Effective Recruiting and Selecting Competent Expatriates for International Placement - Coursework Example

Task: ‘For a variety of reasons, establishing competencies and more effective recruitment and selection processes for potential expatriates has become increasingly important. Discuss.’ Student’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Introduction Expatriates are individuals who live and work outside their home country for a specified period of time. The expansion of global markets has led to increased competition for the same markets. This has motivated the multinationals to be more interested in improving the competencies and recruitment and selections for employees who are to be working for the multinational in those global markets. Managing expatriates is a humongous and expensive challenge for international firms. Up to 45% of US expatriates return home from their assignments abroad before the completion of their contracts (O’Sullivan et al. 79). This leads to firms suffering from both direct and indirect losses. Direct in terms of monies paid for salary, training, and shipping the expatriates to these assignments in foreign countries (Mendenhall and Oddou 42). Indirect consequences include decrease in market share and reduced morale in the expatriates (Zeira and Banai 33). This essay will explore the reasons as to why it is necessary to effectively recruit and select competent expatriates for international placement. It is important for multinational companies to establish competencies and effective recruitment and selection processes because of what has come to be commonly referred to as ‘expatriate failure’. Expatriate failure is either an individual returning home early before completing the job in that foreign country stayed in the foreign country for the required period of time but did not perform according to required standards or the expatriate leaves the company after returning home from the assignment abroad (Sweeney and McFarlin 465). Research shows that 34% of expatriates failed in 180 multinationals. Because of the many problems associated with expatriate failure, expatriate management has gained more airplay. Chew (12-17) also postulates that expatriates abandon their duties abroad prematurely and come home due to being unsatisfied with the job or due to culture shock. This expatriate failure is a function of the recruitment and selection process so a revision of the same process in order to make it more effective is necessary as far as making expatriates more effective in their duties is concerned (Harvey and Novicevic 73-75). This expatriate failure has far reaching implications and consequences which alone make it necessary if not important for multinational companies or any other company with its employees on foreign assignments to overhaul the traditional way of determining competencies, recruiting and selecting expatriates. One of such failure is the premature return of the expatriate. This can crippling the company’s credibility weaken its ability to compete effectively in the international arena (Sweeney and McFarlin 466). This according to O’Sullivan et al. (80) leads to loss of market share. A firm failing in the international eye means that the firm has lost its competitive advantage and premature return of expatriates does exactly this to a firm jeopardising its chances of expansion. There are also losses in terms of shipping and relocation costs. Moving expatriates abroad is expensive; it is even more expensive if it involves moving the expatriate together with the family members that is the spouse and children. These costs on relocation can go up $100,000 and this is incurred by the company sending the expatriate abroad (Sweeney and McFarlin 466). So if there is expatriate failure it means all these monies go down the drain. So coming up with better recruitment and selection processes for potential expatriates will go a long way in cutting down or better still doing away with these costs. Another reason that may make the establishment of competencies and effective recruitment and selection processes is the preparation and support costs involved in setting up the expatriate for the job. These costs are enormous in that if there is an error in the recruitment and selection processes the impact these costs will have on the firm will be huge. These are the costs that the firm incur directly in training the expatriate, paying the expatriate’s salary and support services charges (Sweeney and McFarlin 466). The expatriate and the spouse will require attending counselling workshops and career development consultations to help the expatriate and the family to re-adapt in the new environment. These workshops are important and necessary in the adjustment process (Sievers 9-11). This indeed necessitates the actual discussions on improving the way expatriates are recruited and selected before they are sent away to perform their duties. If this is done right these costs will have value in terms of the effective performance of the expatriate and completion of the job the way it is required. Expatriate failure also hurts and cripples self-esteem of the expatriate as well (Sweeney and McFarlin 466). Because of failure in completing the task, the expatriate loses self-confidence and prestige among peers (O’Sullivan et al. 79). This destroys the expatriate’s relations with fellow employees, suppliers, clients and officials. This might take like forever to amend or even worse some expatriates end up having psychological breakdowns. This affects their performance in the local arena when they return home. This can be avoided if in managing expatriates competencies and effective recruitment and selection processes are established. This failure of expatriates also wears heavily on the other employees within the firm. Because of fear of the same fate begetting them, the other employees will not willingly and readily take up assignments abroad (O’Sullivan et al. 79). Thus expatriate failure can go as far as poisoning the entire organisation as far as international duties are concerned. This can be avoided with the establishment of competencies and effective recruitment and selection processes for the likely expatriates. Expatriate failure has also lead to the multinational companies having difficulties with the host countries. Once the expatriates fail to deliver in these host countries, the local leadership start agitating that these multinationals should recruit the locals to run the multinational subsidiaries situated in these countries (Chew 21). This is a recipe for sour relations between the multinationals and the host countries. These multinationals find themselves at crossroads where they are faced with a decision making challenge which will either make or break them. This makes the discussion of having to establish competencies and effective recruitment and selection processes for potential expatriates important as well as necessary. As this will ensure cohesion between the multinational companies and the host countries. The effectiveness of many expatriates depends on their capabilities and those of their families adapting to the new environment. Although most multinational companies admit the significance of the role played by family and spouse as far as the performance of the expatriate is concerned, this has not been featured in the selection and repatriation policies and practices of these corporations. This low opinion about an employee’s spouse and family’s role in enabling the expatriate perform better can be as a result of most multinationals wanting to cut down costs in the human resource management practices (Chew 27). According to Selmer (11-23), most multinational are more concerned with technical competencies as far as the selection of expatriates is concerned. This is contrary to the fact that most international projects do not see the light of day or are halted simply because of spouse and family issues with family adjustment standing at 65%, spouse resistance at 53% and spouse ‘s career at 45% as the most critical hindrances to expatriates taking up an international assignment. Bonache and Brewster (160) categorically states that expatriates will perform poorly in their international assignmeSnts and actually could consider early return from the overseas assignment if the expatriate’s family and spouse are having problems adjusting to the new environment abroad. This aspect of expatriate’s spouse and family is more important an issue in the recruitment and selection of expatriates to be taken for granted. The ranking of the same issue has been low hence the more reason why the issue of establishing competencies and effective recruitment and selection processes for potential expatriates should be discussed. The other concern with expatriates which might necessitate re-looking at the way expatriates are managed is the multinationals incapability to hold onto the expatriates once they return home from their assignments abroad. 25% of expatriates once they are through with their assignments abroad want to quit working for their companies once they return home (Hammer, Hart and Rogan 73). They also estimate the cost of a single expatriate at $1.2 million. Statistic given by Sweeney and McFarlin (460) indicate that multinationals in career developments plans for expatriates after repatriation have reduced rates of repatriate turnover than those lacking such plans. Better preparing the homecoming of expatriates by such programs as career and financial counselling as well as family orientation programs and also having in place a career development path to be followed by repatriates will go a long way in reducing repatriates turnover rates which otherwise could be too expensive for multinational companies. This can be achieved by proper managing expatriates’ recruitment and selection processes hence it is important to establish competencies and effective recruitment and selection processes for the likely expatriates. Because failure to address repatriation problems from the onset of recruitment and selection of expatriates will lead to disappointments and high turnover rates. Another aspect which actually becomes really to expatriates once they land in the foreign county is the existence of a culture which is different from what the expatriate was used to at home. This may lead to culture shock in the part of the expatriate making settling in to the new assignment difficult (Sweeney and McFarlin 471). This makes cross-cultural adjustment and training more of a necessity. The expatriate should be prepared for the cultural conditions in the host country. The local identify with and expatriate irrespective of his or her nationality as long as the expatriate understands and respects the cultural differences and readily adapts to them. Thus, this necessitates pre-departure training for expatriates in the various cultures in the host country. The expatriates should be prepared enough in order to be able to bridge home-host country practices. Failure of expatriates has to some extent been attributed to their inability to adapt to the host country’s ways of life and failing to meet the requirements of the working conditions in the host country. Hence, it is important to have new face as far as the recruitment and selection processes of expatriates are concerned that factor in the pre-departure training of the expatriates about the laws, customs, foods, religious orientations, language, people, activities and etiquette of the people of the host country. An example can be drawn from Egypt, where foreign journalists were arrested and charged in court and eventually sent to prison for having not reported according to the rules and regulations set by their host country. This will change the expatriate’s behaviour and attitudes and thus raise the chance of attaining assignment goals in the international project. The more reason as to why establishing competencies and effective processes for recruitment and selection is not only important but also necessary in the management of expatriates. Stress on the part of expatriates is a clear indication that effective recruitment and selection should be in place for potential expatriates. Relocating to a foreign country to take up an assignment has proved to be challenging and stressful to most expatriates. Relocating abroad changes the fundamental aspects of the expatriate’s life; it takes away the expatriate’s previous friends and requires them to forge friendship with co-workers, customers, suppliers and other people who may hold different views on religion, beliefs, customs, culture. The expatriate is beaten by this and results to drug abuse in attempts of trying to run away from such challenges at the expense of performing their duties (Sweeney and McFarlin 464). This result to stress among the expatriates making performance of their duties nearly impossible. Worse still others end up in mental institutions. It is in the light of this that human resource management departments in multinational companies need to establish competencies and effective recruitment and selection processes for potential expatriates to curb this. Another challenge that expatriates and the multinationals face is the hostilities in the host countries. The existence of militia groups and civil unrest in potential destinations of expatriates. Most expatriates return home prematurely because they were prepared and properly inducted during recruitment and selection processes (O’Sullivan et al. 80). For example, the abduction of expatriates working with a humanitarian aid agency in Somalia. So during expatriate recruitment, selection and training should also factor in the aspect of the political situation existing in the host country. This will go a long way in ensuring that people with the right skills for that particular environment are selected for the job. Hence, among the competencies for the abroad assignment, this particular aspect needs to be brought into the fold when establishing competencies and effective recruitment and selection processes for potential expatriates. Expatriate failure has to some extent also been associated with the host country’s political stability. That explains the low success rates of expatriates in those host countries with political instabilities. Conclusion In conclusion, expatriate failures should be reduced or better still completely avoided. Consequently an array of interventions has been put forward in order to achieve this end. These interventions fall under establishing competencies and effective recruitment and selection strategies for potential expatriates. This has been necessitated by the direct and indirect costs incurred in expatriate management. These costs will have to be made in vain if the expatriate goes to the foreign assignment and fails to deliver on the job. Hence the need to come up with measures which will ensure that expatriates perform the duties effectively and the multinationals that sent them on these foreign get profit for their investment. Some of these measures include the multinationals defining not only the technical requirements of the job but also listing the cultural and adaptability requirements of the job, expatriate training on these aspects, career development programs for repatriates to avoid losing them after their return from their assignments abroad. References Bonache, J. and Brewster, C. “Knowledge transfer and the management of expatriation.” Journal of Thunderbird International Business Review. 43.1 (2001): 145-168. Chew, Janet. “Managing MNC Expatriates through Crises: A Challenge for International Human Resource Management.” Journal of Human Resource Management. 12.2 (2004): 1-30. Harvey, M.G. and Novicevic, M. “Selecting expatriates for increasingly complex global assignments.” Journal of International Career Development. 6.2 (2001): 69-86. Mendenhall, M. and Oddou, G. “The dimensions of expatriate acculturation.” Academy of Management Review. 10. (1985): 39-47. O’Sullivan, Sharon et al. “Expatriate management “best practices” in Canadian MNCs: a multiple case study.” Career Development International. 7.2 (2002): 79-95. Selmer, J. “Usage of corporate career development activities by expatriate managers and the extent of their international adjustment.” International Journal of Commerce and Management. 10.1 (2000): 1-23. Sievers, C. “Work/family: Key to successful assignment.” Human Resource Focus. 75.3 (1998): 9-11 Sweeney, Paul D. and McFarlin, Dean B. “International Management: Strategic opportunities and cultural challenges”. NewYork: Routledge, 2015. Zeira, Y. and Banai, M. “Present desired methods of selecting expatriate managers for international assignments.” Personnel Review. 13.3 (1984): 29-35. Read More