Staffing policy addressees concerned with the selection of employees to serve in different types of jobs. It involves selecting professionals who are competent and have the skills and talents required to perform certain jobs. Different staffing policies are used in international business based on the nature of the activities assigned to employees. Some approaches to staffing policy used in international business include polycentric staffing, geocentric and ethnocentric staffing. This paper discusses the pros and cons of the three approaches to staffing in international business.
Ethnocentric Staffing
Ethnocentric staffing policy is an approach that defines home country residents or nationals as the best and top-ranking employees in international operations ( Michailova et al., 2017) . For instance, a company can rate local employees high to be given priorities to foreign employees. Ethnocentric staffing has various advantages such as overcoming the lack of qualified managers in the home or host country ( Michailova et al., 2017) . Since this approach considers home employees to be the best to be given priority, it reduces the unemployment rate in the host country. Besides, it helps transfer core competencies in international business because it ensures that host employees with tops are considered for certain positions.
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Conversely, the ethnocentric staffing approach is associated with some demerits. First, it can lead to cultural myopia because employees will only believe in their own culture. Consequently, this can kill the spirit of cultural diversity, which helps address culture differences to improve organizational performance ( Michailova et al., 2017) . Secondly, an ethnocentric staffing approach can produce resentment in the host country. Thus, it is not the best staffing approach to be used alone in international business because it can block competent employees for other countries who are more productive than host country employees.
Polycentric Staffing Policy
The polycentric policy approach posts home country workers in top positions such as top management in central offices or headquarters and foreign employees to other subordinate and lower management positions ( Michailova et al., 2017) . For example, a company can design a policy that outlines that only employees from the parent country are assigned executive positions such as the C-suite and other managerial positions.
Pros
This approach promotes familiarity with the business's socio-economic, cultural and political environments, which is key for the success of a business ( Michailova et al., 2017) . It also reduces recruitment expenses which can reduce the company's profitability.
Cons
Polycentric Staffing is associated with the problem of effective control of subsidiaries because top managers may use ideas and procedures used in their home country to run subsidiaries. Subsequently, this can deter an organization from achieving its strategic goals due to wrong decision-making in subsidiaries ( Collings & Isichei, 2018) . Therefore, it is recommendable to blend the polycentric staffing approach with other staffing approaches for a better decision-making process.
Geocentric Staffing Policy
A geocentric staffing approach is a policy when assigns job positions to both local and foreign employees based on merits. In this approach, employees are assigned roles regardless of background, culture or origin ( Collings & Isichei, 2018) . For example, a company can advertise and visit applicants to send their applications for a certain position.
Pros
It is the best staffing approach because it ensures that only competent and qualified employees are considered during recruitment. As a result, this can help to improve organizational performance since recruitment is based on merit ( Collings & Isichei, 2018) . Besides, eliminate discrimination which usually lead to bad selection if employees from the host country are ranked top and suitable for top positions.
Cons
It can reduce opportunities for host country nationals because overqualified employees from foreign countries can dominate all positions leaving the host country nationals trapped in unemployment ( Hajro et al., 2021) . Therefore, it is prudent to allocate a certain percentage of job positions to local to ensure fair employment distribution in international business.
References
Collings, D. G., & Isichei, M. (2018). The shifting boundaries of global staffing: Integrating global talent management, alternative forms of international assignments and non-employees into the discussion. The International Journal of Human Resource Management , 29 (1), 165-187.
Hajro, A., Caprar, D. V., Zikic, J., & Stahl, G. K. (2021). Global migrants: Understanding the implications for international business and management. Journal of World Business , 56 (2), 101192.
Michailova, S., Piekkari, R., Storgaard, M., & Tienari, J. (2017). Rethinking ethnocentrism in international business research. Global strategy journal , 7 (4), 335-353.
