HRMN 467 Week 5: Global Employee Relations, Expatriate Training, and Regions and Countries Issues

International HRM Considerations LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Be able to explain how the selection process for an expatriate differs from a domestic process.

2. Explain possible expatriate training topics and the importance of each.

3. Identify the performance review and legal differences for international assignments.

4. Explain the logistical considerations for expatriate assignments.

In an international environment, as long as proper research is performed, most HRM concepts can be

applied. The important thing to consider is proper research and understanding of cultural, economic, and

legal differences between countries. This section will provide an overview of some specific considerations

for an international business, keeping in mind that with awareness, any HRM concept can be applied to

the international environment. In addition, it is important to mention again that host-country offices

should be in constant communication with home-country offices to ensure policies and practices are

aligned with the organization.

Recruitment and Selection

As we discussed in Section 14.2 "Staffing Internationally", understanding which staffing strategy to use is

the first aspect of hiring the right person for the overseas assignment. The ideal candidate for an overseas

assignment normally has the following characteristics:

1. Managerial competence: technical skills, leadership skills, knowledge specific to the company operations.

2. Training: The candidate either has or is willing to be trained on the language and culture of the host

country.

3. Adaptability: The ability to deal with new, uncomfortable, or unfamiliar situations and the ability to adjust

to the culture in which the candidate will be assigned.

As we discussed earlier, when selecting an expatriate or a third-country national for the job, assuring that

the candidate has the job factors, relational dimensions, motivational state, family situation, and language

skills (or can learn) is a key consideration in hiring the right person. Some of the costs associated with

failure of an expatriate or third-country national might include the following:

1. Damage to host-country relationships

2. Motivation of host-country staff

3. Costs associated with recruitment and relocation

4. Possible loss of that employee once he or she returns

5. Missed opportunities to further develop the market

Because success on an overseas assignment has such complex factors, the selection process for this

individual should be different from the selection process when hiring domestically. The process should

start with the job analysis, as we discussed in Chapter 4 "Recruitment". The job analysis and job

description should be different for the overseas assignment, since we know that certain competencies

(besides technical ones) are important for success. Most of those competencies have little to do with the

person’s ability to do the job but are related to his or her ability to do the job in a new cultural setting.

These additional competencies (besides the skills needed for the job) may be considered:

1. Experience working internationally

2. Extroverted

3. Stress tolerance

4. Language skills

5. Cultural experiences

Once the key success factors are determined, many of which can be based on previous overseas

assignments successes, we can begin to develop a pool of internal candidates who possess the additional

competencies needed for a successful overseas assignment.

To develop the pool, career development questions on the performance review can be asked to determine

the employee’s interest in an overseas assignment. Interest is an important factor; otherwise, the chance

of success is low. If there is interest, this person can be recorded as a possible applicant. An easy way to

keep track of interested people is to keep a spreadsheet of interested parties, skills, languages spoken,

cultural experiences, abilities, and how the candidates meet the competencies you have already developed.

Once an overseas assignment is open, you can view the pool of interested parties and choose the ones to

interview who meet the competencies required for the particular assignment.

Training

Much of the training may include cultural components, which were cited by 73 percent of successful

expatriates as key ingredients to success. [1]

Training isn’t always easy, though. The goal is not to help someone learn a language or cultural traditions

but to ensure they are immersed in the sociocultural aspects of the new culture they are living in. Roger N.

Blakeney, [2] an international business researcher, identifies two main pathways to adapting to a new

culture. First, people adjust quickly from the psychological perspective but not the social one. Blakeney

argues that adjusting solely from the psychological perspective does not make an effective expatriate.

Although it may take more time to adjust, he says that to be fully immersed and to fully understand and

be productive in a culture, the expatriate must also have sociocultural adaption. In other words, someone

who can adjust from a sociocultural perspective ends up performing better because he or she has a deeper

level of understanding of the culture. Determining whether your candidate can gain this deeper level

would figure in your selection process.

Figure 14.3 Sample Selection Process for Overseas Assignments

One of the key decisions in any global organization is whether training should be performed in-house or

an outside company should be hired to provide the training. For example, Communicaid offers online and

on-site training on a variety of topics listed. Whether in-house or external training is performed, there are

five main components of training someone for an overseas assignment:

1. Language

2. Culture

3. Goal setting

4. Managing family and stress

5. Repatriation

Figure 14.4 Blakeney’s Model of Psychological versus Sociocultural Adaption

Source: Roger Blakeney, “Psychological Adjustment and Sociocultural Adaptation: Coping on International

Assignments” (paper, Annual Meeting of Academy of Management, Atlanta, GA, 2006).

Training on languages is a basic yet necessary factor to the success of the assignment. Although to many,

English is the international business language, we shouldn’t discount the ability to speak the language of

the country in which one is living. Consider Japan’s largest online retailer, Rakuten, Inc. It mandated that

English will be the standard language by March 2012. [3] Other employers, such as Nissan and Sony, have

made similar mandates or have already implemented an English-only policy. Despite this, a large

percentage of your employee’s time will be spent outside work, where mastery of the language is

important to enjoy living in another country. In addition, being able to discuss and negotiate in the

mother tongue of the country can give your employee greater advantages when working on an overseas

assignment. Part of language, as we discussed in Chapter 9, isn’t only about what you say but also includes

all the nonverbal aspects of language. Consider the following examples:

 In the United States, we place our palm upward and use one finger to call someone over. In Malaysia, this

is only used for calling animals. In much of Europe, calling someone over is done with palm down, making

a scratching motion with the fingers (as opposed to one finger in the United States). In Columbia, soft

handclaps are used.

 In many business situations in the United States, it is common to cross your legs, pointing the soles of

your shoes to someone. In Southeast Asia, this is an insult since the feet are the dirtiest and lowest part of

the body.

 Spatial differences are an aspect of nonverbal language as well. In the United States, we tend to stand

thirty-six inches (an arm length) from people, but in Chile, for example, the space is much smaller.

 Proper greetings of business colleagues differ from country to country.

 The amount of eye contact varies. For example, in the United States, it is normal to make constant eye

contact with the person you are speaking with, but in Japan it would be rude to make constant eye contact

with someone with more age or seniority.

The goal of cultural training is to train employees what the “norms” are in a particular culture. Many of

these norms come from history, past experience, and values. Cultural training can include any of the

following topics:

1. Etiquette

2. Management styles

3. History

4. Religion

5. The arts

6. Food

7. Geography

8. Logistics aspects, such as transportation and currency

9. Politics

Cultural training is important. Although cultural implications are not often discussed openly, not

understanding the culture can harm the success of a manager when on overseas assignment. For example,

when Revlon expanded its business into Brazil, one of the first products it marketed was a Camellia flower

scented perfume. What the expatriate managers didn’t realize is that the Camellia flower is used for

funerals, so of course, the product failed in that country. [4] Cultural implications, such as management

style, are not always so obvious. Consider the US manager who went to Mexico to manage a production

line. He applied the same management style that worked well in America, asking a lot of questions and

opinions of employees. When employees started to quit, he found out later that employees expect

managers to be the authority figure, and when the manager asked questions, they assumed he didn’t know

what he was doing.

Training on the goals and expectations for the expatriate worker is important. Since most individuals take

an overseas assignment to boost their careers, having clear expectations and understanding of what they

are expected to accomplish sets the expatriate up for success.

Because moving to a new place, especially a new country, is stressful, it is important to train the employee

on managing stress, homesickness, culture shock, and likely a larger workload than the employee may

have had at home. Some stress results from insecurity and homesickness. It is important to note that

much of this stress occurs on the family as well. The expatriate may be performing and adjusting well, but

if the family isn’t, this can cause greater stress on the employee, resulting in a failed assignment. Four

stages of expatriate stress identified in the Selyes model, the General Adaption Syndrome, are shown

in Figure 14.5 "General Adaption Syndrome to Explain Expatriate Stress". The success of overseas

employees depends greatly on their ability to adjust, and training employees on the stages of adjustment

they will feel may help ease this problem.