Transcript PRESENTATION NAME

RECRUITING AND
SELECTING STAFF FOR
INTERNATIONAL
ASSIGNMENTS
Dony Eko Prasetyo, S.IP.
Recruitment
• is defined as searching for
and obtaining qualified job
candidates in sufficient
numbers to fill job needs
Selection
• gathering information for the
purposes of evaluating and
deciding who should be
employed in particular jobs
Major Differences Between
Domestic and International Staffing
• predispositions with regard to
who should hold key positions
(i.e. ethnocentric, polycentric,
regiocentric and geocentric
staffing orientations)
• constraints imposed by host
governments (i.e. work visas
and prefer local national
employment)
The global manager
• Myth 1: there is a universal
approach to management
• Myth 2: People can acquire
multicultural adaptability and
behaviors
• Myth 3: There are common
characteristics shared by
successful international
managers
• Myth 4: There are no
impediments to mobility
Global Manager
• a person who is comfortable
operating
in diverse countries, cultures,
and situations,
and can be
transferred internationally
into different operations
Global ‘Mindset’
• implies the ability to see bey
ond one’s own national and f
unctional boundaries.
Current expatriate profile
Expatriate failure
• Definition: Premature return of
an expatriate
• Now recognized that underperformance during an
international assignment, and
retention upon completion,
should be included
Expatriate failure
• What is the magnitude of the
phenomenon?
– Suggestion of a falling rate
compared with early (1980s)
studies
– Evidence is somewhat
inconclusive
– Discussion about its magnitude
has drawn attention to expatriate
failure and prompted considerable
research into its causes
Expatriate failure
• Direct costs of failure: airfares,
associated relocation expenses,
and salary and training
– Varies according to level of position
concerned
– Country of destination
– Exchange rates
– Whether ‘failed’ manager is
replaced by another expatriate
Expatriate failure
• Indirect costs (invisible)
– Damaged relationships with key
stakeholders in the foreign
location
– Negative effects on local staff
– Negative effects on expatriate
concerned
– Family relationships may be
affected
Expatriate Failure Rates
Recall Rate Percent
US Multinationals
20 - 40%
10 - 20%
< 10
Percent of Companies
7%
69
24
European Multinationals
11 - 15%
6 - 10
<5
Japanese Multinationals
11 - 19%
6 - 10
<5
3%
38
59
14%
10
76
Reason for Expatriate Failure
 US Firms
Inability of spouse to
adjust
Manager’s inability to
adjust
Other family problems
Manager’s personal or
emotional immaturity
Inability to cope with
larger overseas
responsibilities
 Japanese Firms
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

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Inability to cope with
larger overseas
responsibilities
Difficulties with the new
environment
Personal or emotional
problems
Lack of technical
competence
Inability of spouse to
adjust
European Multinationals: Inability of spouse to adjust.
The cultural shock
• PCNs on foreign assignments may
experience cultural shock.
• Cultural shock is a psychological
phenomenon that may lead to
feelings of fear, helplessness,
irritability, and disorientation.
• Acculturation is the processes by
which a person understands a
foreign culture and modifies their
behaviour to fit into it.
• Acculturation typically proceeds
through four phases.
Costs of Expatriate
Failure
• Direct costs:
– Airfares
– Associated
relocation expenses
– Salary and benefits
– Training and
development
• Averaged $250,000
per early return
• Costs vary
according to:
– Level of position
– Country of
destination
– Exchange rates
– Whether ‘failed’
manager is replaced
by another
expatriate
Indirect Cost of
Expatriate Failure
• Damaged relationships with
key stakeholders in the foreign
location
• Negative effects on local staff
• Poor labor relations
• Negative effects on expatriate
concerned
• Family relationships may be
affected
• Loss of market share
Factors moderating
expatriate performance
• Inability to adjust to the foreign
culture
• Length of assignment
• Willingness to move
• Work-related factors
• Psychological contract
International assignments: factors
moderating performance
The phases of cultural adjustment
The phases of
adjustment
• The U-Curve is not normative
• The time period involved varies
between individuals
• The U-Curve does not explain
how and why people move
through the various phases
• It may be more cyclical than a
U-Curve
• Needs to consider repatriation
The dynamics of the employment
relationship
The employment
relationship
• The nature of the employment
relationship
– Relational: broad, open-ended and
long-term obligations
– Transactional: specific short-term
monetized obligations
• The condition of the relationship
– Intact: when employee considers
there has been fair treatment,
reciprocal trust
– Violated: provoked by belief
organization has not fulfilled its
obligations
Likelihood of exit
Organizational
commitment
• Affective component:
employee’s attachment to,
identification with and
involvement in, the organization
• Continuance component: based
on assessed costs associated
with exiting the organization
• Normative component: refers to
employee’s feelings of obligation
to remain
Why consider the
psychological contract?
• Nature, location and duration of an
international assignment may
provoke intense, individual
reactions to perceived violations
• Expatriates tend to have broad,
elaborate, employment
relationships with greater emphasis
on relational nature
• Expectations and promises
underpin this relationship
Selection criteria
•
•
•
•
•
•
Technical ability
Cross-cultural suitability
Family requirements
Country-cultural requirements
MNE requirements
Language
Using Traits and
Personality Tests to
Predict Expatriate Success
• Although some tests may be useful in
suggesting potential problems, there may be
little correlation between test scores and
performance
• Most of the tests have been devised in the
United States, thus culture-bound
• In some countries, there is controversy about
the use of psychological tests ( different
pattern of usage across countries)
• Use of personality traits to predict intercultural
competence is complicated by the fact that
personality traits are not defined and
evaluated in similar way in different cultures
Factors in expatriate
selection
Mendenhall and Oddou
Model
•
•
•
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Self-oriented dimension
Perceptual dimension
Others-oriented dimension
Cultural-toughness dimension
Harris and Brewster’s
selection typology
Solutions to the dualcareer challenge
• Alternative assignment
arrangements
– Short-term
– Commuter
– Other (eg. unaccompanied, virtual)
• Family-friendly policies
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–
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Inter-company networking
Job-hunting assistance
Intra-company employment
On-assignment career support
Barriers to females
taking international
assignments