Challenges And Strategies For International Staffing Essay.

Discuss about the International Human Resource Management, There are many elements linked to international expansion businesses must consider but in most situations, the business must first take into consideration placing experience and high performing staff at strategic positions.

Preparing for International Expansion

International expansions are the objective of every business making it important for businesses to prepare for the challenges linked to international expansion.  There are many elements linked to international expansion businesses must consider but in most situations, the business must first take into consideration placing experience and high performing staff at strategic positions so as to maximize the business's performance and growth (Harzing & Pinnington, 2014). This means most businesses consider to expand internationally will have to train expatriate from existing position at the organization, provide training and send them on international assignments. This helps reduce the strain business experiences while expanding its operations thus helping the new branches settle down faster and begin registering profits in a shorter timeframe. The organization human resource department is therefore tasked with the challenge of selecting, training and preparing staff to be sent on overseas assignments. Factors such as religion, gender, language, customs,  diet, and leisure activate amount many other must all be carefully reviewed and the staff offered training on how to handle such situations which they are likely to experience once they move to the new country (Stahl, Björkman, & Morris, 2012). Culture shock has been identified as being the amount the most devastating affects many untrained managers and staff experience when sent on international assignments making it important all these aspects are prepared before the candidates are sent on the overseas assignments.

One of the major challenges experienced by candidates sent on overseas assignment is the student change in environment and people whereby they need to begin from scratch and build frees relationships (Durai, 2010). This is classified by most fresh expatriates as being the most challenging aspect of being offered overseas assignments. The candidate will in most situation loose routine social life and requires beginning building relationships from scratch.

This makes it important for the human resource department to prioritize on selecting candidates who have demonstrated an ability to correlate and build relationships quickly at the workplace and amount colleagues. This also involves building and maintaining good relationships outside the organization which is a feature which demonstrates the individual’s adaptability and improves the candidate’s chances of achieving success at the new posting.

Another important factor which has been identified to place considerable pressure on expatriates it the severing of family ties and close communication. This is especially important in Asia communities which tend to be closely knit family relationships and a factor which could compromise the success rate of overseas assignments. To overcome this concern the human resource managers must consider giving preference to candidates who demonstrate high levels of independence from an early age. Staffs that live in tightly knit family groups are likely to experience major complication when separated from their family (Anthony, 2015). This increases the risk associated with the individuals failing to perform as per the expectation which could result in the businesses experiencing major loses and reduced performance. Candidates for overseas assignment should be selected be living independently which demonstrates their ability to perform without needing family or parental support.

The Value of Experience and High-Performing Staff

Staffing overseas assignments is a challenge which every organization human resource department must focus on very closely. Educational qualification, experience, work knowledge, confidence, communication skills and adaptability among several other attributes require being exalted during the assessment and before a section of the overseas assignment candidates. Unlike conventional staffing strategies, overseas staffing requires additional emphasis on the candidate's ability to adapt and performance once relocated (Hakala-Ausperk, 2013). Candidates with family are unlikely to adapt or perform as per the desired level of expectation since the candidates will in most situations be distracted by their family back home. This makes it important that all aspects linked to the candidates be closely exalted and their prior history considered so as to make the best choice.

Educational qualifications play a huge role towards selecting a suitable candidate. This is due to the candidates needing to be qualified and understand the given job discretion so as to execute the project correctly (Phillips, 2009). Qualifications thus play a major role while selecting the candidate but the section process should not be limited to the can date educational qualifications nice there are other important criteria which must also be reviewed to determine the best candidate.

One such criterion which tends to play an important role despite a candidate not being educationally qualified for a position is work experience. In any situation, a candidate may have several years’ experience working on a specific subject or project which makes him qualified to take on the job role (Shermon & Shermon, 2016). Experience, therefore, plays an important role and must be taken in to close consideration while selecting a candidate for overseas assignments.

Work knowledge is also similar to experience since this refers to the knowledge an individual may have with regard to performing a specific take.  This differs from experience since it may noodle may have been acquired over the short term or via multimedia thus delivering the individual with the know-how needed to undertake the task. This aspect also plays a huge role whole recruiting staff must require close evolution to determine its value based on the other evolution criterion.

In many Asian communities girls may experience a limitation towards taking up overseas assignment thus this is an important aspect which needs to be taken in to close consideration before hiring the staff.

Candidates aspiring to take up overseas assignments require being confident in their work. This is an important requirement as it ensures they retain control and are capable of handling their assignments presented to them even when major obstacles are encountered. This makes it important for the HRM to evaluate each candidates confidence and willingness towards taking up the assignments and only selecting the candidates who are confident regarding the process and how its performance.

Selection Criteria for Overseas Assignments

Communication plays an important role towards any operations success making it important for the candidates applying for overseas assignments to have clear and powerful communication skills. This is due to one’s communication skills and ability to communicate diplomatically being an aspect which both the customers and colleges monitor and many will use any identified weakness to their advantage. Candidates must demonstrate the ability to communicate clearly and confidently and also be able to adapt their mood to the situation (Neal, 2014). It’s critical to maintain a friendly atmosphere at the office but at the same time, the individual must be able to take a rigid stand related to decisions which may not be acceptable. In such situation communication again plays an important role towards asserting the individual's position and line of control tusk helping realign staff that may not be following the code of conduct.

Candidates with the ability to adapt to a vast range of situations are likely to register a higher rate of uses thus it’s important to monitor how active candidates have been towards performing different roles at the organization.  It’s advised to select staffs who have demonstrated a wiliness to be involved in different departments, processes, and meeting at the organization as well as those who contribute towards the organization's development and performance.

Once the candidates for the overseas assignment have been identified the human resource department will have to provide them with extensive training and support before and after they have been posted to their positions overseas (Niehaus & Price, 2013).

Training before relocation plays a huge role towards educating the candidate regarding their job roles, responsibility, expectations and changes they are likely to encounter. This is very important since in most situations the staff members would be the pioneering staff members, managers and representatives of the businesses overseas. This makes it important for the staff members to be offered extensive training regarding the entire process since each must be able to take up or manage all roles in case one member is unable to continue working. It’s important to expect a 20-30% staff turnover rate on overseas assignments thus its critical for the remaining staff to be educated and prepared to take up the roles temporarily till another candidate can be trained and sent to take up the position. In addition to the job training, it’s important to introduce and educate the candidates regarding other aspects they are likely to encounter while on overseas assignments. Cultural change, food, customers, and other important pointers need to be provided to the candidates so as to improve their understanding of the new market and set their mind towards handling the situation.

Training for Overseas Assignments

The training process must continue even after relocation as this is the period when the staff is not encountering the different scenario and likely to begin facing difficulties. The human resource department and manager must, therefore, be able to maintain an open communication line with the staff who have been relocated on overseas assignments and ensure they are monitoring their psychological state as well as offering them advice and guidance on how to deal with a situation which may be causing serious complications.  This applies for all staff that needs to report on their performance to the senior most staff member from within the overseas candidates as well as with the human resource department which will help identify problems they are facing as well as a solution to the problems.

Remunerations offered to candidates also play an important role while selecting candidates since in 95% of the situation the candidates will compare their current income and saving to what being offered to undertake an overseas assignment. This makes it important for the business to consider offering attractive remunerations which help compensate the situation and make the packages attractive. With candidates in most situations expected to live away from their family and social circles for months at a time, and at a long distance from home where they cannot take a holiday to visit family, many will expect attractive compensation (Aswathappa, 2013). In addition to this, the employer must also consider offering benefits like house allow ants, care allowance, hardship allowance, free medical insurance and other benefits. All these help make the overseas assignment more attractive thus encouraging more candidates to take up the jobs. It also helps reduce the overseas staff member employee turnover which is a critical factor towards the performance and success of the project. Remunerations play a huge role towards any businesses performance thus making it critical for the human resource department and senior mismanagement to evaluate the requirements carefully before presenting the proposal to the potential candidates.

In addition to financial gain, it’s also important for the human resource department to highlight other benefits the staff can expect to receive from taking up overseas assignments. On competition of a fixed period of work at the organization at an overseas position the organization should provide the recommendation later and acknowledgment to the staff member for having performed the task and continued towards the system. This can later be used as evidence by the candidate while applying for other job opportunities (Heery & Noon, 2017). In many situations, overseas candidates are requested to provide previous experience letters which demonstrate their ability to execute the task successful thus offering the documentation while still on the job also delivers an indirect benefit.

Conclusion

Expanding overseas has grown to become a major requirement amount many businesses today making it important for the businesses to prepare and involve the best candidates to perform the tasks. It is necessary for every business to consider expanding overseas but to do this most effectively the business must depend on their high performing and most trusted staff members. This makes it important for the organization to view these candidates from a different perspective and consider them as a close part of the of the organization thus should not bound or limit their choice of candidates based on financial limitation but by considering how the candidates can perform towards delivering successful expansion efforts overseas.

References:

Anthony, L. L. (2015). The Power Playbook: Rules for Independence, Money and Success. Penguin.

Aswathappa, K. (2013). Human Resource Management: Text and Cases. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education.

Durai. (2010). Human Resource Management. New Delhi: Pearson Education India.

Hakala-Ausperk, C. (2013). Build a Great Team: One Year to Success. American Library Association.

Harzing, A.-W., & Pinnington, A. (2014). International Human Resource Management. SAGE.

Heery, E., & Noon, M. (2017). A Dictionary of Human Resource Management. Oxford University Press.

Neal, K. L. (2014). Six Key Communication Skills for Records and Information Managers. Chandos Publishing.

Niehaus, R., & Price, K. (2013). Bottom Line Results from Strategic Human Resource Planning. Springer Science & Business Media.

Phillips. (2009). Strategic Staffing. Pearson Education India.

Shermon, G., & Shermon, K. (2016). Business of Staffing: A Talent Agenda. Lulu.com.

Stahl, G. K., Björkman, I., & Morris, S. (2012). Handbook of Research in International Human Resource Management. Edward Elgar Publishing.