The Contributory Factors That Employees May Consider before Deciding to Accept an International Assignment - Coursework Example

RITIСАLLY ЕVАLUАTЕ THЕ СОNTRIBUTОRY FАСTОRS THАT ЕMРLОYЕЕS MАY СОNSIDЕR BЕFОRЕ DЕСIDING TО АССЕРT OR DЕСLINЕ AN INTЕRNАTIОNАL АSSIGNMЕNT Name Course Title Instructor’s Name Institution Location Date СRITIСАLLY ЕVАLUАTЕ THЕ СОNTRIBUTОRY FАСTОRS THАT ЕMРLОYЕЕS MАY СОNSIDЕR BЕFОRЕ DЕСIDING TО АССЕРT OR DЕСLINЕ AN INTЕRNАTIОNАL АSSIGNMЕNT Introduction The increase in globalization has undoubtedly augmented the need of organizations to expand their operations to international markets hence there is a tremendous need for human resource management to possess the cognitive skills necessary in managing assorted talents on a global basis (Levy et al. 2015, p.291). The global business platform has certainly resulted into increase in expatriation. In a precise manner, expatriation can be defined as the voluntary or forced migration of a person from one’s own country to another country for social, economic or political reasons. Global organizations have the mandate of assigning their employees duties in other countries so as to meet organization’s objective (Forstenlechner et al.2014, p.51). Working and living abroad might be perceived as advantageous by a specific group of people while other group of people may perceive it disadvantageous. There are varied factors that lead people into decisions concerning international assignment of duties as to whether the idea is right for them or not. The analysis in this essay takes interest in critical evaluation of the factors that employees may consider before deciding to accept or decline an international assignment of duties. After concluding on the prevailing issue, recommendation shall be made to assist employers promote the positive aspect of expatriation and boost the willingness of staff to work overseas. Indeed expatriation is fundamental in developing an international perspective of a global organization. Discussion There are numerous factors that can either compel employees to or deter the employees from having interest in working in another country different from the novelty country. The factors can be categorized into pull factors and push factors. Pull factors make an employee develop interest in working in another country while push factors deter somebody from working overseas (Cerutti, Claessens, and Puy 2015, p.111). For instance, taking assumption that Xu is an employee of a multinational corporation (MNC) based in Japan and his manager has requested him to go for a duty in India, the factors that shall compel him to accept the offer are pull factors while those that dissuade him to rejecting the offer are the push factors. The subsequent section discusses the determinant factors into finer details by determining their pull factors and push components. Family With the increasing globalization, organizations are coming to esteem the fact that family is certainly critical in determining an employee’s propensity to fully concentrate on assigned duties and perform effectively (Kostova, Nell and Hoenen, 2016, n.d). Before accepting an offer to work overseas, an employee would consider the effects of such a separation from the family to the family members. The prevailing financial and social conditions of the employee’s family shall also compel him to accept the offer or reject it. For instance, in a scenario where the employee perceives that his/her family is financially deprived and the job offer in the overseas promises better pay, the person shall indeed be thrilled to accept the offer. In this case, the family condition is a pull factor (Ahmad, Jabeen and Khan, 2014, pg34). Conversely, in a scenario where the person perceives the family as financially fit and perceives the oversea job as a risk to the family, the person shall undoubtedly discard the offer and show contentment with the current job. In this case, the family condition shall be a push factor. Ideally, relocation of a spouse from the home country to another country, leaving behind the family can affect the other partner’s career and the children’s education plan jeopardizing the future of the entire family by agitating the family balance (Gorp, et al. 2016, n.d). Duration The duration that the oversea job shall take determines the capability of the employee to either accept it or reject it as well. People to be aligned to short term oversea jobs as opposed to long term oversea jobs compelled by extended and close family factors as well as friends. People tend to prefer working closer to their relatives and close friends for intimate reasons (Tharenou 2015, p.41). Employees might perceive working abroad as a detaching factor and hence might consider declining such an offer. However, some employees might not perceive importance of family tiers. If the global job assigned would take longer, say four years or more, the employee might require returning home occasionally hence might request for frequent return flights back “home” (Cerutti, Claessens and Puy, 2015, p.56). Alternatively, the employee might request for the family to join him/her to the oversea job site. In this case, the response of the employer shall determine the odds that the employee shall accept the offer. A negative answer, push factor, shall result into complexity on the side of the employee in accepting the offer since it would mean a loss to what he/she relishes most, family. In case where the employer responds positively, the employee shall perceive the duty as obligatory rather than imposed hence he/she shall develop a pull factor. Career Generally, employees seek to find opportunities that shall augment not only their experience but also their skills and knowledge appertaining to their respective field of study. Committed employees require challenging tasks that shall question their skills inducing them into a solemn learning process (Peltokorpi and Vaara 2014, p.606). When being offered an oversea assignment, an employee would seek to find out whether the opportunity shall enhance accessibility to training and development in some way. In case the opportunity promises so, it shall act as a pull factor to the employee as it shall urge the employee to accept the offer for his own good (Gorp et al. 2016, n.d). Additionally, it is vital to consider that focused employees have their own developed career plan which they tend to achieve within the stipulated period of time. The career plan shall only be a pull, motivational, factor if the duty to be assigned in the foreign country coincides with the expectations as outlined in the plan. Failure of such a correspondence shall only shrink the employee’s morale towards accepting the offer. Further, it is certainly clear that the most vital aspect of motivation to employees is promotion (Kang 2013, p.97). Employees tend to accept duties that shall result into promotion in the long run. The employee’s inclination towards accepting a job offer depends on the long term implications of the job on the employee such as earned promotion or increased pay. Generally, the globalised work platform is highly diversified consisting of people with different skills, behaviors and attributes (Arezki, Deininger, and Selod, 2015, p.230). The employee shall indeed be at a better position to learn new skill and have an international perspective of business or organizational processes. In case the assignment matches employee’ expectations, career shall certainly be a pull factor otherwise a push factor. Cultural differences and location The employee may seek to find out whether the intended location or country is safe and the hospitality of the people in that geographical location. It is vital for the employee to discern the fundamental information of the assignment country before actually going for the assignment (Levy et al. 2015, p.290). It is the moral duty of the employee to know the official languages of the country, the cultural aspects of the residents in the country, the security factors affecting the country and the pandemic diseases in the country. Such information is undeniably healthy for the employee wellbeing. For instance, working in a war-torn country, say Iraq, might be met with challenges which cannot be easily be accepted by the employee. Language barrier persists to be one of the menacing challenges that multinational corporations persist to experience (Kim, Hoskisson and Lee, 2015, p. 520). For instance, getting a native Chinese to work in an English speaking nation, say Britain, shall be met with great discrepancy in the two languages resulting into inability to communicate effectively. As such, an employee with inability to communicate in the language used in the assignment country shall without doubt reject the international assignment offer (Tharenou 2015, p.53). Health issues are as well a critical factor taken into consideration. An employee would gladly be willing to accept duty in a country free of pandemic diseases. Generally, cultural differences are push factors which deter the employee’s interest to accept assignment offer. Remuneration and Reward It is the general human nature to go for assignments that promise relatively higher pay and ensuring effective social welfare concurrently. The position of an employee to accept an international job offer depends on the package of benefits at his/her disposal having accepted the offer. The employee would go for the offer if the expected remuneration is relatively higher than the current earnings (Kim, Hoskisson and Lee 2015, p.521). The contemporary lifestyle has also maneuvered the employees take on what should be ideally accepted as package. For instance, currently, the employees would look for a country with enhanced transport system, availability of standard comestibles, proper housing, accessibility to the internet and the general living costs in the country. If such factors related to the condition of the assignment country concur with the employee’s expectations, the employee shall definitely accept the offer with gratification. Further, the employee might look towards other rewards inform of medical cover and return flights as provided by the multinational organization (Peltokorpi and Vaara, 2014, pg 620). Certainly, the components of the package shall determine whether an employee shall accept the offer or reject it. If the package has scores of components, the employee shall certainly accept (pull) the offer otherwise he/she shall reject it (Push). Job security The employee before accepting an international job offer shall test the resilience of such an offer by seeking assurance as to whether his/her current job is secure when the international assignment is complete. At times, the multinational corporation might offer an employee an international assignment without taking much consideration on the implications of such assignment on the employee’s current (Ahmad, Jabeen and Khan 2014, p.36). In such a scenario therefore, the employee is indifferent between accepting the international assignment at the risk of losing the current job and retaining the current job at the expense of denying the international assignment offer. The employee, by accepting the offer, might end up losing the current job which might not be desirable to him and the people around him. In such a scenario therefore, an employee might perceive it wise to retain the current job and let go of the international offer (Kang, 2013, pg102). Conclusion With the augmenting technology and a more diverse business environment, expatriation becomes a more that just necessary undertaking. Organizations need to seek ways on how to diversify the workplaces by acquiring new employees from oversea nations as well as sending some of the employees to the foreign nations with an intention of enhancing experience, exposure and specialized skills. From this essay, it is evident that some of the key issues affecting employees’ ability to concur with employers request to take up an international assignment consist of family issues, duration of the assignment; career related issues, cultural differences and job location, remuneration and rewards as well as job security after taking up the assignment. It is vital to consider that these factors can either compel the employee to accept the offer or reject it depending on the ideal component of the factor under consideration. When the component under consideration results into acceptance of the offer then it is referred to as a pull factor, however, when the component results into rejection of the offer, it shall be referred to as a push factor. Multinational organizations must therefore seek finding ways of limiting the push factors and enhancing the pull factors. Indeed expatriation is fundamental in developing in developing an international perspective of a global organization. Recommendation It is of great necessity for the organization to realize that the reason why an employee may want to go (pull) or why they might not want to go (push) is shaped by their personal characteristics and attributes as well the their prevailing economic, social and political situations. Each person has a unique attribute or personal interests that are implicitly different from other people hence the organization might consider vital to assess each individual rather that making final decisions on stereotyped data. For this reason therefore, the organization should include a pre-visit for the employee and the family so as to get the clear background of what should be addressed before the employee goes for the assignment (Ahmad, Jabeen and Khan 2014, p.37). Additionally, the organization should assess the employee’s position to communicate in the language used in the assignment country. In case the employee has complexity in communicating in the language, it is upon the organization to organize for language training session to enhance the employee’s language acquaintance. The organization should also ensure that the employee has the necessary skills that match the assignment requirements so as to reduce the risk of job incompatibility. Further, it is of necessity give the employee chance to talk to anyone who has worked in the assignment country before so as to have the general perception of what is expected. Furthermore, the organization should seek to find out the necessary package of services that the employee might require consisting of the necessity of return flights, necessity to travel with spouse and find for the spouse a job and health cover amongst others (Cerutti, Claessens and Puy 2015, p.71). However, the package is determined by the interests of a single employee. Implementation of these recommendations shall surely deter the push factors and promote the pull factors. References Ahmad, S.Z., Jabeen, F. and Khan, M., 2014. Entrepreneurs choice in business venture: Motivations for choosing home-stay accommodation businesses in Peninsular Malaysia. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 36, pp.31-40. Arezki, R., Deininger, K. and Selod, H., 2015. What Drives the Global “Land Rush”?. The World Bank Economic Review, 29(2), pp.207-233. Cerutti, E., Claessens, S. and Puy, M.D., 2015. Push factors and capital flows to emerging markets: Why knowing your lender matters more than fundamentals (No. 15-127). International Monetary Fund. Forstenlechner, I., Selim, H.M., Baruch, Y. and Madi, M., 2014. Career exploration and perceived employability within an emerging economy context. Human Resource Management, 53(1), pp.45-66. Kang, J., 2013. The relationship between corporate diversification and corporate social performance. 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