GLOBALIZATION AND CURRENT HR TRENDS

 

'GLOBALIZATION' can be described as the worldwide movement towards economic, financial, trade and communication integration (Business Dictionary, 2019). The transformation of human resources today is a direct call of the rapid changes within businesses due to factors such as globalization. In the global competition within the flat and connected new world, decision making in organizations has become increasingly intricate and convoluted. The new global world has widened the talent pool for excellent and marginal workers, and for permanent and fluid workers. HR need to take advantage of technology and data analytics to build a global human resource information system that collects and stores data from various sources.

MAJOR FACTORS FOR GLOBALIZATION-

        Shortage of talented people in own country-Most of developed countries will face long term talent shortages mainly due to ageing and the retirement of baby boomers. There are more workers retiring than entering the labor force in these countries. 

           Availability of Low Cost Labor from Emerging Countries-The total number of university-educated workers in low-wage countries far exceeds the number for higher wage countries. Currently, India produces as many young engineers as the United States, and China produces more than twice as many. The migration of workers and outsourcing of work from emerging countries to developed countries.

            Progress in new technology-Globalization is made possible by the development of cost effective, yet very powerful technologies, including the Intra- and Internet, enterprise resource planning system, data warehouse, data mart, and data analytics. Many service jobs, such as call centers, animation, transcription, and software development can be carried out remotely. 

With Globalization, new trends and findings of HR is spreading widely. More and more companies began to study and analyze their employees in workplace, so they can use information on decision making. Adoption of HR related software streamlined data collection and analysis process helping managers
to predict staff needs, expedite the social connections, improve career development and make office environment more productive (Leong, 2017).

SOME KEY HR AREAS CONNECTED WITH GLOBALIZATION-

                DIGITALIZED HR- Globalization brings digitalization to companies worldwide. Artificial intelligence and machine learning tools such as 'Getlink' have contributed to revolutionized recruitment other apps and software digitalized performance management and lower the cost.

                PEOPLE ANALYTICS-People analytics can be defined as the deeply data-driven and goal-focused method of studying all people processes, functions, challenges, and opportunities at work to elevate these systems and achieve sustainable business success (Ghosh, 2019)

               GIG ECONOMY-Gig economy show a free market system where organizations and independent workers engage in short-term work arrangements (Duszynski, 2020) Examples- Freelancers, Consultants, Independent contractors and professionals, Temporary contract workers.

CONCLUSION-

With globalization, a wide path is opened for employees for new job opportunities and it is a challenge for HR leaders to recruit the best among the market only by traditional ways.

references-

Duszynski M,2020 Gig Economy, definition statistics and trends

Ghish P,2019 What is People Analytic? definition process, trends and tools

Kapoor et al, Impact of Globalization on Human Recourse Management. available at,

6 Bhushan Kapoor.pdf (jimsjournal.org)

Leong C 2017 Four key HR trends to watch in 2018(Online) available at,

https://www.forbes.com/sites/cheetung/2017/12/19/four-key-hr-trends-to-watch-in-2018/?sh=50efbb5219de

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT IN WORKPLACE

 

Employees are the major assets of any organization. The active role they play towards a company’s success cannot be underestimated. As a result, equipping these unique assets through effective training becomes more effective in order to maximize the job performance. Also position them to take on the challenges of the today’s competitive business environment (Nassasi A, 2013).

Employee development is the integration of individual, career and organization development roles in order to achieve maximum productivity, quality, opportunity and fulfillment of organizations members as they work to accomplish the goals of the organization. Training and development is one of the lowest things on the priority list of most companies. When it's organized, it is often at the persistence of the human resources department. Training allows employees to acquire new skills, sharpen existing ones, perform better, increase productivity and to become better leaders.

Organizations have to obtain and utilize the human resources effectively. Organizations need to be aware of face more realistically towards keeping their human resources up - to date. To do that, managers need to pay special attention to all the functions of human resource management as this plays an important role in organizational, social and economically areas among others that are influential to the attainment of the organizational goals and organizations successful continuation in the market. 

Employee training plays a vital role in improving performance as well as increasing productivity. This in turn leads to placing organizations in the better positions to face competition and stay at the top. This therefore implies an existence of a significant difference between the organizations that train their employees and organizations that do not. 

Wright & Geroy (2001) note that employee competencies change through effective training programs. It therefore not only improves the overall performance of the employees to effectively perform their current jobs but also enhances their knowledge, skills an attitude of employees necessary for the future job, thus contributing to superior organizational performance.

MAIN ADVANTAGES OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE EMPLOYEE WORKPLACE-

        Increase Productivity

                 Productivity is not only dependent on employees, but also on the technology they use. Training and development goes a long way in getting employees up to date with new technology, use existing ones better and then discard the outdated ones. This goes a long way in getting things done efficiently and in the most productive way.

        Addressing employee weaknesses-

                    Most employees have some weaknesses in their workplace skills. A training program allows you to strengthen those skills that each employee needs to improve. A development program brings all employees to a higher level so they all have similar skills and knowledge. This helps reduce any weak links within the company who rely heavily on others to complete basic work tasks.

        Improving employee performance-

                        An employee who receives the necessary training is better able to perform the job. The training may also build the employee's confidence because she has a stronger understanding of the industry and the responsibilities of her job. This confidence may push her to perform even better and think of new ideas that help her excel.

        Structured Training and Development-

                  A structured training and development program ensures that employees have a consistent experience and background knowledge. The consistency is particularly relevant for the company's basic policies and procedures.

        Employee job satisfaction-

                Employees with access to training and development programs have the advantage over employees in other companies who are left to seek out training opportunities on their own. The investment in training that a company makes shows the employees they are valued. The training creates a supportive workplace.

Hatton National Bank PLC is a financial institution which has over 4900 employees and provide a full and wide range of financial services all over the country. They have invested more than Rs 48Mn in year 2019 for training and development of their staff.  According to their annual report 2019, training per employee is 38.5 hours. Below are some of the key initiatives they have implemented.

• Rollout of the new organizational structure
• Refinement of job descriptions
• Talent fitment for branches
• Development programmes
• Digital mindset programme for the top management team.

• CORE TRAINING AREA	NO OF PROGRAMMES	NO OF BENEFITTED PEOPLE
  Sales Culture/ Selling Skills	59	1,081
  Service Culture/Customer service excellence	30	899
  Credit Culture	31	109
  Leadership	20	222

CONCLUSION-

Training and development is one of the key functions of organization. The sustainability of the organization depends on how employees perform their duties. Therefore continuous training and development provide both the company as a whole and the individual employees with benefits that make the cost and time a worthwhile investment.

references-

Chopra B, (2015) The Economic Times, Importance of training and development in an organization. Available at

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/hr-leadership/people/importance-of-training-and-development-in-an-organization/articleshow/48739569.cms

Chron, Shelly C, 2019, Importance of training and development in the workplace

available at

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-training-development-workplace-10321.html

Hatton National Bank PLC, integrated report 2019

Nassazi, N. (2013). Effects of training on employee

performance: Evidence from Uganda (Unpublished

doctoral dissertation). University of Applied Sciences,

Vassa, Finland.

Nassazi N,(2013) Effects of training of employee performance: Evidence from Uganda. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation).

Wright, P and Geroy ,D (2001), Changong the mindset: the training myth and the need for word, a class performance, International journal of Human Recourse Management.

HOW DO FIRMS ACHIEVE COMPETITVE ADVANTAGE?

 "Competitive advantage" is a concept founded by Michael Porter  in  1985. He created a framework in order to gain competitive advantage and organization to become unique form their competitors (Armstrong, M.2006).

A competitive advantage exists when an organization is able to give the same benefits as its competitors at a lower cost, or give benefits more than its competitors differently. Therefore, a competitive advantage enables the organization to create additional value than its competitors (Quick MBA, official Web page). 

According to Michal Porter, there are two basic types of competitive advantages;

        1.cost advantage

        2.differenciate advantage

An organization will have competitive advantage when they can reduce cost and differentiate their products / services than its competitors. Let us take an example from Sr Lankan Banking Industry.

What are the competitive advantages of Hatton National Bank?

        -Hatton National Bank has a long history since 1988.

        -Having more than Rs 1.2 Billion Asset base.

        -Island wide network. The bank has 252 branches all over the country with more than 780 ATMs.

        -Customized products and Service.

        - Different products and services which can fulfill customer expectations.

        -Advanced technology.

        -Low cost fund base comparing to advances. (Deposits vs lending products)

        -Sustainability and CSR.

Above - mentioned reasons create a competitive advantage for Hatton National Bank among other banks and financial institutions in the Industry. 

According to Sri Lankan Export Development Board official web page , competitive advantages of Sri Lankan Gem and Jewelry Industry as follows,

        -A long history in Gem mining , cutting, trading  and jewelry manufacturing.

        -Sustainable Gem mining methods.

        -A highly skilled Gem cutting tradition.

    -Availability of Gemstones and untapped resources. (Source- Sri Lankan Export Development Board, official web page)

Above reasons create a competitive advantage for Sri Lankan Gem and Jewelry Industry among international market.

references-

Armstrong (2006), A handbook of Human Recourse Management Practice

Hatton National Bank annual report (2019) available at,

https://www.hnb.net/2019

Hatton National Bank official Web page available at,

https://www.hnb.net/

Pahuja, et al (2012). Achieving Competitive Advantage through HR Practices: A Case study. Journal of Human Resource Management. 1. 35-43. 

Sri Lankan Export Development Board official Web page available at,

https://www.srilankabusiness.com/gem-diamond-and-jewellery/sri-lankas-competitive-advantages.html 

QuickMBA official Web page, available at

http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/competitive-advantage/

EMPLOYER BRAND AND EMPLOYEE VALUE PROPOSITION

 

Employer branding is the creation of a brand image of the organization for prospective employees. The employee value proposition can be expressed as an employer brand-the image presented by an organization as a good employer (Armstrong, 2006). An organization's employee value proposition in a nutshell, rewards and benefits that are received by employees in return for their performance at the workplace.

 Employee's value proposition also refers to creating a balance between employee's job satisfaction and performance of the employee in work culture. It can be used as an effective tool of employment branding by creating the better recruitment objectives, identifying the needs of employment and the positioning of the employees at the right place, and by creating the values of existing employees in the organization (Deshpande 2019). To create best value of the employment, organizations use strategies. Many organizations create brands in the eyes of its prospective employees. It is important to create employees value proposition by considering all the prospects like policies, programs, rewards, and benefits that will reflect in better commitment from employees (Deshpande 2019).

Benefits of Employee value propositions-

• Reduce staff turnover
• Better employee engagement
• Higher job acceptance
• Recognition as an 'employer of choice'
• Reduce hiring cost
• A tool of motivation

According to Armstrong (2006), an organization expects to become the 'employer of choice'. By employee value proposition, the organization communicates employees that they offer 'the great place to work'. Some of them as as follows,

• Clear Vision and Mission
• Interesting and reward work
• opportunities for learning, development and career progression
• better facilities
• reward systems which recognize and provide competitive pay and benefits. (Lama Ataya ,2016)

All together creates a best value proposition which is being admired by employees. It is the most tactful employee branding tool which is used by organizations .

Banking industry is one of the most competitive industries in Sri Lanka. There are 24 licensed commercial banks as at 30th of October 2020 (Central bank of Sri Lanka, official web page). Competition is too high therefore, there is a huge competition in recruiting the best employee to their own organization. Employer brand and Employee Value Proposition carry a major role as a strategic method in talent acquisition. 

Hatton National Bank, one of the leading banks in Sri Lanka has taken following steps to build a strong brand name and employee value propositions.

• Stability of the organization- Hatton National bank has a great history since 1888. It  is a group of companies which has a group asset base of 1.2 Trillion as at December 2019.
• Awards and rankings- Among best 1000 banks in the world, won several local and international awards. (https://www.hnb.net/about-the-bank/awards)
• Attractive web pages (www.hnb.net)
• Promoting sustainability - CSR activities, donations, specially in current pandemic situation

CONCLUSION-

Employer branding and employee value proposition helps organizations to attract best employees to their organization. That is one of the best strategy to retain their existing employees.

 

references-

Armstrong 2006, handbook of human recourse management practice, 10th edition pg 397-400

 Central bank of Sri Lanka, official Web page 

https://www.cbsl.gov.lk/en/authorized-financial-institutions/licensed-commercial-banks

Deshpande A,2019, Sustainable Employee Value Proposition: A Tool for Employer Branding

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331320052_Sustainable_Employee_value_proposition_A_Tool_for_Employment_Branding

 Hatton National Bank, official Web page

https://www.hnb,net

Lama Ataya 2016, How employer branding can help your company be perceived as a great place to work

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/279227

“ALL HEAD HUNTING IS RECRUITMENT BUT, ALL RECRUITMENT IS NOT HEAD HUNTING”

 

WHAT IS 'HEAD HUNTING'?

Every organization wants to hire 'the best' employee for their workplace. But finding the best employee is not that easy. What they could do is to find and screen from the top performers of the market. Recruitment is a continuous process and finding the best employee for the job is not easy. 'Head hunting' is a process of recruitment of a prospective employee, who is working in other organization and who has a relevant work experience for a particular job profile. Head hunting is carried out by the HR of a company or is outsourced to an agency or job consultant. Head hunting is one of the most effective methods for sourcing & getting candidates for top positions, who might not necessarily look for a job change (MBA Skul Team, 2006).

Every organization look for the best candidate with a good amount of experience and professional competency to be chosen for their job vacancies. They may not be able to post their each and every vacancy directly due to maintain the confidentiality. That is to filter the 'best' among the market. We can see head hunting works on a certain time frame to find specially the executives or top management as and when the organization needed.

 

ORGANIZATIONS DO HEAD HUNTING WHEN,

• Certain position / designations lying vacant and nobody interesting applied,
• When they are looking for certain niche skills (competencies) and don’t want to waste their time placing advertisements where unworthy candidates would apply for,
• When a certain position is rather confidential and they don’t want to list it publicly on the market. Example, certain strategic roles, position that requires making tactical decisions. (MBA Skul Team, 2006).

TYPES OF HEAD HUNTING- 

1. Direct: It is a method of calling the candidates directly, either by calling on his / her number, or else meeting them at their homes or at their office. This is done after entire research has been done upon that person, and the role he is being hired for.

2. Indirect: Leaving a reference for the person to be headhunted, so that he may contact, in case he is willing.

3. Third Party: The process of headhunting is outsourced and when a company need to recruit a candidate, contact a head hunting agency or a head hunter, to find the best selection. 

EXAMPLES FOR HEAD HUNTING-

We can specially see head hunting in financial institutions in Sri Lanka. When an employee, specially an executive of one organization performs better than the other organizations in the area, they need to recruit that person to their own organization and they believe that, the person will perform as same as he did in his own organization. Therefore, they offer more benefits, salary package + allowances with a higher position (promotion) and recruit to their company. Nowadays, 'Linkedln' is also one of the most common way of head hunting. Employees of various organizations can make their own profile with their qualifications / experiences and once an organization wants to hire a candidate, they can choose the best among the market.

DISADVANTAGES OF HEAD HUNTING-

According to Penny Haw (2011) there are advantages as well as disadvantages of Head Hunting. It is clearly understood that an organization can choose the best candidate with rare skills which are currently not available in the organization. Krishna Reddy says, "Mistakes are bound to happen, but recruitment is one such sector where mistakes are not at all acceptable". However, there are some disadvantages too. Some of them are,

• Headhunting involves individuals who are not necessarily looking to change jobs, there is usually a premium to be paid for this talent. Employers are likely to pay more for these candidates than they would for people recruited through traditional methods
• New talent is attracted only by the promise of greater financial gains and does not give enough consideration to other employment needs.
• There is always a risk that new employee move to another organization a couple of months later. Sometimes, the new employee simply biding his time until the next offer comes to him. 
• Create workplace tension. In some cases, employees feel resentful towards ‘headhunted’ individuals, because of their premium earnings and the fact that they are often – particularly in the early stages of employment – treated as “special”.

CONCLUSION-

Organizations can gain success with head hunting only when use it properly and efficiently. Making each target feel that the organization offers them a wonderful and appropriate opportunity is the way to succeed. Wrong hires can cost the organization a lot not only in terms of money, training but also time.

references-

Krishna Reddy, Headhunting Tips and Techniques for effective recruitment

https://content.wisestep.com/headhunting-tips-techniques/

MBA Skool Team, 2016, Head hunting 

https://www.mbaskool.com/business-concepts/human-resources-hr-terms/16843-head-hunting.html

Penny Haw, 2011 ,Pros and Cons of Head Hunting.

https://pennyhaw.wordpress.com/2011/02/01/the-pros-and-cons-of-headhunting-employees/