Managing US vs India

Splunk
Mttrsdt

Go to company page Splunk

Mttrsdt
Apr 10 7 Comments

Hello!
Question for Folks who are managers (google, meta, Linkedin, Uber, Amazon, intuit .. ) and have had experience managing a team in india and in US, I was wondering what are the key differences they have observed in terms of managing team, leadership requirements, culture etc.. .

I have managed teams in US for one of the above mentioned company and planning to move back to India some time soon, Hence the question
Would love some perspectives ..

Tc: 600k

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TOP 7 Comments
  • Amazon
    CokeAddict

    Go to company page Amazon

    CokeAddict
    I’ve been an engineer in America and in India at Amazon. Managers in India were the ultimate definition of rest and vest in my experience. They had a monopoly over what the team culture is, what work happens, what deadlines are set, it was overall pretty unhealthy. Other engineers are also to blame, because they agree with whatever the manager says. They’ll join a call at 9 pm on a weekday within a 5 min notice. Saying no, basically means playing with your career.

    I wish that you don’t become like that and stay a professional.
    Apr 10 1
  • US hires had a higher degree of maturity in day to day interactions/how they do their job. India hires were more scrappy and moved faster (sometimes at the expense of quality). Us hires also turned over less frequently than india, where changing jobs more rapidly seems to be the norm
    Apr 10 0
  • New / Strategy
    xlk253728

    New Strategy

    xlk253728
    I’m a non-tech (strategy & ops) manager in India and I work at a startup that started out in the US and is expanding in India. I’m still a new manager and I’ve only led early and mid-career folks.

    US mid-career folks are very socially aware and understand all the maneuvering that happens. And they are very comfortable just doing the job as it was described in the JD.

    Indian mid-career folks are more hungry and also have more agency. On a Quarter on Quarter, they expect to do new things or do the same thing at a higher scale. Basically, they expect growth even for a short period.

    I feel this might be because Indian mid-career folks aim for a 30% hike and therefore want to show more value, while US mid-career folks(where the ecosystem is more stable) are okay with a 5-8% annual hike.

    With Indian early career folks, it is a swing and a miss on what to expect. You can find a really really high performer who is going to go well and above the role and sometimes you might find a real dud despite IIT or other signals.

    US early career folks are more predictable and also more structured. You don’t really need to help channel their energy. But I’m also yet to see someone who just blows you away with high agency and skill. I’m guessing they are probably already at a VC or Stripe etc and not applying to our company.

    The input I’ve given US managers in place that hire early career folks from India is to do one more round in excess of what they do in the US. A hiring manager round of sorts after the culture fit just to be on alert for a false positive.
    Apr 10 2
  • Nutanix
    Xanderrr

    Go to company page Nutanix

    Xanderrr
    Well I kinda expect this post to blow up. Rather just ask for people who’ve managed India and US teams to DM you
    Apr 10 0