Question

1.Why is planning and Forecasting a global workforce so difficult?

2.Why are so many countries bothered by their “brain drains “?

Please respond to questions 1,2 and 3.

1.If you are given the opportunity in your next job to go on an extended foreign assignment, what types of support programs would you expect or ask for?

2.If you ever have the responsibility to select an associate for a foreign assignment, how would you go about doing that and what characteristics would you look for to ensure success?

3.What do you think is the most significant challenge for IHRM in managing international assignees? Why?

Please write not less than 500 words and also give two references.

Answer 1

Q1.) If you are given the opportunity in your next job to go on an extended foreign assignment, what types of support programs would you expect or ask for?

If I were given the opportunity to go on an extended foreign assignment, I would expect the following support programs from my employer”

• I would ask for a ‘Cultural Competency Training’ before embarking on my foreign assignment project. I would look for a personalized course to train me regarding how to thrive in a foreign culture. I must go well beyond the usual dos and don’ts advisories. It must be a detailed one that would help me understand and internalize even the finer cultural nuances. It should provide pre-departure training on how to avoid and face situations like culture shocks effectively. It must provide me and my family with specific strategies to decipher the cultural behavior. It must support family adjustment by addressing to specific needs such as transitioning to anew school, mixing up with foreign people and behaving naturally with them. I must be trained on global mindset skills to be able to strategize to bridge cultural gaps. This cross-cultural training must make me and my family learn cultural etiquette. It should impart us with practical knowledge and problem solving skills to mitigate any unfavorable cultural situations. The training must also focus on providing knowledge and tips to make me efficient enough to communicate and work effectively within the foreign culture.
• I would also expect to be provided with the addresses and contact details of the concerned support teams functioning in foreign offices and most likely comprising of foreign nationals. The support teams must be trained enough to address all sorts of family adaptation challenges like finding work for the spouse, finding adequate housing in neighborhoods that meet various family needs, managing culture shock and home sickness.
• I would ask for a brief training on foreign rules, laws and regulations as well.
• Also I would expect the organization to plan in advance to resolve all sorts of expected repatriation issues like autonomy, prestige, belongingness etc.

Q2.) If you ever have the responsibility to select an associate for a foreign assignment, how would you go about doing that and what characteristics would you look for to ensure success?

If I ever have the responsibility to select an associate for a foreign assignment, I would happily accept that. I would go on looking for certain specific characteristics in the prospective associate, which are as enlisted below:

• He must have a global mindset and possess tolerance for foreign cultures. He must possess cultural etiquettes.
• He must be open to accept changes and have the capability to mould tough cultural situations into his stride.
• He must have a receptive attitude and be open to happily accepting cultural differences
• He must be understanding and possess a sense belongingness to the company
• He must possess honed communication skills and have an open personality
• He should be able to work independently and require minimal supervision. He must be self-motivated and dedicated towards his work and causes.
• He must have a refined skill-set and should have got some kind of experience of dealing with foreign cultures.

Q3. What do you think is the most significant challenge for IHRM in managing international assignees? Why?

The most significant challenges for IHRM in managing international assignees will include acculturation challenges posed by new assignees. The new international assignees often find it difficult to adapt to a foreign culture and complain of problems like culture shocks and homesickness. Managing such assignees and training them to contribute profitably to their work can be considered the biggest challenge faced by IHRM. IHRM also face challenges while traing the new assignees about foreign cultures, regulations, customs, mindsets and etiquettes. Apart from these, family adjustment, providing profitable engagement to spouses and shifting of schools for children are other challenges faced by IHRM with regards to the international assignees.

References:

• Groysberg, B. and Abrahams, R. (2014). A Successful International Assignment Depends on These Factors. Harvard Business Review Webinar. [Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2014/02/a-successful-international-assignment-depends-on-these-factors]
• Talent Mobility 2020: The next generation of international assignments, PwC, 2010