International Human Resource Management Melbourne Free Sample

Question: Identify and Discuss the Human Resource Management Issues that a HR Manager in Melbourne would have to consider when Relocating a Manager from Australia to Manage a Subsidiary branch of an Australian Multinational Organisation that is located in London in the United Kingdom. Answer: Introduction Human resource management is a concept that has been gaining a lot of important in the past few years and is basically concerned with the management of the workforce in such a way so that their performance can be optimised. The basic idea behind the concept of human resource management is to make use of various functions, such as performance management, career development, training and development, selection and recruitment, etc. to improve the work conditions and to foster a positive work environment by developing better relations between the employees and the employer. Human resource management deals with a number of issues on a daily basis but one of the greatest issues that the human resource management teams encounter while operating on a global scale is the management of expatriates. Expatriates are those employees who are sent abroad by their companies to fulfil a piece of work. Expatriate programs are very costly and a lot of other resource of business organisations are at stake when they send an expatriate to complete an important task. Thus, it is the responsibility of the human resource management teams to assist their companies in managing expatriate programs and ensuring success. An Australian Manager Being Relocated to London A multinational company that is planning to relocate one of its Australian manager to its subsidiary in London might face a number of issues because of the differences between the two nations. The issues that the human resource manager of the company will encounter while designing the expatriate programs are discussed below First of all, selecting the right manager for the expatriate program will be one of the greatest issues that the human resource manager is most likely going to face. The human resource manager will have to conduct a thorough analysis to choose the best candidate for the foreign assignment. The human resource manager will have to ensure that the manager being relocated has the required technical capabilities that would be necessary for the successful completion of the foreign assignment. Further, the human resource manager will also have to ensure that the candidate being chosen for expatriation has optimum cultural knowledge of the host country so that he or she can avoid a cultural shock (Lebitse, 2013). In case the manager ends up selecting an expatriate who lacks cultural knowledge, technical capabilities, is the only earning hand in the family or has a large family and is the only one to look after them, the chances of success of the expatriate program will increase drastically a s the expatriate will face problems in settling down in the host country due to the feeling of responsibility overload and emotional exhaustion. Thus, the selection process of an expatriate is an issue within itself because a wrong choice will decrease the chances of success of the expatriate program and will result in wastage of the resources that the company will be investing in the expatriate program. Secondly, designing a compensation and benefits plan for the expatriate being relocated to a foreign subsidiary will be another issue for the human resource manager. Taking decisions about the compensation and benefits plan for an expatriate is one of the most critical task that a human resource manager has to perform. The human resource manager will have to ensure that the compensation that will be paid to the expatriate while he or she is on a foreign assignment is according to the market trends and also ensure that the given compensation and benefits will allow the expatriate to maintain a similar lifestyle in the host country as he or she had in the home country (Chalre.com, n.d.). Further, the human resource manager will also have to conduct a thorough analysis to find out the benefits that the company will have to offer to the expatriate, such as housing allowances, travel allowances, standard of living allowances, maintenance allowances, etc. If the compensations and benefits paid to an expatriate are not enough, the expatriate might face issues while working in the foreign country and also might not be able to settle down properly. Thus, the chances of success of the expatriate program will decrease and the human resource manager will have to face the consequences. As a result, in order to keep the expatriates motivated and to make them feel satisfied with their jobs, the human resource manager will have to carefully design their compensation and benefits plan (Bowman and Meacheam, 2000). Thirdly, one of the major issues that the human resource managers face while trying to manage expatriate programs is related to the cultural knowledge that the employees have. It is important that the candidates being chosen for expatriate programs have sufficient cultural knowledge of the host country. The human resource manager should ensure that the Australian manager being considered for relocation to London should have sufficient cultural knowledge about London so that he or she does not experience a cultural shock in the foreign country. Cultural differences are one of the main reasons for the failure of the expatriate programs because what might be normal to one person can be offensive to a person belonging to a different culture. Further, lack of cultural knowledge can also make it difficult for the expatriates to settle down in the host country as their confidence and morale suffers a setback(Peter, 2015). Thus, it is important for the manager to assess the cultural knowledg e of the manager before he or she is sent to London for a foreign assignment. Impact of Human Resource and Emplyment Relation on Expatriate's life Expatriate programs are difficult to manage and the chances of success of expatriate programs are also not considered to be very high. The success of expatriate programs does not only depend upon how the home country management designs it but is also dependent on the host country human resource management conditions and employment relations. Some human resource management issues and employee relation issues that can have an impact on the life of the expatriate while working in London are discussed below: First of all, the staffing approach that the host country subsidiary uses to fulfil its human resource demands will have an impact on the life of the expatriate. The staffing approaches that a subsidiary can use to staff its workplace are ethnocentric, polycentric, geocentric or regiocentric. The staffing approach that a company chose helps it in designing its workforce appropriately. For example, a company with an ethnocentric approach uses home country employees for staffing important positions in tis foreign subsidiaries (Study.com, n.d.). The manager being relocated to London might face issues if he is not awarded a similar job position in the foreign country. Further, if he is awarded a senior level position in the host country, the local employees in the host country might resist the decision. Thus, such an issue can have an impact on the life of the Australian manager who is being expatriated to London. Secondly, another important human resource management issue that the manager might encounter while working in the host country can be a difference in the compensation and benefits being given to the local employees and the expatriates. The compensation and benefits given to an expatriate are always different from the ones that are given to the local employees because of differences in economic conditions between the host country and the home country. The expatriate might feel that the home country employees are underpaid in case the company is paying more to the local employees due to difference in economic conditions whereas if the expatriate is being paid more than the local employees working on the same level, the local employees might feel underpaid. Thus, such issues can have a great impact on the life of the Australian manager being sent to London. Thirdly, the difference in the work conditions between the two nations can also have a huge impact on the life of the expatriates. It is obvious that cultural differences between the two nations can also give rise to different work conditions and environment in Australia and London. For example, employees working in Australia give a huge importance to work life balance while the employees working in London do not give much important to a proper work life balance and are more inclined towards their work lives. Thus, such differences can have a huge impact on the life of the Australian manager who is being sent to London. Fourthly, differences in labour laws and employment relations can also have a huge impact on the life of the Australian manager while working in London. It is a common fact that all countries have a set of internal and external environmental factors to which all local business organisations are vulnerable. Such differences between the host country labour laws and the home country labour laws can have a huge impact on the life of an expatriate working in a foreign location. For example, all Australian employees (other than the casual employees) are eligible for an annual paid leave of four weeks for every year that they serve while on the other hand, all employees working in the United Kingdom are entitles for an annual paid leave of 5.6 weeks. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, a person till 18 years of age cannot work for more than 40 hours a week or 8 hours a day and a person over 18 years of age cannot work for more than 48 hours a week. On the other hand, all employees working in Australia cannot work for more than 38 hours a week according to the National Employment Standards (Ruskin et al., 2013). Further, in Australia, an employee who has served an organisation for at least 12 months is entitles to ask for flexible working hours if he or she is a parent or a care taker while in London, all employees are entitled to ask for flexible working hours if they have served their organisation for more than 26 weeks (Expatica.com, n.d.). Therefore, such differences and issues can greatly affect the life of the expatriate while working in a foreign country. Conclusion The management of expatriate programs is an important task as business organisations have to invest a large number of resources into such programs. Thus, the management should always ensure that such human resource management and employment relation issues can be avoided so that the chances of success of expatriate programs can become higher. References Bowman, P., Meacheam, D. (2000). Current Issues in the Expatriate Management Literature--A Checklist for Practitioners.Asia Pacific Journal Of Human Resources,38(2), 107-117. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/103841110003800208 Global Staffing Approaches: Ethnocentric, Regiocentric, Polycentric, and Geocentric - Video Lesson Transcript | Study.com.Study.com. Retrieved 4 April 2017, from https://study.com/academy/lesson/global-staffing-approaches-ethnocentric-regiocentric-polycentric-and-geocentric.html Lebitse, P. (2013).Managing expatriates.The MG Online. Retrieved 4 April 2017, from https://mg.co.za/article/2013-08-30-00-managing-expatriates Peter,. (2015).12 most common expat problems | Atlas Boots.Atlas Boots. Retrieved 4 April 2017, from https://www.atlasandboots.com/most-common-expat-problems/ Reasons for Expatriate Failure - Executive Search Headhunter - Philippines, Asia Pacific, ASEAN.Chalre.com. Retrieved 4 April 2017, from https://www.chalre.com/hiring_managers/reasons_expat_failure.htm Ruskin, N., Walsh, P., Ball, A., Catanzariti, R., Procter, M., Drake-Brockman, A. (2013).From Hiring to Firing: a basic guide to the Australian employment law life cycle - Employment and HR - Australia.Mondaq.com. Retrieved 4 April 2017, from https://www.mondaq.com/australia/x/238936/Contract+of+Employment/From+Hiring+to+Firing+a+basic+guide+to+the+Australian+employment+law+life+cycle UK labour law: Working time and leave in the UK.Expatica.com. Retrieved 4 April 2017, from https://www.expatica.com/uk/employment/UK-labour-law-Working-time-and-leave-in-the-UK_104503.html