Human Resource Management For Training And Development

Human Resource Management is Divided into two Broad Categories

Discuss about the Human Resource Management for Training and Development.

Human resource management is an approach that business organisations use to manage their employees and optimise their performance using concepts, such as performance management, compensation and benefits, training and development, career management. The basic idea behind the approach is establish better relations between the employees and the employers and to improve the organisational performance by improving the work conditions for the workforce. 

Business organisations are facing a lot of problems in the present scenario as the competition between rival firms has reached an international level and it is becoming increasingly difficult to survive in such market conditions. In such a scenario, business organisations cannot merely rely upon their processes or resources to achieve market competencies. They have realized that it is only through their human resources that they can achieve their organisational goals and achieve market competencies. As a result, human resource management has emerged as an important subject and companies are spending millions of dollars every year to ensure efficient management of their human resources (Inc.com, 2016). 

Domestic human resource management à also known as DHRM, domestic human resource management is related to the management of human resources at a domestic or national level. Domestic human resource management is carried out by those companies that have their work operations in a single country. Domestic human resource management is less complex than international human resource management (Whatishumanresource.com, 2016).

International human resource management à international human resource management, also known as IHRM, is the management of human resources at an international or a global level. International human resource management is carried out by those companies that have their business operations running in more than one countries. International human resource management is more complex than domestic human resource management as international human resource management is vulnerable to expatriate programs, compensation and benefits, cultural differences, diversity management, etc. 

Global scale à IHRM is associated with the management of employees at an international or global level.

Expatriates à in international human resource management, companies have to manage host country employees, home country employees as well as third country nationals, which increases its overall complexity.

Cross-cultural management à international human resource management requires management of a workforce that originates from diverse cultural backgrounds. There are a lot of cultural differences between the employees which makes the task of human resource management more challenging for the company.

Let us Now Discuss Some Important Characteristics of IHRM

Recruitment and selection à recruitment and selection are another important characteristic of international human resource management as multinationals companies find it very difficult to recruit and select home country nationals, host country nationals and third country nationals. Such management, recruitment and selection programs make international human resource management more challenging

Diversity management à . one of the most important characteristics of international HRM is that it involves of management of diversity while trying to manage the workforce. Multinational companies have a workforce that originates from diverse cultures backgrounds. As a result, they have different values, ethics, religion, age, etc. and the company has to manage this diversity in order to manage the workforce.

Organisational structures à international human resource management is also associate with complex organisational structures, hierarchies, positions, etc. because multinational organisations have to operate in multiple countries, 

In the present scenario, human resource management of various companies are trying their best to achieve market competencies through their human resources and achieve their missions and goals, which is only possible if a management has a set of powerful strategies that are aligned with the human resource management functions. If the human resource functions and the strategies of an organisations (especially a multinational organisation) are not aligned, it can cause a lot of problems for companies and they might even lose the competition to their competitors. Let us now understand the importance of aligning the human resource functions with organisational strategies in international human resource management:

First of all, the only way to achieve organisational goals and objectives is by having a clear set of expectations in the minds of the employees. If they employees would not know about the expectations that the company has from them, they would never be able to produce the desired results. Aligning human resource functions with organisational strategies ensures that the employees have a clarity of organisation’s mission and vision statements.

Secondly, in IHRM or in multinational companies, there can be a huge fluctuation in the demand of human resources. Aligning human resource functions with the organisational strategies ensures that the organisation would be able to satisfy the human resource demands by supplying adequate amount of workforce. It helps business organisations in avoiding situations of excess or lack of human resource, which can ultimately increase the operating costs and decrease the profit margins of the company.

Further, it is also important that the workforce of a company works together and produces synergies to achieve greater than what the organisation expects. If the organisation is unable to align its human resource strategies with the organisational strategies, the human resource would not have a clarity of mission and vision statements and would put in more efforts to achieve lesser goals and objectives. 

Importance of Aligning HR Functions with Organisational Strategies in IHRM

International human resource managers also face a great deal of problems when it comes to aligning their human resource functions with their organisational strategies. Let us now discuss these challenges:

Recruitment and selection à one of the greatest issues in international human resource management is recruitment and selection. In international human resource management, companies have to recruit host country nationals, home country nationals as well as third country nationals. When companies expand their operations overseas, they have to abide by the rules and regulations that the local governments impose on the company. These regulations can be related to employment of host country employees, wage rates, etc. As a result, it becomes difficult for companies to align recruitment and selection with their organisational goals.

Compensation and benefits à taking a decision about the compensation and benefits of the host country employees, home country employees and third country employees is also a challenging decision for the international human resource managers. Compensation and benefits for the local employees and for the expatriates have to managed in such a way that none of them feels overpaid or underpaid. Further, it is also important for the companies to fix the right benefits and allowances, such as housing allowance, hardship allowance, etc. (Civilserviceindia.com, 2016).

Diversity and cross cultural management à the greatest challenge to the management of human resources at an international level is the management of diversity and cross cultural issues. In international business assignments, employees working in a subsidiary can be from different countries and from diverse cultural backgrounds. They all have differences in their ethics, communication styles, values, perceptions, beliefs, religious views, etc. which can cause a lot of issues in the workplace. 

Let us discuss some ways in which companies can deal with the challenges associated with the management of human resources at an international level:

Cultural awareness and sensitivity à one of the best ways to overcome the challenges posed by the management of human resources at international level is to foster an environment where the employees are more cultural sensitive. Having cultural sensitivity in the workplace allows the employees to have an open mind towards the cultural beliefs and values of the others. It is also important for the management or be culture sensitive because they have to manage the employees as well as deal with the local and foreign client. Therefore, by becoming more cultural sensitive, organisations can ensure a better alignment of their human resource functions with their organisational strategies as they are able to establish better relations with their clients and employees (Heaps, 2012)..

Flexibility à to deal with most of the others problems, organisations need to adopt a flexible approach that is suitable to the employees as well as to the clients. Adopting a flexible approach in deciding the compensation and benefits of the employees and selection and recruitment can help a company in avoiding the challenges that are associated with the management of human resources at an international level. By keeping a slight margin of error and adopting a flexible approach, business organisations will be able to align their human resource functions with the organisational strategies (Heaps, 2012). 

In the present scenario, it has become very important for companies to manage their human resources properly, especially in multinational organisations. Human resources are the only resources through and by the help of which the companies can achieve their organisational goals and objectives. Therefore, it is important that the organisations are able to align their human resource with their organisational strategies to ensure maximum productivity.

References

Anon, (2016). [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_are_human_resource_strategies_often_not_aligned_with_the_business_strategy [Accessed 25 Sep. 2016]. 

Dowling, P., Welch, D. and Schuler, R. (1999). International human resource management. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western College Publ. 

Gast, G. (2016). Aligning HR Strategy with Business Strategy – Proxus HR. [online] Proxus HR. Available at: https://proxushr.com/aligning-hr-strategy-with-business-strategy/ [Accessed 25 Sep. 2016]. 

Harvey, M. and Buckley, M. (1998). Introduction: International issues in human resource management. Human Resource Management Review, 8(1), pp.1-3. 

Heaps, W. (2012). Seven Characteristics of Highly Effective International HR Professionals. [online] International HR Forum. Available at: https://internationalhrforum.com/2012/08/12/seven-characteristics-of-highly-effective-international-hr-professionals/ [Accessed 26 Sep. 2016]. 

Inc.com. (2016). Human Resource Management. [online] Available at: https://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/human-resource-management.html [Accessed 25 Sep. 2016]. 

Smallbusiness.chron.com. (2016). HR Strategies With Business Strategies. [online] Available at: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/hr-strategies-business-strategies-2624.html [Accessed 25 Sep. 2016]. 

Whatishumanresource.com. (2016). Difference between Global or IHRM and Domestic HRM – what is human resource ?. [online] Available at: https://www.whatishumanresource.com/difference-between-global-or-ihrm-and-domestic-hrm [Accessed 25 Sep. 2016].