Ranting about UK work culture
Anyone else feel that some Brits can be lazy?
I can tell you that nowhere have I encountered such a culture of adamant insistence that one is perpetually worth more than what one earns. This leads to a culture of haphazard “half-assedness;” people shirking responsibility because it’s “beneath them” and leaving assignments uncompleted because they really felt that their cup of tea was more important than company deadlines.
Additionally, they really can’t take criticism and FALL TO PIECES with the first remark unless your vocabulary, intonation, facial expression and body language are just right.
Feel like they have post-colonial empire superiority complex where they think they're superior to others, so they love to condescendingly explain things to these inferior Asian/Americans who actually do all the work.
They're terrible at actually fixing problems, but very good at setting up zoom meetings or events to talk about problems for 3 hours, or create them out of thin air, but actually do nothing to solve them. Such a waste of time.
Can someone help me understand why they are like this?
Sounds like you just work in a shit team. I've never experienced any of this after working with British people and cultures from all over the world for 8+ years (not just in finance).
i feel so too. im just curious if anyone else has a similar objective view
Depending on where you work, your cultural differences might not be specific just to Brits. A lot of Europeans have clearer boundaries between their well-being and company needs than Americans and Asians do. In fact to an European the American obsession with boasting about how much they work is crass and a bit strange. A bit similar reaction to seeing Indians wear kilograms of gold.
With regards to feedback, there are significant differences across all cultures how feedback is perceived and delivered. It is argued that this is influenced by the schooling system and how children are treated for their failures in school.
I would highly recommend Erin Meyer’s book “The Culture Map” to help you navigate your cultural journey when working with people that don’t share your background and life views.
This is the most helpful reply. I’ll check out the book
I would say it depends on the situation.
Within London:
- some departments, teams can be like this. I have witnessed "not my responsibility" many times, people shying away from responsibility and going home at 4pm. But I have never seen it within finance or banking.
- Within the confines of the M25, there is considerably more money and influence on how things are done properly. Tourist money is involved and it is representing the nation as a whole.
Now, outside of the M25, I have seen:
- People in senior positions who didn't even finish A-levels
- Roads not maintained (and the worst B-roads you could imagine in some areas)
- Power cuts
- Internet dropping out due to maintenance or no reason at all
- A generally more laid-back attitude, people not caring as much
None of this means it's a bad place to be, quite the opposite. It is refreshing to live in place where people aren't always so high-strung.
Culturally, it is relevant how something is conveyed instead of just what. Accent, intonation, and a more indirect way of handling things are more relevant than in the US.
All of this is also understanding a different culture, and it isn't personal.
Because we don't make work the number 1 priority of our lives unlike asians and americans
Dang sounds like a fun team(srs). You accepting transfers from the usa?
I have a feeling you have a small prejudice against Brits (post-colonial superiority? Really bro? What a fucking asinine thing to say) which is affecting your interactions with them.
Brits are very subtle and indirect. E.g. “that’s ok” = really shit, please redo. “A small issue” = this is a major problem. Americans can take a long time to get used to this. This, coupled with your apparent prejudice against Brits, is probably making it difficult for people to get along with working with you, and is going to cause friction.
As for the rest of your points (not my problem attitude etc) I dunno
Not really sure why you think it’s prejudice when I listed concrete examples, to which you just say “I dunno”
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