How can Human Resource Management support expatriates?

Résumé du document

More companies are going global in order to be in touch with the more customers as possible. To do that, first they have to outsource their activities, then, for getting the best management they want to reach, these companies and use a management that they have never used before: taking advantage of expatriates. Thus, their goal is to have managers who have a thorough knowledge of different ways of thinking, of managing, another point of view, and who can assimilate to various cultures. According to Black: "You still have to have certain business results. The key is that you make sure you don't insist on the same means to the same result. If a different approach will get it done in a different country, that's the way to go. You have to care about the results more than the method."

But expatriates can also be in a company for training local employees to a specific company culture. In spite of the expatriates' assignment is, for the most part, short-term assignment, the human resources manager of the home country company has to lead the expatriate and to support him throughout his mission.

Extraits

[...] How can Human Resource Management support expatriates? Table of contents Introduction: 2 I. Expatriate's first steps: 2 Adaptation and support: 2 Training: 3 II. Conflicts management: 4 Culture shock: 4 Conflict with other employees: 4 Conclusion: 5 References: 6 Introduction: More and more, companies are going to be global in order to be in touch with the more customers as possible. To do that, first they have to outsource their activities, then, for getting the best management they want to reach, these companies will use a management they didn't use before: taking advantage of expatriates. [...]

[...] Secondly, expatriates can have a mentor. This one will help expatriate in “accepting overseas assignments, improve the coordination of the transfer and facilitate repatriation” (Stone, Managing human resources). This mentor, working in the home-country, is a privileged link between the expatriate and the company, because he prevents the expatriates from being out-of-date with news from home. Indeed, the transfer between the home- country and the host-country has to be as smooth as possible: the expatriate should feel like he is working in the same country as before. [...]

[...] This point has not to be neglected, because it can be a conflict source with other employees, as seen before, and it can give to the expatriate a negative view of the country, where he works, and so a lack of efficiency in his assignment accomplishment. Moreover conflicts are also the consequence of advantages the expatriate can benefit. In fact, an expatriate, by definition, is an employee working for a company in his home country, which send him to a host country subsidiary to do his mission. So, the expatriate will get two salaries, and some expatriation bonus. Local employees know easily that one employee is, or not, an expatriate. [...]

[...] But also on the professional level by training the expatriate on the language or on the habits and customs, lifestyle and daily life in the future country of residence. Nevertheless, despite all efforts coming from the human resources manager, some conflicts may appear that he can control, especially because he is a long way from the expatriate and his situation. So, human resources department of the home country company can support expatriates by many ways, and not uniquely professional ways. References: Stone, R.J. (2008). Managing human resources (2nd ed.). [...]

[...] (1995). Learning to manage host-country nationals. Personnel Journal, March 1995, pp 60-67. Craig, T. (Jun 23, 2009). What expats need from HR. Personnel Today, Jun 23,2009, p 18. [...]