Issues of Cross-Cultural and Recruitment - Assignment Example

Human Resource Management Case study Analysis and Essay [Writer’s name] [Institution’s name] Human Resource Management Case study Analysis and Essay Introduction Cross cultural issues is extremely common in human resource management. if it is not handles properly then it causes a lot of problems of the success of the organization. This paper is based on a case study which deals with the issues of cross cultural and recruitment. The case study is analyzes the situation which arises when an manager cannot handle or adjust to the cross cultural changes. Answer 1 As per the case it may noted that due to sally’s blunder that the local agency was not adhering to her deadlines and she was being sent batches of applicants who had little customer service skills and little or no English language skills, making it impossible for her to not only assess the applicants but also to explain the culture that the company was trying achieve. Here Sally should have emphasized to the agency on the first day regarding incorporating behavioral characteristics which she thought would be necessary for a new hire both and would assimilate with the existing office's culture.1 If she would have done this then the mishap of half of the customer service staff employed. Would not lack time management skills, they would not have turned up to induction sessions late and no ongoing problems with communication. If the characteristics matched the culture of the office then the fifty staff she had already employed, ten had failed to report to the office for the second week of induction training. Sally should have checked references carefully. This is the most ignored strategy in hiring practice, however professional say it is extremely necessary. A lot of organizations even take the interviewee consent to credit-history checks2. Out of the 3 provided references Sally should have had phone conversation with at least two, and paid close concentration to the tone of their reference, not just the words being used3 It's not essentially lawful to get in the way of future employment of an ex-staff member, thus past references would not have said anything negative. If Sally would have checked on the references of the people being hired then issues of the fifty staff she had already employed, ten had failed to report to the office for the second week of induction training and lack time management skills, they would not have turned up to induction sessions late and no ongoing problems with communication would not have arisen. Answer 2 Sally could have improved the situation by improving her skills of communication across cultures. Her way of communicating to the new staff must have been the same as she used to with the staff back home. If she would have handled the communication issue then the entire situation would have improved as she would at least have her working staff4. She should have known that her retention methods she would have to be different from those which are used in her old workplace. As highlighted in he case study that applicants who had little customer service skills and little or no English language skills, making it impossible for her to not only assess the applicants but also to explain the culture that the company was trying achieve.5 The fact that they knew very little English would mean that Sally should have improved her Thai language as well as body language to make them understand what she wanted for them. If the employees would see her effort to fit in to their culture instead of molding them according to her then maybe they would have stayed. Thus, it also be noted that nonverbal communication differs across cultures. Colors as well as body language, for instance, can express quite an unusual meaning in one culture and something different to another. Therefore, Sally should have been cautious in taking everything for granted during people management in another culture6. She should have acquired awareness regarding verbal and nonverbal languages of Thailand. Sally was getting more worried about the fact that she had had no success in recruiting the five Team Leaders. She had hoped to fill these positions first, so that she could involve the new Team Leaders in the selection of the customer service staff. However, none of the applicants short listed by the agencies met Sally’s own expectations for the role. This in turn had made her skills of people management weak as she should have taken the role of a team leader sill good ones were hired. She as mentioned before should have adopted herself to the Thai culture as soon as she was given the task of international hiring in Thailand by the upper management. Studies recommend that even if people involved in an international transaction process are familiar with each other’s language, communication can still be effected. Thus, to the most fundamental verbal communication skills, non-verbal communication can result severe misunderstandings. Regardless of the fact if they share countless values, way of life and mind-set, it may be that they may not interpret each other correctly. Sally should have also gained awareness of the Thai environment in as they are stable yet unpredictable, whereas in the society she came from was it is stable and predictable. She could have made he condition better if she would implement the Thai environment instead of her own. It may be possible then the candidates would have stayed. If she would have done the above then by the end of the sixth week, Sally would not have had half of the customer service staff employed. They would no lack the time management skills and would not come late to induction sessions late and no ongoing problems with communication would have taken place. Answer 3 Sally may have not been the right candidate for position. It was true that had been with the company a couple of years now and had quite successfully taken on the role of Team Leader, Attraction and Retention when no other external candidate could be sourced for the role when it became available. She was well liked by her team and was respected for her very efficient approach, successfully maintaining very tight turnaround times for selection processes. She was particularly good with time management and was well known for her quick, weekly staff meetings and was a stickler for sound time management practices within her team. However, regarding international recruitment in a completely different country the candidate should be one who knows their culture, language and even business practices, attitude of the people they were gong to work with ect7. Sally had only had traveled there a number of times over the years, primarily to resorts in Phuket and Penang, and loved the local culture, food and shopping. Thus, it maybe highlighted that she traveled there for leisure and was not aware of their business practices and did not even know their language. English is not spoken much in Thailand and more competent candidate should have been hired8 If was the right choice she would have directed the Thai recruitment agency on exactly what she needed. She would even follow up on the short listed employee list and would make good check and what they were doing. However, she considered even this trip as more of a holiday and waited for the Thai recruitment agency to hand over the shortlist candidates. She should have known the work attitude of Thai recruitment agencies. Thus it may be said due to the above given reasons Sally was not the right candidate. Answer 4 MoneyPenny Investments did not need to improve the recruitment, selection and career development strategies. As, the best global strategies of hiring employees in a different country is by using Hr agencies9. The fact that Sally was experiencing problems in hiring staff. The local agency was not adhering to her deadlines and she was being sent batches of applicants who had little customer service skills and little or no English language skills, making it impossible for her to not only assess the applicants but also to explain the culture that the company was trying achieve. She had had no success in recruiting the five Team Leaders. She had hoped to fill these positions first, so that she could involve the new Team Leaders in the selection of the customer service staff. However, none of the applicants short listed by the agencies met Sally’s own expectations for the role. By the end of the sixth week, Sally only had half of the customer service staff employed. To make matters worse, they lacked the time management skills she expected, turning up to induction sessions late and ongoing problems with communication. Of the fifty staff she had already employed, ten had failed to report to the office for the second week of induction training. The above motioned issues may have risen not due to the selected strategy, but due to the selected person for the task. Here both Sally and the agency were not competent enough to handle the task. So, the only flaw in the strategy was the selection of agency and HR personal for the project. Answer 5 The recruitment of the Team Leader and Customer Service staff in Bangkok could have been handled better. Firstly, they would be of the same culture and could help Sally understand the culture better 10. Secondly they would know the work attitude of people of Thailand and would manage the new employee likewise thus helping the retention. Sally knew that it was important to do so; She had hoped to fill these positions first, so that she could involve the new Team Leaders in the selection of the customer service staff11. Sally knew quite well that one must build a team from the top down, thus, hiring the team leaders first was an important task Hiring the team leader first would have helped Sally s team leaders are not at all inexperienced people, they are mostly people who have top class experience and people management skills. The team leader would have helped Sally in can establishing the operational framework, strategy for hiring, and use they experience to provide advise on which candidate would be the best selection. Thus they would help in making ensuing hiring decisions. (12 Such leaders should be hired at organizational level and provided ample authority The team leaders would have helped Sally in hiring people with the entire customer service staff. To make matters better, would have helped hire people with time management skills and her communication problem would also be solved as they would not communicate directly to them but, would ask the leaders to communicate the required tasks to their teams. Bibliography Gary Dessler (2011); ‘Human Resource Management’; 12 th Edition. (Florida international University: Pearson Book Company, Magdy Hussein, (2009) "Hiring and firing with ethics", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 17 Iss: 4, pp.37 Mayerhofer, H., Hartmann, L.C., Michelitsch-Riedl, G., & Kollinger, I., (2004); Flexpatriate Assignments: A Neglected Issue in Global Staffing. International Journal of HRM, 15, 8, 1371-1389. 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