On May 29, 2020, local time, nearly 100 Brazilian employees joined CGN Brazil Energy, a subsidiary of China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN). As new staff they were curious and a little anxious.
From then on, the company, adhering to the basic principle that "cross-cultural integration is the foundation for high-quality development of the company", welcomed the Brazilians by showing respect for diversified cultures, and now has successfully won their trust through various kinds of cultural integration activities.
Spending traditional festivals together, "Xiè xie" carries on China-Brazil friendship
A photo wall can be seen at the office of CGN Brazil Energy's headquarters. The most eye-catching picture is a brightly-colored red one that was taken at a celebration party during Chinese Spring Festival.
Chinese and Brazilian employees at CGN Brazil Energy celebrate Chinese Spring Festival together. [Photo provided to sasac.gov.cn]
On the first day after Spring Festival Eve, all employees were dressed in red, with faces full of curiosity about the Chinese culture and happy wishes for the new year. The company also sent out Chinese writing brushes and ink sticks as gifts to the employees and told them about the history and customs of Spring Festival. Special events were also held to celebrate other traditional Chinese occasions such as Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival.
When holding cultural integration work, CGN Brazil Energy found that involving Brazilian culture into the company's entertainment activities was as important as promoting Chinese culture. Therefore, the company also prepared festival gifts to employees on Brazilian festivals like Festa Junina.
Chinese and Brazilian employees at CGN Brazil Energy spend Festa Junina together. [Photo provided to sasac.gov.cn]
Celebrating traditional Chinese and Brazilian events and sending wishes to each other have become a tradition of CGN Brazil Energy's employees. The activities enable Chinese and Brazilian employees to better know each other.
Spreading culture of security
Traditional culture is the foundation for employees to come together and the enterprise culture is a premise to form agreements. To help managers and staff members at all levels take CGN's security culture to heart and improve the security management level, CGN Brazil Energy promoted the "Month of safe production" activity to the overseas projects and regularly held various kinds of activities to raise employees' sense of security.
When Lidiane, manager of health, safety and environment (HSE), first visited China and participated in CGN's "global security workshop" and trained with employees at her position in overseas projects in other countries and regions, she attended various professional courses and shared HSE practices. After the training, Lidiane exclaimed that "I had never ever imagined an enterprise would value security at such a high professional level." At CGN, Lidiane saw a totally different management mode and system and the continuous training also provided her with brand-new ideas on improving CGN Brazil Energy's management system, procedures and working methods.
Chinese and Brazilian employees at CGN Brazil Energy work together on repairing device. [Photo provided to sasac.gov.cn]
In addition to sending Brazilian employees to CGN's headquarters in China, the Chinese team also sent employees to overseas projects to improve local employees' awareness of security. Many senior managers at CGN gave security lectures to the overseas companies and visited the power plants to inspect security after the lectures. They worked and chatted with local workers, developing a rigorous and careful working attitude and advancing the company's culture of security -- "security goes first, quality goes first, striving for excellence is constant".
Since 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 has brought great pressure to production and operation of CGN Brazil Energy. Adhering to the enterprise culture, all employees had faith in "fighting for even one kilowatt-hour" and overcame the challenge despite the poor industrial foundation. They made full efforts to handle errors of the devices to guarantee construction. On June 30, 2021, the company completed repairing of all wind turbines in Morrinhos and made them operable again. On the same day, the company also completed hoisting of the inverter of the Nova Olinda photovoltaic power project, laying a solid foundation for improvement of available rates and generation output of wind and solar power projects in Brazil.
Brazilian employee Antonio said with excitement that "since joining CGN, we have been touched by Chinese colleagues' professional dedication and admired their professional attitude. There's nothing that can beat them."
Promoting management integration, deepening employees' sense of belonging and cohesiveness
So far, CGN Brazil Energy has operated for two years and employees have gained a strong sense of belonging. On May 8, 2020, local time, all employees completed contract signing with the company. Jessica, an analyst in the electricity sales department, said that "from that time, there's no you or we. We are a family and I'm proud of being an employee of CGN Brazil Energy."
However, it was not like this at the beginning. Rodrigo, a member of the operation and maintenance team, wrote in his article "CGN in my eyes" that: "Before I joined CGN, 11 other colleagues and I had no idea what kind of company it is, let alone what our lives would be like in the future."
During the two years he has spent with the Chinese colleagues, Rodrigo realized the employee-centered principle of the company and understood the core meaning of "safety goes first, quality goes first". "I learned the spirit of going forward and never giving up from my Chinese colleagues, and I was deeply impressed by their dedication and professionalism. I suppose it is the reason that CGN's business is so strong and China is developing so rapidly," he said. Rodrigo added that he would keep in alignment with his Chinese colleagues and work hard and always keep improving. To express his love for China, he played the Chinese national anthem on a violin at the annual meeting, which touched all the employees. Such harmonious scenes are the best testimony to show the acceptance of China and identification with the company by Brazilian employees, which was gained through unremitting efforts in the past two years.
The friendship between two countries lies in the peoples' affinity, and the peoples' affinity lies in heart-to-heart communication. In the past two years, the Chinese and Brazilian employees deepened their understanding of each other through a series of cultural integration activities, and many Brazilian employees have learned to say "Xiè xie", meaning thank you, while the Chinese employees often say "Obrigado, amigo" to their Brazilian colleagues. In addition, CGN Brazil Energy selects two "Ambassadors of Cultural Integration" every two years, one a Chinese employee and the other a Brazilian employee. The two "ambassadors" shoulder missions of cultural dissemination, which includes introducing the unique cultures of the two countries to the Chinese and Brazilian employees during their daily work to deepen the friendship between them.
CGN Brazil Energy has primarily formed a harmonious and integrated cultural situation between Chinese and Brazilian staff. At the end of 2020, the company established a "Harmony Club", intending to deepen communication and exchange of Chinese and Brazilian cultures and to spread CGN's corporate culture. It also aims to enrich the amateur cultural and sports life of employees and to create a positive communication link and bridge for employees at all levels. Up to now, the club has organized various activities such as sending warmth to isolated employees, getting to know the city of Curitiba, and weekend outdoor exercise, which have become a platform for in-depth communication between the Chinese and Brazilian employees in their spare time. The harmonious cultural environment has effectively improved the overall cohesion of CGN Brazil Energy, accelerated the company's business development and laid a sound social foundation for promoting Belt and Road construction.
CGN Brazil Energy has now evolved into the fifth-largest clean energy supplier in Brazil. The company respects every employee and their culture, and is committed to building an inclusive corporate environment to create a balanced international enterprise with diversified characteristics.
(Executive editor: Li Zhiyong)
