Discussing Employee Challenges While Working Abroad and HRM Solutions

This report delves into the challenges that employees encounter when working abroad, particularly in the context of international business expansion, using IKEA as a case study. It identifies key issues such as linguistic diversity, cultural differences, time zone discrepancies, building capacity, communication difficulties, regional-based customization, and compliance risks. The report emphasizes the importance of understanding these challenges to mitigate their negative impacts. It then outlines several HR strategies for addressing these challenges, including embracing diversity, promoting open communication, fostering strong relationships, and adopting perks and bonuses to motivate employees. The report highlights the significance of tailoring HR practices to support employees in navigating the complexities of global assignments, ensuring their well-being and maximizing their contributions to the organization.

Strategic HRM

Table of Contents
2) Discuss challenges employees face while working abroad & how management, HR
practices assists in coping with such challenges....................................................................3
REFERENCE...................................................................................................................................6

2) Discuss challenges employees face while working abroad & how management, HR practices assists in
coping with such challenges
There are many challenges that are faced because of expansion across international markets by
organsiations. Some of these challenges have to be understood by employers to cope with all difficulties
that arise because of internationalization in new markets (Baena, 2019). IKEA is a furniture brand that is
willing to expand across many new markets that consist of countries of south America as a Swedish
furniture giant so that they are able to reach to 3 million potential customers in coming period of time.
Some of these challenges that are anticipated specially in case of project like particular marketing
campaigns that is lasting for a time period of less than a year there requirement to anticipate such future
challenges on part of employees so that whole workforce can be prepared to minimize the negative
impact of such future challenges.
Linguistic diversity:
There is a barrier related to languages as in Europe there are 230 languages that are used and in
Africa there are 2000 languages spoken with variations in dialect this is leading to different types of
connotations (Linehan, 2019). This employees of IKEA might face difficulty in taking customer queries,
calls.
Cultural differences:
Cultural difference is another major issues that can be faced by employees in IKEA when they are
part of a completely new market segment. It leads to difficulties in making cross cultural communication
and developing insights of cultural norms (Fahim, 2018). To overcome this Challenge management of
IKEA has to focus on tailoring to accommodate the customs to enhance the training mechanisms.
Time zone differences:
It is also a issues that can be faced by employees while they are willing to expand in new areas.
Such as in IKEA there are difficulties related to difference in timings so there is a sudden witch in timings
that might lead to employees requiring certain specific time to cope up with the timings of new locations
that is targeted by IKEA.
Building capacity:
While a appropriation is expanded overseas there is always difficulty relate to integration with the
values and culture of such other countries. Each county has their own special culture that is compete
different. So it takes time for employees to adjust with such changing environment both internal and
external in term of political, social, technological or legal changes (DeCenzo, Robbins and Verhulst,,
2016). For sustainability there is need of enhancement of employee capacity by organizations.
Communication difficulty:

Good communication is the most important aspect of a effective international business strategy.
But when a business organization is internationalizing it is really difficult to deal with the communicating
across cultures (Sonnenstuhl and Trice, 2018). Many times employees in IKEA posses language
knowledge but way a customer can be influenced is really a difficult task for employees if they are not
able to learn this technique of effective communication.
Regional based customization:
Curriculum that is designed for a specific country may not work in another. There is requirement
of high customization techniques to deal with the specific nature of customers in IKEA while this brand is
willing toe expand in new location of south America there has to be focus of their employees on
increasing the specialization that based on location and prevailing culture. Employees will find difficulty
in understand the customers perspective, their values, beliefs according to which marketing strategies
have to be formed. If customers will not receive right customization then it is going to negatively impact
productivity of both IKEA and its competent employees.
Compliance risk:
The legal market and regulatory laws are different in every country. There is requirement in part
of employees that they have to focus on ensuring high compliance to ensure that they are properly
following all such legal framework. Many times if employees are not able to properly ensure proper
compliance to these legal laws than there can be issues on part of organization as there can be legal
penalties, fines because of non compliance.
Above discussed are some of the challenges that can be faced by employees in IKEA there is a
need by the HR department to form certain strategies to deal with the challenges faced by employees in
global expansion:
Embrace diversity:
Human resource department of IKEA can use a strategy promoting a inclusive approach to
diversity in both community and workplace, the organization must focus on a philosophy of embracing
culture in their organization of promoting individuals from diverse backgrounds, caste and culture
(Amazue and Onyishi, 2016).
Promote open communication:
For managing employees in a new location HR managers in IKEA can strategically focus on use
of a open communication strategy. For employees who are not fluent in multiple languages there can be
use of training approaches to enhance the skills in different languages that is essentially required
according to their new location.
Fostering strong relationships among workforce:

Team building is a aspect that has to be focused for building of meaningful relationship among
employees. It will help in enhancement of employee engagement towards performing their job roes &
responsibilities in a more better way. In IKEA, after internationalization there can be emphasis on
building of positive relationships among workforce so that employees can assist each other to deal with
hardships that they are facing because of new place, language barriers etc.
Adopting of perks and bonuses:
HR management of IKEA can focus towards adopting specific policies for perks and bonuses that
can motivate their workforce to overcome all the hardships that they are facing and contribute up to their
maximum competence. For this there can be use of paid vacations, paid sick holidays, transportation
stipends, ticket to local events, practicing transparency all these efforts are going top reflect in ways
employees taking efforts to maximize their level of contribution.
Above mentioned are some of the strategies in which Human resource department of IKEA can
focus towards managing their workforce while they are planning their internationalization plans.

REFERENCE
Books & Journal
Baena, C.E., 2019. The policy process in a petro-state: An analysis of PDVSA's (Petróleos de
Venezuela SA's) internationalisation strategy. Routledge.
Linehan, M., 2019. Senior female international managers. Routledge.
Fahim, M.G.A., 2018. Strategic human resource management and public employee
retention. Review of Economics and Political Science.
DeCenzo, D.A., Robbins, S.P. and Verhulst, S.L., 2016. Fundamentals of human resource
management. John Wiley & Sons.
Sonnenstuhl, W.J. and Trice, H.M., 2018. Strategies for employee assistance programs: The
crucial balance. Cornell University Press.
Amazue, L.O. and Onyishi, I.E., 2016. Stress coping strategies, perceived organizational support
and marital status as predictors of work–life balance among Nigerian bank
employees. Social Indicators Research, 128(1), pp.147-159.
Online
3 Tips for Managing a Cross-Cultural Workforce, 2020 [online], Available
through<https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/288796>