Google Inc
DiscussionOperating businesses across national boundaries are more than the concept of exporting goods and services; cultural differences can foster a big challenge that can lead to a mix-up between employees and the management (Hicks Rowe, 2017). Therefore, cultural differences between nations are a challenge that HRM is trying to standardize policies to unit people from a different culture to form a favorable workforce or employee community (Kumareswaran, 2018). H.R. should familiarize itself with local labor laws, and protect the workplace to ensure employee security (Bolden-Barrett, 2017). The H.R. should work towards uniting the employees, ensuring consistent application of H.R. functions and company policies across the companies irrespective of their locations.
These issues are discussed in-depth with the focus of Google Inc.
2.1 Global HRM challenges facing Global Inc
People management issues and other HRM challenges are trials that a company cannot hide from them, operating with people from different cultures, meaning there will always be challenges origination from those cultural differences (Schneider, 2019). This paper will apply Hofstede’s Culture Dimensions Theory to discuss how operating in different cultural dimensions needs attention from the H.R. and the company’s leadership.
2.1.1 Workplace values and distance dimension
According to Hofstede, power distance brings about inequality and power tolerance, which affect employee values. Adopting a hierarchical leadership style that does not incorporate another culture style can lead to employee strikes and other demands changing H.R. practices. Google was accused of sexual harassment of its employees (Gartenberg, 2019). The need for workplace values forced the employees to walk from Asia, Europe, and the U.S., condemning the issue of sexual misconduct, discrimination, and racism, protesting against destructive culture (YUCCAS, 2018). It ruined the company’s reputation and led to staff resignation and staff protests.
Google has countless foreigners’ working in a different part of the world and immigrants working in the U.S. workforce. However, due to the countries labor law regulations, the company was forced to deny qualified alien candidates jobs, which discouraged global mobility (McNulty and Brewster 2019). Google’s H.R. standards are thorough; the company picks the best candidates who have previously worked in reputable companies (Clark, n.d.). It results to job discrimination and racism. Additionally, the company checks on the education standards and institution studied. Meaning if you are from a developing country or from a company where they believed is not facing global challenges as it; or from any institution and has no connection, which keeps away employees from some nationals (Nisen, 2014: Garland, 2014: Patti Phillips, 2015). Hence, this results in talent acquisition challenges to the H.R. when determining the right talent for overseas assignments.
2.1.2 The experience of expatriates living and living abroad
Working and living abroad, leaving your family behind, is an issue that emigrants have to deal with daily. It forces employees to leave their families for work (Telford and Dwoskin, 2018). However, they experience gradual work adjustment after some time, after which they bring their prior culture and essential self-evaluation after some time (Zhu et al. 2016). Google’s head of human resource resigns due to issues experienced by employees working away from their homes, among other matters (Ghaffary, 2020). Hofstede terms this as uncertainty dimension since working in a different culture; one feels threatened though expats create a belief that avoids the situation. This can be linked to the way the company has faced various criticisms on how it treats its employees. It contributes to the social injustices experienced by foreign employees.
2.1.3 Recruitment, selection and performance issues for international assignments
International assignments and recruitment for expatriates is a challenging task experienced by the HRM in choosing and determining the right person. The H.R. should consider several factors such as; family problems, expatriates efficiency, how the organization supports the transfer, location, host country nationals (HCNs), and career concerns (Shen and Jiang, 2015: Collings, et al. 2015). A Google H.R. resigned from her position Ghaffary, (2020) due to family and persona issues. Also, they fail to provide the support the employees need when working abroad may result in the failed assignment (Cole and Nesbeth, 2014). Therefore, personal issues such as family issues, culture and language barriers, inefficiency, or unsuitable location, may affect employee performance and lead to failure of the international assignment (Nunes, et al. 2017: Reiche, et al. 2016. Therefore, MNCs should work at aligning global mobility with global talent management to ensure success (Collings, 2014).
2.1.4 Migration and international HRM outsourcing/
However, outsourcing of this form of capital-labor should not be used as a way of exploiting employees or widening the gap between the developed and developing countries Alberti and Danaj, 2017). H.R. should condense the social injustice by ensuring increased accountability in the company, and companies’ labor policies are applied across the globe Bolden-Barrett, (2017). Therefore, HRM should apply creative career and resource-based theories to define the way the company can leverage on migrants career capital (Zikic, 2015: Thomas and Karodia, 2014). Also, pay discrimination in MNCs contributes to cultural issues, (Levin, 2017). Google challenge on raking black, Latinx and feminine employees saw many of the affected staff leave the company (Tiku, 2018). Its workforce comprises of 69.1% male against women, and the U.S. office is composed of 53.1% white, 36.3% Asians, 2.5% black 3.6% Hispanic/Latinx and 4.2% multicultural. According to Hofstede’s Masculinity dimension, this attitude towards masculinity is an issue that, if not solved at the individual level, will affect the company’s values.