Mobility and Global Talent Management (GTM) Strategies

Summary. The increasing number of expatriates reflects the need for multinational enterprises (MNEs) to compete in a global knowledge economy. Despite high pressure, mobility program cost management practices are often weakly formalized. To take full advantage of international assignments, the assignees’ gained knowledge should be matched with required job competencies. The ratio of parent-country nationals (PCNs) at subsidiaries is influencing business performance. Also, besides defensive and retaliatory actions, relational measures can be used to maintain access to social capital in case of poaching in the host country. Finally, intercultural training based on clearly defined goals for business and leadership development purposes can increase the success rate of international assignment significantly.

Over 200 million extra-national employees worldwide

The number of employees assigned to foreign countries in 2013 was 214 million people, tendency increasing [1]. This article focuses in places on a multinational enterprises (MNEs) setting of interdisciplinary digital businesses from a Japan perspective (with global reach) that is heavily relying on knowledge and relationship-based intangible data assets.

Room to evolve in aligning the role of mobility with talent management

The information technology industry continues to be a growing sector with fierce competition and cost pressures [2]. While almost half of IT companies do not systematically measure international assignment costs, companies respond sensitively to cost factors. For example, as a reaction to surging residence costs for expatriates, Japanese companies in 2014 sent 10,000 employees less to China than still in 2012 when the number was at 57,000 [3]. Also, an international assignee attrition rate that could be problematic for a company when too high seems to exist in the IT sector, with survey results reporting a 25% of assignee loss as compared to overall survey respondents’ average of 14%. Generally, assignee’s increase market value serves as an explanation for their moving on to better career opportunities outside of the firm. The Japanese tenure- rather than market-value-based employment system [4] could mitigate that risk though. On the other hand, some Japanese expats may not return due to concerns with too much discriminating, rigorous, and long working hours required in the Japanese working world, as a popular Japanese blog suggests [5]. In any case, to mutually benefit from mobility programs, both the employee and the firm should be able to count on HR’s ability to match the expatriate’s knowledge with job’s required competencies [6]. Furuya (2007) suggested the deliberate and proactive use of appropriate HR policies and practices (e.g., job analysis) that help realize the advantages of global assignments [7]. Indeed, successful mobility has become a barrier for Japanese MNEs; yet formal programs are rarely in place [8].

One out of five Global Mobility Trends IT sector survey participants responded that they do not know their business need for internationally experienced talents [2]. Not enough parent country nationals (PCNs) at subsidiaries is curbing business performance; too many PCNs, however, let performance decline due to increasing resistance against loss of local identity [9]. The APAC region’s (IT) companies see Brazil and second, Taiwan as their favorite destinations for foreign assignments beyond 2015 [2]. From a host country’s perspective, e.g., Taiwanese firms seek Japanese employees’ knowledge [10] and increasingly poach Japanese workers [11]. For MNEs, relational actions such as alumni to keep access to human social capital might be an additional alternative to overly defensive or punitive measures [12].

Need for intercultural training

20% of international assignees reported difficulties in acclimating to the new culture. Also, people from strong cultures like China and Japan tend to stick with their compatriots [13]. Therefore, intercultural training [2] and/or timely termination (in case of issues) of expatriate projects are crucial to avoid relational damage [6]. Also, separate but integral goals and strategies for business and talent development should be defined in Japanese MNEs mobility programs [14]. Sufficient language proficiency has to be fostered too to enable an efficient knowledge transfer [15].

References

[1] Employee Mobility and Talent Management. (2013, September). The magazine of the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan. Retrieved from https://bccjacumen.com/employee-mobility-and-talent-management/

[2] BGRS. (2016). Global Mobility Trends. Insight into how 163 Global Mobility leaders view the future of talent mobility. Retrieved from http://globalmobilitytrends.bgrs.com/#/data-highlights

[3] Cho, Y. (2016, July 07). Japanese expats being priced out of Shanghai. Nikkei Asian Review. Retrieved from https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Japanese-expats-being-priced-out-of-Shanghai

[4] Watanabe, M., & Miyadera, H. (2017, October 11). Moving Past Japan’s Archaic Employment Practices. Brink Asia. Retrieved from https://www.brinknews.com/asia/moving-past-japans-archaic-employment-practices/

[5] Lund, E. (2016, Jan. 30). 5 reasons why Japanese expats say sayonara to their homeland for good. Japan Today. Retrieved from https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/5-reasons-why-japanese-expats-say-sayonara-to-their-homeland-for-good

[6] Tungli, Z., & Peiperl, M. (2009). Expatriate practices in German, Japanese, U.K., and U.S. multinational companies: a comparative survey of changes. Human Resource Management, 48(1), 153–171.

[7] Furuya, N. (2007). The effects of HR policies and repatriate self-adjustment on global competency transfer. Asia Pacific Journal Of Human Resources, 45(1), 6–23.

[8] Global & Regional Mobility for Japanese MNCs — Leverage your talent pool in Asia. (n.d.). Mercer. Retrieved from https://www.mercer.co.jp/events/2016-jmnc-iap-rap-seminar-singapore-en.html

[9] Ando, N., & Paik, Y. (2014). Effects of two staffing decisions on the performance of MNC subsidiaries. Journal Of Global Mobility, (1), 85. doi:10.1108/JGM-08–2013–0051

[10] Kang, B., Sato, Y., & Ueki, Y. (2018). Mobility of Highly Skilled Retirees from Japan to Korea and Taiwan. Pacific Focus, 33(1), 58. doi:10.1111/pafo.12108

[11] Tabata, M. (2012). The Absorption of Japanese Engineers into Taiwan’s TFT-LCD Industry. Asian Survey, 52(3), 571–594.

[12] Scullion, H., & Collings, D. G. (Eds.). (2011). Global talent management. Abington, UK: Routledge.

[13] Holmes, R. (2016, June 6). Innovating mobility services in Asia Pacific. Relocate global. Retrieved from https://www.relocatemagazine.com/innovating-mobility-services-in-asia-pacific-rholmes.html

[14] Jagger, P. (2017, March 23). Bridging East to West — Japan Inc’s Top 3 HR Priorities for The Year Ahead. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bridging-east-west-japan-incs-top-3-hr-priorities-year-pichaya-jagger/

[15] Peltokorpi, V. (2015). Corporate Language Proficiency and Reverse Knowledge Transfer in Multinational Corporations: Interactive Effects of Communication Media Richness and Commitment to Headquarters. Journal Of International Management, 2149–62. doi:10.1016/j.intman.2014.11.003