ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF A GLOBAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGER
Introduction
(2004, p. 1) said that in the near future, the advent of the Internet and e-commerce is further increasing the international flow of goods and services and therefore the pace at which internationalization will impact on the Human Resource role is likely to accelerate.
The role of human resource management is now faced with a new dimension with the onset of globalization. Businesses are expanding, some outside of the national boundary, and this affects all components of the business. Human resource management, as an integral part of the business, has to keep up. In order to enhance the competitive advantage of global firms said (2004, p. 32), the human resource professionals (managers and staff) need to focus on developing their own international competencies and at the same, the entire human resource function needs to shift from an administrative orientation to one that places primary attention on the processes of internationalization.
Human resource managers are more affected. They are entrusted with a greater function that the staff. Their whole orientation towards their job will revolve around an international context.
The Human Resource Manager in Multi-national Business
(2002, pp.66-68) reported that with the growth of international businesses, organizations rely more and more on human resource specialists as the facilitators of work across borders and among different cultures. Globalization impacts human resource managers by requiring new skills such as language capabilities. For example, in order to recruit employees from other cultures, Human Resource managers will either have to learn new languages or else they will certainly have to have foreign language speakers on the staff ( 2002, p. 68). In order to remain a central player in organizational change, Human Resource managers need flexibility and a willingness to keep pace with strategic revisions in the company as achieved through Human Resource Management initiatives ( 1995, p. 76). (1999, p. 1) stated that global human resource management provides an organized framework for developing and managing people who are comfortable with the strategic and operational paradoxes embedded in global organizations and who are capable of managing cultural diversity. Human resource managers need to facilitate the inpatriation process, improving inpatriates’ ability to function in the focal organization’s home country ( 1999, p. 1).
Human resource managers must therefore, be knowledgeable of other cultures, languages and business practices. They will be required to develop and manage an international workforce, maintain written and unwritten corporate policies for transportability to other cultures, keep top management informed of the costs of not paying attention to the transnational issues and provide their services to a variety of locations worldwide. Human resource managers need to be familiar with the diversity of the different aspects of international norms to promote organization diversity ( 2002, p. 68).
Differences between Domestic and Global Human Resource Manager
According to (2000, p. 3) in managerial function’s respect, Human Resource Management (HRM) can be classified into five functions – planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. As a human resource manager, whether at a national or international company, he or she must abide by these five fundamental functions to manage people. An international human resource manager must take a global perspective of managing because the organization operates in different countries. Executives operating in a foreign country need to learn a great deal about the country’s education, economic, legal and political system and especially its socio-cultural environment.
Single environment makes management in domestic enterprises become singly and simply. Managers involved in international business are faced with many factors that are different from those of the domestically oriented firms. Furthermore, strategic decisions in domestic companies are often made at headquarters and subsidiaries have limited autonomy. In international companies, business strategy is integrated on a thoroughly global basis. It is important for managers, domestic or global; to be proficient in carrying out the five managerial functions but global managers must also widen their horizon beyond national boundaries. Managers with a global orientation need to understand the difference between countries in culture, recruitment, training and communication. He or she should think about management globally, and take action locally as it is practiced in his or her own country and other places in the world.
References
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