Human Resource Management around the world

Management practices adopted at the global level have always been an interesting topic to research on and write about, since it differs from country to country and some practices seem to be fixed within the cultural framework while other practices evolve with time. Currently, the focus has shifted to HR practices across countries as well.

Books on Japanese management style are selling like hot cakes these days though the glory of effective management practices belonged to the U.S once upon a time. Though techniques of Chinese management are also becoming popular now, thanks to their supremacy; the European management style has also gained considerable attention worldwide due to numerous countries differing culturally despite coming from the same geographic region. One good thing from all this is that the management styles can be transferred and replicated in any place but how well it suits the context of the country or the company needs close attention.

Japan, after World War II, went on a rapid growth mode and developed strong policies to regain its competitiveness at the international arena. Japanese managers are characterized by long term orientation and take collective decisions even if it means the process of reaching consensus is going to take time or become slow. There is collective responsibility and accountability in such companies and a chief characteristic in Japanese companies is the lifetime employment that many employees prefer. From a HR perspective, a person’s ability to get along well with other employees becomes one of the selection criteria in Japan and once hired, loyalty towards the company is expected. In Japanese companies, there is rank system and so promotion will be slow but long term performance is keenly appraised and for this reason even training and development is considered as a long term investment. The main purpose of appraisals is to recognize subordinates and review their efforts and performance.

The U.S management style, on the other hand, has a formal bureaucratic organization structure with emphasis on individual accountability and responsibility. U.S companies have short term orientation with managers resorting to quick decision making and implementation. Personal interviews carry more weight in the U.S during employee selection. Face to face confrontation is common and Americans opt for frequent job changes as well. As a result, training and development initiatives are usually undertaken with hesitation unless the returns are justified. However repeated performance evaluations and short-term appraisals happen here since promotions are based largely on individual performance. While framing HR policies in American organizations, it must be borne that employees look for rapid advancements and incentives play only a reasonable role in designing salary packages. An interesting finding is that job insecurity is high among U.S employees than any others since the fear of being laid off during recession or due to lack of performance is there at the back of their minds.

The Chinese prefer framing both long term plans spanning 5 years and short term ones that are annual plans. They can identify themselves with the company that they work for but when it comes to loyalty to the company and the job that they do, it is usually low as strong family ties and relations can help them get jobs elsewhere with ease. There is slow promotion here but a steady and regular increase in salary is done from time to time. From the HR point of view, training programs are imparted extensively and there are even state exams that managers need to take up to go up the career ladder. Employee tests are a key selection practice in Chinese companies and incentives play an important role in the pay package here for able and qualified employees. Leadership style is paternalistic in private companies and harmony is emphasized in family-run companies but most of the businesses here are state owned. Top level management make all decisions while lower level managers have little authority here due to hierarchy being given preference in Chinese communities.

The European countries are numerous and so they can be broadly classified into 4 main groups namely – Northern countries of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland; the Anglo-Saxon countries of Great Britain and Ireland ; the German countries namely Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Latin countries comprising France, Spain, Italy, Belgium and Portugal.

The Northern countries display participative style of management and a strong organization structure and good organization culture. The southern countries have many laws in place and so is more of a conservative society with emphasis on hierarchy and authority. The German countries are said to have a positive orientation towards work-life quality and balance and there are no status differences among employees. The Latin countries are the fast developing countries in the European region with a modern outlook towards work and HR policies. Nearly 50 hours of training of employees is required in Europe, the highest among Japan, U.S and China.

In Europe, France is easily a good example of strong HR policies being followed and it is becoming an attractive destination for employees aspiring to work abroad. The work time policy in France requires employees to work 35 hours per week and annually, five weeks of vacation is granted to them. Even during sick leaves, employees are entitled to social security benefits and sometimes even additional sums are given to them during this leave period if the case is serious. France’s HR policies also give equal employment opportunities to differently-abled persons and many well-known companies in France have differently-abled persons comprising nearly 10% of their workforce and they are given adequate benefits and allowances. French companies have also taken up measures to encourage and elicit participation from employees to tackle future technological challenges and continuous improvements at workplace. Guidance is also provided in designing career plans and healthy work practices. The HR policies of French companies are in consistent with the values, cultural norms and environment of the country and so is accepted by both employers and employees amicably.

Thus in today’s globalized world where overseas assignments have become common, knowing HRM practices of different countries across the world keeps us well-informed and better prepared to face the reality.

Author: Sharnitha Ramachandran