Human Resource Management in Singapore †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Human Resource Management in Singapore. Answer: Introduction Internationalisation is defined as the process of increasing the involvement of the business organization in the international market. It is important for the entrepreneurs to understand and appreciate the values, beliefs and business strategies of the companies that are in other countries and this will help to internationalize the business successfully. The entrepreneurs must also try to be innovative and they must be committed to corporate social responsibility. Internationalization is considered as one of the best business strategy that are used by many executives so as to reduce the operational cost. There are certain businesses with overhead cost and internationalization can help them in cutting down or reducing the excess cost in such countries which have deflated currencies and lower cost of living. The organizations can also reduce the cost of doing their businesses with the help of reduced labor cost. It is found that in certain cases there are organiastions that are trying internationalization in times of financial crisis (Dachs et al. 2014). This organization will try to formulate the budget and they will be willing to expand in the foreign market. This paper will highlight the strategies and the approaches that will be taken by a new internationalizing organization in Thailand to train their employees in Singapore for long-term projects. Further, it will also discuss the challenges which are faced the employees of the organization in Singapore. It will also analyze how the management and the HR will assist the employees in coping with various challenges and thus help them to be successful. Critical Analysis Strategies and approaches taken by the companies in Thailand to train their employees in Singapore who will work on new projects As there are many organizations in Thailand that are trying to expand in Singapore, it is important to find out convenient ways to identify the relevant skills and knowledge of the employees. These will also help the management to train the employees because they can identify their skills accordingly. There might be certain changes in the terms and conditions of the employees when they are working or trying to develop new projects in Singapore. The employees might assume that they will be entitled to the benefits or changes and this will help the employees in reducing their misconceptions and misunderstandings. The new technologies which will be used by the business organizations in Thailand will provide greater opportunities and the employees will be send to Singapore to oversee the operation, administration and marketing processes. The employees must try to understand the perception of time and they must be flexible with the meetings and other work related events (Lakshman et al. 2 017). As training and orientation for the international projects will help the employees to avoid the various misunderstandings and culture shock and adjust in Singapore. The first step that will ensure proper training to the employees for Singapore is painstaking screening. The employees may require special training in certain grounds and the HR policies will be formulated accordingly for the maintenance of healthy labor relation in the organization. There must be systematic selection and training of the employees because it has been found that most organizations in Thailand do not provide systematic training. The organizations must adopt a four level approach on training the employees for specialized projects (Schroeder 2017). The first stage of the training process must focus on the cultural differences and raising the awareness of the employees and their consequences on the organization. The second level of training will focus on the aims and attitudes of the employees. Moreover, it is also important to understand the attitudes of the employees and how it will influence their behavioral process. The third stage of the training process will discuss on the factual knowledge of Singapore and what are the necessary steps taken by the management to expand their business successfully in Singapore. The final stage of the training programme will help in the development of skills in certain areas such as adjustment of the new norms and ethics of the company and certain adaptation skills. If the organizations are trying to provide cross-cultural training, it must be done with utmost care. In certain cases, language training which is included in non-verbal awareness must also be provided by the organization (Wheelen and Hunger 2017). The strategic approach must be taken by the organization so as to train its employees on a new project which is trying to expand in Singapore. This will help the management to train the employees and establish a learning culture in the organization. The employees from various backgrounds needs to be oriented towards the corporate culture (Smallwood 2014.). Moreover, geocentric approach must be taken for sharing the knowledge. When the company follows the geocentric approach the candidates will be recruited on the basis of their skills and experiences. Although the geocentric approach is expensive, however the company can recruit the employees efficiently and also provide them promotion from time to time. The company will be more beneficial if they choose the ethnocentric approach because in this approach the employees are sent from the home country to the host country for further promotion. They can work on the new projects more efficiently and effectively and this will help the comp any in the long run. The ethnocentric strategy is followed by the companies when they are trying to expand rapidly in a short span of time in the host country. In this case, the company can transfer the core competencies from Thailand to Singapore and this will help in the expansion of the project that is operational in Singapore for more than a year. It is vital for the company to train the expatriates for the success of international business operation. This training is considered as a decisive factor as it is necessary to judge the previous performance and quality of the employees (Ployhart and Weekley 2014). The training shall include cross-cultural training as it helps in understanding the culture of the host country. The employees must also be provided language training to communicate with the people of the host country. It is important to understand the verbal, oral, written and non-verbal communication skills that are used by the people in the host country. As the job, which is allocated to each employee, is unique, therefore every employee must be provided necessary training to deal with the particular job requirement. In this stage, there are three types of training that is provided to the employees i.e. the information giving approach that has a low level of rigour. Sometimes, the company might also follow the affective approach that is important to address the feelings and sentiments of the employees. The immersion approach is also followed in certain stage to provide in-depth knowledge of the wide range of methods and topics. During the first week of the training phase i.e. in t he information giving approach, the employees who have relocates to Singapore will be given brief idea of the language and the project (Yadav and Shankar 2016). On the other hand in the first four weeks of training i.e. in the affective approach the critical incidents which has been faced by the company during the period of one year are explained to the employees. Moreover, the employees are also provided training on how to deal with uncertainties that can affect the project in future. The stress reduction training is also provided to the employees during this period. In the first two months of training, when the level of rigour is high the immersion approach is followed by the company to provide sensitivity training, simulations and extensive language training. Thus, it can be said that all these approaches can increase the efficiency of the employees who will be sent to Singapore and it will be easier for the management to provide training to the employees for working on overseas projects (Ehrenberg and Smith 2016). Challenges faced by the employees while working abroad There are certain advantages as well as disadvantages while working in a multinational organization. These challenges can be on various grounds i.e. from co-ordination of the design to the language and cultural barriers. Depending on the design and location of the project, there must be co-ordination between the employees because they will be working on different time zones and on different days. The employees can correspond through e-mail or Skype meetings and thus communication becomes more limited (McFarlin and Sweeney 2014). As there will be limited opportunity for communication, the employees will be more focused in effective and well planned communication. The team members also face problem on understanding the business language. The employees may also face miscommunication and interpretation difficulties of the language. The employees also face challenges in adjusting to diverse workplace situation. The employees may be shaped by their own culture and they might have different level of expectations, ideas and goals about the basic concepts in the organization. Moreover, communication also becomes more difficult in multicultural workplace. It is necessary to focus on the successful functioning of the organization through proper communication (Deissinger and Breuing 2014). The companies who are transitioning from homogenous to other cultural diversity also ahs to face some sort of resistance from the employees in the long run. The employees will be unwilling to adjust in a new environment according to the new cultural background of the people. Workplace diversity is also regarded as an important challenge for the employees who has limited exposure to projects. There may be certain challenges which are faced by the employees during the training phase. There are certain companies that promote their employees into management and supervisory roles because they try to demonstrate good working habits and job proficiency. In such cases, the employees may face challenges when they cannot handle such positions. The management must provide proper training to the employees. The relationship between the employees and the supervisor must never be strained. This creates a challenge for the management as well as the employees and it will be resolved only through prop er interaction between the two levels (Claps et al.2015). Work-life balance is also an important challenge for the employees who are working abroad. The employers may realize that there are certain packages that are important for the employees to understand or it will pose challenge to them. The employees also face challenges when the employers access their performance in times of appraisal. It is difficult to understand the basis on which they are appraised every year (Deresky 2017). Role played by the management and the HR to assist the employees in coping with difficulties The management must interact with the employees to solve their problems effectively. It is important for the management to check that they avoid disagreements that will cause more problems in the long run. The most common source of conflict in the workplace includes the limited use of resources and conflicts of interest. Despite the hiring regulation and the equal opportunity, the company must try to value tolerance and diversity in the workplace. The HR manager must try to reduce discrimination in the workplace. The employees must be provided with the opportunity to share their cultural principles and values so that they can solve the problem in a better way. The HR department must organize workshops and seminars so that employees will be able to interact with each other. It is vital to recognize the attitudes and perception of the employees as they come from different backgrounds and they try to adapt to the new culture (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 2013). There are certain conflicts which causes disruption in the workplace. A successful leader tries to promote effective communication so as to help the employees to resolve the disputes in a short span of time. The communication between the employees will help them to understand the root cause of the problem and find out ways to solve them. The HR must create collaborative environment in the workplace to establish the roles and responsibilities in a proper way. Moreover, if the management defines the objectives in a proper way, it will reduce the misunderstanding among the employees. For example, in certain cases, it is seen that if one employee of Singapore cannot handle the task or proceed with the project because another employee in Thailand cannot help him/her with the task by providing the necessary information. This conflict can be resolved in the workplace through proper communication. Sometimes, it is seen that one employee may prefer to work under pressure while the other emplo yee may prefer to complete the work in advance. So, communication may help in reducing the stressful and tensed situation in the workplace. The HR must also help the employees to cope up with the stress and thus prevent absenteeism in the workplace. The employee who takes excessive stress suffer from certain health problem and they might find difficulty in maintaining work life balance (Crane and Matten, 2016). Conclusion Thus, it can be said that managing the human resource in an international organization can be regarded as a complex issue. The companies are constantly striving to improve the human resource strategies. It is important to select the right candidate and send them to a foreign country for further development of the project that is operating for more than one year. The management must also to provide proper training before allocating the job to the employees. Moreover, the employees must also be aware of the challenges that are to be faced by them. The compensation strategy also motivates the employees and keeps their morale high so that they can accept new projects and cope with them effectively. Therefore, the multinational organizations must try to maintain harmonious relationship with the employees to avoid confrontations in the long run. References Claps, G.G., Svensson, R.B. and Aurum, A., 2015. 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