Dutch Learning Community and Resources

Navigating the World of Business Dutch: Understanding Dutch Business Culture & Etiquette 

Are you thinking of entering the workforce in the Netherlands? Keep reading! In this blog, you will learn all about Dutch business culture as well as etiquette. From communication to hierarchy to work-life balance, we’ve got you covered!  
 
One thing to keep in mind is that the information in this blog focused on the Netherlands. In a future blog, we’ll dig deeper into the Flemish business culture, as although there are some similarities, there are also some significant differences.  

Let’s dive in! 


Work-life balance 
We’re going to start with talking about work-life balance, because it is quite significant as the Dutch work the least amount of hours per week when compared to other EU countries. While the official working hours per week are between 36 and 40 hours, according to Eurostat Data, in reality, the Dutch work only approximately 32 hours a week.  

In coherence with this data, most Dutch employees don’t work overtime on a regular basis, namely only 0.3% work longer hours. Again, this is the lowest percentage when compared to the rest of the EU, where the average is 10%.  

So, we can say that focusing on a healthy work-life balance is generally incredibly important to the Dutch. And is a large aspect of understanding Dutch business culture.  


Etiquette & Communication Style 
If you live in the Netherlands, you may have already noticed that the Dutch are generally quite direct in their communication style and do not like to beat around the bush. This is the same in a business environment. 

When working within a Dutch company, honesty, openness and directness are what is valued. The typical communication style is, however, also friendly and not very formal. In the office, there is often quite a bit of chit-chat around the coffee machine, in Dutch ‘Over koetjes en kalfjes praten’. However, when it comes to business meetings, they generally value punctuality and getting straight to the point. 

Decision Making & Hierarchy  
The Netherlands is known for a relatively flat hierarchical structure in businesses. And employees have a high degree of autonomy and independence. As a side note, in Belgium and Flanders this is different, but we’ll get into that in another article.   

This flat hierarchical structure has implications for the way in which decisions are made in Dutch companies and politics. Namely, the decision-making style, also known as the ‘poldermodel’, is often spread throughout different layers of the organization and the focus is on collaborative and consensual decision-making. Employees are encouraged to share their ideas and thoughts on various matters. And most of these ideas are considered before making any decisions. As a result, the final decision is often well thought out, but it may be a lengthy and drawn-out process before a final decision is reached. 

I hope you enjoyed reading this article and found it helpful! These are the main points to consider in terms of business culture and etiquette specifically. However, there are more helpful articles to come in this series on ‘navigating the world of business Dutch’.  

Until next time! 

 
Marieke, OLS Community Manager – Dutch