International Human Resource Management for Woolworths Group

Question: Discuss about theInternational Human Resource Management for Woolworths Group. Answer: The main aim of this task is to analyze and evaluate the culture shock in the organization. Woolworths group has been taken in the task to identify the causes of culture issues. It is one of the biggest retail companies in Australia which provides enormous products and services to customers across the world. Furthermore, it explains how Woolworths manages culture shock and also the paper depicts that how the firm motivates the workers to perform task and duties effectively. Culture shock is the biggest problem in the organization which influences goodwill of Woolworths adversely. Further details of the task have been stated below. Culture shock may be defined as an experience of a person may have when one moves to a cultural environment which is completely different from ones own (Furham, 2012). There are several causes of culture shock which influence the success and growth of the firm. The causes of cultural shock include unfamiliar rules for social interaction, different attitudes, expectation, strange environment and climate (Hemmasi Downes, 2013). There are enormous problems occurred due to culture shock such as language barrier, generation gap, skill interdependence, information overload, infinite regress, boredom and technology gap. There is no way to prevent and reduce cultural shock in the organization. Honeymoon, Adaptation, negotiation and adjustment are four phases of culture shock. Culture shock arises in many companies due to differences in foreign languages and cultures (Naranjo-Valencia, Jimnez-Jimnez Sanz-Valle, 2011). Woolworths group is a good example where culture shock raises effectively as it influence the progress of the firm. It is a major Australian company which was formed in 1924. Woolworths is the second biggest organization in Australia measured by revenue. The firm has approx 3,000 stores having 205,000 employees who serves more than 29 million customers across the world. The mission of the organization is to deliver best and unique quality of products to the customers. It will also help to gain competitive advantages in the marketplace. Apart from this, the firm uses effective and dynamic strategies to build good relations with its potential customers in the world. Culture shock plays a critical role in Woolworths group which helps to increase productivity and performance of the firm as well as employees. People come from different countries and they follow different and rules. As a result, culture shock problem arises in the organization (Woolworths group, 2018). No company can survi ve its business activities and operations without knowing and understanding the culture of different countries. . HRM plays an important role to reduce and prevent cultural differences within the organization. HRM makes different policies and strategies which could help to manage the difference of culture (Hong, 2013). Various policies and practices are initiated by HRM in the organization to deal with culture shock that has been stated below. Appropriate expatriate recruitment: The selection of future expatriates is an important function of HRM that should be performed in the organization effectively and successfully. It helps to measure and identify the professional and technical skills within the organization. It is an effective policy of HRM to prevent culture shock widely. There are various elements that need to be taken into consideration before sending a worker foreign that are very difficult to evaluate accurately and effectively. Therefore, the firm should focus on the recruitment and selection methods to appoint suitable and potential candidates in the organization. It will help to reduce culture differences in foreign countries (Santoso Loosemore 2013). Training and development coaching: Training and development coaching is an effective practice of HRM which helps to improve and enhance the performance and productivity of the employees. Along with this, to reduce culture shock the HRM needs to monitor the activities and operations of the workers. Woolworths group conducts enormous training and development coaching programs to know and understand the language of the different nations. Also it will help to manage culture issues and challenges within the organization (Mendenhall, Arnardottir, Oddou Burke, 2013). An expatriates qualification profile: Characteristics and traits have been recognized as predictors of expatriates success and progress. These characteristics and traits include technical ability, cultural empathy, diplomacy, language ability, managerial skills, emotional stability and maturity. There are 8 dimension of cultural shock which includes ethnocentrism, intellectual experience, behavioral flex, cognitive flex, general intercultural knowledge, specific intellectual knowledge, adequate behavior, and interpersonal skills (Passmore, 2013). Create a welcoming Kit: HRM should implement and initiate a policy of giving welcoming kits to new workers. These kits include plants for their desk, silly calendars, and photo frames. It will help to motivate and encourage the workers for doing work in a hassle free manner. Also, it will help to eliminate culture differences in the organization. Set daily tasks ahead of time: HRM should set daily tasks and duties to manage culture shock and to manage customs differences effectively. If HRM sets tasks and duties of the employees then they can easily understand assign tasks and duties. Therefore, culture shock issue will not arise in the firm. Along with this, Woolworths can easily overcome the competitors by assigning proper task and duties to the workers. Hofstede cross cultural dimension model: This model is used and initiated by HRM to manage and deal with cross cultural issues at the marketplace. This model includes individualism, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance and masculinity femininity (Bird Mendenhall, 2016). Bridge the gap through mentorship: There should be a gap between the young workers and older workers. If this gap contributes to new workers culture shock, it needs to be counteracted. Thus, a system of mentorship should be implemented between new employees and management to reduce culture shock issues. Mentorship plays a vital role to manage culture shock effectively and efficiently. Also, it will help to learn desires, requirements and expectations of the organization. Implement an ambassador: It is an effective and important practice performed by HRM in Woolworths. The ambassador can act as a liaison between the new hire and other workers, introduce the new workers to coworkers and work side by side with the new employees until they are adjusted to the environment. Induction programs: It is one of the significant practices that are being performed by HRM in Woolworths. Induction programs are an effective and dynamic way to familiarize new workers with office policies including HR policies, work timings, account policies, performance, leave policies and appraisals. It is a perfect and unique eye opener to manage culture differences among new employees. The induction programs also help to improve and enhance the knowledge, skills and experience of the expatriates. It will also reduce cross cultural issues in the competitive market. All these policies and practices are used and initiated by HRM to control and manage culture shock. All these practices and policies also help to know and understand the needs, preferences and choices of the customers in the rivalry market. Along with this, effective and unique HR policies and practices are also important to attain desired goals and objectives (Kelly Moogan, 2012). On the above mentioned analysis, it can be concluded that culture shock is a major challenge and issue for Woolworths which can affect the financial position of the firm in the marketplace. Along with this, it may also influence the profit and revenue of the organization. To eliminate culture shock, HRM plays a empirical role in each and every organization. Woolworths maintains sustainable human resource department to handle cross cultural issues in the workplace. Now it is recommended that the company should motivate and inspire the new workers to understand and know the culture of other countries successfully. References Bird, A., Mendenhall, M. E. (2016). 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The role of organizational culture.Management Decision,49(1), 55-72. Passmore, J. (Ed.). (2013).Diversity in coaching: Working with gender, culture, race and age. Kogan Page Publishers. Santoso, J., Loosemore, M. (2013). Expatriate management in Australian multinational enterprises.Construction Management and Economics,31(11), 1098-1109. Woolworthsgroup.(2018).Aboutus[Online].Availableat: https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/about-us. [ Accessed as on 1st April 2018).