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Unit 5: Recruitment and Selection for International Assignments

the national level, it only moves the barrier to the regional level. Staff may advance to regional Notes
headquarters but seldom to positions at the parent headquarters.
Based on the attitudes of the top management a multinational can pursue one of several approaches
to international staffing. It may even proceed on an ad hoc basis, rather than systematically
selecting one of the four approaches discussed above.

The approach of an appropriate policy on executive nationality tends to reflect organisational
needs. For instance, if the multinational places a high priority on organisational control, then an
ethnocentric policy will be adopted. However, there are difficulties in maintaining a uniform
approach to international staffing. Therefore, strategies in different countries may require different
staffing approaches.

5.1.2 International Assignments

An international assignment has long been seen as providing executives with an opportunity
for personal growth and professional development, while enabling companies to place executives
in markets where specific capabilities are needed or to spread corporate values and best practices
throughout the organization. With business footprints expanding and international markets
becoming increasingly important drivers of revenue and profit growth, companies need
executives who are global thinkers with broad-based business perspectives and the ability to
master an array of markets, cultures, competitors and workforce differences.

5.1.3 Role of Expatriates

With the globalization of businesses, opportunities and challenges, the need for expatriates in
international locations becomes a requirement. Global human resource managers need to
understand and recognize the signs of potential global assignment failures and their impact on
the business and long term objectives of the organization. International assignments end in
failure (when defined as a premature return) because of many factors that potentially affect the
adjustment of expatriates such as selection mechanisms and criteria, previous international
experience, cross-cultural training, individual factors, job factors, organizational culture,
organizational socialization as well as various non-work factors (Black, et al., 1991). The processes
of expatriate staffing and training programs are expensive and complex, particularly when the
company has to pay taxes for the parent-company employee in both countries (Deresky, 2011).
Effective training programs for expatriates contributed to the growing awareness among business
firms that the key to success rests with their ability to mobilize and utilize their human resources
in crafting and implementing new global business strategies (Selmer & Leung, 2007). Without
proper training and a realistic job preview, the expatriate will have a very hard time adjusting
to his/her new surroundings (Andreason, 2008).

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. Recruitment is the process by which an organisation …………… people to apply for their
job openings.
2. Recruitment begins with human resource ………….
3. Internal recruitment consists of promotion from within, job posting and contacts and
……….. by current employees.
4. An ………… approach to staffing results in all key positions in a multinational being
filled by Parent-country Nationals (PCNs).

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