Staffing and Developing the
Multinational Workforce
Ibraiz Tarique &
Randall Schuler
Overview
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Important Terms
Types of employees in the
multinational workforce (MWF)
Major issues and challenges of
staffing and developing the MWF
Important Terms
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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
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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
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Parent country nationals (PCNs)
Host country nationals (HCNs)
Third country nationals (TCNs)
Parent Country Nationals
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Employees of the MNE who are
citizens of the country where the
MNE’s corporate headquarter is
located
PCN Competencies
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Familiarity with the MNE’s corporate
culture
Ability to effectively communicate
with headquarters
Ability to maintain control over the
subsidiary operations
Host Country Nationals
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Employees of the MNE who work in
the foreign subsidiary and are
citizens of the country where the
foreign subsidiary is located
HCN Competencies
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Familiarity with the cultural,
economic, political, and legal
environment of the host country
Ability to respond effectively to the
host country’s requirements for
localization of the subsidiary’s
operations
Third Country Nationals
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Employees who are neither citizens
of the host country nor citizens of
the country where the enterprise is
headquartered
MNE Concerns for its Workforce
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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
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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
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Human resource planning
Recruitment of competent employees
Performance appraisals
Compensation policies
Development initiatives
Recruitment from the MNE
Perspective
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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
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Extroverted and open to new
experiences
Affected by their early international
life experiences
Recruitment From the Individual’s
Perspective
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Higher in conscientiousness
More open and extroverted
Greater family diversity
More likely to be fluent in another
language
Global Careers
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Expatriation provides the opportunity
to acquire overseas knowledge, and
repatriation creates the opportunity
to transfer and apply this knowledge
in the organization
Conclusion
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MNEs face challenges and issues
related to staffing and training their
multinational workforce
Training programs can increase the
cultural effectiveness of the
workforce
Conclusion
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Future research might focus on:
• Developing a global mindset
• Non-traditional staffing methods
• Developing uniform staffing and training
methods