Global Staffers & Management
Let’s learn more about Global Staffers & Management.
An expatriate is an employee working in a country other than their country of origin. An expatriate may also be referred to as a PCN or parent-country national
- PCNs (Parent Country Nationals)
- Those personnel who are of the same nationality as the contracting government or personnel from headquarters
- They come from the home country of the operation.
- The policy of using PCNs is usually employed when one or more of the following situations exist: (1) the host country cannot readily supply desired managerial personnel, (2) efficient communication with headquarters is required, and (3) the company adopts a centralized approach to globalization
- TCNs (Third Country Nationals)
- Those personnel of a separate nationality to both the contracting government and the area of operations i.e. whose nation of residence is neither the host country nor the home country
- Such an employee normally is recruited from outside the host country and
- relocated from the point of recruitment to the host country
- HCNs (Host Country Nationals)
- These are Indigos (Indigenous Personnel) / Nationals / Locals – those personnel who are indigenous to the area of operations
- Whose basic residence or home is the host nation?
- Local colleagues of the expatriate, they are valuable socializing agents, sources of social support, assistance, and friendship to expatriates. Expatriates are more likely to adjust when
- HCNs engage in this behavior
Management
- The vehicle for “going global” is often an international strategic alliance creating a world of “stateless corporations” – a collaboration between two or more TNC/MNCs that allows them to jointly pursue a common goal
- TNC/MNCs are staffed either by recruiting expatriates from the regular organizations or by creating an international cadre of managers, professionals, and workers of very diverse cultural backgrounds
- Companies like Gillette, Sony are already doing their own international cadre of managers now
- Recruiting people directly to an international career will assure a supply of employees who expect and want to go overseas
- Consistency within the growth of international business operations will require effective international human resource management (IHRM) –
- Involves moving people around the world
- Helps HR Managers to formulate and implement policies and activities in the home-office headquarters
- HR Manager‘s responsibilities include selecting, training, and transferring PCN abroad, and formulating policies for the firm as a whole and for its foreign operations
- In staffing international operations, HR managers face a confusing array of choices in recruiting and selecting from one of three types of employees of an international firm. The three nationals or country categories involved in international HRM activities are:
- The host-country where the subsidiary may be located
- The home country where the firm is headquartered
- Other countries that may be the source of labor or finance
- For example, P&G employs Eritrean citizens (HCNs) in its Eritrean operations, often sends U.S. citizens (PCNs) to the Gulf countries on assignment, and may send some of its Italian employees on assignment to its Mexican operations (as TCNs)
- These three types of employee groups have very different cultural backgrounds. Therefore, TNC/MNCs‘HR managers must coordinate policies and procedures to manage from the firm‘s home country as well as in subsidiaries around the world in shaping international compensation and reward systems.
- These policies and practices must effectively balance the needs and desires of HCNs, PCNs and TCNs as well – Failure to recognize differences in managing human resources in international environment frequently results in major difficulties in international operations
