Olive Training Consultants

Name: Olive Training Consultants
Address: Hang D**g, Chiang Mai, 50230, TH
Telephone: +66870748407

Consultative Approach and Bespoke Solutions to Cross-Cultural Training and Employee Development.

27/05/2026

During my time leading training in Indonesia’s mining industry, workplace mentoring became a key part of how we supported nationalisation.

The idea was simple:
Pair experienced expat operators, artisans and supervisors with their Indonesian counterparts, transfer knowledge, build capability and support the long-term goal of localising roles.

The intention was excellent.
But we learned quickly that mentoring does not work properly just because a policy says it should. We made mistakes.
- We assumed technical experts would naturally know how to mentor.
- We underestimated how much structure, guidance and support they needed.
- We did not always give mentors the tools to coach, document progress, give feedback and build confidence in their counterparts.
- And we did not always recognise mentoring as the valuable professional skill it actually is.

Because mentoring someone to eventually nationalise your own position is not a small ask.

It requires patience, trust, humility, communication skill and a clear system behind it.

What we learned was simple:
- If nationals are expected to receive quality mentoring, expats must be properly trained, supported and empowered to mentor well.
- And if we ask expats to play that role, we should recognise it properly; in performance discussions, career records, their CVs and leadership pathways.

Workplace mentoring can be one of the most powerful tools for nationalisation and capability transfer.

But only when it is treated as a structured development process, not just an extra duty added to someone’s job.

04/05/2026

“We have no problems.”

In Thailand, that statement should always be explored, not accepted.
Because in many cases, it doesn’t mean everything is fine.

It can mean:
“I don’t want to challenge you”
“I don’t want to cause conflict”
“I don’t want anyone to lose face”

For expatriate leaders, this is where things start to go wrong.

- Decisions are made based on incomplete information.
- Issues remain unspoken.
- Performance gaps are misunderstood.

And over time, frustration builds on both sides.

This isn’t about right or wrong, it’s about understanding how communication actually works in context.

Are your leaders equipped to interpret what’s really being said and what isn’t?

17/04/2026

We’re proud to share that Olive Training Consultants is now an accredited CPD provider with the CPD Standards Office in the UK.

This accreditation recognises the professional standards behind how we operate:
• Structured design and delivery approach
• Robust quality assurance
• Clear evaluation and feedback systems
• Ongoing trainer development
• Strong governance, ethics, and data protection

In short, it validates what happens behind the scenes; ensuring our clients experience consistent, credible, and professionally delivered learning.

For organisations investing in people development, these foundations are essential.

25/02/2026

How seriously does your organisation treat cross-cultural onboarding for expats heading into Asia?

Whether it’s FIFO rotations, short-term projects or long-term leadership assignments; are you simply briefing them on logistics… or properly preparing them for the cultural realities that will shape trust, influence and performance on the ground?

Is cross-cultural preparation a “nice to have”, or a strategic necessity?

05/01/2026

Training Preference Check: Face-to-Face or Virtual?

There’s no doubt that virtual learning has changed the game. It’s faster to organise, easier to access across regions, and often more cost-effective. For many organisations, it’s become the default, and in plenty of cases, it works brilliantly.

That said, as a cross-cultural trainer, I still have a strong preference for face-to-face delivery.
Why? Because the real learning often lives between the words:
• the micro-reactions when a point lands (or doesn’t)
• the group energy that builds trust and participation
• the spontaneous discussions that reveal assumptions and cultural differences
• the subtle non-verbal cues that help you adjust in the moment

In cross-cultural work especially, those human signals matter.
They’re often the difference between “interesting content” and genuine behaviour change.

And personally, I feel the same as a participant. I generally prefer to receive training in-person. The focus is sharper, the connection is stronger, and the learning feels more memorable.

But I’m also realistic: virtual learning isn’t going anywhere. In fact, for some goals it’s the better choice, especially when you need speed, scale, or follow-up reinforcement.

So I’m curious:

When do you prefer face-to-face, and when do you prefer virtual, and why?
(And if you’ve found a blended approach that really works, I’d love to hear what makes it effective.)

24/12/2025

Wishing all our clients, partners, and friends a very Merry Christmas 🎄

Thank you for your trust and support throughout the year — it’s been a pleasure supporting teams and leaders across the region with cross-cultural and leadership development.

May your holiday season be restful, joyful, and spent with the people who matter most.

Merry Christmas from all of us at Olive Training Consultants.

05/12/2025

Three Years, Ten Lessons: What Really Drives Effective Training in Thailand & ASEAN

As Olive Training Consultants reaches its third anniversary, it feels like the right moment to pause and reflect.

Over these years, we’ve partnered with organisations across Thailand and the wider ASEAN region; supporting leaders who want to strengthen capability, elevate performance, and build cultures where learning genuinely matters. And in that time, several themes have surfaced again and again, regardless of industry, size, or structure.

Here are ten insights that continue to define what it means to lead learning with real impact:
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1️⃣ Time isn’t just limited, it’s protected.
Packed calendars mean training must blend into the natural flow of work. If it feels like a disruption, people simply won’t engage.
2️⃣ Alignment begins with the performance gap, not the polite request.
“What’s the real problem we’re solving?” is still the most powerful question in L&D, especially in cultures where indirect communication is common.
3️⃣ L&D earns influence when it behaves like a business unit.
ROI, budgeting discipline, and commercial awareness are what build credibility with senior leaders.
4️⃣ Without stakeholder ownership, even excellent programmes stall.
Engage leaders early. Energy and alignment at the top accelerate results everywhere else.
5️⃣ Business leaders want impact, not completion rates.
Participation is good. Behaviour change and business results are better.
6️⃣ Learning becomes a competitive advantage only when people believe in its value.
When development is viewed as integral, not optional, organisations grow faster and retain talent longer.
7️⃣ One-size-fits-all serves no one.
Different teams, roles, and cultures learn differently. Personalisation is no longer a luxury.
8️⃣ Onboarding shapes everything that follows.
A structured, engaging start builds confidence, commitment, and a sense of belonging; especially important in family-oriented cultures like Thailand.
9️⃣ Great learning leaders ask great questions.
Curiosity builds trust, reveals the true challenges, and leads to better solutions.
🔟 Training ends. Culture continues.
A strong learning culture keeps development alive long after any single programme is over.
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Looking Ahead
The workplace is shifting quickly, but one truth remains constant: learning is fundamentally about people, their motivations, their challenges, and their desire to grow.
The organisations that thrive in the coming years will be those that invest in capability, nurture curiosity, and see development as a strategic advantage rather than a compliance exercise.
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A question to reflect on:
If your organisation could improve just one aspect of learning this year, which change would make the biggest difference—and what’s stopping you from starting now?

01/12/2025

It’s that time of year again—when organisations across the region are finalising next year’s budgets, including their training and development spend.

And every year, I’m reminded of how differently companies approach this.

A few months ago, during a consultation with a regional HR director, I asked how their annual learning budget was set. She smiled and said, “Honestly, Colin… half science, half guesswork.”
They had a TNA template, a risk register overflowing with red flags, and a list of “urgent training requests” that appeared whenever something went wrong. Yet, when we mapped it all out, we realised that only 30% of their annual budget was tied to strategic priorities. The rest was… well, ad hoc firefighting.

And this isn’t unusual. Across organisations, large or small, I’ve seen three common approaches to budget planning:

1. The Strategic Route
Grounded in a clear Training Needs Analysis, competency gaps, risk mitigation, and forward planning.
2. The Reactive Route
Triggered by incidents, audits, or performance issues that suddenly need “fixing.”
3. The Hybrid Route
A blend of strategy and improvisation (often the most realistic picture).

The takeaway? A training budget is only as strong as the system that informs it. When leaders rely solely on requests or only on risks, they miss opportunities to build capability proactively.

The organisations that get this right use competency frameworks, data-driven TNAs, and ongoing reviews to forecast not just costs, but impact.

How does your organisation set its training budget?
Strategic, reactive… or somewhere in between?

13/11/2025

A pleasure working with such enthusisatic and professional particpants.

20/10/2025

Are diverse teams really better, or only when they’re trained to be?
Cultural diversity doesn’t automatically deliver performance; it amplifies it after cross-cultural training. When people understand each other’s values, communication norms, and decision-making styles, you replace friction with focus and turn “difference” into an edge.

Here’s what training unlocks:
• Shared language for giving/receiving feedback across cultures
• Faster decisions by reducing misreads and conflict
• Smarter problem-solving through genuinely inclusive dialogue
• Higher trust → higher accountability → better results

If your diverse team isn’t outperforming, it’s not a “diversity problem”; it’s a capability gap. Train the mindset, the methods, and the moments that matter (meetings, feedback, conflict, negotiation).

Olive Training Consultants offers a range of cross-cultural training options—from leadership workshops to team interventions and coaching, tailored for ASEAN contexts.

What’s the one cross-cultural skill you believe every manager must master first?