ANZ Bank and International Human Resource Management - Case Study Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : ANZ Bank and International Human Resource Management Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Introduction International human resource management responsibilities are emerging to be very important for most of the multinationals as it is being considered as a vital mechanism that enables the achievement of co-ordination as well as control of the international operations (Clark, Grant & Heijltjes 2000). In addition, acknowledged has been made that the human resource management greatly constitutes the key constraint when the multinational companies endeavor to implement their global strategies, generally as a result of the different cultural as well as institutional framework of every location such multi-national company operates (Dowling 1999). Both the international and national contexts largely affect the manner in which people or employees in an organization are managed in various countries. Today, the multi-national companies are faced with many pressures in adapting to the human resource management practices within subsidiaries of their local companies’ areas of operation. The study provides an understanding of the critical role the international human resource management plays within the global context in ANZ bank through the critical examination of the ANZ bank’s background, its goals and objectives, development as well as training of the expatriates and their international compensation in relation to the career re-entry. Background of the ANZ Bank The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group commonly known as ANZ bank, provide a wide rage of the banking as well as financial product and the services to the retailers, corporate, institutional clients and small businesses, particularly those that are based in Australia and Zealand. The retail products of ANZ bank include housing finance to the customers for ownership and investments, the company provides credit cards to the as well as personal loans to the customers, e-Payments products, saving products, for instance, term deposits, accounts for cash management and the transaction banking. In addition, ANZ enables the motor vehicle, equipment finance, investment products, small business, agri-business to the customers based in rural and regional locations of Australia, commercial services to customers who are in various regions and the business-related banking services such as risk management. This financial institution is also engaged in the financial planning, trustees, businesses related to online broking and margin lending. Among the insurance products provide the ANZ bank is the business, landlord, travel, home, car, health, travel and credit card insurance services. It is incorporated in the Victorian commonwealth of Australia in 1977. Australia and New Zealand was established in 1970 as a merger of Australia and New Zealand banking limited, Scottish and English, which originated from the United Kingdom when the bank was introduced by the Royal Charter. Australian and the New Zealand Banking Group were introduced at the time when Australia as well as New Zealand bank was emerged with Scottish, Australian and the English bank in the year 1970. Therefore, the result of the emergence was the ANZ bank in 1951 as the union between Union bank of the Australia and the Australasia bank. Currently, the group comprises of over 50 distinctive businesses that interact to enable their customers get accessed to various financial services via the 2,000 offices located in 40 states around the world. ANZ wooed Scottish, Australian and the English bank approximately four times since the year 1955. The ES and A’s conservative controls on lending as well as liquidity, the high and successful hire- purchase subordinate, Esanda and the profit-oriented administration entirely appealed very strongly to ANZ Board and the ES and A originated from similar private trade banking practice of both Asia and the Union. However, majority of the directors perceived that such a bigger bank would result into commanding of extra resources which the organization would not be in a position to raise for itself. Others had fears that the foreign bank would occupy the ANZ’s corporate as well as international business, possibly through the use of ES and A as the hosting entry and as a result, in 1970 the merger was finally achieved. This resulted Australia as well as New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) emerged as the third and largest bank within the commonwealth, which doubled the fourth-place bank’s size. Unfortunately, despite the bank’s current expansion in its market place, the profits the bank reduced as its expenses rose during its early performance, basically due to the lax administration coupled with the unexpected costs due to merging. Organizational goals and strategy ANZ’s acquisition of the Grind lays, its representation in the 40 states, greatly strengthened the organization’s international operations which compelled to involve in redesigning of its organizational structure. The hierarchical arrangement of the authority in the bank has been replaced with the horizontal structure which is comprised of over 50 business units in the whole world. Such independent business units created an organizational entrepreneurial spirit of creativity, ambition and increased profits. Through its corporate responsibility, ANZ provides various reports, research documents as well as brochures concerning its resources covering its entire corporate or business responsibility activities. The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group commonly known as ANZ bank, aims at enhancing a wide rage of the banking as well as financial product and the services to the retailers, corporate, institutional clients and small businesses, particularly to those who are based in Australia and Zealand. In relation to the bank’s recruitment, retention as well as turnover, the organization aims at attracting and nurturing the most suitable people or employees through its recruitment and the retention strategies. Hiring of the local residents is a common practice in the organization’s significant locations of operation. In addition, the bank encourages the secondment of opportunities and the transfers between the organizational businesses in various geographic locations (Harvey & Novicevic 2001). ANZ bank seeks to efficiently avoid redundancies, however, the unavailability of restructuring as well as redeployment, the organizational processes and the guidelines aim at minimizing the resulting impacts on the individuals who are affected. The organization also enables the outplacement of services accessibility in order to assist the affected employees achieve the most suitable roles that are outside the location of the bank Analysis on Recruitment and retention Country 2009 2008   Joined ANZ Left ANZ (voluntarily) Joined ANZ Left ANZ (voluntarily) Australia 3,096 2,138 4,575 2,929 New Zealand 1,013 830 2,292 1,330 Asia 1,496 269 593 175 EMEA* 0 1 69 18 India 1,714 854 1,212 422 Pacific 271 212 504 156 Total 7,590 4,304 9,245 5,030 In Australia, a 12 weeks notice is normally given to the employees that are impacted by the significant changes of operation. The organizational retrenchment as well as redeployment procedure is always specified within the ANZ Award of 1998, an ANZ Retrenchment Policy and the 1998 ANZ/FSU Agreement. Whereas, in New Zealand, employee whose conditions become redundant, he or she receives at least six weeks of the notice or the payment within the lieu. As a result, the retrenchment as well as redeployment procedures are generally specified within the ANZ’s National Bank and the Collective Employment Agreement, Redeployment policy and Individual Employment Agreements of the entire staff as well as ANZ National Redundancy (Dowling 1999). The rapid growth of ANZ throughout in Asia and Pacific organizational long-term objective is nurturing a leadership team which fully drawn from the bank’s business development regions. Such a strategy is considered in making the logical business sense as well as the significant way of creating long-term and sustainable workforce. ANZ managers are well skilled at training the expatriates to ensure that the organizational employees continuously refine their acquired skills as well as develop the appropriate behaviors that are consistent with the ANZ values through different overseas, within the country and the on-the-job training programs. The health, wellbeing and safety of the employees are achieved through bank’s physical, financial as well as emotional support to the individuals. Although, the ANZ strategy of health and safety is applicable in the whole world, it is very much tailored for single countries. The bank has established a health promotion or advocacy program that is globally implemented in order to provide relevant and the accurate health information as well as activities for the organizational employees in the entire world. There is also the availability of both health and the safety committees in individual state in Australia, India, the UK and New Zealand. Work relations or conditions are assessed based on the minimum employment provisions of the organizational staff within Australia from the services of banking, for instance, dispute resolution processes as well as access Finance Sector merger. While in New Zealand, employees are covered through the agreement of collective employment, negotiation with the financial services of union Finsec or individual employment union (Dowling 1999). International human resource management Issues The ANZ training and development for the ANZ expatriate ANZ bank is very much focused on its long-held commitment or objective to develop the organizational employees. The organization develops its employees for their successful role performance, to enable or empower them have an enduring sense of the service provision to the bank’s customers as well as to impart them with the necessary skills to enhance their individual abilities for their internal relationship management within and without their work environment with an inclusive of the leadership skills (Weech 2001). As a result, such commitment is backed up with some momentous financial investments. This is because of the bank’s corporal understanding that development responsibility rests with the employees themselves. Therefore, employees are encouraged to understand their individual strengths as well as development areas as a way for them to have an opportunity for honest conversations with their respective managers around the development opportunities and to effectively seek out some learning opportunities. In addition, the line mangers for each employees is responsible for the regular conversations with their staff, encouraging them to continuously reflect on what such employees may have achieved well or improved on, on what needs to be improved and to enable them establish opportunities for further improvements in their performances (Tung 1998). The human resource as well as the learning functions in ANZ bank is basically responsible for ensuring the availability of learning to the organization’s staff for them to perform within their roles, be able to understand and effectively meet the organizational customers’ needs, and hence achieving the strategic plan for the bank. Among the learning forms at the ANZ bank include on-the-job experiences, peer coaching as well as having some development discussions between the managers and employees, secondment, project opportunities, the formal learning that involves the online and the face-to-face facilitation. Concerning the bank’s recruitment, retention and staff turnover, the organization focuses on attracting and nurturing the most suitable people or employees through the human resource recruitment and the retention strategies. Hiring of the local residents is a cultural practice within the organization’s significant locations of its operation. In addition, the bank encourages the secondment of various opportunities as well as the transfers between the organizational businesses in various geographic locations. The organization takes into consideration the learning need of each individual employee and assess the entire needs based on balance between the learner’s needs, timeframe for the need of skills, geographical spread of the bank’s employees as well as customers and the technical skills transfer depth or the change management that need to be achieved (Arthur & Bennett 1995). For every year the organization seeks to develop and efficiently implement various key initiatives such as learning for the leadership as well as talent, enhance on the skills for core banking, adhering to the bank’s culture and its values and maintaining the learning infrastructures in order to meet some of the employees’ learning needs. ANZ bank works with various partners to ensure that the learning the organization offer is global in scope, it incorporates the leading edge with a view on learning, the effective transfer and ensuring its global availability. ANZ bank’s strategy for training as well as developing its expatriates is compliance with the international understanding that doing business within the international marketplace, increases the variables, interdependencies which managers should consider while making decisions. The commonly faced global business high complexities by the organizational leaders, have forced most of the managers to improve on their competencies for global management.This evidently reflected in the ANZ bank’s capability to implement a human capital establishment system that is strategic as well as more consistent to the human resource systems. In addition, the organization considers the human resources as the key to the successful banking services or industries (Riusala 2000). International compensation for the ANZ expatriates and re-entry of the career ANZ bank aims at providing a reward proposition that is market competitive for successful attraction, motivation, as well as retention of the highly qualified individuals or employees in order to deliver the business and the growth strategies of ANZ bank. The organizational remuneration and the benefits are efficiently structured to reward people concerning their individual or collective contribution to the success, action demonstration of the organizational values, creation as well as enhancement of such values for the entire ANZ stake holders (Selmer 2000). The management undertakes the responsibility for the annual review of the employees’ remuneration so as to ensure that the organization sustain its market competitive principle within the financial services sector and the monitoring the internal pay differentiation between men and the women at their entire level. In addition, the differentials in gender pay are normally reported annually as one of the corporate responsibility in ANZ reporting policies (Riusala 2000). Annual total turnover rate by gender and age Country Female Male 50 years Total Asia 14% 14% 17% 12% 20% 14% Australia 20% 20% 26% 18% 17% 20% India 19% 15% 18% 11% 69% 16% New Zealand 17% 13% 20% 12% 20% 15% Pacific 16% 14% 18% 12% 19% 15% EMEA* 0% 3% 3% 1% 2% 2% In the above analysis, EMEA refers to the Europe, Middle East as well as Africa and the total turnover as an inclusion of both voluntary and the involuntary staff turnover. Considering the most appropriate time to begin the repatriation planning of the personnel or expatriates for the international assignment, ANZ bank achieves its personnel prior to them leaving for intended assignment. Studies indicate that most of the expatriates who visit the bank, find it very hard to leave for home after the assignment compared to such expatriates who go abroad. This is because majority of the expats continuously consider repatriation areas as locations characterized with high dissatisfaction associated with the organizational policies. In addition, the dissatisfaction later translates into very alarming rates of the expatriated employees turnover (Katz & Seifer 1996). High social and economic inclusion The international diversity as well as inclusion strategy for ANZ bank is very championed by the group of diversity council with the CEO as the chairperson. The bank’s programs that are aimed at building as well as improving the employment opportunities for the women, individuals with disabilities and the Indigenous Australians always gains momentum. The capability to understand both social and the environmental performance of the ANZ bank’s business clients is the current core principle of the risk assessments in the organization. This principle greatly enables ANZ bank to achieve its objective of banking on the sustainable business edge. In addition, ANZ has an extended financial literacy partnership with the TCU, commonly referred to Traditional Credit Union to support members as well as staff within the indigenous communities located in Northern Territory. Therefore, the established financial literacy is currently being reviewed with the view to act as the future point of reference for any financial literacy action that may be of benefit to the Traditional Credit Union communities. Recommendations The ANZ bank’s culture should be progressive as well as strong. Since ANZ has over 550 employees, individuals need not only to view the organization as a bank, but also as their second home. Outsourcing of expatriates from other countries must be a great idea in achieving very qualified labor force at fewer costs compared to obtaining on the bank’s mainland. One of the major ways is direct hiring of the expatriates from their communities located within most mid to the large centers found around the world. This is because whether on the long or short term hiring assignments, or the comprehensive business travel, expatriate managers will always want extra assistance from their respective employers in order for them to balance between home and the office responsibilities (Varner 2002). Effective compensation strategy should ensure that the organizational expatriates are kept motivated while successfully meeting the multinational companies’ goals as well as budgets. Therefore, human resource managers of the multinational companies, a case with this study ANZ should build their organizational pay package for the expatriates. Such measures can be achieved through the ANZ bank’s capability of meeting its corporate goals both at home and the abroad, keeping its expatriates motivated and complying with the its planned budgets (Riusala 2000). ANZ bank should continuously develop a highly trained, motivated and flexible workforce that is relative to its emerged competitors with a focus on strategy support for its corporate goals. Business objectives, compensation and staffing synergy should be ensured in the organization. Repatriation Agreement Successful assignments should begin with the repatriation planning during the expatriation time. This is because the onset of the overseas assignment on the repatriation agreement needs to be determined by the employee as well as the bank’s human resource manager so as to establish a repatriation process that enable ease management of the employee’s goals and their expectations. The elements resulting from the repatriation agreement are most likely to create provision of a specific period for the assignment as well as a return of incentive payment. There is also need preparedness session for crisis management as effective preparation for the expatriates’ homecoming. Such repatriation programs, which can enable the organizational development of policies and the job definitions for its repatriates, supported with some financial, career counseling, family orientation can be considered as initiatives to be implemented partly as the general process in employees’ career development as well as the international human resource management (Riusala 2000). Pre-departure Training Once an employee is selected in the bank, pre-departure training should be the next critical procedure as the attempt to ensure the effectiveness as well as success expatriates at home and abroad. In addition, career counseling for those expatriates are spouses is will be very necessary since a dual career dilemma is increasingly emerging to be very essential, particularly with an increase of women within ANZ workforce. As a result of the difficulties of the bank’s re-entry, expatriates as well as their families should be readjusted back into working in their respective home countries. Among the basic measures that should be undertaken, may include career planning and reversing of the ANZ bank’s culture (Katz & Seifer 1996). Conclusion Since most of the multi-national companies in this case study ANZ bank human resource managers, are largely facing various complex components related to the international benefits as well as compensation as they endeavor to manage their human resources across the national boundaries. It implies that effective management of the human resources is the key for the successful global venturing into human resource management. This entirely depends on the existing linkage between the international human resource management and the multinational company’s strategy. Effective compensation strategy ensures that the organizational expatriates are kept motivated while successfully meeting the multinational companies’ goals as well as budgets. Therefore, human resource managers of the multinational companies, a case with this study ANZ need to build their organizational pay package for the expatriates. International human resource management as well as strategy is very critical for the success of multinational companies. International and national contexts largely affect the manner in which people or employees in an organization are managed in various countries. Most of the expatriates to various organizations, experience hardships of leaving for home after the assignment compared to such expatriates who go abroad. This implies that majority of the expats continuously consider repatriation areas as locations of high dissatisfaction associated with the organizational policies. The dissatisfaction later translates into very alarming rates of the expatriated employees turnover. Bibliography Arthur, W., & Bennett, W., (1995), The international assignee: The relative importance of factors perceived to contribute to success, Personnel Psychology, 48(1), 99-115. Clark, T., Grant, D., & Heijltjes, M. (2000), Researching comparative and international human resource management, International Studies of Management & Organization, 29(4), 6-23. Dowling, P.J. (1999), Completing the Puzzle: Issues in the development of the field of international human resource management, Management International Review, 15, 27. Harvey, M., & Novicevic, M. (2001), Selecting expatriates for increasingly complex global assignments, Career Development International, 6(2), 69-86. Riusala, K. (2000), Expatriation and careers: Perspectives of expatriates and spouses, Career Development International, l5 (2), 81-90. 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