HR Expanding its Horizons

A CIPD guide has been launched to help organisations develop managers with the capability to operate at an international level

The need to find ways of creating managers with international mindsets who can deliver solutions in a globally competitive environment is one of the biggest drivers in the quest for excellent international management development today.

Allied to this is the balancing act which companies are striving to achieve by creating top learning environments to attract the best talent looking for excellent development opportunities, while trying to retain employees who have had these opportunities and are making a real contribution to the organisation and are therefore susceptible to being poached.

Adding to this complexity is the fact that managers increasingly want ownership of the development of their global careers.

In response, the CIPD has published a new guide on international management development written by Dr Michael Dickmann and Dr Hilary Harris.

The guide draws on evidence from recent CIPD research by Dickmann and Harris which indicates that concepts about international careers are changing.  This is linked to the changing nature of the psychological contract between employers and employees and the shift from training to learning.  Graduates are increasingly looking for international experience in their wish list from employers of choice, and companies are often keen to send younger employees on international assignments, not least because their total costs are less than those for more senior employees who are often accompanied by their families.  But, again, there are paradoxes.  Not everyone sees international experience as desirable - ‘wanderlust’ has often been quenched in those gap years, and some of the places on offer, such as Iraq and Uzbekistan, are not at the top of the ‘places I must visit’ list for those most needed, such as civil engineers.  Interestingly, at a time when graduates say they’re interested in global careers, take-up of places at university to learn foreign languages looks like it is at an all-time low and isn’t even a requirement on some international relations courses.  Many schools are completely abandoning the struggle to make reluctant year 10 and 11 pupils battle with cases, conjugations and declensions.  Of course, with English as the world’s business language, it might be easy to sympathise with this view, but it’s a fact that the ability to have some communication skills in the language of your business associates does help create a good rapport and some sense of cross-cultural awareness, a lack of which can be the stumbling block for many business relationships.

In a turbulent world, companies have adopted a multi-strand approach to developing employees for working in international environments.   Elite cadres of executives with a clear succession plan participating in highly structured executive education programmes have given way to a blended approach with more hands-on learning through international assignments.  These are seen as one of the major ways to prepare high-potential managers to be future leaders of their organisations, with the benefits outweighing the costs.

Current practice in international management development focuses on the importance of the chief executive and senior management team supporting this approach.  Increasingly, as a result of cost pressures, HR staff are being expected to take responsibility for international assignments, to look at the value of international mobility and put in place measures to determine the value of an international assignment. Equally, many companies are recognising that leadership development and diversity are inextricably linked.  One of the main purposes of international assignments as part of the development process is to create diversity in organisations, especially in the top management team, which often only reflects the nationality of the parent company. If potential senior managers are exposed to working practices and operations in different countries, there is a greater chance that they will fulfil their potential, and multicultural boards will be in greater evidence.

Source:  Impact.  Quarterly update on CIPD Policy and Research Issue 14 – February 2006