International HRM - Term Paper Example

It is a great idea to offer HRM consulting services to private-sector employers located in England and France. It will diversify the operations of the organization and will open up new opportunities for growth and development. By all means the organization must go ahead with this initiative as companies all over the world are looking for HR consulting organizations to assist them with managing global workforce. Global cultural competencies will definitely grow and this is a great opportunity to stay ahead of the competition.

At the same time there are various issues that need to be considered for this initiative to be successful. First and the foremost, it is an obvious fact that HRM has only been a part of the organization and not the core business. The core business of the organization has been IT consulting; hence, HR consulting is not the expertise of the company. It also has to be noted that IT consulting has limited clients in the U.S. and Canada. Therefore, venturing into an entirely new market with a new service is very risky and calls for caution.

There are numerous factors that need to be considered and acted upon for the company to be prepared and competent in order to meet the needs of clients in England and France. The current HR team will not be sufficient to handle the workload and, hence, new recruitments are essential. The HR team will not be addressing issues with respect to internal employees but employees of clients which are international organizations. Hence, now qualified HR professionals need to possess numerous essential competencies, such as “knowledge of HR strategies, models, methods and techniques; problem-solving skills; people management skills; and, finally, the ability to adapt to international contexts” (Tyler, 2011).

Another crucial requirement regarding HR personal is the development of global mind-set. When dealing with people from different cultural backgrounds it is essential to understand their culture. Hence, HR personal needs to be taught global mind-set skills, even though they will be working from offices and visiting the client sites. In order for our HR team to manage or consult on issues with respect to international workforces, there are three main aspects they need to be good at: “self-awareness, second languages and multicultural savvy” (Tyler, 2011).

It is very important to ensure that the above factors are taken into consideration while hiring new HR personnel. HR professionals with an international HR degree would be handy for this project but it is not an absolute necessity. There is no need for a compulsory HR degree courses but it is essential for professionals to at least attend workshops that last from a day to a week. Such workshops, which focus on topics related to globalization, are vital as they help HR professional to better understand international cultures (Tyler, 2011).

There are various other factors that need to be considered, such as cultural faux pas. What is considered as good manners in one culture might not be the same in another culture. Hence, cultural competency becomes vital when dealing intercultural organizations. Cultural competency is the ability of an individual to effectively interact and communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds (Tyler, 2011). Effective HR personnel are those who are not only aware of one’s background, views, as well as preferences and bias but also of the whole lot of other important nuances.

Only then he/she will be able to effectively understand and manage the human resources in the 21st century organization. Second language acquisition is another important aspect of cultural competence. For example, while dealing with clients from France, it is important to be able to communicate in French. Talent management is a challenge with respect to international management as different practices are employed in different cultures and this leads to divergence of ideologies. Various factors, such as