Staffing and Developing the

Multinational Workforce
Ibraiz Tarique &
Randall Schuler

Overview

Important Terms
Types of employees in the
multinational workforce (MWF)
Major issues and challenges of
staffing and developing the MWF

Important Terms

Multinational Enterprise (MNE) a

firm that operates in two or more
countries
Multinational Workforce (MWF) the
workers in a multinational enterprise
Expatriate an employee posted or
assigned to another country for more
than a year

The Multinational Workforce

The task of international human

resource management (IHRM)
professionals in MNEs is to build a
competent, high-performing
workforce that gains and sustains a
competitive advantage throughout
the global marketplace (Briscoe &
Schuler, 2004).

Types of Employees in the MNE

Parent country nationals (PCNs)

Host country nationals (HCNs)
Third country nationals (TCNs)

Parent Country Nationals

Employees of the MNE who are

citizens of the country where the
MNEs corporate headquarter is
located

PCN Competencies

Familiarity with the MNEs corporate

culture
Ability to effectively communicate
with headquarters
Ability to maintain control over the
subsidiary operations

Host Country Nationals

Employees of the MNE who work in

the foreign subsidiary and are
citizens of the country where the
foreign subsidiary is located

HCN Competencies

Familiarity with the cultural,

economic, political, and legal
environment of the host country
Ability to respond effectively to the
host countrys requirements for
localization of the subsidiarys
operations

Third Country Nationals

Employees who are neither citizens

of the host country nor citizens of
the country where the enterprise is
headquartered

MNE Concerns for its Workforce

The workforce should be competent:

Cultural competencies
Skills for the job
Company knowledge and loyalty
Flexibility
Ability and will to manage complexity

Staffing a Multinational Workforce

Global staffing refers to the process

of acquiring, deploying, and retaining
a global workforce in organizations
with operations in different countries
(Scullion & Collings, 2006)

How the MNE Obtains and

Develops Its People

Human resource planning

Recruitment of competent employees
Performance appraisals
Compensation policies
Development initiatives

Recruitment from the MNE

Perspective

Potential employees may be

attracted to the enterprise through
organizational attributes such as:
Geographical dispersion
Type of ownership
Level of internationalization

Qualities of Recruits to MNEs

Extroverted and open to new

experiences
Affected by their early international
life experiences

Recruitment From the Individuals

Perspective

Individuals are more receptive to

global assignments in locations
culturally similar to their own
Male assignees were more willing to
accept a foreign assignment and
more willing to follow their partners
than female ones

Selection

Identify critical job dimensions

maintaining business contacts,
technical competence, etc.
Cross-cultural competencies
adjustment to the foreign culture and
ways of doing business

Developing a Multinational
Workforce

Refers to a wide variety of

international training activities and
international development activities
used by MNEs to develop the
competency base of their employees
(Caligiuri, Tarique, & Lazarova, 2005)

Cultural Competence Training

Organizations recognize the

importance of international training
and development activities
Cultural competencies enable
individuals to be more effective in
the new cultural environment

Cross-cultural Training

A planned intervention designed to

increase the knowledge and skills of
expatriates to live and work
effectively and achieve general life
satisfaction in an unfamiliar host
culture (Kealey & Protheroe,
1996:145)

Cross-cultural Training Design

Identifying the type of employee

Determining the specific crosscultural competency need
Establishing short-term and longterm learning goals
Developing and delivering
instructional content
Evaluating whether the program was
effective

Qualities of the Global Leader

Higher in conscientiousness
More open and extroverted
Greater family diversity
More likely to be fluent in another
language

Global Careers

Expatriation provides the opportunity

to acquire overseas knowledge, and
repatriation creates the opportunity
to transfer and apply this knowledge
in the organization

Conclusion

MNEs face challenges and issues

related to staffing and training their
multinational workforce
Training programs can increase the
cultural effectiveness of the
workforce

Conclusion

Future research might focus on:

Developing a global mindset
Non-traditional staffing methods
Developing uniform staffing and training
methods