Impact of COVID-19 on Multinational Companies and Employee Engagement
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This report discusses the impact of COVID-19 on multinational companies and employee engagement, training and development, and collaboration. It also covers the role of International Human Resource Management (IHRM) in managing the challenges faced by MNCs during the pandemic.
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INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
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Table of Contents INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3 Literature Review........................................................................................................................3 CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10 REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
INTRODUCTION The present report will discuss about the impact of Covid – 19 on multinational company and employee engagement. Along with this, it will also describe the impact of pandemic on training and development on employee in order to build collaboration. Covid – 19 has major impact on international and local market and due to that there was huge decline in the world economy as most of the company was shut down as it was facing loss.Along with this, companies like travel and multinational contribute in building the economy of the country as well as allow other business to sustain in the market. In the time ofpandemic there were various policy implemented by the government of many countries in order to be safe form the virus. The policy such as restriction trade has affected multinational company sale and due to this it was not able to sell their product to other international customer. It has created negative impact on the organization performance as well as growth.Moreover, there was no trade within the domestic market as only essential need store had permission to open their store. Along with this, policy like lock down for various months has damage the domestic market of the country (Achiume, Gammeltoft-Hansen and Spijkerboer, 2020). In addition to this, due to pandemic the travel industry has faced major loss as there was drastic change in the customer taste and preference and it was a general focusing on buying the essential products as well as less expensive. In addition to this, due to pandemic there was high employee turnover rate as most of the employees was leaving the country or has been fired bymultinational country. Due to less employee most of the MNC has face difficulty in building theirperformance in the market. Literature Review Human resources management in Multinational company One of the most important aspect that organization has to work on while dealing with pandemic is to build collaboration with employees. As it was very hard due to poor performance of firm most of the workers were leaving the job and due to work from home policy most of the employee has faced issue such as stress (Wu, Chang and Sun, 2020).Because of lack of motivationmost of the workers were not able to give their best and due to that company performance has declined. Along with this, in order to connect with the subordinate, the Human resource department has played important role as they come up with innovative idea.AlthoughStrods, Berka and
Linney, (2021)has describe about IHRM that mean International human resource management. International business also requires to hire, train and motivate their workers so that it ca effectively utilize their services at all level of functional unit. Such as at foregone department unit plans as well as corporate office.In addition to this, the main function of HRM is procuring,allocatingandeffectivelyutilizinghumanresourcesininternationalbusiness. Although it concerns with identifying understanding the way MNC’s need to manage their geographical dispersed workforce as well as to leverage their resources in order to gain global competitive advantage. The pandemic has produce uncertainty which has affected the mental health of people all across the world. Although health risk has also increase in the pandemic and it has created ways ofworking remotely and it has builtthe fear of recession and state of uncertainty in economy.Moreover, in stress, reduced state, employee has faced difficult time working effectively in different countries as well as people from different background and culture has created high unfamiliarity.Thus, IHRM has to take innovative idea like work from homeor giving them more monetary benefits in order to deal with this issue faced by the employees. Although human resource management has taught that some employees are naturally better in managing stress while other can face difficulty to make better decision while in stress. Bohman and et.al., (2021)has define that employee with higher tolerance of ambiguity are less likely to experience negative effect of stress and create high uncertainty. Although employee wit positive attitude can work with greater uncertainty and create novel situation. Moreover, during the pandemic IHRM has to focus on three points such as curiosity, resilience and tolerance while working in multicultural company. Employee that are working virtually with clients, colleagues a vendor from different culture will be needing by the company as well as to meet their competencies. Moreover, IHRM has to selectbetter employees that can meet this issues. Wu, Chang and Sun,(2020) has stated thatduring pandemic most of the companies can strengthen their company growth by giving their employee proper training and development programmer. So that it can be effective in situation of growing uncertainty and novelty.Along with this, due to anxiety most of the employee has faced bad health issues and it has affected their performance. In addition to this, pandemic has given MNC ideal time to improve and develop their cross cultural team so that it can enhance their productivity by improving the culture of the company.For example: Tesco isfocus on building the culture in organization
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as due to healthy culture the company will be able to connect with their employee and build healthy relation with them. However, training will help in building the formulation in the company as employee that share stress, anxiety and frustration can easily understand each other and shared experience has potential to enhance cohesion going forward (Iqbal, 2020). Moreover, the cross culture training in MNEs would contribute in reducing the un clarity related to cross cultural differences as training programmer will help in enhancing their skill and build collaborative culture. Furthermore, in order to increase the motivation of the employee the company has to fulfil their need so that it can work effectively. In addition to this, during pandemic employees need professional growth so that it can fulfil their desire of receive additional training (Ahmed and et.al., 2020). Also, during pandemic lack of professional training while working from home has been self-destructive. Most of the employees were self-directed knowledge in order to satisfy their learning needs. For example:LinkedInlearning courses have seen a threefold increase at time of pandemic. Thus, with the growing interest of learning company should take advantage of this and toinvest in skill development of workers. Thus, companies that offer online training achieve a clear win- win situation as well asincrease talent capability and fosteremployee motivation. Wu, Chang and Sun, (2020) has define in IHRM it focuses on the way individual fit or comfort with company as well asit contribute in given companyand the way it supports and create positive environment. Although employees that work in MNC’s face health issue due to working in different timezone. Due to pandemic there has been increase inthe stress due to change in the working life style. Although pandemic has increased the issues for which support is neededwill vary dependingon thepersonwork life issues .Alongwith this, Unilever can introduce supportivepractice to help inmitigating thestress through employeeassistance programs,virtualcounsellingservices(Lee,DegterevaandZobov,2021).Thesestress mitigating offering will help employees to engage in virtual work at international level as it face lot of stress. Although the world is facingglobal economy declinebutit will not pausefor employee to get ready to come out of their comfort zone. Thus, HR team in international company needto build cohesion as wellas training, selection a support practice. Moreover Kohlrabiand Etwall., (2021) has argued that afterpandemic there has been drastic change in virtualinternationalcollaborationand it has helped in increasingoverall growth of the firm. Along with this large section ofthe society is highly depended on virtual
communication mediain order to competetheir task easilyand effectively. Although IHRM mangetake advantageof virtual collaborations to facilitate its success in the time of pandemic In addition to this, for virtual set need to be established by the company so that it can increase their productivity as well as tobuildtheirperformance in the competitive market .However, company that do not have strong working relationships before pandemic has faced difficulty in working through virtual communication media that is hard tomaintainasit require strong networks and team. Furthermore,movingAhmed and et.al., (2020) has define thatthe global team face challenges whenworking with MNCssuch asculture issues Thevirtual collaboration have various advantage such as attenuate is effect of culture differences the verbal language accents and other issue has beensolved throughvirtual work andit help in saving the meeting time. Along with this, with help ofvirtual meeting theemployees can also feel connected toeach othermore ascompare to geographic distance asit allow them tocommunicatefrequently and share their issues. This helpin building healthy relation with other. Along with this, in the time of pandemic this technology has been most used by MNC and other domestic company in order to keeptheir companyDue to restriction on tradecompanieswasnot able to communicate as well as the organization wasfacingdifficulty (de Oliveiraand et.al., 2021). Along with this, due to virtual meeting the company was able to communicate with remote area employeeeffectively so that it can share theirthoughts and idea.Furthermore, managers can support effective virtual working through stage ofHRM. Such as the requirement of working overthe distanceshould be included injob advertisementand assessment centres.Along with this, technical staff shouldattract selectedemployees that have experience in the professional identity. In addition to this, Coved-9 pandemic placed flexible work arrangement in the remote workarea. Although many countryand states issues order tofor staying at home and allow essentialbusiness to keep openandotherbusinesswereforced to implement flexible working option (Gereffi, 2020). As socialdistance order are implemented and business was open the employees were requested from remote area to work with flexible area and it has becomenewnormal. Moreover, theflexible working hour hasimproved theselectionand recurrentaswell as retentionefforts that contributeinimprovingthe organizational efforts. So thishasnot negatively effected on growth of thefirmas it hashelpedhuman resources
manager to savethecostas well asbuild healthy relation with the and improveattendance also increase in employee engagement. There were variousopportunity andchallenges that have been face byboth employersand employee during theflexible working hourand pandemic (Lindström, 2020). Along wit this, most of the workers has now considered this has most importantfactorsin considering job offers. During thesurvey of Tesco it has ben found that many employees were in favour ofworkingwith the companythat offer themflexible hour properresources. There were variousbenefit that hasbeen faced by international company such it hascontributedinincreasing themoralof the employeesas well as managingtheir attendance and reduce absenteeism. The anotherpositive outcome that company has isassisting recruiting efforts suchas organization was able tohire talented employees. In addition to this, by hiring talented workers as well as meeting their needs was able to boost the productivity of the company in positive way. Alongwith this, due to proper time arrangement employedwasableto work attheir comfort andit has contributedin increasing their performance whileworkingandcreated better work life balance. Moreover, it is notonly beneficialfor workers but alsoreduce the impact ofglobalecology has aswell as contributedinmaintainingtheunsustainably effortsbycontrollingcarbon emissionsandfootprints at workplace (Lee, Degterevaand Zobov, 2021). Furthermore,Unilever policyhas allowedmany ofit employees to work anytime,anywhere aslong as they are meetingtheirbusiness need and contributinginn success of factory. However, manager has identified various method that will help employees to work such aswhile travellingthe conference technology likeSkype, Goole meet and zoom can reduce the travel expenses ofcompany. By enhancingt technologyit wouldhelp the company tostay competitiveas well asreducethe cost ofoperations. Alongwith this,on- site fitnessactivity will increase employee satisfactionthat contribute in reducing illnessand cut the insurance costs. Byempowering thework life balancethecompanywould enhance thework lifebalanceandimprove the recruitment (Unilever HR work in postpandemic, 2022).It is most useful in biding the retention andengagement processthat contributein accomplishing the company goals in limited set of time. Duringthe timeofpandemicMNCShas not onlyprovided their employeeswith working time flexibility butlocationas well. It mainly refers toarrangement that allow workers to work remotely from the main worksite. Although telecommuting is one of the most
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common type oflocation flexibility. The telecommuting refers to remote work that include making use of computer and telecommunications technology in order to reduce location or time on work (Dewick, Hofstetter and Schröder, 2021).Thistypeof working is very common in timeof pandemic andemployeeswere willingto workfromhome and telework centre in orderto safeguard themselvesfromdeadly virus. Although remote workissuitable forthe job thatrequireindependent workin which there is lessface toface interactionand concentration. It has been becoming widely accepted practice and it is most company that use thistype oftechnology make use of metricthat can tracktheir returnoninvestment. There are three type ofwork in telecommunicationsuch asregularworking in whichemployees spend their most ofthe time everyday working or regularly scheduleworkdaysby working from remote office or home. It also includes employees that are working on the weekend or occasional preparingreport or preparingspreadsheet from home office in orderto avoid interruptions. Alongwith this,thethird type in emergencywork like working form hometo ensure business continuity during political issue or natural calamity (Iqbal, 2020). MNC that hasprovided their employees withsuch facility have opportunity likegreater productivity, lower expenses as wellas hadmore option for findingas well as attractingqualified employeesand improvedworkerhealth. (de Oliveira Netoand et.al., 2021). Along with this, the employees are not able to gen day to day flow of information and the activity that has been going on inthe management. Also,employer has faced issueslike increase technology costs and potential security. Moreover, internationalassignment management is one of the hardest areafor HR professional master and it is very costly. Also,it is important for MNC toinvestin theright assignment in order to besuccessful. The company need to select the right personand well managedprogram sothat it can minimize the risk. After COVID most of the companies are tryingtoexpand theircompany in theglobal marketas well asincreasinginternational assignment. The success on an overseas assignment has complex factors the selection process fortheindividual should bedifferent from theselection process. However, during the pandemic it was important for the organization to give their employees proper training so that it understandadvance technology aswell as learnculturedifferences. Althoughtraining on the goals andexpectations for theexpatriate worker is important (Barik and Yadav, 2021). Since most of the individual takes an overseas assignment in order to enhance their career and
ifthey have clear understandingabout their goals thenit willcontributeinenhancing success. AlthoughExpartite workerfacedifficulty when movingto anewcountry which is bitten stressful aswellit can face issuelike home sickness, culture shock. In the timeof pandemic most oftheinternationalcompany hasfaced this issue asmost ofthe workers' familyare notabletoadjust and due to that it was increasing their stress level. Along with this,there has been four stageofexpatriate stressidentified suchaslanguage, social, schooling and housing issues (Ahmed and et.al., 2020). Thus, it is important for the company to managetheir exeats effectivelyin ordertoavoid such issues. Theinternational organization when makinginternationalassignmentthen itneedsto focusonbuilding knowledge creation and development of global leadership. Along with this, many companies send their workers to other country so that it can appreciate their work as well as to feel the vacancy. Althoughpeople that aregiven foreign posthave somereason such asto generate and transfer knowledge or to develop the global leadership skills. Also, company that assign overseas posts toemployee thathave good technical skillandwill be able to adjust in cross cultural abilities. According toGuedhami and et.al., (2021) during the time of Coved -19 pandemic many expatriates have faced challenge in balancing there work lifeacross geographic. In time of pandemic the expatriates has beengivenwork from home and it has given themopportunity tointeract withtheirfamily as well asbenefited them to learn newthings through online channels. Althoughlock downhasgiven rise to new ways to accomplish the global work as well asinspire to rethink themultinational organization to use globalteams .Most of the employees have faced difficulty in balancing the work life balance and to manage it. Although work life balance is made when an individual give priority to both its career and personal life requirement (Barik and Yadav,2021). But in thetime of pandemic the worker were working from home and due to excessive and comfort working the person was facing difficulties while working. The reason that hascreated imbalance inbalancing personal life and work lifeis increased responsibility for work commitment. However, positive work lifebalance reduce employee stress, reduce the risk of heath and positively effect employer. RECOMMENDATION It is to be recommended to MNC’s in order to make their human resource sector effective it need to make use of selective hiring that will contribute in success of firm. Along with
this, with the right candidate organization will be able to solve problem as well as finding appropriate solution. ď‚·It is to be suggested to company that organization should make use of training and development programme that will helps in improving the skill as well as increasing the growth of company in international market. ď‚·The company should improve the organizational communication so that proper flow of information is maintained in the company. It will help employees in doing the task appropriately as well as in limited set of time. CONCLUSION From the above report it has been concluded that pandemic has created emergency situation for business globally and due to that it was not able to earn good profit. It has summarized that during the pandemic it was hard for the organization to deal with issues face by employees that are workinginternationally. It has disturbed the work life balance as during the work from homethere were no time limits. Although for some employees it was beneficial that were working from remote area as with help of telecommunication it was easy for them to connect with other employees. Along with this, pandemic was both favourable and non- favourable for international companies. From the report it can be summarized that in time of pandemic it is important for the organization should improve the HRM sector as it will contribute in enhancing the success.Human resources is also a very important sector for the company as its main aim is to improve functional unit as well as manage employees work. Although report has recommended multinational company in improving their communication flow as well as training sector in order to enhance their skills. REFERENCES Books and journals Achiume,E.T.,Gammeltoft-Hansen,T.andSpijkerboer,T.,2020.Introductiontothe Symposium on COVID-19, Global Mobility and International Law. American Journal of International Law.114. pp.312-316.
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Ahmed, T.,and et.al., 2020. Impact of employees engagement and knowledge sharing on organizational performance: Study of HR challenges in COVID-19 pandemic. Human Systems Management. 39(4). pp.589-601. Barik, S. and Yadav, J., 2021. Employee Experience Practices in MNCs During COVID-19 and Its Impact on Psychological Distance of Employees. In Innovations in Information and Communication Technologies (IICT-2020) (pp. 43-50). Springer, Cham. Bohman, H. and et.al.,2021. A study of changes in everyday mobility during the Covid-19 pandemic: As perceived by people living in Malmö, Sweden. Transport policy.106. pp.109-119. de Oliveira Netoand et.al., 2021. Performance evaluation of occupational health and safety in relationtotheCOVID-19fightingpracticesestablishedbyWHO:Surveyin multinational industries. Safety Science. 141. p.105331. Dewick, P., Hofstetter, J. S. and Schröder, P., 2021. From Panic to Dispassionate Rationality— OrganizationalResponsesinProcurementAftertheInitialCOVID-19Pandemic Peak.IEEE Engineering Management Review.49(2). pp.45-56. Gereffi, G., 2020. What does the COVID-19 pandemic teach us about global value chains? The case of medical supplies. Journal of International Business Policy.3(3). pp.287-301. Guedhami, O.and et.al., 2021. The dark side of globalization: Evidence from the impact of COVID-19 on multinational companies. Available at SSRN 3868449. Iqbal, T., 2020. Pitfalls of industry-led private governance regimes in promoting CSR in global supply chains: evidence from the RMG industry and impact of COVID-19.International Trade Law and Regulation.26(4). pp.231-245. Lee, H. S., Degtereva, E. A. and Zobov, A. M., 2021. The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions’ Determinants: New Empirical Evidence from Quasi-Poisson and Negative Binomial Regression Models. Economies. 9(4). p.184. Lindström, M., 2020. A commentary on “The trouble with trust: Time-series analysis of social capital, income inequality, and COVID-19 deaths in 84 countries”. Social Science & Medicine.263. p.113386. Sohrabi, C. and et.al., 2021. Impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on scientific research and implications for clinical academic training–a review. International Journal of Surgery,.86. pp.57-63.
Strods,C.,Berka,A.andLinney,S.,2021.Effectiveglobalmobilityandinternational recruitment during a pandemic. In Radical Solutions for Education in a Crisis Context (pp. 53-67). Springer, Singapore. Wu, S.J., Chang, D.F. and Sun, F.R., 2020. Exploring college student’s perspectives on global mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic recovery. Education Sciences. 10(9). p.218. Online references UnileverHRworkinpostpandemic,2022.[Online].Availablethrough< https://time.com/6049936/leena-nair-unilever-interview/>