Organizations are expanding their operations into other countries and territories to remain profitable in a dynamic and competitive business environment. While globalization seems to present businesses with endless opportunities, it presents a new set of challenges, especially for the human resource management departments. These departments are tasked with identifying, recruiting, and training employees who are capable of handling business activities in different territories. This process requires the HRM to be aware of the impact of diverse cultures in terms of job attractiveness, hierarchies, time management, and other aspects. A failure to factor in cultural diversity, which is a characteristic associated with globalization, may lead to high turnover rates, demotivation, and low productivity on the part of the employees. An understanding of the cultural dynamics and national culture associated with globalization would be crucial for an organization that wants to secure talent on a global scale.
Implications of Staffing in a Global Environment
Organizations that expand their business activities into other countries and territories should consider a wide range of structural adjustments to enhance hiring, training, retaining, and supporting employees. Human resource management needs to understand that a decision to expand operations will create a workforce spread across countries with varying cultural identities. In this case, HRM should adapt its practices and thinking to include cultural differences to ensure that the people they hire will help the organization achieve its objectives. Riyadh, Zaman & Hasan (2015) note that the workforce that an organization acquires and retains is the greatest resource available, meaning that a decision to expand operations must revolve around the employees. Human resource managers must consider the impact that such a decision will have on both the existing and would-be employees who would have to adjust to the changes.
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Organizations will need to increase the support it renders to its current employees as they prepare to transfer overseas to take up new positions. This assistance could include the facilitation of work permits, visas, housing. Organizations may be forced to train the current employees on cultural issues dominating the destination country or even help them acquire a new language. Banks et al. (2018) assert that this form of support aims to increase their competencies so that they can be able to understand the unique needs of clients in the destination country. Apart from offering support to the existing employees, organizations that are operating in a global environment would be required to acquire and develop local talent. Acquisition of local talent in the form of recruitment and training allows an organization to understand the needs of the local population (Banks et al., 2018). Moreover, it cuts costs considering that the locals do not need additional induction on cultural aspects neither do they require work permits or visas. The hiring of locals points to corporate social responsibility with organizations ensuring that the host country achieves economic growth through business operations.
Staffing in a global environment is a significant human resource management issue since it is associated with cultural and corporate differences. Organizations usually have corporate cultures, which dictate how they operate as different entities from the prevailing cultural and societal norms. However, in as much as there is the corporate culture, organizations cannot ignore the impact that cultural norms may have on employees. These norms determine how employees view their jobs in terms of expectations, hierarchies, benefits structure, and gender roles (Collings, Mellahi &Cascio, 2018). Some cultures, for instance, have reservations about women holding leadership positions, while other cultures prefer the 9 to 5 workday. These and other cultural differences mean that human resource managers must be ready to adjust the corporate culture to accommodate local employees. Organizations that adapt to local cultures are likely to motivate employees, especially when they feel that the work environment caters to their needs. This aspect would be crucial in a situation where current employees can manage overseas staff due to a lack of cultural competence.
Effects of Cultural Differences on Organizational Staffing Process
Organizations depend on the workforce to actualize their visions through decision-making and engaging in various activities and processes. The staffing process is the avenue through which organizations recruit, train, and retain staff to ensure that they are in a position to achieve their goals. The process has four distinct yet interrelated steps, including workforce planning, job analysis and documentation, sourcing and recruiting, and selection and assessment. Organizations that are keen on expanding their business operations to foreign countries must anticipate that cultural differences will affect the staffing process at each of the four steps.
Workforce Planning
This is the first step in the staffing process, where the human resource department works closely with the management to analyze the current workforce. This step allows organizations to forecast and plan for workforce supply and demand, assess gaps as well as come up with talent management interventions. Workforce planning is crucial since it ensures that the organization will have the right people to help in the achievement of its strategic objectives and fulfill its mandate (Obisi, Samuel, & Ilesanmi, 2018). An organization that wants to expand its operations should establish if the employees possess the cultural competencies necessary to work overseas. During this stage, an organization would anticipate gaps and the extent to which these gaps would affect their overseas operations. At the same time, workforce planning in an organization would help in coming up with strategies to either train the current employees on cultural competencies or hire local employees.
Job Analysis and Documentation
The next step in the organizational staffing process is job analysis and documentation, where the HR determines the skills, knowledge abilities that are required for each position. Once this information has been determined, then it is documented and classified according to the job description, conditions, and responsibilities. This step is a crucial resource for human resource development since it informs other processes such as recruitment, compensation assessment, training, and job evaluation. Augustine et al. (2019) note that job analysis and documentation serve as a reference point for human resource managers to ensure that they match the employees with each position's requirements in the offing. Valid job analysis becomes a framework for developing effective recruitment, assessment, qualification, career development, and selection and performance management methodologies.
Organizations that hope to expand their operations need to base the job analysis and documentation on the cultural aspects that define the host country's workforce. There is a need to determine which positions the locals will fill and determine if they have the prerequisite skills, knowledge, and abilities (Augustine et al., 2019). Some destination country's workforce may lack technical expertise meaning that the locals can only be hired for simple jobs. In such a case, the human resource management may have to adjust the job requirements to allow the locals to take up technical jobs. In other instances, organizations may have to transfer their current workforce overseas to take management positions, especially if the locals do not meet the job qualifications. These decisions would mean that the HR might need to review and adjust the qualifications to factor in cultural competency.
Sourcing and Recruiting
This step is crucial for organizations to actualize workforce planning in identifying and recruiting talent that would help achieve organizational objectives. HR uses multiple channels to identify talents, such as social media, online job boards, referrals, job fairs, and corporate websites (Meyer & Xin, 2017). These channels are practical and cost-effective since they allow an organization to post the available positions with their matching academic and professional qualifications and requirements. Job applicants are more likely to see the advertisements if they are on online platforms, and if they match the criteria, they would go ahead and apply. Once the organization has identified talent, it will embark on recruitment to bring the best talent on board. Multinational enterprises need to factor in cultural differences when identifying and recruiting talent (Banks et al., 2018). For instance, an organization would want to understand how a country region views women in leadership to avoid conflict in interest. The process of hiring should align with cultural provisions, an aspect that may force an organization to review its HR practices to fit within a nation’s cultural fabric.
Selection and Assessment
The final step is selection, and assessment allows the organization to screen the applicants to establish if they meet the job qualifications criteria. The process would require various methods such as assessment tests and interviews to determine the applicability of the recruits' skills and competencies. These assessment tools are integral in the staffing process since they help organizations narrow down the applicants until they get a high-quality workforce (Obisi et al., 2018). The tools could be used for internal and external selection, depending on the post required to be filled. Organizations with foreign operations may need to reconsider their selection and assessment process to factor in cultural competencies and differences. In the case of internal hiring, HR may consider employees capable of thriving in foreign nations due to their cultural adaptability. In the case of external hiring, an organization would spend significant time assessing the applicants to make sure that they understand the cultural landscape and its effect on business (Obisi et al., 2018). The applicants that are enlisted must be in a position to create a business environment that resonates with the needs of the target clients, having understood their demographics and preferences.
References
Augustine, E. A., Umana, E. A., Inyang, B. J., & Isaac, E. J. (2019). Effect of job analysis on corporate performance of the selected private sector organizations in Cross River State, Nigeria. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 21 (11), 41-52. doi: 10.9790/487X-2111064152
Banks, G. C., Woznyj, H. M., Wesslen, R. S., Frear, K. A., Berka, G., Heggestad, E. D., & Gordon, H. L. (2018). Strategic recruitment across borders: An investigation of multinational enterprises. Journal of Management, 45 (2), 476-509. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206318764295
Collings, D. G., Mellahi, K., & Cascio, W. F. (2018). Global talent management and performance in multinational enterprises: A multilevel perspective. Journal of Management, 45( 2), 540-566. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206318757018
Meyer, K. E., & Xin, K. R. (2017). Managing talent in emerging economy multinationals: integrating strategic management and human resource management. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29 (11), 1827-1855. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2017.1336362
Obisi, C., Samuel, R., & Ilesanmi, A. (2018). Influence of workforce planning on organizational performance in the manufacturing industry of Lagos, Nigeria. Global Business Review, 21 (2), 404-417. https://doi.org/10.1177/0972150918778980
Riyadh, H. H., Zaman, S., & Hasan, M. (2015). Impact of culture on HRM practices: A comparative study between foreign MNCs and South Asian companies in South Asia. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 17 (6), 46-61. doi: 10.9790/487X-17634661
