International HR Management in Australia and India - Case Study Example

Unit: International Human Resource Management Introduction Acquiring and retaining candi s with potential talent is often considered to be a critical task for the organization. The job markets in Australia and India is becoming more competitive wherein the currently required skills amid the workforce is becoming increasingly diverse owing to which the recruiters are required to be more selective concerning their choices. It is due to the fact that poor recruitment process may produce an adverse impact on the organization followed by relatively high costs for the training and the development program (Shafique, 2012; Richardson, n.d.). This paper intends to design the most effective recruitment and selection process to imbibe 100 staffs for different positions for Startup IT Company in an international context taking into account the labor market scenario of Australia and India. Case for Internal and External Recruitment for Startup IT Company Startup IT Company, which has recently established a subsidiary in India (New Delhi), has various options that can be followed to attract candidates for the different job position both internally and externally. Accordingly, the company is looking forward to attract candidates for different job positions listed as five senior executive, fifteen line managers, supervisors for two call centers, thirty staffs divided in to two groups for dealing with customers and suppliers and fifty assembled line workers. It is to be noted that the senior managers will be recruited from Australia while other professionals can be recruited from India. Accordingly, each job position has specified job description which shall facilitate in executing the recruitment and selection process more effectively. In order to ensure that right person is placed for the right job position, the company has the two major options of internal and external workforce for imbibing considerable talent within the organization. Additionally, internal and external recruitment processes shall provide the company with the opportunity to meet its needs for recruiting and selecting potential talents inconsistent with the job description and specification. Targeting Potential Candidates Internally One of the most suitable options available with Startup IT Company for targeting potential candidates can be related with its internal recruitment prospects facilitated with skilled labor force. It is worth mentioning that targeting candidates internally poses significant benefits to the company. Responsively, the company will be able to save considerable amount of finance if the company follows internal recruiting. In addition to finance, the company will also be able to save considerable amount of time generating greater employee satisfaction and morale (Briggs, 2007). Some of the basic tools that the company can use for targeting candidates have been illustrated as follows. Promotions and Transfer It is worth mentioning that promotion and transfer is a vital tool for recruiting candidates internally. Contextually, Startup IT Company can take promotion and transfer as an important tool for recruiting candidates internally. The company can promote managers as senior executive on the basis of their capability and the past performances. It can also have the option to transfer managers from hone country i.e. Australia to India in order to assign them with the task of a senior executive (Ferner & et. al., 2005). Employee Referrals Employee referrals can be regarded as another important tool available to Startup IT Company to fill the vacant positions. The organization can recruit staffs on the basis of employee referrals. Such recruitment often act to be more the beneficial than other forms of recruitment owing to the fact that employees working within the organization for a long time are aware of the organization’s needs and recruitments without any need for further training to get imbibed in the organizational culture and work cohesively. Such recruitment shall facilitate StarUp IT Co to recruit assembly line workers (Hoye, n.d.). Former Employees Targeting candidates internally can also be performed by recruiting candidates who have already served the organization and are willing to rejoin the organization. Recruitment of former employees by allocating greater responsibility can help Startup IT Co to fill its vacant position related with line managers and supervisors as they are experiencing enough to deal with other employees and are capable enough to manage different behaviors of staff (Mohan & Malik, 2012). Attracting Candidates Externally Apart from internal recruitment, attracting candidates externally shall facilitate Startup IT Co to recruit new and fresh talent within the company. There are various options related with external recruitment which can be effective enough for the company irrespective of the consequent increase in costs for the company. Correspondingly, few basic tools that Startup IT Co can use as a mode of externally attracting the candidates for filling its various job position is being postulated here under: Advertisement One of the prime tools for attracting candidates externally for Startup IT Co can be related with the advertisement by means of different medium. Startup IT Co can convey the job description and specification according to job position as well as it will be require to offer details about how candidates can apply and the minimum qualification as well as experiences of the candidate for the particular job position. In this context, the company has the option to advertise about the job position through any of the available advertisement medium depending on its reachability which can be newspaper, company’s websites, and other jobsites (Niazi, n.d.). Employment Agencies Additionally, Startup IT Co can enter into contract with employment agencies for its various job positions. At the same time, the company is required to furnish detail requirements about what kind of candidates it is looking for to these agencies. Campus Recruitment Campus recruitment is another important external recruitment procedure which Startup IT Co can undertake for attracting new and innovative skills from fresh graduates. Such recruitment often contributes towards attracting innovative ideas within the company focusing on the Generation Y employees. However, owing to the fact that these candidates do not have adequate competencies, the company will have to make significant expenditure on training and development of these candidates. Selection Process Selecting the most efficient candidates with requisite qualification and job description are vital for Startup IT Co for ensuring greater competiveness and customer satisfaction over the long run period (Behling, 1998). Along with the job description and specification the company will also ensure that the candidate who is being selected is efficient enough to adjust in the cross-cultural context of India. Those individual having significant control on the Indian language will acquire greater preferences. The selection process will also consider the family requirement of the candidate during their selection procedure. Correspondingly, inefficient selection process may contribute towards hiring inappropriate candidates that may further deteriorate the performance of the organization. The equal opportunity will be provided to every candidate and fair selection process will be undertaken. Few basic selection processes that shall assist Startup IT Co are illustrated below: Preliminary Interview Concerning with the selection process of Startup IT Co, it can be initially suggested that the company can instigate its selection process with the preliminary interview round. The preliminary interview will be closely related with critical examination of the candidates grounded on their applications. The examination of the candidates’ applications will be followed by elimination of the unqualified candidates (The Open University, 2012). Intelligence Test The company will also conduct intelligence test according to the different job position which will comprise of specific set of question based on arithmetic, verbal, reasoning and computer skills as per the requirement of the job position (The Open University, 2012). Psychological Test This test will be conducted with an aim of identifying the level of the understanding of candidates’ sleeted in the prior process. It will facilitate towards understanding the inner potentials of candidates in handling stress during the course of a challenging situation (Behling, 1998). Cross-culture suitability Candidates will be offered with similar environment to the Indian condition wherein they will be required spent considerable time in order to measure the adaptability candidate to cross-culture environment. Technical Test Technical test will also be conducted in order to ascertain the technical competencies of the candidates. The candidates will be required to demonstrate certain specific technical activities that shall again facilitate in gaining substantial knowledge about the candidates technical skills. The technical ability of candidate will duly be taken into consideration prior to the actual selection (The Open University, 2012). Medical Test After conducting the above stated tests, next test will be related with medical test that shall facilitate in ensuring physical fitness of the candidates (The Open University, 2012). Interview The interview process will be conducted after all the test is duly performed including the medical test. Interview process will also be compared with the outcome of the selection process of each candidate with their respective resume (The Open University, 2012). Appointment of Candidates After completion of all the above selection process as illustrated, the most suitable candidate will be selected and will be intimated with an appointment letter. The Need of Cross-Cultural Training and Its Implications for Failure It has been identified that Startup IT Co is an Australian based company which has recently established its subsidiary in India creating a demand for cross-culture training for the expatriates who have been transferred to India under various job positions to perform certain specific business tasks. It can be argued that with the increasing globalization process across the world there has been steady growth for the developing staff to perform in intercultural workplace environment. It is worth mentioning that cross-cultural training is a vital component for the firms expanding internationally such as Startup IT Co (Briscoe & et. al., 2012). Additionally, it can be stated that the culture prevailing in Australia significantly differs from the culture that is practiced in India. It has often been argued that culture has significant impact on the business practices in global context. Furthermore, it can be admitted that cross-culture training acts as a vital element for Startup IT Co in the development of individual staff as well as organizational cultural competencies. It is crucial that employees who are transferred from Australia either for long-term or the short-term are aware of the business culture that is being practiced in India. Failure to deal with the local business culture of India may further have an adverse impact on the company and its performances as well. Moreover, inadequate cross-culture training will contribute towards increasing stress level for candidates. Additionally, it will also lead towards employee dissatisfaction and therefore demoralize them to contribute their best towards the organizational prosperity. Consequently, the company’s profit earning capacity will dramatically reduce as well as its competitiveness might also fall radically as a consequence. Moreover, inadequate knowledge about the host country may also result in misunderstanding and poor communication between the targeted labor market and the company’s candidates. Thus, it is crucial that the company duly undertakes the rigorous cross-culture training for seeking the best advantages arising in the host country, i.e. India (Dowling & et. al., 2008; Sparrow & et. al., 2004). Detail of Cultural Training Phase It is crucial for Startup IT Co to design cross-culture training for its employees in order to seek the best benefit from the local market. It has often been identified that employees in the new culture are unable to perform their duties efficiently. Hence, in order to eliminate the difficulties arising from cultural differences, the company is required to provide cross-cultural training to its employees. There are various approaches or training methods dealing with the cross-culture aspects for expatriate candidates. It is thus quite crucial for Startup IT Co to include various aspects in the cross-cultural training process such as language abilities, beliefs and values, business etiquettes, social system, punctuality factor and negotiating styles among others (Ko & Yang, 2011; Forster, n.d.). Accordingly, the below stated phases related with cross-culture training should be duly followed by the company when expanding to the international market of India: Defining the Organizational Context and the Training Objectives This phase will firmly establish the relationship of the organization’s cultural competencies with its goal and people management. This shall further facilitate the company to coincide its training program with its mission and visions (Bean, 2006). Understanding Cultural Competence and the Cross-Cultural Training Before starting the cross-cultural training programs, the nature of cultural competence as well as various approaches of cross-culture training will be taken into consideration. This phase will follow the criteria for cross-culture trainer as well (Bean, 2006). Promoting the Value of Cross-Culture Training To the Company The importance of cross-cultural training will be communicated to all the stakeholders of the company within the stipulated time. It will also seek the considerable engagement of stakeholders for ascertaining the most effective training programs (Bean, 2006). Designing and Conducting Cross-Culture Training The most efficient sets of cross-culture will be selected by the company in order to ensure the best result from the training program initiated. The training program will therefore be designed according to the cultural perspective of India and business doing practices in the country. It will further seek whole hearted engagement of candidates (Bean, 2006). Evaluating and Follow-Up Of the Cross-Culture Training Program After the completion of cross-culture training programs, its effectiveness and further usability of the same training procedure will be evaluated. Any sort of deviation from actual training policy will be duly analyses and remedial measures will be further implemented in order to make the training program more effective and efficient for seeking the best outcome (Bean, 2006). Detail Justification of the Training, Orientation and Development Program As stated earlier, the cross-culture training is a vital component for the company entering into the foreign market. Essentially, Startup IT Co will have to design cross-culture programs that best meet the training as well as company’s overall objectives when expanding in India. The various cross-culture training programs that need to be considered by the company are being illustrated below: Cultural Awareness According to Hofstede, the degree of individualism is quite high on the contrary the degree of collectivism is perceived to be high in India. Thus, it is essential those candidates coming to India are properly aware with the Indian culture and their implication on business field. Hence will be provided concerning with business practices in India wherein they will be trained how to deal with people in India. Cultural Assimilator The company will undertake cultural assimilator as one of the prime tools for making candidates aware with the targeted host cultures, i.e. India. The cultural assimilator will therefore deal with presenting few real scenarios of the host country to the candidates in order to provide basic insights about the host country where they are supposed to work (Pande & Krishnan, n.d.). Contrast American Method This method of training will facilitate in offering valuable insights about the Indian culture that is radically different from Australian culture. It will also facilitate in creating self-awareness among the candidates towards the host culture (Bhawuk & Brislin, 2000). Area Simulation This training program will allow the company to create similar environment to the host country, i.e. Indian culture wherein candidates will be provided with training with how to interact with the external recruits in the Indian subsidiary. This training shall further facilitate in increasing the communication ability of the candidates (Pande & Krishnan, n.d.). Language Training In addition to above stated training program, language training will also be offered to the candidates so that they are able to deal and interact with the people in the host country, i.e. India. It is worth mentioning that knowledge of language is one of the most important factors for sustaining business in the international context (Chauhan, 2011). Training For Spouse and the Family Often the family members are overlooked by the companies during the course for preparing candidates which can result in the failure of the company to retain talent in the diverse cultural environment. Thus, Startup IT Co shall also undertake significant training programs for spouse and children so that they can easily get acquainted with the host culture (Chauhan, 2011). In addition to the above stated cross culture training, other staff development training programs should also be offered by Startup IT Co such as personality development training wherein all the training programs will be cross-culture orientation. These programs will also result in reducing cultural shock that may be faced by candidates when working in the new culture. Moreover, these developmental programs will facilitate in greater acceptability of the candidates in adapting a new environment. Correspondingly, candidates who get easily adapted in the new environment are often eligible to perform better and are willing to face more challenging circumstances (Chauhan, 2011). Conclusion Recruitment and selection process is often regarded as the crucial function for HRM within any particular organization. There exist two primary recruitment procedures that can be applied by Startup IT Co to attract and retain talent in the company such as attracting candidates internally (i.e. from the existing workforce of the company) and externally (i.e. from the outer labor market of the economy). For a company like Startup IT Co entering into the foreign market are often faced with numerous challenges among which cultural differences is the most prevalent factor. Understanding the cross-cultural aspects the host country are considered to be equally vital for the company expanding internationally. The failure to acquire proper understanding of the host culture is often accompanied with reducing profitability and threat to the long-term sustainability of the company in its targeted host nation. In order to cope with the challenges of cross-culture element, Startup IT Co should identify various cross-cultural training programs to seek the best advantages from India. References Behling, O., 1998. Employee Selection: Will Intelligence and Consciousness Do the Job. Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 77-86. Briscoe, D. & et. al., 2012. International Human Resource Management, 4E. CRC Press. Bean, R., 2006. The Effectiveness of Cross-Cultural Training in the Australian Context. Cultural Diversity Services Pty Ltd, pp. 1-8. Bhawuk, D. P. S. & Brislin, R. W., 2000. Cross-Cultural Training a Review. 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Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 887-901. The Open University, 2012. Effective Recruitment and Selection: A Guide for Selectors. Human Resources, pp. 1-20. Read More