Strategic HRM Report: International Staffing and Challenges

This report delves into strategic Human Resource Management (HRM) within the context of international projects. It begins with an introduction highlighting the significance of HRM in achieving sustainable growth and competitive advantage for companies expanding internationally. The main body of the report analyzes various approaches and strategies for training and preparing employees for overseas assignments, including the ethnocentric, polycentric, geocentric, and regiocentric approaches, with a recommendation for the geocentric approach. The report then explores the challenges faced by employees working overseas, such as cultural shock, language barriers, and job-specific technical difficulties, and provides insights into how HR practices and management can help employees overcome these difficulties and succeed. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and reinforces the importance of effective HRM in international business operations.

Strategic HRM.

Table of content
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
In order to gain sustainable growth and profitability the companies require to expand their
international operations continuously. The company needs to make sure that they are have
competitive advantage in the market in order to survive and businesses already know that their
human resource is the ultimate source which can give them competitive advantage in the market.
In this report different approaches are explained which can help the company in staffing their
employee overseas in correct way. Recommendation regarding approaches which can be
beneficial for the company are also given. The challenges that are faced by the employees in host
countries are also described and ways in which human resource management can help employees
in overcoming these challenges are also given.
MAIN BODY
A) Analyse the approaches and strategies a newly internationalizing company can take to
train and prepare group of employees to work for company at overseas location.
In order to prepare and train the employees for the overseas project for a company that is new to
international market. The company can follow given below approaches in order to have proper
staff that can help the company to achieve their goals and objectives effectively and efficiently.
Right person for right job is the prime objective of the human resource management team.
Ethnocentric approach: it refers to sending the employees if parent company to the host
company. In this type of approach the management wants full control on the activities of the
subsidiaries situated in other countries (Aust, I., Muller-Camen, M. and Poutsma, E., 2018.). In
order to get full control over the management all the important positions of that subsidiary is
filled only by the personals of the parent company so that the management is under the control of
headquarters and the decisions are in the hands of only parent company. This means that the
subsidiary company needs to follow the management practices of the parent company. This
approach is followed by the company because of three reasons:
Firstly, the parent company feels that there is a need of more qualified employees and the host
country does not have employees that are qualified enough to handle the management of the
subsidiary.
Secondly, In order to maintain a unified corporation culture the parent company adopts this
approach where they can make sure that the corporate culture is unified.

Thirdly, transfer the nationals of home country who have sufficient knowledge and competency
to foreign country so that they can create value by transferring core competencies(Boxall, P.,
2018. ).
Polycentric approach: In this approach the company treats each subsidiary as a separate
entity and some of the decision making is in the hands of the subsidiary. In this approach the
subsidiaries are normally managed by the employees that are of the country in which subsidiary
is located. By applying this approach the headquarter company or the parent company will have
less control over the management and decisions of the subsidiary company. The rationale behind
this approach is that the parent company believes that the local people of the country in which
subsidiary is located know their culture better and can handle the business of subsidiary more
efficiently and effectively (Cheng, M.M. and Hackett, R.D., 2021.).
Some of the advantages of polycentric approach are firstly, the problems faced by the company
in managing expatriates gets eliminated and the cost of hiring locals or the nationals of host
country will be comparatively less expensive. Secondly, the morale of the staff of host country
increases which will make the more efficient and effective and also increases their overall
productivity.
Some of the disadvantages of this approach are firstly, there is a higher chances of conflicts
between the management officials of Host Company and subsidiary company because of the
difference in their thinking process. Secondly, there will be a lack of link between the subsidiary
and the host company which can make it difficult for the host company to exercise control over
subsidiary.
Geocentric approach: This approach is for the company that gives more weightage to
experience and knowledge as compared to nationality. Any person can apply for the post
irrespective of their nationality. Whether they belong to the country of Host Company or
subsidiary company or any third company, the ability and knowledge they hold will be the basis
for their recruitment (Di Pietro and et. al., 2021.). The companies that follow this approach like
to strategies from international standpoint right from the beginning. The rationale behind using
this approach is to get the most eligible and talented employees from around the world who can
work efficiently and effectively and can bring success to the company.

Some of the advantages of geocentric approach are firstly the company can develop a senior
management workforce which has cross border experience and also international contacts.
Secondly, the employees can learn new skills with the help of the experiences of each other
which will help the company to achieve their objectives and goals.
Some of the disadvantages are firstly, this approach is expensive as the compensation, and
relocation and cost of training of employees are high (Gauci Borda and et. al., 2019, July. ).
Secondly, it is a time consuming approach as the proper scrutiny of candidates are required so
that most suitable employee can be appointed for most suitable job.
Regiocentric approach: In this approach the managers are selected from the
geographical area which resembles the country of host company so that they can understand the
management of the company properly. By this approach the host company employees those
managers that are lying in the different countries but are in the geographical locations of the
business of host company.
Some of the advantages of this approach is that the managers that are recruited through this
process can be a better cultural fit as compared to those who are from other regions ( Irum, A.
and Yadav, R.S., 2019.). Also they will have a better understanding about the culture as well as
the language that is followed by them. Secondly, the company will likely to occur less cost as
compared to others and the manager can influence the decisions of the managers of headquarter
with respect to the region.
Some of the disadvantages are the managers selected through this process may lack some
qualities that requires international experience also the management of both the managers may
lead to a confusion between global objectives and regional objective. It is might possible that the
regional manager focusses only on the regional target and may oversee the impact of his decision
on the company.
Recommendation
It is recommended to the company to use geocentric approach for staffing in international project
as the company can have better employees with more talent and ability. The world is a pool of
talent and the company should take advantage of this. By selecting individuals on the basis of
their talent and not on the basis of geographical region will not only boost their motivation and
productivity but will also give them a sense of fairness and equality. The company can get

people who have experience of international business which can further help them in handling
difficult situation that arise in the management of the project.
B) Explain challenges that are often faced by the employees while working overseas and
how HR practices and management can help them in coping with these difficulties and help them
in becoming successful.
The challenges that are faced by the employees while working on international projects and
solutions for human resource management to cope with those challenges are given below:
Cultural Shock: When an employee enters to a completely new country in order to do their job,
they might find it difficult to adjust to the culture of the company. As every geographical
location has their own culture and management, it can get difficult for an employee to unlearn
their own culture and adjust according to the culture of that particular country or company
(Kroon and et. al., 2018.). Their unfamiliarity with the culture may face problems when exposed
to new environment. Culture is a big part of anybody’s life and going to a completely new
culture can be very difficult and may also harm the physical and mental health of the employee.
It is very important to make sure that the employee is adapting to the cultural change effectively.
In order to cope with the difficulty of cultural shock the human resource management of the
company needs to give cross culture training to the employees that are going for job overseas as
it can give an understanding and knowledge about the culture of the host country and will make
sure that this is not a shock anymore for the employee. It will help the employee to make sure
that they are familiar with the culture of the host company and they will be able to understand the
workings of the host country more easily(Sokolov, D. and Zavyalova, E., 2019.) . By
understanding the culture of the host country the employee can increase their productivity and
will also be able to work at optimum efficiency and effectiveness. In order to make the project of
the company successful the company needs to make sure that their employees are working
towards the same objectives and are not struggling in these matters. It is the duty of human
resource management of the company to make sure that employees has the training and are
aware of the culture of the host country.
Language barrier: There are several different languages in different countries. It can be
difficult to communicate to others if one does not know their language. Communication is the
key to success but if there is a language barrier then effective communication will become very

difficult which might create misunderstanding within the staff and may lead to losses. In order to
keep their point clear the employees need to communicate clearly also they have to understand
what others are trying to tell them. Language is a very important aspect while doing job
efficiently and effectively. There can be different languages within the country and by employing
employees in different country the company needs to make sure that they have a proper
knowledge about the language of that country so that they can lead their teams accordingly
(Turnbull, P.J. and Harvey, G., 2020.). If a manager does not have a proper knowledge about the
language in which they need to communicate with their staff member, how will they be able to
give them proper instructions about the workings of the projects. If the manager is unable to give
proper and clear instructions to the team members then it will become very difficult for the team
members to follow those instructions and ultimately it will leads to the losses or may also make
delay in the timeline of the project. In order to keep the project and the staff members effective
and efficient the human resource management of the company needs to make sure that proper
training of language is given to the manager going overseas and the employees are not suffering
from any language barrier.
Job specific technical difficulties: When an employee goes for overseas job then it is the
duty of the management of human resource department to provide them proper training and
make sure that they know and understand their job description. Every job is unique and the
employee needs to be sure about the details of the job otherwise they will not be able to handle
the situation occurring in that specific job or project (Yang, J. and Arthur, J.B., 2019). The
company must make sure that their employees do have proper training about the job that they are
assigned for. Proper technical training must also be given to the employee so that in the situation
of crises the employee can handle that situation effectively and efficiently.

CONCLUSION
Managing and staffing workforce on international projects can be a complex and challenging
issue. It is important for the management to make sure that staffing is done properly and they
must take care of every important aspects especially cultural adaptability. Training to employees
is must so that they can have an idea about the challenges that they are going to face and they can
get prepare for the situations that may arise in that project. Human Resource Management, if
given due attention, can undoubtedly be leveraged to be a source of competitive advantage for
organizations expanding across countries.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Aust, I., Muller-Camen, M. and Poutsma, E., 2018. Sustainable HRM: A comparative and
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Management. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Boxall, P., 2018. The development of strategic HRM: reflections on a 30-year journey. Labour
& Industry: a journal of the social and economic relations of work, 28(1), pp.21-30.
Cheng, M.M. and Hackett, R.D., 2021. A critical review of algorithms in HRM: Definition,
theory, and practice. Human Resource Management Review, 31(1), p.100698.

Di Pietro and et. al., 2021. Entrepreneurial Finance and HRM Practices in Small Firms. British
Journal of Management.
Gauci Borda and et. al., 2019, July. Control and Commitment HRM Systems in SME Family
Firms–A Qualitative Study of Hybrid Forms. In Academy of Management
Proceedings (Vol. 2019, No. 1, p. 15754). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of
Management.
Irum, A. and Yadav, R.S., 2019. Human resource information systems: a strategic contribution to
HRM. Strategic Direction.
Kroon and et. al., 2018. A strategic HRM perspective on i-deals. In Current issues in work and
organizational psychology (pp. 371-385). Routledge.
Sokolov, D. and Zavyalova, E., 2019. Human resource management and knowledge
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Management and Competitive Advantage in a Single European Aviation Market
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Yang, J. and Arthur, J.B., 2019. Implementing commitment HR practices: line manager
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