IHRM Challenges: Relocating a Manager from Australia to Paris, France

This essay evaluates the key challenges faced by an HR manager in Sydney while relocating a manager from Australia to manage a branch in Paris, France, focusing on HRM and employment relations issues impacting the manager's working life in 2019. It highlights cultural differences such as living standards, language, and minimum wage, and how these differences impact management policies. The essay also compares taxation policies and living costs between Australia and France, emphasizing the importance of understanding and communicating effectively in the local language. Hofstede’s cultural dimension model is used to explain the difference in uncertainty avoidance between the two countries, and recommendations are provided for HR managers to mitigate these challenges through cultural training, localized HR policies, and employee involvement in decision-making. The aim is to ensure the efficiency of the company and address the challenges faced by the manager in France, which is crucial for sustaining growth in the market.

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International Human Resource Management

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While expanding their operations in international markets, there are various
challenges faced by human resource department of a company which is necessary to be
addressed in order to ensure that the company is able to sustain its growth in the market.
Implementation of effective international human resource management (IHRM) policies
enables companies to address their HR issues while managing an international team
(Brewster, Vernon, Sparrow & Houldsworth, 2016). The objective of this essay is to evaluate
the key challenges faced by the HR manager in Sydney while relocating a manager from
Australia to manage a branch in Paris, France. This essay will evaluate key challenges
relating to HRM and employment relations issues that impact the working life of a manager
in France in 2019. This essay will evaluate key cultural differences which an HR manager has
to take into consideration while relocation a manager in France such as living standards,
language, and minimum wage.
The living standard and values of people in France are considerably different than
compared to people in Australia which impact the effectiveness of management policies. In
comparison, Australia has a better living standard of employees since they receive better
healthcare, insurance and retirement benefits (Hiew, Halford, Van de Vijver & Liu, 2015).
These elements must be taken into consideration by the manager to ensure that he/she
leads the team in Paris while considering these factors. People in France are less friendly
than compared to Australia; therefore, the manager must be prepared for a culture shock.
In order to build positive employee relations, it is important that the manager must earn the
trust of employees in France before implementing changes in the organisation. People in
Paris prefer to keep themselves busy all the time whereas it is not the case with Australia
where people are more spontaneous while making plans (Holmes & Looseley, 2013). The
manager should make sure that he/she pre-planned the meetings with employees and other
business partners to avoid offending them by following local customs.
The manager has to take into consideration the difference between taxation policies
of Australia and France while managing the operations in Paris. In Australia, income taxes
are the most significant taxation which is collected by the federal government. However, in
France, taxes are levied by the government, but, collected by public administrators which
include three institutions: the central government, local governments and the social security
association (ASSO) (Carbonnier, 2013). Non-residents in France usually pay tax on their

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income at a minimum French tax rate of 30 percent; non-residential individuals in France
are only taxed for income which they generate through French sources (Expatica, 2019). On
average, the income tax rate in France in 2017 was 45 percent. In Australia, the tax is
imposed if the income of a person goes above $18,200 whereas, in France, the tax is
imposed on the income above €9,964 (ATO, 2019). In Australia, people have to pay GST at
the rate of 10 percent on goods and services which they consume whereas, in France,
people have to pay the Sales Tax Rate at 20 percent (ATO, 2018). The differences in taxation
policies must be taken into consideration by the HR department; for example, the manager
relocating to Paris should receive the salary from the Australia office to avoid paying higher
tax in France.
The living costs difference between France and Australia should also be taken into
consideration by the manager while dealing with employees. In Australia, the prices for
consumer goods are 1.25 percent lower than compared to France along with restaurant and
groceries prices (Numbeo, 2019). The HR manager has to pay higher for purchasing
consumer goods and groceries while living in Paris, France. However, the rent prices are
substantially low in France than compared to Australia because people pay 36.18 percent
higher rents in Australia. These factors are necessary to be taken into consideration by the
HR manager to address key HR challenges while relocating the manager from Australia to
France. Employees and business partners in France might not prefer to meet at restaurants
to discussed business details which the manager should take into consideration to be
considerate and avoid offending them Bocquier et al., 2015).
Understanding and communicating the message in the right tone is important for
managers in order to ensure that they build a strong relationship with employees. In the
case of Australia, English is the most commonly spoken language in organisations; however,
in France, French is the most common language in the workplace (Yagmur & Van de Vijver,
2012). The manager who is relocating from Australia to France should learn basic French in
order to ensure that he/she is able to interact with employees. The employees might feel
disconnected with the management if they are not able to discuss their issues in their local
language. Many employees might also face challenges while communicating in a foreign
language such as English which will discourage them from sharing their ideas and issues with
the management. The manager can hire an employee as a translator to share his/her ideas

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with other employees; however, it will reduce the efficiency of the communication.
Therefore, it is important that the manager must learn to speak and understand basic
French in case the employees in the organisation did not speak or understand English
(Patrick & Kumar, 2012). This is also crucial for the manager to build a strong relationship
with his/her staff members to ensure that they did not feel disconnected from the
management and they are encouraged to share their views with the management in the
decision making.
Employees in France are extremely uncomfortable with uncertainty, and they prefer
to engage in the decision-making process which is not the case in Australia. This cultural
difference can be understood through Hofstede’s cultural dimension model which is a great
tool that can be used by companies to understand the cultural differences between two
nations and implement HRM policies while taking these differences into consideration
(Taras, Steel & Kirkman, 2012). There are six dimensions given in this model which include
power index, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long term orientation, and
indulgence. In case of uncertainty avoidance, Australia scored 51 whereas France scored 86
which high a major difference between the two countries (Hofstede, 2019). It shows that
employees in Paris, France prefer to know that future policies implemented by the company
and they did not like to be surprised by new provision. The manager that is relocating from
Australia has to take this factor into consideration they affect employee relationship in the
workplace, and it creates conflict between the management and employees (Gentina,
Butori, Rose & Bakir, 2014). In Australia people are more relaxed and comfortable with
uncertainty than compared to France; therefore, in France, the manager should give
employees idea regarding future policies and collect their feedback to avoid employee
resistance to change.
In conclusion, there are various differences between the culture and policies of
Australia and France which are necessary to be taken into consideration by the HR
managers to ensure that the manager who is relocating from Australia to France did not
face any challenges. Key differences such as living standards, taxation policies, uncertainty
avoidance, and living costs are compared in this essay to understand the key differences
between the cultural factors of both countries and how they might affect the employee
relations in the organisation. Following are various recommendations which should be taken

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into consideration by the HR managers to ensure that they avoid key HR challenges in the
relocation of the manager. The HR manager should provide culture training to the manager
who is relocating to ensure that he/she is prepared for the cultural differences, and he/she
did not face a culture shock. The training should also be given regarding taxation differences
and understanding of taxation policies to avoid complications. The manager should not try
to change the culture of France to make it more like Australia; instead, HR policies in France
should be catered to the local culture in order to avoid resistance in the workplace and
promote positive employee relations. While taking decisions in the company, the manager
should ensure that he/she should encourage the French employees to give their
contribution in the decision making process so that they feel like a part of the organisation.
It will also make them comfortable with the management since they will be able to share
the challenges which they face in the workplace. These international human resource
management policies will ensure the efficiency of the company, and they will address the
challenges faced by the manager while managing the employees in France which is crucial to
sustain the growth of the company in the market.

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