Building an International Human Resource Management Model – Key Aspects of Management and Important Considerations
With the rapid growth of international personnel in Vietnam today, HR managers need to equip themselves with fundamental knowledge of international human resource management to enhance management effectiveness. So, what is international human resource management? What are the most effective and easily applicable international personnel management strategies for businesses? Let’s find the answers with 1Office in the article below!
Mục lục
- I. What is International Human Resource Management?
- II. Differentiating International Human Resource Management from Domestic Personnel Management
- III. Detailed contents of international human resource management
- IV. Building an Effective International Human Resource Management Model
- V. Planning for Expatriate Managers
- VI. Current Opportunities and Challenges in International Human Resource Management
I. What is International Human Resource Management?
1. What is an international workforce?
International personnel (International employees) in Vietnam are a group of workers/employees of a company/corporation who have a foreign nationality (not Vietnamese) or are stateless. They come to Vietnam to work and live within its territory but do not hold Vietnamese nationality.
2. What does international human resource management involve?
Human resource management is a crucial task for every business. However, for large and expanding multinational corporations, human resource management is divided into 2 main areas: domestic personnel management and foreign resource management.
International human resource management is quite complex compared to domestic personnel management, including two main aspects:
- Utilizing foreign human resources
In this aspect, the international human resource manager will determine the role of that personnel for the business, understanding their strengths and weaknesses to have a basis for evaluation and assignment in a domestic or foreign business environment.
- Strategic planning for the use of international personnel
Strategic planning for allocating foreign human resources in the short and long term.
The strategy includes a process of activities from recruitment, evaluation, training, and salary and bonus negotiation to developing labor relations in an international environment.
>> See also: 5 effective personnel management methods in the new normal
II. Differentiating International Human Resource Management from Domestic Personnel Management
Compared to domestic personnel management, international human resource management has more issues to consider regarding culture and legal systems, requiring managers to research thoroughly. Specifically, the differences between managing domestic personnel and managing foreign human resources are:
|
Features |
Domestic Human Resource Management |
International Human Resource Management |
| Language, Culture | Familiar with the domestic language and a shared cultural understanding, making management easier. | The differences and diversity in language and culture from various countries require managers to clearly distinguish between a domestic management mindset and international human resource management. |
| Legal System | Only need to be concerned with and follow the domestic labor law system. | In international human resource management, managers need to understand more legal sources from:
|
| Recruitment and Employee Journey | Includes stages of recruitment, training and development, and income negotiation. However, it is quite simple due to close geographical proximity and an understanding of the domestic context. | Requires more knowledge about the stages in the work journey of international personnel, specifically:
|
| Recruitment Sources | Reputable domestic recruitment sites, through groups or referrals. | Multinational platforms or social networks like LinkedIn, Indeed, or Facebook.
Job description documents need to be translated bilingually (including English) so that all personnel can understand. |
| Allocation of Managers | Assigning responsibility to managers with expertise, skills, and experience in domestic human resource management. | International human resource managers not only need high professional competence but also a broad vision to oversee and manage personnel from different countries.
International HR managers also need to continuously research and innovate management strategies to devise the most effective methods for strategic coordination between international and domestic employees. |
See more: Important HR policies according to corporate standards – how to build them effectively
III. Detailed contents of international human resource management
As a manager, you need to have a firm grasp of the basic information about the detailed contents and standards of international human resource management. Specifically, international human resource management consists of the following 4 main components:
1. Recruiting international human resources
The process of recruiting foreign personnel for a business is similar to the steps for recruiting domestic personnel. However, for international personnel, the business will have higher requirements regarding:
| High professional and technical competence |
|
| Ability to adapt to changes in culture, environment, and working conditions |
|
| Motivation for development |
|
| Opportunities for advancement |
Seeking opportunities for advancement or to improve economic status |
>> Read more: Recruitment Process – The ultimate guide to attracting top talent!
2. Training and Development for an International Workforce
When designing training and development programs for international staff, businesses can use factors such as content and training type to assign personnel to suitable training groups. Specifically:
| Based on training content |
|
| Based on the type of training |
|
Accordingly, the content of international human resource training programs will revolve around the following issues:
- Geographical environment, climate, places for study and rest
- Cultural characteristics of the host country
- Ability to embrace different cultures
- Language
- Flexible behavioral skills
- Experience living and working with colleagues from different cultural backgrounds
3. International Human Resource Compensation
The income of the international workforce will include:
- Basic salary
- Allowances: cost of living, relocation allowance, housing, education; hardship allowance
- Benefits: Health insurance; Social insurance; Pension benefits
4. International Labor Relations
International labor relations are established to resolve interaction and work-related issues between management and employees, or among international employees themselves. Specifically:
- Minimize conflicts during cooperation and work between labor union organizations and international enterprises
- The labor federation will protect the rights of workers, helping them receive higher wages and work in better and safer conditions.
- International enterprises can easily move to places with better conditions. In such cases, the labor federation needs to consider the conditions for international enterprises.
IV. Building an Effective International Human Resource Management Model
For each enterprise’s international human resource management to be carried out most effectively, business leaders and the HR department need to establish a comprehensive management strategy that is suitable for the company’s conditions and the market’s development context.
Specifically, the 3 steps to optimize the international human resource management model include:
1. Selecting Qualified Managers
Qualified international human resource managers are those who possess the full capacity, skills, and qualities to manage a multinational workforce. Specifically:
- Extensive management knowledge
- Having a strategic vision for utilizing the international workforce within the enterprise
- High language proficiency
- Having diverse experiences with the cultures of various countries
2. Choosing an Effective International HR Management Model
An HR management model is always highly valued for guiding how managers will manage their entire staff. Depending on the company’s conditions, managers will choose a suitable management model.
For international human resource management today, the Harvard Framework for HRM is the most widely applied model. This is a people-centric management model that focuses on the communication relationships between individuals in a collective. At the same time, leaders play an important role in creating motivation to connect employees from different countries.
To understand more about the Harvard HR management model, please refer to: 5 Effective HR Management Models Every HR Professional Should Know
3. Applying HR Management Software
Today, with the rapid development of the market and digital technology, the number of domestic and international personnel is also increasing exponentially, leaving many businesses’ HR managers confused about how to manage international human resources effectively while saving time and effort.
Applying the best HR management software is a strategic step to help managers optimize international HR management. 1Office is the comprehensive HR management software chosen by over 5,000 Vietnamese businesses to optimize their employee management system. The HRM feature not only helps businesses simplify all foreign personnel management activities but also keeps pace with the digital transformation trend of the international market, enhancing competitiveness:
- Optimizing international personnel recruitment
- Supporting effective task assignment and coordination of work items
- Enhancing the effectiveness of international personnel training and development
- Evaluating personnel quality objectively and transparently
V. Planning for Expatriate Managers
Planning for expatriate managers is one of the important stages in optimizing international human resource management activities. Managers with high professional qualifications, full skills, and suitable qualities are qualified to be assigned to manage personnel from many different countries.
There are 2 main factors that business leaders need to pay attention to when appointing foreign HR managers:
- Managerial competence
The managerial competence of a foreign HR manager is not just about conventional management knowledge but also about foresight, practical market experience, and diverse experiences working with personnel from different countries.
- Work performance
The effectiveness of foreign human resource management is demonstrated by the manager’s ability to use the international workforce effectively and propose appropriate foreign personnel allocation strategies that suit the company’s conditions and the market context.
VI. Current Opportunities and Challenges in International Human Resource Management
1. Opportunities
In today’s developing market, the increasing emergence of multinational companies and corporations presents a great opportunity for many domestic businesses to expand their workforce with diversity in nationality, culture, and work capabilities.
2. Challenges in Managing International Human Resources in the Digital Era
Besides the favorable opportunities mentioned above, international human resource management today also faces significant challenges, especially as technological development demands that managers evolve and adapt flexibly to achieve optimal management efficiency.
Specifically, the current challenges in international human resource management are:
|
Challenges |
Details |
| Cultural competition, differences in language and lifestyle | Can lead to conflicts within the workforce, which are very difficult for managers to resolve |
| The need to apply a standard 4.0 international human resource management system | With an abundant workforce from many different countries, multinational corporations cannot use manual, fragmented HR management methods as before. They truly need to innovate their management system to ensure the information and work of international personnel are managed clearly and accurately. |
| Difficulties in internal communication | With personnel of diverse nationalities, interaction and engagement will face many difficulties. This is especially true for international remote workers who will have almost no interaction with colleagues. In such cases, the business needs a technological space where all personnel can interact directly with each other, enhancing employee engagement. |
| Difficulties in training international personnel | The business needs to focus on the training program and find a training method suitable for all international personnel to be both effective and comfortable for employees. |
The aforementioned challenges largely stem from businesses lacking a human resource management tool capable of managing all information and assisting managers with personnel planning. To resolve these remaining difficulties, business leaders need to quickly implement a human resource management software like 1Office HRM, as mentioned above, to both optimize the international human resource management system and save time and effort.
With the information shared above, 1Office hopes that readers now have a comprehensive overview of international human resource management, its detailed contents, the remaining challenges, and how to build a management model to make international human resource operations increasingly effective.
For more detailed information about the 1Office human resource management software, please contact us:
- Hotline: 083 483 8888
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