SHRM Assignment 2: Strategies for International Employee Training

This report examines the strategies and approaches organizations, specifically referencing Perkbox, can utilize to train employees for international assignments lasting a year or more. It explores various training methods, including cross-cultural training and project-specific preparation, emphasizing the importance of adapting to cultural differences and understanding project objectives. The report also discusses challenges employees face when working in foreign countries, such as language barriers, cultural differences, lack of support, and adapting to new routines. It concludes that effective training and support are crucial for employee success in international projects, highlighting the need for organizations to address these challenges to ensure project success and employee well-being. The report also emphasizes the importance of setting performance standards and understanding the local business environment.

STRATEGIC
HUMAN
RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PROJECT 2......................................................................................................................................1
A) Explain various strategies and approaches used for training of employees and various
approaches used for this purpose................................................................................................1
B)Challenges faced by employees while working in abroad companies ...................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Human resource is a most important function of every organisation this functions is
concerned with the employees of the company. When a company is planning to expand
themselves in other countries, it is very important that they are using some approaches to provide
training to their employees which will help them in adjusting with the challenges they face in
different country(Guest, 2017). Perkbox is a company founded in 2014 which is having its
headquarters in London, UK. This is a leading employee engagement platform and is willing to
spread its operations across the globe. This report deals with various strategies which companies
use in training their employees and importance of approaches used for achieving this objective.
Apart from this there are many challenges also which employees can overcome with the help of
human resource department of company.
PROJECT 2
A) Explain various strategies and approaches used for training of employees and various
approaches used for this purpose
Expansion of companies Training of employees is very necessary for employees who are
willing to expand their operations at international level. Companies need to have trained
workforce whenever they are willing to do expansion This is very important as expansion of
Companies requires huge amount of investment in financial terms and a lot of research. For
having best results it becomes important for them use some strategies and approaches which will
help them in training their employees. Perkbox is a UK based company, which was founded in
the year 2014, this makes it a new company which willing to is expand its operations across
globe(Delery and Roumpi, 2017).
The main objective of this company has been to help the society and make it better by
helping their employees to achieve success both at the workplace and in life. There are many
approaches which they are willing to follow in this process to keep their employees trained and
having the required amount of competence. There are many different methods which perkbox is
using so that they can have high employee engagement, for which the company makes attempts
to engage their employees in every function which the company is planning. This helps
employees in reaming motivated and increase their overall performance at the workplace. When
a company is planning to expand its operations this is one of very important aspect that they are
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able to retain their employees in the company. In case when companies are trying to undertake
some new projects which are having overseas locations then in such case mostly there is
requirement of some specialised training which has to be provided to their employees(Cristiani
and Peiró, 2015). In case of Perkbox the company is making attempts that they are able to give
their employees training in a way which can help them in development of flexibility, in terms of
adapting to the customers requirements across different countries.
Another way of providing training them to overcome the cross cultural differences
which can occur and affect the performance level of employees in a negative manner. Many
times companies face problems when they are establishing themselves in those countries which
are having a completely different culture as compare to their home country. Another way of
training the employees for a particular project is that employees should be made understand what
all a project is all about, which means the basic objective should be clear in the mind of
employees before they are starting to work on a given project. Perkbox when they are planning
to start a particular project in a completely new location that is in a different country.
Another aspect through which training can be provided to employees is with the help of
searching a cross cultural trainer who belongs to the country in which the company is planning
to expand there functions or the project is belonging to with. This will provided employees with
a specialized form of training which will help them in understanding the culture prevailing in
that country. In case of Perkbox this company believes in achieving their laid down objectives
within the time specified for this whenever they will be expanding themselves in other countries
the major step which they will be undertaking is to have trained staff so that they are bale to
build a effective brand image in the new country. Also, they are able to achieve the objectives of
the particular project.
Setting up of standards of performance is also a very effective approach which can be
used by employers whenever the company is working on a specific project(Collings, Wood and
Szamosi, 2018). This is a very important tool as this will help in increasing the quality of
performance of employees. Benchmarking is a aspect which should be present for the employees
which can help them in evaluating their present level of performance in comparison with the set
standards. If there are any deviations or loopholes that can also be corrected within time. So, in
context of Perkbox this company will also use this approach if they are willing to ensure high
quality of performance on part of employees. This will set the standards of performance which
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employees will have to fulfil and this will lead to achievement of the objectives of project with
adequate quality being maintained.
Employees can also be made ready to work on a overseas project being started by the
company by making them understand the time factor in the whole project. To make the
employees understand various perceptions it is necessary that it is important that employees are
bale to understand the perception of people who are living in the country in which the project is
to be operated(Bratton and Gold, 2017). This will help the employees in understanding
everything from their point of view which is very necessary so as to be in a country for a long
period of time. Perkbox will also make attempts that they are able to increase the understanding
level of their employees by making them understand the overall mindset of people of the
country in which they are trying to enter.
Individualism and collectivism are also two basic approaches which are used by
companies in which employees have to made clear that every customer has its own individual
personality which is different. No two individuals will respond similar way in the same situation
or for a similar product. This leads to a conclusion that companies before starting to work on a
overseas project should clearly depict understanding of individual personality which will be
affecting them in both positive and negative manner. Perkbox is a private company and is a
leading customer engagement platform, they believe in providing required amount of training to
their employees in all prospects.
B) Challenges faced by employees while working in abroad companies
All companies are working in the external environment which is constantly changing and
never be constant. Such environment consists of many different problems which are related to
political, social, cultural aspects of a country(Masum, Azad and Beh, 2016). So to understand
the impact of changes of such external environment it becomes important for companies to
analyse such factors(Ahmad, 2015). Especially in case when companies are willing to spread
their transactions across different countries then it becomes more necessary to understand the
culture of that particular country. This will help the employers in dealing with such challenges.
In case of some special projects it is necessary that specialise training is given to employees who
are working on that project. This will be very helpful for employees in overcoming of difficulties
and challenges which will occur in their way.
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Cultural difference is a big barrier which occurs for the employees as it is never easy to
understand another country's culture and adopt it easily, but to build a effective position in the
market it is necessary that companies are able to overcome such barriers
( Cascio, 2015).
There are various challenges faced by employees while working in other countries. These
problems include language barrier, cultural difference, lack of support, settling in to a routine
and overcoming a learning curve. If an individual is an excellent speaker but that person is
working in a company which is not his native place, there is large language barrier. While
working in foreign countries, employees are more comfortable in talking to people who speak
native language. On the other hand, if a particular person is from another country then it causes
stress and tension to that person. This problems of language barrier must be overcome by person
if he wants to work effectively in abroad.
Another problem is cultural difference and culture affects the working of person a lot.
Working in abroad is very rewarding but there are very few people who are prepared for way of
culture represented at workplace. This can be explained with an example, if you are working in
Spain, the person must be prepared to have long gap in middle of day for having lunch. They
have to stay for longer in order to make up these hours. In case of Japan, if an individual goes
from office before boss, he is punished. Such small things can destroy image of person if he is
not obeying these. If the person is unable to follow these cultural rules, there are chances of
home sickness and apathy(Jamali, Dirani and Harwood, 2015).
Lack of support is another problem that is faced by employees while working in abroad.
There are wide range of support if an individual is working in his own country. Friends, family
and social services are all close top the person so he does not feel low. In abroad, it is not easy
for person to depend on anybody. The person can connect through internet or calls, but physical
presence means a lot in front of these things. There is battle through issues on own is biggest
cause of failure by experts.
Settling in to a routine is another problem which is problem for foreign employees. It is
essential to have routine for comfort and being productive. When the person has started to work
in abroad, it is necessary to adopt new surroundings, process and environment of that place.
There are some countries where there is 24 hour stores, on the other hand, there are some stores
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which are not allowed to open in certain days. This makes life of foreign person harder as he has
to adopt these habits.
There is another problem faced by employees working abroad which includes
overcoming a learning curve. There is no comfort like native country. The person sometimes feel
depressed, lonely and scared. It is essential that all employees working abroad must have positive
attitude towards life. This is possible only when people are having good attitude towards
working in different business environment(Jabbour and de Sousa Jabbour, 2016).
It is concluded that employees of PerkBox are facing the above mentioned problems. It is
not easy for them to work effectively if they are having positive attitude towards work and
working hard to achieve organisational goals and objectives.
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CONCLUSION
Above report is based on importance of employee training which is required to be given
them whenever they are planning to expand themselves across borders. Also, when there are
special projects which are for a period of one year or more it becomes equally important that
organisations have to use a approach which is best suitable according to the type of company.
This is very essential as every country is having different culture from one another and to
establish & build a brand image it becomes necessary to understand the individuality of people
belonging to that country. Then discussion is done about various challenges which employees
face while the company is working on a overseas project. Human resource practises are very
helpful in this case which will be used to assist the employees in overcoming all the difficulties
and then achievement of success.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Cascio, W.F., 2015. Managing human resources. McGraw-Hill.
Ahmad, S., 2015. Green human resource management: Policies and practices. Cogent business &
management, 2(1), p.1030817.
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Collings, D.G., Wood, G.T. and Szamosi, L.T., 2018. Human resource management: A critical
approach. In Human Resource Management (pp. 1-23). Routledge.
Cristiani, A. and Peiró, J.M., 2015. Human resource function strategic role and trade unions:
exploring their impact on human resource management practices in Uruguayan
firms. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(3), pp.381-400.
Delery, J.E. and Roumpi, D., 2017. Strategic human resource management, human capital and
competitive advantage: is the field going in circles?. Human Resource Management
Journal, 27(1), pp.1-21.
Guest, D.E., 2017. Human resource management and employee well‐being: Towards a new
analytic framework. Human Resource Management Journal, 27(1), pp.22-38.
Jabbour, C.J.C. and de Sousa Jabbour, A.B.L., 2016. Green human resource management and
green supply chain management: Linking two emerging agendas. Journal of Cleaner
Production, 112, pp.1824-1833.
Jamali, D.R., El Dirani, A.M. and Harwood, I.A., 2015. Exploring human resource management
roles in corporate social responsibility: the CSR‐HRM co‐creation model. Business
Ethics: A European Review, 24(2), pp.125-143.
Masum, A.K.M., Azad, M.A.K. and Beh, L.S., 2016. The role of human resource management
practices in bank performance. Total Quality Management & Business
Excellence, 27(3-4), pp.382-397.
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