As companies become more global, economic patterns and business practices in one

Question

As companies become more global, economic patterns and business practices in one area of the world can determine the success of a company on the other side of the world. At P&G, being a successful global leader requires an international background. A majority of P&G’s 140,000 employees work outside the United States. P&G uses international assignments for employees to learn how business is 483conducted in another country so that lessons learned there can be applied at home or in another region. Only a quarter of relocations originate in the United States; the majority are from place to place across the world. An important goal of employees who receive international assignments is to develop local talent to replace themselves.

For example, a manager who is being prepared to take over a top finance position in Russia might go to Britain to gain experience working in a more structured and complex market. P&G managers in Europe must learn to keep the company’s products on big-box-store shelves such as Carrefour, the European supermarket and discount chain and one of the largest retailers in the world. P&G might send junior U.S. managers to work with European managers who are responsible for products at Carrefour, expecting that they will transfer skills learned in these assignments to dealing with product placement in big-box retailers such as Walmart and Costco. P&G also partners with UNICEF to offer P&G employees in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa the opportunity to take a three-month sabbatical to work with UNICEF. The program is aimed at employees who have always wanted to undertake humanitarian work but have not had the chance before. UNICEF benefits from the diverse backgrounds of P&G employees as they apply communications, promotion, leadership training, and supply chain management skills.

What steps should P&G take to prepare employees for international assignments to help them succeed? Should P&G also include spouses and family members in preparation for international assignments? Why or why not?

Explanation / Answer

Following steps can be taken by P&G for a successful expatriate program and to train their employees for the same:-

1) Launch a Pre-Expatriate Exploration Program - Under this program P&G can offer insights into the culture of the host country to the prospective employee. Employees can then train themselves to customize their habits and behaviors accordingly. Intelligence tools too can be used for such purpose.

2) Briefing between host manager and his team with the employee beforehand - Such a move can help the employee in getting to know about the country's culture in a better way. It can also help the employee to know about the expectations that the host manager has with him and vice-versa. Such a move would help in eliminating any room for ambiguity, thus helping in improving effectiveness of the expat employee.

3) To make sure that the communication is not hampered, the expat should be given a host and home sponsor and must be trained to work with them. These sponsors are point of contacts for the expat in case of any problem.

4) Knowledge management session should be conducted for the expat. The knowledge and the experience gained by the expat over the course of his stint is invaluable for the expat himself, the company and the future expats, and therefore the current expat should be properly trained to handle his findings and experiences in an appropriate manner.

Allowance of taking spouse and children should depend upon the duration of expat's stay in the country and the cost considerations. If the expat is visiting the country for a longer stay, he/she should be allowed to bring spouse. This would help in motivating the employees to work as hard as possible without thinking too much about their families.  

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