International Human Resource Management Assignment Sample

International Human Resource Management Assignment Sample

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1. Introduction International Human Resource Management Assignment Sample

The Covid-19 pandemic has passed multiple challenges to all businesses across the globe. Leaders are continuously navigating this wide array of challenges and interrelated issues to bring businesses to the marketplace. The outbreak has pushed the businesses to face tremendous loss, uncertain future, multiple risks, shutdown, employee cut etc (Terry, et al.,2020). This crisis is continuously accelerating structural changes to cope up with this situation. Multinational enterprises and their supply chains are heavily affected during this crisis. The companies have initiated multiple strategies and plan to recover from this crisis. The pandemic has altered the international workplace and the new trend of work from home has issued multiple challenges for the managers.

The complete report throws a light upon the impact of Covid-19 on the global workforce of MNEs. Several sudden fundamental changes have taken place in the operation of businesses (Beal, N.D.). Keeping the safety issue in mind, businesses have penetrated the virtual operations and all the activities from hiring to the operation have been done with the help of the internet. The beginning has discussed the multiple challenges faced by the MNE around the world and described the changes in leadership strategies. The further report will conclude by giving detail regarding the major issues and transformations in working culture and trends of MNEs.

2. Evaluation of Challenges Faced by MNEs after Pandemic

According to the opinion of Javorcik(2020), the Covid -19 has created a period of uncertainty over Multinational enterprises due to the rising regulations and rules concerning health issues. Due to this reason, businesses have to manage both the economy and the health crisis altogether. Most crucially, the emerging virus variants and vaccine rollout over the globe has created more challenges for the MNEs. In regard to this, businesses are adopting the innovative idea for building resilience and stabilizing their survival. The MNCs have been driven toward remote working, re-engineering of supply chain management, bankruptcies, customer engagement protocols, creative partnerships etc. The main issue faced by the Multinational enterprises are:

• Disruption in the industry

The pandemic has created disruption is everywhere and MNE's are also facing disruption from all sides. They are primarily focusing on political, technological and societal disruption. This disruption has caused many businesses to shut down and adopt strategies for their survival. In response to Covid, governments are focusing on border closure, lockdown, restrictions on exports and chocked supply chain management. Ghajarzadehet al. (2020) stated, these policies have directly hampered access to foreign talent acquisition and investment in future. Apart from it, technological drivers are also creating disruption in the landscape of MNEs. The rapid digitalization transformation has shifted the work culture overnight and this has increased companies' exposure to the digital platform that has led the businesses to face the risk of cyber attacks and security threats.

• Drastic Workplace transformation

Following the Covid-19 restrictions, the MNE’s have shifted towards remote working, flexible timing and throwing a challenge to these firms to main the work culture, identity and creativity among the employees. Akpan, Udohand Adebisi, (2020) enlightened that, due to these drastic shifts, these firms have been suffering from productivity loss. The report has shown that because of remote working, 55% of employees are less productive and less engaged in work (Bonacini, Galloand Scicchitano, 2021). Again, ongoing mental health crises have been exacerbated due to the pandemic and lockdowns.

3.Evaluation of Leadership Alternatives Post Pandemic in Workplace Management

The pandemic has made mankind evident of a real nightmare. The entire nation, economy, cities, individuals have experienced the astonishment of lockdown. Business managers had to take significant decisions in a very limited period regarding employee management, business operation, leadership strategies etc. During the COVID-19 outbreak, concerns over global supply chain vulnerabilities and financial resilience, as well as substantial strategic human talent challenges, have emerged to the fore. The current scenario visibly offers insights that the managers of MNE facing multiple challenges in leading their employees during this time of uncertainty (Furusawaand Brewster, 2018.).

Ventriglioet al. (2020) opined, the COVID-19 epidemic has produced a number of unpredictability, which is damaging people’s psychological health all around the globe. Employees will have a challenging time performing productively in distinct nations and with individuals from different cultures. Adequate practices, as well as support and training from the managers, can positively mitigate this concern. To cope up with this global stress and uncertainty, MNEs have adopted three cultural agility competencies: tolerance, resilience, ambiguity and curiosity for the workers who are functioning in a different culture and working virtually. These competencies will benefit the employees to work effectively in a time of growing improbability and novelty.

The COVID-19 pandemic offers an ideal time to foster cross-cultural team cohesion and to validate expectations of reliability since health-related stress is present everywhere in the world. For the members of the enterprises, MNEs have started offering a cross-cultural training programme for building relationships across borders. Terrell, et al., (2020) viewed, Support as a very crucial factor as it is directly associated with the success of the employees. Employees of MNE who are working in cross-cultural teams globally face numerous health risks because of the flexible schedule, expectations, availability and operating across a time zone. To leverage this ambiguity in the current pandemic, MNEs are now proving support practices, like, mindfulness tutorials, support practices, virtual counselling programmes and employee assistance programmes. As per the view of Chanana, (2020), these supporting programmes aid the employees to engage in virtual work at the intercontinental stage in this period of additional stress.

4. The Impact of Covid-19 on Staff Movement across International Borders

The following study evaluates the problematic situation during COVID 19 faced by the staffs that has moved across international borders. This study illustrates difficulties including entry restrictions for the individuals and border closures (Piccoli, Dzankic and Ruedin, 2021).

• Impact on Displacement:The dreadful effect of COVID19 has also left its mark on effectively evacuated inhabitants. During the time of occurring the first wave in April 2020, 90 C/T/As declined entrance to travelers and employees with no exceptions for asylum seekers (Haddawyet al., 2021). As a matter of fact, mainly because of these limitations on movement, the rate of latest asylum submissions blocked internationally in the beginning time of 2020 was 33% inferior to in a similar period in 2019. Therefore, in the case of the number of evacuated people returning to their own areas or nations of origin was lower. The rate of returns of internally displaced people persons knocks down by almost 72% and the number of immigrants who are successful in escaping the restrictions fell by 22%.

Certain places where mobility limitations have been proved to be less troublesome, powerfully displaced people often live-in congested conditions (Piccoli, Dzankic and Ruedin,            2021). As an example, in the case of the Greek island of Lesbos and in the Rohingya camps in Bangladesh – these conditions put the people at an elevated level of risk of contracting the virus.

• Rising Socioeconomic Vulnerability: The COVID19 pandemic has intensified the socioeconomic defencelessness of people whose mobility restraints have been enlarged. Several people have become incapable to travel in search of work or encountered the closing of workplaces in their own countries of residence. As a result, the rate of decreasing income has directly affected their daily lives (Haddawyet al., 2021). Therefore, the migrants and their families having socioeconomic impact have to meet enormous difficulties including economical downturn and mental health issues. As a matter of fact, these problematic situations impact largely also on the nationwide economical downturn

5. Changes in Working Cultures in MNEs

• The work from home culture: The direct impact of Covid-19, restrictions from the government has led the businesses to safeguard the safety and health of the workers. Around the globe, many MNEs are adapting this Work from home culture to maintain the continuation of the business along with that making sure that their employees are safe from the effect of the pandemic (Dubey and Tripathi, 2020). “Work-from-home and business continuity with VDI and DaaS is becoming priority one for every company around the world,” said IGEL CEO Jed Ayres. The work from culture has provided a better work-life balance from the employees and offers better heath as this culture avoid the extra travelling from home to office and office to home. There are several disadvantages too in this case. Working from home has increased isolation and distraction within the work hours and employees feel difficulty in separating their personal and professional space. Dubey and Tripathi (2020) highlighted, though the sudden transformation has thrown challenges to the employees to adopt the new culture a little bit more self-control, discipline and self-motivation can increase the productivity of the employees and amend these problems.
• Use of Communication tool: In terms of communication, businesses have seen a paradigm shift to a virtual working arrangement. In addition to this, MNEs have started to use various video conferencing apps to communicate and direct their employees. As per the review ofCaballero-Morales, (2021), Zoom, Hangout, Skype etc. video conferencing tools have gained immense popularity for conducting a meeting by the MNEs. Via these apps, leaders can easily deliver their message and presentation and get feedback from their team.
• Application of AI in Human resources: The rise of technological inclination during the epidemic has also transformed the recruitment process and made this process virtual. Along with this, Artificial intelligence has continued to grow and enhance the recruiting and onboarding process. Sarwaniet al., (2020) mentioned, this AI software helps to gather data to analyse employee performance and assist in harnessing discrete information related to attendance management and scheduling. The Covid-19 disruption has led the HR professionals to initiate various strategic issues. Personal chatbots and online resources have got increasing popularity for covering employee questions and other issues relating to human resources.
• Blockchain technology for decreasing the supply chain disruption: One of the foremost concerns brought by the Covid-19 is a disruption in distribution and supply chain. MNEs around the world have experienced limitations and delays in acquiring the most necessities, such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and disinfection supplies, which are essential for vital firms to function. Sarkis (2020) opined, although blockchain technology is sophisticated and potentially far-reaching, it will prove its usefulness in supply chain management. Further development and implementation of algorithm technologies into distribution and supply networks can mitigate the effects of future disasters by enabling stricter supply and distribution monitoring.
• Safety in the Workplace: Along with social distancing and other rules, the pandemic has redesigned the workspace of MNEs.It has become the primary obligation for MNCs to provide an adequate safeguard for keeping the workforce safe from virus attacks (Yeoh, 2020).Technological innovations, along with environmental controls and monitoring, have become essential in guaranteeing the future worksite's safety. AI is seen to have played a pivotal role in discovering and blocking the coronavirus from spreading further. In the battle against COVID-19, sanitizing robots, smart helmets, thermal camera-equipped drones, and advanced facial recognition are being investigated and implemented.

• Virtual collaboration: Slack, Flock, Chanty, and other workplace collaboration platforms are fantastic for keeping employees on task and informed. They serve as a centralised location for all work-related communication and help to create separate zones for certain teams, tasks, or themes. Soon and Salamzadeh (2021) concluded, the digital replacement for the workspace can be quite advantageous for a remote workforce.

6. Challenges of Organizational Focus on Health and Well Being by Employers

The awful impact of COVID19 has been increasing day by day and its effect has been seen in almost every working sector. As a matter of fact, employees who are now working distantly have to face several difficulties regarding physical challenges and in new working sectors and mental strain of isolation. In order to deal with this kind of problematic situation, employers of multinational companies have to take initiatives to overcome their problems.

• Protect both Mental and Physical Health:It is indeed necessary for the employees to discover places to get information, support, and guidance in order to deal with mental health problems. The implementation of a superior communication channel is significant to understand the employees' current feelings and also how they respond and listen to the employers (Guest, 2017). This communication channel has been proving to be beneficial to get their responses quickly and employers can take concerns according to their replies or behaviors.

Though, don't depend on people to self-report. There are two kinds of effective conversations that have been found to create certain trust and hope. It is indeed important to observe mental health within structured habitual prospects for employees to “check-in” with colleagues and managers and also give confidence peer support (Restubog, Ocampo and Wang, 2020). They have to take initials through involving various practices to stay present, determined, and composed. Strengthen the significance of being physically energetic to decrease strains and mindfulness to maintain mental clarity.

• Keep Your Staff Connected and Feeling Supported In Isolation:According to the research in Hong Kong during the time of 2003 SCARS eruption reveals the significance of the increasing rate of social connectedness offset the negative mental wellbeing influence the pandemic (Guest, 2017). Association with colleagues can give an essential safeguard to their feelings of detachment and social isolation according to various people. As a matter of fact, employers can arrange virtual video meetings or create groups on social networking sites in order to stay associated frequently with the employers and to encourage them to get benefits for the organizational purpose.

A good quality communication or conversation will become necessary or beneficial to comprehend the mental condition of the employees within each other including talking about their fears and assure them about personal and work-related issues (Restubog, Ocampo and Wang, 2020).

• Boost Motivation and Engagement:In the case of the people of every working sector, it is extremely difficult for them to discover the energy to stay motivated during a time of crisis. Through setting an obvious and undersized roadmap to get the achievements will stimulate and mobilize the employees approximately a widespread goal (Carnevale and Hatak, 2020). As a matter of fact, it has been considered as a good time to reshape the values and that will be accommodating for sustaining the people grounded in the familiar and provide them a certain roadmap for steering uncertainty. 

Insert the organizational rationales and values into various types of communication to distribute the roadmap transversely to the organizations (Brown et al., 2021). The employers need to offer credits to those people who are living the values in this time of the pandemic. The appropriate solution will be to keep communicating otherwise it will be unable to fill up the gaps. Thus, by implementing these influential strategies Challenges of organizational focus on health and well-being can be overcome. 

7. Major Working Trends in MNEs after a Pandemic

There are several problematic situations that have been found on international business due to the dreadful impact of COVID19. In order to deal with the situation, the HR leaders of these multinational companies have to re-think workforce and employee planning, performance, management, and experience strategies. In this section, certain strategies have been discussed to encounter the difficulties which have been taken by the HR leaders.

• Developed the Role of Employer as Social Safety Net: The dreadful impact of COVID19 has pressurized every organization to take necessary steps specifically for the employees to deal with the situation. As a matter of fact, the pandemic has enhanced the basic trend of employers to play variant roles in their employees’ physical, financial and mental well-being. Various supports such as financial assistance, child care facilities, and taking leave due to sickness have been increased regarding the current situation of COVID19 (Strzelec, and Przytu?a, 2020). However, multiple companies are taking diverse decisions including supporting the community through offering services in order to help combat the COVID19 and providing them complimentary community service and support funds.

The recent economical downturn emergency has been also pressurizing the limits of the way of employee experience (Hitt, Holmes and Arregle, 2021). It is indeed true, personal factors compared to exterior factors take superiority over what matters for employees and organizations alike. In order to assess, employing such measures will be accommodating to encourage improve the emotional well being and physical health of employees.

• De Humanization of Employees:However, various organizations have recognized the humanitarian crisis of the pandemic and prioritized the well-being of the employees. But in the case of other organizations, they are constantly pushing the employees in working procedures that are at elevated risks along with little support (Caligiuri etal., 2020). As a matter of fact, the lack of getting sufficient support is also considered a major problem in that case. 

The employees have to be determined about their given task and should work efficiently to deal with the awful experience (Strzelec and Przytu?a, 2020). Tackle unfairness in case of isolation and on-site employees have been taken care of another way. 

• The emergence of New Top Tier Employers: Regarding the fact of COVID19 every organization has to encounter several difficulties in the working progress. Potential candidates and employees will have the opportunity to criticize the organizations for the way they are taken care of during the emergence of a pandemic situation (Caligiuri, et al., 2020). Balance the choices made recently in order to determine instant distresses during the pandemic within the long-term effect on the employment brand.

As a matter of fact, progressive organizations communicate repeatedly and explicitly in order to show the way they are making effort to support the employees despite the execution of cost-saving processes (Hitt, Holmes and Arregle, 2021). In that case, possible, look for prospects in order to organize talent involvement joint ventures within each other organizations to transfer employees displaced from their jobs through the dreadful effect of the pandemic situation. 

8. Conclusion

In this business report, there has been discussed the awful impact of the COVID19 pandemic on multinational sectors. However, the illustration of problematic situations regarding employees has been discussed mainly in this context. Therefore, the discussion of multiple challenges faced by MNEs after the pandemic reveals the rate of constraints in multinational sectors (Carnevale, and Hatak, 2020). Through evaluating alternative leadership strategies, several MNEs are modifying themselves to overcome certain complications. The primal intention of the study is to focus on the impact of a recent pandemic on staff movement across international borders and to identify certain issues regarding the health and well-being of the employees. Thus, by implementing major working trends in MNEs at the last, the major purpose of the report has been delivered successfully.

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