Discuss about the Growth Conversations to Engage and Retain.
A multinational corporation (MNC) must hire, motivate, retain and effectively utilize the service of people in its international offices, as well as in the home office at the parent country. So, this is basically a Human Resource Management at an international level, and thus, is called International Human Resource Management (IHRM). IHRM is more complex and at a completely different level than the usual Human Resource Management, as it is aimed at managing an organization’s human resources at an international level for the purpose of achieving organizational objectives and also, to achieve a competitive advantage over the competitors at both National and International levels (Albu & Morosan-Danila, 2009).
In contrast to the Domestic Human Resource Management (DHRM), an International Human Resource Management needs a broader perspective, as the work force mix of every country varies and so do the differentiating factors that affect them. So, in IHRM there is more exposure to risk and there are more influences of the external factors than the internal factors.
Globalization of business, which leads to mobilization of resources is one of the major factors of organisations’ growing interests in the International Human Resource Management. IHRM becomes all the more necessary to minimize the risk of underperformance/failure in the international assignments, as it is focused on effectively managing the company’s human resource on a global level. Companies these days are moving from traditional hierarchical organisational structures to a network level structure. IHRM plays a significant role in implementing and control of strategies in an international business.
In a globalized business of a Multi-National Corporation, things are very volatile. The business’s needs, demands, structure, etc. is always changing. The role of a Human Resource Manager is to meet the needs this rapidly changing organization. Organisational success depends on its ability of being more adaptable, resilient and flexibility to change its directions. The organisations today are becoming more and more customer cantered. So, a Human Resource professionals needs to learn how to effectively plan, organize, lead and control the Human Resource, along with being aware of the major future demographic, technological and societal changes, to prepare themselves accordingly (Markoulli, 2017).
The demographic differences between the developed and developing nations is placing a greater pressure on both government and private sector to improvise their methods for education and retaining a diverse working population which is changing at a fast pace.
According to a survey of 636 C-level and senior executives by The Economist Intelligence Unit, sponsored by the SHRM Foundation in 2013, “the People Management is cited to be by far the most substantial challenge that companies face over the next five to ten years”.
A major number of women workers are projected to enter in the international workforce in upcoming years. Also, the companies need to adapt themselves for this new definition and structure of the employees which include a significant portion of temporary and part time workers. On top of that, there is a pressure to manage the generation gap between the workers these days, focusing on the requirements of older generation employees versus the newer generation of employees. Companies these days face a void in leadership positions as the experienced and old age employees are leaving the organisations after approaching their retirement ages (Economist Intelligence, 2017). “Age” will continue to be a threat to companies all over the world because just like any other resource, the Human Resource can also be used for a limited period of time before it gets depleted. Thus, companies need to come up with some effective solutions where the older generation passes the ‘Baton’ to the newer generation effectively (Bolchover, 2013). There needs to be a great focus on the subject as to how the skills and experience of an old employee can be passed on to a new and relatively young employee.
Making the younger population “Work Ready” over the world, is very challenging due to high unemployment rates over many countries. Whereas, for the people who are employed and remain employed in future, it is very important that their skills and talent remain relevant to the employers. For this to happen, governments, corporations and education sector must collaborate to restructure the educational system in such a way that it prepares the upcoming generations for the jobs in future. If there is collaboration at the planning stage itself, it can be ensured that the necessary education and skills can be imparted to the youth, so that they don’t fail in the Skill department when it comes to finding jobs. Similarly, it is beneficial for corporations in such a manner, that they lay out their requirements of the skills and the human resources they receive in future will be tailor made, based on their specifications. Thus, they won’t face the labour shortages in the upcoming years (Crabtree, 2013).
Over the years, companies have also face problems to maximize the contribution of women in the workforce. Based on a research, “A mere 13 out of the largest 500 companies in the world by revenue had women CEOs in 2012, a proportion of just 2.6 percent.” The major reason for this handful contribution of women in the top management is always stated as that a Woman needs to look after her family, thus, she cannot focus on the work. Whatever the reason for women to struggle in the male-dominated society, companies are losing out on a talent which they find with much difficulty. This issue has been taken up by the politicians, time to time, with women empowerment as one of their key agendas when they win the election. Therefore, it is possible that in the near future, companies may get pressurized from the government to increase a proportion of female work force both in total number as well as in the managing roles. Therefore, the corporations must be ready beforehand, by identifying their skilled high –potential female work force and also identifying ways to keep these females interested and committed to the organisation. Mentorship programs, involving the senior women executives providing coaching to the younger female employees of the company. The major challenge would be to keep the female employees engaged to the work when they take leaves due to provide time to the family. Perhaps continuous communication and the option to work from home can keep their interest piqued, allowing them to focus both on family as well as work. If we talk on a broader level, the Human Resources managers will have to meet the demands of their female work staff to equal salary and promotions in addition to the bunch of other benefits (Childcare, work from home, etc.). The thing with employee benefits is that there is no fixed set that meet all the requirements of each and every individual and keep them satisfied. Thus, a customized mix of these benefits must be used to include a varied and international workforce (Group, 2010).
Definition of skill, in respect of work is ever evolving. On top of that, the conventional education does not provide the cluster of qualities that one needs to do a work effectively. There are always gaps between the actual skills of a worker than the required skill to perform a job. As per the 2013 EIU/SHRM Foundation survey, “executives reported that the current disconnect between the skills fostered by education and those they actually need will represent a very considerable obstacle in the coming years.”
This implies that in the upcoming year, it will be more difficult to for the Human Resource professionals to analyse and judge the skills of an applicant based on their education. On top of that, there are no standards to categorize the education overall the globe, thus, it becomes all the more difficult in IHRM to choose the qualifications for a job very carefully, when hiring across the borders. The education not only varies between the countries, but also within the different institutions of the same country. So, in order to make wiser decisions related to hiring, an HR must be aware of these differences (SAP Company, 2017). This will enable the HR to make an informative decision while filtering out the candidates based on their educational qualifications, for a particular job. To increase the knowledge of skill sets required to execute the functions, the HR must synergise with the relevant departments of the organization, while hiring.
Many executives are of the belief that there will be severe skill shortages in the near future due to low rate of births and unchanging education systems. Thus, as mentioned above, the organisations and education systems need to collaborate and come out with such an educational system that can help their fear to not come true (Department of Health, 2014).
In another survey done by the Economist Intelligence Unit in 2012, the executives worldwide revealed, “The most problematic recruitment challenges, by a substantial margin, relate to technical/engineering roles, and to the strategy and corporate-development function”.
The executive stated that it is very difficult to find an executive these days which is well versed in strategy execution and the ability to solve complex problems. Companies these days, are not able to find the people which can become their beacon of light between the unpredictability and cut throat competition.
For a position in the lower level of hierarchy, HR is constantly facing a lack of good communication and soft skills within candidates. Moreover, these candidates also lack in the creative and adaptive ability, which makes it a hard job to train them for the work. The lack of such basic skills is the reason of huge unemployment rates in the world economy.
Thus, the companies need to engage in a multi-level approach, to get the skill which they require. The organisations should take more initiatives to address and take up this issue to the governments. And ask for a collaboration between them and the educational institutions to redevelop the curriculums to fit their needs. They need to address the methods and means of imparting knowledge to the young ones, so that it enables them to develop the skills, which could act as a bride to the skill void in the near future. To start, the companies could organise various workshops, events and training programmes, by partnering with the educational institutions. These programs can be fitted right into the regular curriculum and adjusted accordingly. So, this will address the issue to provide the necessary skills in short term, while companies, government and educational institutes synergise to revolutionize the education in a long term.
“Human Resources” or a company’s workforce is a Resource, like any other resource and it is very dynamic in nature. As discussed above, that the profile of workers is ever-changing in today’s world and thus, their motivational factors and their expectation levels change too. It is very necessary for Human Resource department to know what matters to the workers. Is it money…? Recognition…? Or perhaps, freedom to work. The fact is, answer to this question is also no longer definite. The needs and motivations of people change individually. Even on the broader level, it is very difficult find a common factor of motivation due to a diverse workforce; based on ethnicity, religion, gender etc. So, the HR professional need to make of mix of these benefits and use this mix wisely, as and where required, to keep the workers engaged (Miller-Merrell, 2017). The company will need to adjust their financial compensation and retention strategies in such a manner, that they can also provide for the people who are not driven enough by just money (Technologies, 2012). The task of the HR is not just to hire an employee. They also need to make sure that the people they hired are engaged and satisfied with the company and are working up to their full potential. They also need to make sure that the people do not resign in a short tenure, as it will waste all the investment that was made by the company, in order to hire them. This investment is Interview cost, training cost, opportunity cost of letting another able candidates go, etc.
Engaging the workforce is not a child’s play, as most of them are not engaged anyway. As per Gallup’s study of 142 countries, it was found out that only 13% of the overall international workforce was “engaged”. In other words, it could be said that, internationally, only 13% of the employees are committed to their jobs. A majority, about 63%, among these working population does not feel engaged to their work, which clearly states that the lack the motivation to do work. The rest 24% of this population has been termed as ‘Actively Disengaged’. These are the people, who are not just unhappy with their jobs, but also spread rumours and negativity among their colleagues (Heathfield, 2017).
The younger population, also termed as ‘Generation Y’ is hard to please and difficult to retain. Most of the younger working population have very low commitment to the organisation. They are the people who are too eager to grow and make a name for them. Even if they are committed to work, it is very difficult of the HR to retain them. The HR needs to explore variety of techniques and a mix of benefits to retain these kind of employees (Haines, 2015).
It is very important to have a right mix of the motivational strategies in those corners of the world, where there is a cut throat competition for the preferred skills within the individuals for the job. In this world, where Multinational companies are expanding at a fast pace, local entrepreneurship is blooming and the number of skilled young workforce is expected to fall, the battleground between companies will become exceptionally harsh. In one of its studies, McKinsey reported that the senior managers of the multinational corporations, working in the business units situated in China, switch the companies at a rate of 30-40 percent each year, which is approximately five times higher than the global rate
Technological advancements of the present world have enabled the Multi-National Corporations to expand at a very fast rate, as the modes of communication have minimized the distance gaps to a great extent. Tools such as the Teleconferencing has allowed the teams within different borders to work in a collaboration. It not only saves on the travel costs, but also has negated the relocation costs, that a company may had to bear for relocating the employees overseas for a sort term project (Long, 2016).
Establishment of Virtual Teams have a helped, any organisations in variety of ways. It has enabled the companies to increase their pool of knowledge regarding a market, through individual team members. With the help of technology, many job profiles are evolving which calls for a change in HR policies to manage their policies and programmes to fit the requirements of their virtual workers. The company may face challenges among the countries which are not technologically advanced.
Conclusion
In the end, it can be concluded that IHRM is both similar and entirely different from the traditional Human Resource Management. The various trends that we discussed above also pose a major challenge to the International Human Resource managers. Identifying these challenges in advance and preparing for them is the best way to tackle them. The final test for an international HR manager will be that when time comes, how much he had prepared the organisation for the challenge that it faces.
References
Albu, O., & Morosan-Danila, L. (2009, December). Current trends in HRM. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46525559_CURRENT_TRENDS_IN_HRM
Bolchover, D. (2013). Global CEO appointments: A very domestic issue. Retrieved from https://highpaycentre.org/files/CEO_mobility_final.pdf
Crabtree, S. (2013, October). Worldwide, 13% of Employees Are Engaged at Work. Retrieved from https://news.gallup.com/poll/165269/worldwide-employees-engaged-work.aspx
Department of Health. (2014). Knowledge and Skills Statement for Social Workers in Adult Services. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/411957/KSS.pdf
Economist Intelligence. (2017). Challenges for human resource management and global business strategy. Retrieved from https://futurehrtrends.eiu.com/report-2014/challenges-human-resource-management/
Group, T. H. (2010). Re-engaging with engagement: Views from the boardroom on employee engagement. The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited. Retrieved from https://viewswire.eiu.com/report_dl.asp?mode=fi&fi=987641483.PDF
Haines, H. (2015, November). 5 Ways to Engage (and Retain) Millennials . Retrieved from https://www.td.org/Publications/Blogs/Management-Blog/2015/11/5-Ways-to-Engage-and-Retain-Millennials
Heathfield, S. (2017, July). Top 10 Ways to Retain Your Great Employees . Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/top-ways-to-retain-your-great-employees-1919038
Long, D. (2016). 5 Growth Conversations to Engage and Retain Your Employees. Retrieved from https://www.decision-wise.com/5-growth-conversations-to-engage-and-retain-your-employees/
Markoulli, M. (2017). Human resource management review. Retrieved from https://www.empleo.gob.es/es/sec_bep/bibliotecas/central/Novedades/BoletinSumarios/Sumarios2017/Juniosegunda/Human_resource_management_review.pdf
Miller-Merrell, J. (2017). On-Demand Webinar – Rethinking Employee Motivation: Strategies to Engage, Develop and Retain. Retrieved from https://www.saba.com/us/dynamic-landing/resource/go/webinar-replay-jmm-rethinking-emp-motivation-fy15q4/
SAP Company. (2017). Values-based diversity: what it means and why it matters. Retrieved from https://www.successfactors.com/en_us/lp/values-based-diversity.html
Technologies, I. W. (2012, June). Infosys Has Trained 100,000 Graduates at Mysore Campus. Retrieved from https://www.siliconindia.com/news/technology/Infosys-Has-Trained-100000-Graduates-at-Mysore-Campus-nid-118218-cid-2.html
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