The Training Techniques of Staff in this Global Era - Research Paper Example

 The Training Techniques of Staff in this Global Era 1. INTRODUCTION Globalization has influenced business around the world and it has changed how businesses are managed and operated today (Mittleman, 2000). Organizations have expanded their operations to different countries and as businesses have expanded their operations, the role of human resource management has changed as well. Staffing and training of organizations have changed and organizations have come up with different strategies to recruit and train employees (Maybey, Salaman, and Storey, 1999). In this global era, organizations have realized that human resource management has to be managed strategically in order to make the expansion of business a success (Farndale, Scullion, and Sparrow, 2010). This report will analyse three staffing approaches that organizations use as they expand their operations to other countries along with their advantages and challenges of each of the approaches. The report will then highlight how training is managed in this global era and then the report will discuss some of the training techniques that organizations adapt today. 2. RECRUITMENT AND STAFFING STRATEGIES FOR GLOBAL OPERATIONS Organizations have adapted three recruitment and staffing strategies as they expand their operations to other countries and these approaches or strategies have been discussed below: 2.1. Ethnocentric strategy or Ethnocentric approach One of the approaches that organizations adapt to recruit and hire employees when expanding to other parts of the world is ethnocentric approach. In this approach, the management fills the most important or managerial positions by bringing employees from the parent country. Such an approach is termed as the ethnocentric approach. One of the reasons for following such a strategy is that the organization would like to keep the same organizational culture even in other country. So, because of this reason they would like to have employees from their own country rather than hiring the nationals (Boussebaa, and Morgan, 2008). 2.1.1. Positive of Ethnocentric approach One of the positives about ethnocentric approach is that the company would be able to maintain the same corporate or organizational culture regardless of the country in which it is operating. Also by hiring expatriates, the organization would be able to have experienced and skills employees at the top most position and thus it can be helpful for the organization. 2.1.2. Challenges of Ethnocentric approach One of the major challenges that organizations following ethnocentric approach faces are the cultural myopia. In other words, the organization will be having employees from its parent country and these employees might not be able to understand the cultural values of the national country. Therefore it might lead to cultural myopia and thus, the organization would suffer in the long run. There is another negative aspect regarding adapting ethnocentric approach is that as national employees would only be restricted to the lower level and would not be able to take on the managerial positions therefore they would not be motivated and thus in the long run their morale and performance would hurt. In turn this would influence the organizational productivity in the long run. Ethnocentric approach can be expensive as well because organization would have to pay high compensation packages to the expatriates working in another country and this could influence the profitability of the company. 2.2. Polycentric approach The second approach that organizations use regarding hiring employees in another country is polycentric approach. In this approach, the organization hires employees from the national country. Top management is also filled by people belonging from the national country. 2.2.1. Positive of Polycentric approach The positive aspect of polycentric approach is that the company would not have to face the issue of cultural myopia as the nationals would be aware of the cultural values of the society. Therefore strategies can be formulated accordingly. Another positive aspect of polycentric approach is that the company does not have to pay for relocation cost to the management as people from the national country will be hired, therefore cost will be saved. 2.2.2. Challenges of Polycentric approach One of the major challenges and issues that the organization adapting polycentric approach faces is that employees from national country might not have the same level of expertise and knowledge and therefore it can influence the performance of the company (Karadjova-Stoev, and Mujtaba, 2009). Another issue with the polycentric approach is that the top management from the parent country would not be transferred. Because of this reason, the national office or branch of the company might feel as if working in isolation and such a feeling could hurt the performance and productivity of the organization. 2.3. Geocentric approach The third approach is geocentric approach in which the organization hires employees regardless of their geographic origin. The company hires employees according to the capabilities, expertise and experience rather than the nationality of the individual. 2.3.1. Positive of Geocentric approach One of the positives of using this approach is that the organization is able to have the right person at the right position and therefore it would lead to higher productivity. Moreover, everyone in the organization would know that merit and performance are the main factors for promotion and this would influence everyone to work harder and create a positive organizational culture (Muratbekova-Touron, 2008). Another positive point for adapting a geocentric approach is that the organization would be able to save itself from issues like cultural myopia as the employees would include both people from national country as well as outside the country. Therefore, they would be able to understand the cultural values (Muratbekova-Touron, 2008). 2.3.2. Challenges of Geocentric approach One of the major challenges of geocentric approach is that hiring expatriates can be costly and if the company is operating in a country where there is insufficient human resource particularly skilled labour then it would lead to higher cost and thus the profitability can be influenced. 2.4. Selecting the right Staffing strategy Staffing and recruitment is one of the most important functions of human resource management (Ulrich, and Brockbank, 2005). As organizations are expanding their operations to different parts of the world, staffing strategy has become highly important. While adapting the staffing strategy, the organization needs to consider the quality of the human resource as well as the cost to benefit ratio of the human resource. At times, human resource can be hired at a lower cost but it would not be able to give sufficient returns to the organization. So it is important to analyse the cost to benefit ratio of the employees (Yeung, & Brockbank, 1994). Therefore it is important for the organization to adapt the right recruitment strategy. It is important for the organizations to come up with right staffing strategies in order to make sure continuous growth and development. The multinational and international organizations that are conducting their business operations in different areas of the world should have effective and efficient staffing strategies (Zając, 2011). These organizations should devise the staffing strategies in such a manner that the right strategy matches with the organizational culture at the same time with the national culture. The staffing strategies which are devised keeping in mind all internal and external factors facilitate the organizations in the process of achieving success and will not become a hurdle in the process of growth and development. Geocentric strategy can be the best for the international organizations owing to the increasing international challenges and issues. The geocentric strategy is beneficial for the international organizations because it will facilitate the organizations in understanding the local culture as well as comprehending the global trends. This idea of managing the local and global environment at the same time has resulted in the generation of a whole new term i.e. ‘Glocalization’. The meaning of this new term is to think global but act local. The geocentric strategy also supports the idea behind the Glocalization. 3. TRAINING FOR GLOBAL OPERATIONS Since after the invasion of globalization, the pace of the world has shifted from slow to fast. There is no country on this planet that is not affected by globalization. Although the concept of intermingling and helping or sharing information has been there since ages but globalization has enhanced its pace. The concept of multinational organization, joint ventures etc are evidence of world being global village (Redman, & Wilkinson, 2009). Currently almost every under developing country has some multinational organizations working inside it and it has managers from different origins. These managers live in the host nation and perform their duties as prescribed by the organization. The multinational companies make sure that these managers are trained well so as to gain the desired results effectively. Proper counselling and training is given to those managers who are most likely to go abroad and work there. However if proper training is not given to managers then chances are that they will have to face loads of difficulties. Training for global operations was initially not very much considered by the organizations which therefore resulted in numerous project failures not because of lack of efficiency but because of difference in cultural values, norms and working pattern and somehow language barriers were also included in it. However in today’s world training for global operations is somewhat mandatory in order to achieve the desired goals in host countries. 3.1. Cross cultural training Nowadays the amount of cross cultural interactions has increased. Countries are willing to give their expertise and services in various regards of life to other countries and multinational organization for mutual gains. The service provider will get paid and the receiver will have the desired thing that what he has been looking for. However these cross cultural interactions requires training for managers or companies who are willing to work beyond their boundaries. Proper knowledge about the host culture, basic understanding about the norms and values and somehow command over language is the prime goals for training. Moreover if managers are not trained in this regard there are chances of a project failure or in some cases project being delayed. Earlier for managers basic information was very hard to come by. One had to go through different research journals and books but this problem has been solved by internet these days. By searching on the internet one can easily find information about the desired country and even many other details as well. Cross cultural training is the need of the day in order for companies to do well and expand their businesses accordingly. There are different training techniques which upon following can give desired results in optimum time. 3.2. Training techniques Cross cultural managers requires training in different regards. There are different training techniques that one undergoes in order to carry out his work with mobility and conveniently. These training techniques are enlisted below: 3.2.1. Area studies This technique usually gives description about the host country. This usually comes in a form of documentary in which basic information is mentioned regarding the country’s geographic location, its area, weather condition, national dress, language spoken, and cuisines etc. Similarly political condition of a country as well as its economic condition is also a part of these studies (Price, 2007). This is basically to give an overall idea about the country’s physical and historical culture. And this technique gives the idea about current happenings in the country in terms of politics and economics so as to give managers better understanding on what to expect. 3.2.2. Cultural assimilators This technique is usually very much practiced and adopted by multinationals in order to brief their managers who are going abroad for some project. In this technique, managers are trained to the kind of situations that they are most likely to come across in their cross cultural encounters. This technique gives the managers proper knowledge about what to do and what not to do. A manager can improvise as well but depending upon the situation. The purpose of carrying all these mock exercises is to train managers well in order to get successful interactions (Price, 2007). 3.2.3. Language training Language is the prime concern for the managers when they are going abroad. If the manager is equipped with the language of the host country he is more likely to perform well. Therefore, proper emphasis is given on language training. As these managers mostly have to brief and tell the native of other countries what to do. If he is well aware of the language of the host country then he can deal with his employees with ease and make them understand things effectively. Same goes on workers perspective as well. If the employer has different language then they are more likely to stay in their shells. 3.2.4. Sensitivity training This training is usually a psychological technique in which methods are devised in order to conduct discussion. These discussions and interaction are used to increase individual awareness of self and others. Basically this sort of training is usually conducted in an organization in order to share ideas and knowledge and maintain a safe psychological environment. Usually an expert psychologist conducts this training in order to equip managers with the awareness of their own prejudices and more sensitive to others. The technique of sensitivity training is used in order to enhance the self awareness as well as the knowledge about others. It is normally used to educate and train the employees regarding the differences with other people. With the help of this technique the management of the organization can increase the chances that the employees will accept the different practices and beliefs of other cultures. Most of the global organizations make sure that the employees undergo a multicultural sensitivity training. This method of training not only makes it easy for the employees to understand the different cultures and group dynamics but also their own behaviour and attitudes. The employees are able to comprehend the implications of their behaviour on others. 3.2.5. Field experiences This training method is usually adopted by exposing managers to the other people who have different cultures in order to get them feel of what can happen in reality. By doing this, it will ease the nerves of managers and will give them a proper understanding of culture and norms up to some extent. This kind of technique is usually very effective as it help managers to make a plan on what to do in order to get the desired result. 4. CONCLUSION Staffing and training are important functions of human resource management. As organizations are expanding and growing, these functions have become strategically very important (Miner, & Crane, 1995). Different staffing approaches have been used by organizations however it is important for the organization to find the right combination of human resource so that they are able to add value to the organization. As businesses have expanding, the cross cultural differences have also influenced the productivity. Cross cultural training plays a vital role in carrying out work across the horizons. If proper consideration is giving to the training then the desire results could be achieved. 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