In this fast-paced world, everyone is on the chase. Organizations are always on the lookout for the next big thing that can disrupt the market.
Long gone are the days when the HR department was restricted to administrative functions, confined to Labor laws, and managing the employees.
With globalization and the internet penetration at the deepest level, businesses across different countries and cultures are actively working together in different time zones.
Today, we have a specific HR function that focuses on hiring the best talent irrespective of age, ethnicity, experience, and location. There is a war for talent; hence, how companies approach the HR policies, procedures and initiatives is crucial for success and growth.
Therefore, several HR functions like Recruitment and Induction, Performance Management and Career Growth, etc., go hand in hand, especially considering the challenges and importance of including employees globally.
For instance, a candidate’s profile is sourced from various global platforms irrespective of location due to globalization. Preliminary interviews are conducted either through Skype or Zoom to comprehend the technical and communication skills.
Furthermore, a long list of core competencies is identified by organizations. Every application the company receives is then scrutinized, ensuring that the right person is selected for the right job.
In this globally interconnected world, in every organization, whether small, mid-sized, or large, the HR department lies at the heart of business strategy since the human resource can convert the business strategy into people strategy.
For instance, selecting the right talent at the right time is a vital ingredient for sustaining business. There are new methods that organizations and companies worldwide follow that ensure it has the right talent for the roles and at the right time when the business requires so that the organization can attain its mission and vision (Brooks, C., 2013).
By a strong HR department, several new dynamics that have been brought along with opening borders across the world through globalization are being properly implemented.
I want to explain to you with an example. For example, a pool of actively looking candidates is organized, which applies for the job application from various portals like Indeed, Seek, LinkedIn, and company referrals. Out of these candidates, few are selected who match the requirement and are a good fit for the organization.
Here are a few aspects which showcase how deeply and extensively globalization has impacted the Human Resource Management
Selection, Recruitments, and Onboarding
To survive the test of time and consequently grow in the market, an organization has to scale. When an organization tries to scale, it requires talent and intellect to work toward the vision with the best talent.
While the organization is performing talent acquisition in the global dynamics, many parameters change, and entire dynamics in which screening, interviewing, selection, and final recruitment occur change completely.
Computer Science or Electronics & Communication. In that case, the same degree pursued by a candidate may vary.
For instance, targeting an engineer who graduated from MIT in the USA, where the organization is headquartered, might not be the same in other geographies. But, like in this same scenario, MIT’s equivalent in India is IITs that produce high-end niche engineers.
Learning and Development
Every individual recruited needs to be properly inducted into the corporate culture not to feel lost. All the individual needs to take the required training and develop themselves.
However, learning and development have gone to the next level with globalization. It accounts for various different training modules that are restricted to the technical domain and groom an employee in various soft-skill aspects.
For instance, in globalization, there are employees from different cultures and geographies working together in the same team or on the same project.
Now, in such a dynamic situation, it is crucial to understand the other culture better to comprehend the action of fellow teammates.
Hence, for a cross-functional team and highly diverse team, it is integral that the HR department offers cross-cultural training to enhance the interactions and overall bonding in the group.
Labor Laws
One of the significant impacts that globalization has on the HR department is getting accustomed to different Labor Laws and implementing them while developing major employee policies and procedures.
In addition, different geographies are governed by other Labor laws. For instance, if the minimum wage of an Engineer is ‘X’ given the standard working hours in the United States compared to the minimum wage for the same position would be ‘Y’ in China or Australia etc.
Human resource managers need to comprehend these labor laws minutely and have thorough knowledge about domestic as well as international Labor laws. Otherwise, the business may witness heavy penalty charges and find themselves in a very thick soup.
Corporate Communication
With globalization, the business also welcomes a 24*7 work culture that never sleeps! If the office in one country is closing, then another office in some other geography may still be opening full of business hours.
In this way, when the company is performing business in different countries, connecting with other colleagues may become very difficult.
Hence, the HR department has to come up with various communication strategies that can establish and synchronize efforts without compromising the off-hours of employees supporting from different geographies.
Open and transparent communication can truly go hand-in-glove with administration. You can’t be a successful pioneer if you’re not ready to verbalize what you need your group to do.
Be that as it may, you’re not just going to speak with your group; you’ll have to have clear correspondences with everybody related to the venture, from sellers and temporary workers to partners and clients.
Regardless of whether that is through detailing apparatuses or encouraging joint effort with talk, record sharing, and different intends to label conversations at the assignment level; you will have the two frameworks set up to encourage interchanges (Cao, F., Zhang, J., Song, L., Wang, S., Miao, D., & Peng, J. 2017).
These frameworks additionally help associate individuals coordinated and in bunch settings, for example, gatherings and introductions.
Developing Strong People Strategy
Today globalization has majorly impacted the HR function in almost all organizations changing the ways of working and how activities are performed at the ground level.
The primary focus is more on putting globalization as an organization’s strategy first and then seamlessly integrating the people. With this core idea, HR departments and business functions believe it can enhance employers’ strategic execution, focus, and workforce issues.
Without a pool of talent and trained workforce, no organization can harness the value of being global; hence giving more importance to people is vital to create value for the business and different stakeholders.
Incorporating Global HR Process
Furthermore, with globalization, the focus has also shifted on building a diverse and differentiated workforce which involves investing more in strategy rather than people.
This is because strategy creates a competitive advantage and creates value by designing and managing its workforce strategy. Today HR has to wear many hats and also indulge in the conversation about predicting and diagnosing people-related problems.
It also works at prescribing action plans that can add value to the business. Finally, it is the people that drive change in any organization. So, no strategy could ever be successful if the organization doesn’t have good and willing people to execute those strategies.
Conclusion
Essentially globalization has helped the HR department on attracting top talent or demonstration of the financial contribution. These HR initiatives may all be good business practices and improve operational excellence and contribute to strategic success.
With the help of diverse talent, globalization has indeed supported the overall success of the organization. I want to substantiate with a few examples of TATA Communications, General Electric, BlackRock, and Marsh, who leveraged the benefits of globalization to drive overall business success.
Today, businesses can keep the workforce strategy in close association with a growing business strategy like expansion in different geographies, which can help the firm attain its overall objective.
This new form of HR strategy can also help in creating a strong competitive advantage. Today, the organization is not considering working on the feelings of the people while making decisions and completely channeling the power of data analytics to make important decisions.
