Countries have different styles of leadership, management, and systems of control. More specifically, organizational policies and operational systems vary from country to country, which implies that departmental structures are not always the same. The human resource (HR) department, which plays a very significant role in organizational success, therefore, functions differently depending on a country’s prevalent cultural characteristics. According to Briscoe, et al. (2012), some of the functions of HR are employee recruitment, selection, training, remuneration, administration, among others. Nevertheless, most of these functions are significantly influenced by culture. More specifically, culture affects ways in which employees are selected and assimilated into global organizations; employee relationships in the workplaces; communication between human resource managers and their employees; as well as company-based compensation policies.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2019, p. 1) defines culture as the "customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group.” The definition can be expanded to indicate that culture dictates what is allowed and what is not within a particular region, country, or society. For global organizations, culture, therefore, plays a very crucial role in determining how the various functions of the human resource department are carried out. Business leaders need to understand these influences, whether positive or negative.
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The cultural characteristics within a given country can affect ways in which employees are selected and assimilated into global organizations. As can be expected, the selection policies employed by human resource departments are different from country to country. For instance, there are more gross enrollments into tertiary institutions in North American countries than in sub-Saharan Africa, which means that the employee selection pools in the two continents are varied (Gandhi, 2018). For a company operating in the United States, qualified labor may be more available than in Botswana, for example. These kinds of differences may either negatively or positively affect the selection processes depending on the region of operation. Another example is the difficulties encountered by job applicants or new employees in mastering new languages when seeking employment in global organizations. Some may be less motivated to learn new languages and this may limit the number of applicants available for selection by HR managers.
Differences in cultural characteristics also affect employee relationships forcing human resource managers to redefine corporate codes of conduct. Positive employee relationships are known to foster individual and collective organizational progress (Markos & Sridevi, 2010). However, different countries have different views regarding appropriate and inappropriate ways in which persons should interact on a daily. For instance, in some Western nations, it is normal for employees to show affection through physical touching regardless of gender. In contrast, most Arab countries have strict laws that prohibit some levels of physical contact between members of the opposite gender. Apart from national culture differences, employee relationships can be affected by corporate culture. Some organizations encourage their workers to incorporate some fun into their workplace activities, while other companies dictate that their employees desist from informal activities. In consideration of the two examples mentioned in this context, it is clear that employee relationships can affect the HR function of fostering positive employee interactions.
Thirdly, cultural differences may negatively affect communication between human resource managers and their employees. Internal communication is important because the information is relayed between stakeholders within an enterprise for the collective benefit of all parties, which means that ineffective communication may put organizational success under jeopardy. For instance, a British company venturing into a French-speaking nation may find it difficult to properly assimilate French-speaking employees into the workforce due to language differences. In such scenarios, human resource managers may be required to introduce clear communication channels such as the employment of interpreters or the use of modern technology such as Google translate into day-to-day activities.
Variances in compensation policies across different cultures also affect ways in which human resources managers carry out this function. According to SHMA (2013), the factors affecting the amounts of wages or salaries offered to employees are workers’ levels of productivity; the employers’ abilities to pay their workers; the prevailing costs of living and wage rates; labor union influences; and government policies. These determinants of human resource compensation policies are different across cultures. For instance, national cultures have always influenced the extent of government influences on the minimum wage rates. Therefore, global organizations investing in new countries are often expected to draft their wage structures in consideration of national policies. In the same way, there are some countries with higher costs of living than others depending on the prevailing levels of economic development. In areas where the prices of goods and services are high, global organizations are bound to pay their employees higher salaries in comparison to regions where expenses are relatively cheap. In the end, these factors directly influence the components of company-based compensation policies and HR managers are forced to adapt to the prevailing cultural compositions.
In conclusion, culture dictates what is allowed and what is not within a particular region, country, or society. Although human resource departments play significant roles in organizations, their functions are highly influenced by countries’ prevailing cultural characteristics. It has been found that cultural differences affect ways in which employees are assimilated into global organizations and the nature of employee relationships in the workplaces. Additionally, culture influences the codes of conducts found within organizations, as well as company-based compensation policies. Human resource managers must identify ways in which they can utilize cultural differences to create tangible progress in their organizations.
References
Briscoe, D., Tarique, I., & Schuler, R. (2012). International human resource management: Policies and practices for multinational enterprises . Routledge.
Gandhi, D. (2018, July 19). Figures of the Week: Higher education enrolment grows in sub-Saharan Africa along with disparities in enrolment by income. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2018/01/10/figures-of-the-week-higher-education-enrollment-grows-in-sub-saharan-africa-along-with-disparities-in-enrollment-by-income/
Markos, S., & Sridevi, M. S. (2010). Employee engagement: The key to improving performance. International journal of business and management , 5 (12), 89.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2019). Definition of CULTURE. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture
SHMA. (2013, April 17). Retrieved from https://managementation.com/7-factors-affecting-compensation/
