Special Issues in Training and Employee Development

Situations that may Result in Legal Action

Training Issues Resulting From the External Environment

 Cross-cultural preparation - involves educating employees (expatriates) and their families who are to be sent to a foreign
country.

Expatriates - people who work in a country other than their country of origin.

Types of Employees in Global Companies

G. Hofstede identified five dimensions of national culture:

 Individualism-collectivism
 Uncertainty avoidance
 Masculinity-femininity
 Power distance
 Time orientation

To be successful in overseas assignments, expatriates need to be:

 Competent in their area of expertise.

 Able to communicate verbally and nonverbally in the host country.
 Flexible, tolerant of ambiguity, emotionally stable, outgoing and agreeable, and sensitive to cultural differences.
 Motivated to succeed, able to enjoy the challenge of working in other countries, and willing to learn about the host
country’s culture, language, and customs.
 Supported by their families.

Key to successful foreign assignment is a combination of training and career management for employees and their families.

Foreign assignments involve three phases:

 Pre-departure phase
 Employees need to receive language training and an orientation in the new country’s culture and customs; the
family should be included in the orientation.
 Expatriates and their families need information about the various facilities in the area where they will live.
 Employees must discuss with their managers how the foreign assignment fits into their career plans and what type
of position they can expect upon return.

 On-site phase
 Training involves continued orientation to the host country and its customs and cultures through formal programs or
through a mentoring relationship.
 Expatriates and their families may be paired with a mentor from the host country who helps them understand the
new, unfamiliar work environment and community.
  Repatriation phase
 Prepares expatriates for return to the parent company and country from the foreign assignment.
 Expatriates and their families are likely to experience high levels of stress and anxiety when they return because of
the changes that have occurred since their departure.
 Expatriates decide to leave the company because the assignment they are given upon return has less
responsibility, challenges, and status than the foreign assignment.

Virtual expatriates - an operation abroad are assigned to manage without being located permanently in that country.

 Allows the employee to manage globally while keeping in close touch with the home office.
 Are less expensive.
 Expatriates may take longer to solve problems because of the lack of a strong personal relationship with local
employees.

Implications of Cultural Dimensions for Training Design

 Managing work force diversity

The goals of diversity training are:

 To eliminate values, stereotypes, and managerial practices that inhibits employees’ personal development.
 To allow employees to contribute to organizational goals regardless of their race, age, physical condition,
sexual orientation, gender, family status, religious orientation, or cultural background.

Managing diversity - creating an environment that allows all employees to contribute to organizational goals and
experience personal growth.

 This includes access to jobs and fair and positive treatment of all employees.

To successfully manage a diverse work force, companies need to ensure that:

 Employees understand how their values and stereotypes influence their behavior toward people of different gender,
ethnicity, race, or religion.
 Employees gain an appreciation of cultural differences among themselves.
 Behaviors that isolate or intimidate minority group members improve.

Attitude awareness and change programs

 Focus on increasing employees’ awareness of differences in cultural and ethnic backgrounds, physical characteristics,
and personal characteristics that influence behavior toward others.
 The assumption is that by increasing awareness of stereotypes and beliefs, employees will be able to avoid negative
stereotypes when interacting with employees of different backgrounds.

Behavior-based programs

 Focus on changing the organizational policies and individual behaviors that inhibit employees’ personal growth and
productivity.

 Approaches:

 Identify incidents that discourage employees from working up to their potential.

  Teach managers and employees basic rules of behavior in the workplace.
 Cultural immersion - sending employees directly into communities where they have to interact with persons
from different cultures, races, and/or nationalities.

Training Issues Related to Internal Needs of the Company

 Joint union-management programs provide a wide range of services designed to help employees learn skills that are directly
related to their job and also develop skills that are “portable” that is, valuable to employers in other companies or industries.

 Succession planning

 Process of identifying and developing the future leadership of the company.

 Helps attract and retain managerial employees by providing them with development opportunities to attain upper-level
management as a career goal.

 Developing managers with dysfunctional behaviors

 A combination of assessment, training, and counseling is used to help managers change dysfunctional behavior.

 The Individual Coaching for Effectiveness (ICE) program is one such program designed specifically to help managers
with dysfunctional behavior.

 Training and pay systems

 In skill-based pay systems, employees’ pay is based primarily on the knowledge and skills they possess rather than the
knowledge or skills necessary to successfully perform their current job.

 Often used to facilitate cross-training.

 Contributes to better use of employees’ skills and ideas.

 Managers and/or peers usually serve as trainers.

 Require periodic evaluation of employees’ skills and knowledge using behavior and learning outcomes.