How Intercountry Differences Affect HRM
How Intercountry Differences Affect HRM •
Differences in laws àhow many employees in board of directors?
•
Need for security and terrorism awareness training
•
cultural factors •
power distance: how accepting they are of unequal power distribution
•
individualism vs. collectivism: ties between individuals loose or close? Ie. Canadians look out for themselves and immediate family. Pakistani people look out for extended family, firms. Etc.
•
attitude towards gender differences: male dominated mining ie. •
All of this shows that there is a need to adapt to host country HR practices such as training and pay plans
•
Hr staff members in foreign country should include host country citizens
•
High degree of sensitivity and empathy needed for cultural and attitudinal demands ESPECIALLy for “human” jobs
•
economic systems
•
legal systems •
labour laws are different à different definitions of terms such as discrimination, minimum wage etc. minimum length of service to qualify for severance pay
•
labour cost factors
•
ie. Some countries might not see investment in employee training and development as a necessary cost
•
industrial relations factors •
relationship among workers, union, employer vary dramatically
•
ie. Employees may have the right to voice company policies
•
unions may not play an effective role in labour disputes
• global staffing policy –
an ethnocentric staffing policy is based on the attitude that home-country managers are superior to those in the host country, and all key management positions are filled by parent-country nationals
–
a polycentric staffing policy is based on the belief that only host-country managers can understand the culture and behaviour of the host-country market, and therefore foreign subsidiaries would be staffed with hostcountry nationals and its home-office headquarters with parent-country nationals
–
a geocentric staffing policy assumes that management candidates must be searched for globally, on the assumption that the best manager for any specific position anywhere on the globe may be found in any of the countries in which the firm operates •
Human resources used more efficiently since they pick the best person for the position
•
Help build a stronger more consistent culture and set of values among the entire global management team
SELECTION FOR GLOBAL ASSIGNMENTS •
selecting global managers –
selecting managers for expatriate assignments means screening them for traits that predict success in adapting to what may be dramatically new environments
•
adaptability screening –
Aims to assess the family’s probable success in transitioning to new environment as well as alert them of personal issues the move may involve
–
realistic job preview, pre-assignment visit, paper-and-pencil tests
MAINTAINING GLOBAL EMPLOYEES orienting and training employees for global assignments –
cross-cultural training •
LEVEL 1 – IMPACT OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AN ON RAISING TRAINEES’ AWARENESS OF SUCH DIFFERENCES
•
2- GETTING PARTICIPANTS TO UNDERSTAND HOW ATTITUDES ARE FORMED AND HOW THEY INFLUECE BEHAVIOUR
•
3- FACTUAL KNOWLEDGE BOUT THE TARGET COUNTRY
•
4 PROVIDES SKILL BUILDING IE. LANGUAGE AND ADJUSTMENT
–
leadership development opportunities
international compensation for expatriate –
balance sheet approach – purchasing power equalized in all countries àmaintain same standard of living
–
variable pay -
–
international EAPs (employee assistancce plan) – used for ongoing support for stress etc.
performance appraisal of global managers –
Think about the assignment’s difficulty level
–
weight the evaluation more toward the on-site manager’s appraisal than toward the home-site manager’s distant perceptions of the employee’s performance
–
if the home-site manager does the actual written appraisal, he or she should use a former expatriate from the same overseas location to provide background advice during the appraisal process
–
modify the normal performance criteria used for that particular position to fit the overseas position and characteristics of that particular locale
–
attempt to give the expatriate manager credit for relevant insights into the functioning of the operation and specifically the interdependencies of domestic and foreign operations
Global HR System • a standardized HR system in all company locations around the world
making the global HR system more acceptable: – global systems are more accepted in truly global organizations – investigate pressures to differentiate and determine their legitimacy – try to work within the context of a strong corporate culture helps override cultural differences
Differences in laws àhow many employees in board of directors?
•
Need for security and terrorism awareness training
•
cultural factors •
power distance: how accepting they are of unequal power distribution
•
individualism vs. collectivism: ties between individuals loose or close? Ie. Canadians look out for themselves and immediate family. Pakistani people look out for extended family, firms. Etc.
•
attitude towards gender differences: male dominated mining ie. •
All of this shows that there is a need to adapt to host country HR practices such as training and pay plans
•
Hr staff members in foreign country should include host country citizens
•
High degree of sensitivity and empathy needed for cultural and attitudinal demands ESPECIALLy for “human” jobs
•
economic systems
•
legal systems •
labour laws are different à different definitions of terms such as discrimination, minimum wage etc. minimum length of service to qualify for severance pay
•
labour cost factors
•
ie. Some countries might not see investment in employee training and development as a necessary cost
•
industrial relations factors •
relationship among workers, union, employer vary dramatically
•
ie. Employees may have the right to voice company policies
•
unions may not play an effective role in labour disputes
• global staffing policy –
an ethnocentric staffing policy is based on the attitude that home-country managers are superior to those in the host country, and all key management positions are filled by parent-country nationals
–
a polycentric staffing policy is based on the belief that only host-country managers can understand the culture and behaviour of the host-country market, and therefore foreign subsidiaries would be staffed with hostcountry nationals and its home-office headquarters with parent-country nationals
–
a geocentric staffing policy assumes that management candidates must be searched for globally, on the assumption that the best manager for any specific position anywhere on the globe may be found in any of the countries in which the firm operates •
Human resources used more efficiently since they pick the best person for the position
•
Help build a stronger more consistent culture and set of values among the entire global management team
SELECTION FOR GLOBAL ASSIGNMENTS •
selecting global managers –
selecting managers for expatriate assignments means screening them for traits that predict success in adapting to what may be dramatically new environments
•
adaptability screening –
Aims to assess the family’s probable success in transitioning to new environment as well as alert them of personal issues the move may involve
–
realistic job preview, pre-assignment visit, paper-and-pencil tests
MAINTAINING GLOBAL EMPLOYEES orienting and training employees for global assignments –
cross-cultural training •
LEVEL 1 – IMPACT OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AN ON RAISING TRAINEES’ AWARENESS OF SUCH DIFFERENCES
•
2- GETTING PARTICIPANTS TO UNDERSTAND HOW ATTITUDES ARE FORMED AND HOW THEY INFLUECE BEHAVIOUR
•
3- FACTUAL KNOWLEDGE BOUT THE TARGET COUNTRY
•
4 PROVIDES SKILL BUILDING IE. LANGUAGE AND ADJUSTMENT
–
leadership development opportunities
international compensation for expatriate –
balance sheet approach – purchasing power equalized in all countries àmaintain same standard of living
–
variable pay -
–
international EAPs (employee assistancce plan) – used for ongoing support for stress etc.
performance appraisal of global managers –
Think about the assignment’s difficulty level
–
weight the evaluation more toward the on-site manager’s appraisal than toward the home-site manager’s distant perceptions of the employee’s performance
–
if the home-site manager does the actual written appraisal, he or she should use a former expatriate from the same overseas location to provide background advice during the appraisal process
–
modify the normal performance criteria used for that particular position to fit the overseas position and characteristics of that particular locale
–
attempt to give the expatriate manager credit for relevant insights into the functioning of the operation and specifically the interdependencies of domestic and foreign operations
Global HR System • a standardized HR system in all company locations around the world
making the global HR system more acceptable: – global systems are more accepted in truly global organizations – investigate pressures to differentiate and determine their legitimacy – try to work within the context of a strong corporate culture helps override cultural differences
