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Intercultural Competence Profiler

Intercultural competence describes someone’s ability to reconcile dilemmas on various levels. We have accumulated a significant body of evidence showing that reconciling values makes business more effective. It is a developmental tool that measures an individual’s competence in dealing with cultural differences in a bias-free manner, providing immediate insights on the competence to Recognize, Respect, Reconcile and Realize cultural differences (4R). It is available in two versions:

  1. Self-Assessment only: a personal profile providing feedback on the self perception of effectiveness. It is not intended to be compared to those of others, because we all use different standards to describe ourselves.
  2. Observers’ version: by collecting anonymous responses by co-workers, there is an “independent” measure against which you can compare your own assessment.

What is the purpose?
The ICP offers guidance on how to develop respondents’ intercultural competence in order to improve their effectiveness when working in a multi-cultural environment, by outlining strengths and weaknesses in the different components. It serve as a basis for assessing performance potential.
When should it be used?

By assessing the competence of an individual to effectively reconcile dilemmas, the tool elicits training needs. The tool can be used as a part of a coaching and development process through indicating priority areas leading to personal action plans. It allows also to monitor progress over time on the development of an individual’s intercultural competence to reconcile cultural-related dilemmas.

What makes the app unique?

The ICP elicits what one does well and suggests specific areas of focus for personal development, the responsibility for which is assigned to respondents (self-sufficiency).

The basic principles of the ICP
  • Assessment/feedback versus a mirror/reflection of the respondent (and, therefore, we speak of “describing” instead of “scoring”): it is about how the respondent sees him/herself. This way we avoid cultural bias.
  • Giving advice versus (self-) guiding (reflection questions): we give guidance as to what they can reflect on.
  • Responsibility for development with coach versus responsibility for development with respondent (self-sufficiency): it is about coaching - the coach helps the respondent in his/her personal development.
  • “Static” tool versus developmental tool: you can do the tool over time and see the changes.
  • Linear approach to development versus reconciled approach to development: we encourage the respondent to use DRP in his personal development, instead of for instance SMART objectives.