Page 179 - DMGT548_GLOBAL_HRM

Global HRM

Notes France, Germany, Portugal, Greece, and Botswana. Dublin was chosen as an early location
because of the nature of the role, the employee base, and the City’s labour market. As a
population there is an intention to stay in the country for around 12 to 18 months. They
will speak (and are hired for) their mother tongue in the job and markets they serve, but
the social interactions in work help improve their English language. The real challenge is
the 12–18 month timeframe as this has driven high levels of attrition.
Spain is an operation that has recently been moved “in-country”. 18 months ago it was
served by the Dublin centre, but on the Group acquisition of Banco Zaragozano Barclaycard
International took over responsibility for the credit card activity and launched a new
contact centre in the country. Because Dublin acted as the central operation, Barclaycard
offered employees the chance to move from Dublin to Spain. Around 35 staff moved from
Ireland back to Spain.
Mobility Contract
In order to enable global movement within Barclaycard International, the HR team has
devised an international mobility framework. Rapid global expansion requires the business
to be able to deploy skills and experience in a multitude of countries at short notice. This
cannot always be achieved at pace, through local recruitment, so expatriation of current
employees is often the best solution. However, employee mobility and the increasing
cost and complexity of expatriating individuals need to be considered. The recently devised
framework seeks to secure talented employees on to global contracts for which they are
paid a premium to be globally mobile. Some “light” expatriation benefits have been
added as a core component of this framework. The concept is now being tested in
Barclaycard International.
Process of Expatriation and Repatriation
There are a number of expatriates on international secondments (these may be drawn
from either Barclaycard or the broader Barclays Group). These individuals provide
functional expertise and leadership skills to the various countries. Barclaycard International
typically use expatriates to either work with potential business in new countries to support
the growth strategy or to provide specialist expertise into other parts of the Barclaycard
operations internationally.
The HRBP is key to the set up of any assignment. The HRBP will work with the business to,
build up a robust business case, help identify employees and to work with the line manager
and individual/family to ensure all steps of the expatriation process are clear. To do this
Barclays has an International Assignments Services (IAS) team which support the HRBP,
the line manager of both home and host country and the individual employee. The IAS are
located within key global regions and are in a strong position to provide key financial and
cost data to all parties, and help facilitate the move once agreed.
The HRBP in the host and home country will track the employee while on assignment and
ensure the employee is kept up to date with key information, and to ensure the key skills
obtained on assignment are captured for talent and succession plan purposes. At the end of
the assignment the HRBP will work with the business and individual to secure either a
role back in the home country, an extension to current assignment or an alternative
assignment.
Culture Awareness Modules and Profiles
Another key priority for the HR function is to define and support a global mindset amongst
the senior leadership team. As the business continues on a dynamic growth curve, the

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