This is a guest post from Sheetal Kamble, content analyst of the Technology Counter. Sheetal likes to simplify complex HR and payroll processes. Her forte is in employee engagement initiatives and how to choose the best HR software to suit your business.
Organizations today are a part of a global village with evolving technology. There is a vast paradigm shift in the way we work, interact, and perceive. It pushes the HR department to expand its horizons to acquire the best talent.
It is a challenge to manage a global workforce. It is essential to have a strategic plan to manage talent, mobility, and cultural diversity. According to the world economic forum’s warning, we are entering an era of unparalleled talent scarcity.
Organizations today not only need to hire, sustain, and retain talent, but they need to be flexible enough to set up where the best talent is available at the best price. In this blog, we will study in-depth the HR challenges of this global village.
Top challenges with a global workforce
Effective Communication
It is a challenge to work closely within the team when your teams are across the globe. Handling the virtual workforce is quite a big task to accomplish. There is a big difference between physical office spaces and virtual office spaces. Teams have to put extra efforts to maintain a professional relation virtual and make sure the communication is effective.
Managing Talent Diversity
When your organization has a presence at different places, the cultures also differ. Due to globalization, the workforce has become more diverse. Human resource leaders face a challenge when dealing with a heterogeneous team. Having a diverse workforce will have implications for management.
Managers should understand the differences between in-office and remote resources and make decisions accordingly. HR managers should implement practices that unite the workforce to enhance creativity, productivity, and efficiency.
Managing the workforce effectively with HR software will help organizations have transparency, better communication, and positive work culture.
Abiding by Local Laws
Legal implications harm your organization’s brand image and also can incur high costs when ignored. Many labor laws change with state and country boundaries. The organization must ensure that they abide by the local laws and regulations. If the company breaks any rules, it may need to stop operations in that area.
Talent Gaps
One of the biggest challenges of the HR department is to attract, hire, develop, and retain employees that have the skillset to execute a skilled job. It is an additional challenge to find someone that is skilled who knows the local and international market.
The HR teams need to acquaint themselves with immigration laws to hire resources from other countries. HR software solutions reduce the gap between the talent and the talent system.
Conflicts of Interest
When your organization has a global presence, integration of different markets will be a challenge. The local market also changes and differs from state to state. When it comes to the world market, resources belonging to different nations will have their interest that impacts your business goals.
Challenges for HR Managers
1) Adapting to Change
Organizations are adapting to the transformation of the global village. The technology is also evolving, which comes out as a challenge to adapt and implement change. All your workforce must acquaint with the changes as well.
2) Work Culture and Environment
When your business is on the path of expansion, it will acquire and merge with different people, governments, and businesses. During all of this hustle and bustle, it is a challenge to concentrate on setting up a high work culture and sustain a positive work environment.
3) Setting up the Right Ethics and Values
Ethics and value play a fundamental role in business success. Having a diverse workforce gets people from different backgrounds together. It is a challenge to align your workforce with your organization’s goals. The best way they can achieve this is to set the best practices to increase longevity.
4) Maintaining a Low Attrition Rate
Any organization invests a lot of time and money to hire and train the right people that are fit for the job. Globalization has increased the number of opportunities in the market. Resources change for better opportunities or financial growth. The organization will have to start again from scratch to hire and train. It is a big challenge for HR managers to keep a low attrition rate.
5) Work-life Balance
Having a balance in professional and personal life is crucial for happiness and stability. HR managers have a huge responsibility to create a perfect balance between work and personal life. Perfect balance helps to boost productivity and retention rate.
6) Stress and Conflict
Globalization has fueled competitiveness and made things faster. It also has increased the number of working hours, higher targets, and competition. It is the responsibility of the HR department to reduce stress and solve conflicts if any arise. It is a challenge for them to keep the tension and conflicts between the teams minimum.
7) Needed Organization Restructures
The world is moving at high pace organizations need to adapt to the pace and restructure the workforce effectively. It is a challenge for managers to restructure their processes.
How to Overcome the HR Challenges of a Global Workforce
Mentor Programs
Mentor programs are one of the most effective ways to manage a diverse workforce. Business leaders can choose managers from different departments for the mentor program to train and give feedback to employees from different backgrounds.
Strategic Deployment of Talent
More organizations are entering the global market. That increases the necessity of strategic deployment of diverse talents to analyze and succeed in niche markets. Be sure to allocate a good spread of talent across all your departments, so every pod has the experts they need to keep things running smoothly.
Analyze the Results
An HR manager needs to regularly assess issues like payroll, development, and work environment. It benefits to understand their longevity and growth. It also helps to understand the changes required in the work process.
Motivated Workforce
Workforce motivation is a critical key to success. It helps inspire your workforce to achieve business goals. If your team is content, that can motivate them to be overachievers.
Tip: Ensure motivated employees by making sure they’re placed in the right roles.
Monetary Benefits
Monetary benefits can motivate employees like nothing else. Organizations should appreciate the top performers and reward them gifts, incentives, vouchers, and travel internationally to other offices to learn more about them.
Wrapping it up
HR manager roles should evolve with the global expansion of the business. To manage a global workforce, they need to lead and strategize an effective action plan. HR departments are becoming more flexible and resilient to overcome challenges.
About the Author: Jocelyn Pick
