical
There is not much in terms of hierarchy and the atmosphere in the Dutch workplace is informal. At least, this is how non-Dutch people see it. Colleagues can joke and get along, even with people at different levels of employment. We call our supervisors by their first names and are informal towards each other. We talk to colleagues about our weekends, children, partners and hobbies.
This is standard for the Dutch. But it is different in many countries. Take our neighbouring Germany, for example. There is very little room for small talk there, and they like to keep matters professional. Asking about how someone’s weekend was is not perceived as a pleasantry, so it’s better not to do so if you want to close that important deal.
More information and advice
There may be other things to consider, but it is still good to think about things like the above when working with internationals if you are Dutch, or vice versa. Are you running into specific things or need advice on how to work better together within an international team? If so, don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of our experts on 024 361 61 66 or maatwerk [at] into.nl (maatwerk[at]into[dot]nl).
