In an increasingly international research environment, intercultural competence is not just a ‘nice-to-have’ but a crucial skill for the future. Every day at Wood K plus, people from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds come together. Around a third of our employees are not from Austria – and that is precisely one of our greatest strengths.
In order to better exploit this potential, the ‘Intercultural Empowerment’ project was launched. The aim was to promote diversity competence at various levels within the company – from administrative support and linguistic accessibility to targeted reflection within the team.
A project with a lasting impact
During the course of the project, numerous measures were taken to facilitate cooperation in an international environment:
- A guide for managers supports the efficient and smooth implementation of international new hires.
- Important documents are now also available in English.
- Onboarding has been expanded and better adapted to the needs of international employees.
These structural adjustments are essential for better integrating international colleagues and making it easier for them to get started at Wood K plus.
Workshop „Intercultural Empowerment“
The ‘Intercultural Empowerment’ workshop was held at all three locations in June 2025. Colleagues were able to spend a day focusing intensively on intercultural cooperation. The morning began with an exciting presentation that not only taught the basics of intercultural communication, but also made it clear why companies should engage with different cultures. In the afternoon, the workshop became interactive and participants were able to experience how intercultural cooperation works through games and group tasks. Prior to the workshop, colleagues had completed the Intercultural Preference Tool (IPT) questionnaire. This questionnaire records personal and culturally influenced preferences in the work context – for example, in relation to time management, communication or hierarchical thinking. The results were discussed in the workshop: for each dimension, the participants positioned themselves along a scale in the room according to their personal characteristics. This revealed how different the individual characteristics are at Wood K plus.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to Elisabeth Eßbichl for organising the event and to all participants for their commitment and open exchange.

