Q & A session with Dulip Wijetilleke- Asst. Vice President - Human Resources - Citibank, N.A. Sri Lanka

 

Q: How challenging has it been to bring in the international culture into the local context for multinational organizations? 

A:In my view there is nothing called an "international culture". Culture is something that comes into effect based on the believes of people who lead a business. Certain multinational organizations have been in the business long years now. This shows the amount of efforts that it has put in to maintain a culture of people around the world . Integration of strong mechanisms, culture of all time, the employer brand ,strict adherence and behaviour of the leaders have secured a strong  base to maintain the existing culture of such multinationals. 

Among all ,the employer brand that has been developed and sustained over long  years has made it positive for employees to takeover and accept the organizational culture even before they joined that company.

Strict internal regulations and zero tolerance on non adherence , re-validate and reinstate one's  organizational culture. 

Q: Are the local staffs capable of matching the global standards? What kind of training program do you do to match their standards? 

A: I believe that multinational organizations have their own training brands targeted at various levels of employees and functions. Training curriculum has been developed taking into considerations the timely needs of the organization and majority of such training programmes are mandatory and made available online in an extremely powerful and effective manner. Massive amounts of money is invested by multinationals on people development and to bring them up to the standards set by the subject matter experts. Moreover the level of dynamism embedded in management decisions and the respect given to the employee feedback strengthen one's global standards.

 

Q: As an HR professional what kind of HR activities do you think would benefit the staffs in order to increase their performance?

A:In my opinion it is not right to state that compensation and benefits will eternally support employee performance. In my opinion what matters for an employee is a great deal of work life balance. A situation where an employee is over paid doesn't mean that employee would contribute and perform at high levels all the time. 

Employee engagement is another aspect that needs to be considered to boost employee performance. On the other hand equality and the ability to maintain a great culture help employee performance. I strongly believe that we are in a juncture where we need to deeply look at  digitizing processes instead of digitizing people.

Q: Does the local staff demand salaries of international standards? How do you strike a balance there? 

A:I do not make that assumption. Employees of multinational companies are aware that they are bench-marked with the local compactors. Hence there is no question around this. One of the key challenges would be  to map employees to the correct market position to ensure accurate bench marking. It is not as easy as it is said to accurately bench-mark. This is where the importance of identifying critical employees becomes of utmost important to retain the right talent .

 

Q: What is the most challenging part in equally managing the employees at multinational organizations?

A:Employee communication needs to be well managed to ensure that it doesn't leave any room for employees to deviate from the philosophy of the leaders.  Inaccurate and untimely communication always create a gap between what is intended and what is delivered via such communications. Hence I believe that communication which is not simple, concise, healthy and timely may lead to enormous problems in organizations.

Session Conducted by - Hasfan Jailan on 22nd of December 2017

Importance of organizational development (OD) when there is positive employee participation

Enhancing OD is an issue that has been imperative and will keep on being vital. All organizations whether private or open ought to attempt to enhance their OD and best use their assets keeping in mind the end goal to address the issues of their clients, and thus remain in business. The following are a couple favorable circumstances of increments in OD:

v  OD change is a determinant of how focused a nation's items are broadly and globally.

v  OD is an imperative monetary element to control swelling.

v  If the OD of an organization is higher than that of its rivals, that organization stands a superior opportunity to remain in business.

v  Increases in OD is a pointer of fast financial development, higher expectations for everyday life, benefit augmentations and work openings.

An organization can enhance its OD either by changing its innovation or by the utilization of its kin. Additionally, Jacobs, (2001) states that there are numerous routes in which an organization can enhance its OD. These include: interest in plants and gear; innovative work; new techniques for creation; and new advancements. 20 the author additionally satisfies that the biggest unexplored open door for expanding OD is by successful utilization of the workforce or employees. This present review's worry is the means by which an organization can utilize its kin or workforce to be more profitable. Individuals are critical to organization execution and OD. Whenever administrators and employees are propelled and have the suitable abilities, execution targets are proficient, and are regularly surpassed (Kim, & Yukl, 2005).

It can be contended that when employees are not persuaded, regardless of how dexterous they are, their execution will be underneath desire. Organizations which adequately utilize their workforce by making open doors for them to partake in basic leadership, either straightforwardly or in a roundabout way, are for the most part more proficient, compelling and beneficial than organizations, which don't legitimately draw in employees in the management of the business (Dienesch, 2000). Defenders of EI in apparel industry in basic leadership guarantee that drawing in the workforce or participative management builds employees' assurance, work fulfillment, responsibility and OD (Graen,  & Scandura, 2007). Participative management is a procedure in which subordinates share a huge level of basic leadership control with their quick prevalent.

References

1.      Dienesch, R. M. (2000). A three dimensional model of employee involvement: An empirical test. Paper presented at the Academy of Management meeting, San Diego, CA.

2.      Graen, G. B., & Scandura, T. A. (2007). Toward a psychology of dyadic organizing. Research in Organizational Behavior, 9: 175–208.

2.

3.      Jacobs, T.O. (2001). Employee involvement and exchange informal organizations. Alexandria, VA: HumRRO.

3.

4.      Kim, H., & Yukl, G. (2005). Relationships of managerial effectiveness and advancement to self-reported and subordinate-reported employee involvement behaviors from the multiple linkage model. Employee involvement Quarterly, 6: 361-377.

4.

A critical analysis of expatriate failure – Special reference to cross cultural behaviours

Worldwide literatures, the globalizing of claim to fame units maintain the organizations to name their staffs in the foreign environment (Hepsen, & Vatansever, 2012). An organization wouldn’t be able to stamp its part in the overall market just with the help of its chiefs and heads. The specialists have an effect overall market and bring home all inclusive organization abilities and moreover enable to go into new markets (Ismail El-Adly, 2007). The quantity of labourers send to another nation for cross edge assignments is increasing well ordered. Outcast, before alluding to the brain boggling definitions on expatriates just considers the staffs at the present time working abroad as expatriates. The progression of expatriate heads fit for directing overall conditions is unavoidable for an organization to shield itself from overall contentions. Shun change is growing on a very basic level as a pivotal HRD issue for MNCs and overall organizations (Kumaraswamy, & Dulaimi, 2011). The labourers are placed in cross edge assignments for a confined period going from 6 months to 5 quite a while. The purpose behind which these staffs are sent to another nation and the errand to be master by them. 

The literature on expatriation has generally spread particularly toward the start of the 1990's as the organizations in all nations moved towards a more worldwide economy. Martek, & Chen, (2016) characterized expatriates as “staffs sent from a parent organization to live and work in another nation for a period running from two to quite a while". Furthermore, Ferri, Oelze, Habisch, & Molteni, (2016) alludes that there exists more than one classification of expatriates. They called the second class the self-started expatriates. Those are the staffs who by their own drive settle on the free choice to work and live abroad, so they are not exchanged to another nation by the parent company. For the motivations behind this proposal, we will concentrate on the authoritative expatriates idea, which implies that an expatriate ought to be considered as the person who is incidentally moved to a nation other than their nation of citizenship, for work reasons, by the activity of the organization that she or he are utilized by.     

Cross-cultural adjustment has been a standout amongst the most as often as possible considered determinants of universal assignments achievement. Since the change in accordance with another nation and culture is not a simple assignment, a maladjusted expatriate as a rule prompts a failure in exile forms. It has been characterized cross-culture change as "the person's emotional mental reaction to the new condition". So also, Ahmed It has been characterized the term as the "degree to which expatriates feel great and adjusted to living and working in their host nation". As per the author, while a maladjusted expatriate demonstrates unwillingness or powerlessness to acknowledge host nations' practices, standards and parts, a cross culturally balanced expatriate is seen as expanding fulfilment in having the capacity to adapt on the grounds that the expatriate figures out how to function viably inside the host nation.

References

1.      Ferri, L.M., Oelze, N., Habisch, A. & Molteni, M. 2016, "Implementation of responsible Expatriate failures Management: An Institutional Perspective", Business Strategy and the Environment, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 261-276.

2.      Hepsen, A. & Vatansever, M. 2012, "Relationship between residential property price index and macroeconomic indicators in Worldwide housing market/Santykis tarp gyvenamojo nt indekso ir makroekonominiu rodikliu Dubajaus busto rinkoje", International Journal of Strategic Property Management, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 71.

3.      Ismail El-Adly, M. 2007, "Shopping HRs attractiveness: a segmentation approach", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 35, no. 11, pp. 936-950.

4.      Kumaraswamy, M. & Dulaimi, M. 2011, "Empowering innovative improvements through creative human resource management expatriate failures", Human resource management, Human resource management and Architectural Management, vol. 8, no. 5/6, pp. 325-334.

5.      Martek, I. & Chen, C. 2016, "Value chain supply expatriate failures strategies in international human resource management: Cases of foreign constructors in China", Management Decision, vol. 54, no. 2, pp. 501-521.

Employee involvement and professional development

It is vital to first pinpoint the main driver of the employee involvement before actualizing a program to address it (Briscoe, Dainty, Millett, and Neale, 2004). Once distinguished, a program can be custom fitted to meet the one of a kind needs of the organization (Crespin-Mazet, and Dontenwill, 2012).

Profession Development – It is essential for employees to comprehend their vocation way inside an organization to spur them to stay in the organization to accomplish their own vocation objectives. Through overviews, exchange and classroom direction, employees can better comprehend their objectives for self-improvement.

Official Coaching and training – Executive training can be utilized to fabricate skills in managers inside an organization. Training can be helpful in the midst of hierarchical change, to expand a manager's viability or to urge managers to execute instructing procedures with peers and direct reports. The instructing procedure starts with an evaluation of the person's qualities and open doors for development. The issues are then organized and intercessions are conveyed to target key shortcomings.

Propelling Across Generations – Today's workforce incorporates a various populace of employees from numerous ages (Ballesteros-Pérez, Skitmore, Pellicer, and Gutiérrez-Bahamondes, 2016). As every age holds diverse desires for the work environment, it is vital to comprehend the contrasts between these ages with respect to motivation and engagement. Managers, particularly, must see how to deal with the distinctions among their immediate reports.

References

1.      Briscoe, G.H., Dainty, A.R.J., Millett, S.J. and Neale, R.H. 2004, "Client-led strategies for British Law SRM chain improvement", British Law Management and Economics, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 193-201.

2.      Crespin-Mazet, F. and Dontenwill, E. 2012, "Sustainable Sale of Goods Act 1979: Building legitimacy in the SRM network", Journal of Purchasing and SRM Management, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 207.

3.      Ballesteros-Pérez, P., Skitmore, M., Pellicer, E. and Gutiérrez-Bahamondes, J.H. 2016, "Improving the estimation of probability of bidder participation in Sale of Goods Act 1979 auctions", International Journal of Project Management, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 158-172

What are the globally accepted theories of employee motivation?

1.      Herzberg's theory of motivation

An option motivation theory to Maslow's chain of command of necessities is the spark cleanliness (Herzberg's) theory (Hamza, and Greenwood, 2009). The hypotheses have cover, however the principal idea of each model varies (Hastache, and Iimi, 2011). While Maslow's chain of importance infers the expansion or evacuation of a similar need boosts will improve or take away from the employee's motivation and retention, Herzberg's discoveries show that components collecting work motivation and retention are separate from factors prompting poor occupation motivation. Herzberg's arrangement of necessities is divided into sparks and cleanliness factors. Like Maslow's progressive system, helpers are regularly surprising rewards that encourage the want to exceed expectations. Cleanliness factors incorporate expected conditions that if missing will make disappointment (Costa, and Grilo, 2015). Cases of cleanliness factors incorporate lavatories, lighting, and the proper instruments for a given occupation (Bank, 2015). Managers must use encouraging feedback strategies while keeping up anticipated those cleanliness elements would augment employee motivation.

2.      Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in brain research proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" in Psychological Review (Faughnan, 2007). Maslow thusly stretched out the plan to incorporate his perceptions of people's intrinsic interest. His hypotheses parallel numerous different speculations of human formative brain research, some of which concentrate on portraying the phases of development in people. Maslow utilized the expressions "physiological", "security", "having a place" and "love", "regard", "self-completion", and "self-amazing quality" to depict the example that human motivation and retentions by and large travel through (Hastache, and Iimi, 2011). The objective of Maslow's Theory is to accomplish the 6th level or stage: self-extraordinary requirements. Maslow examined the most beneficial 1% of the understudy populace. Maslow's theory was completely communicated in his 1954 book Motivation and Personality.

3.      Two-factor theory

The Two-Factor Theory expresses that there are sure factors in the work environment that reason work motivation, while a different arrangement of variables cause disappointment. It was produced by therapist Frederick Herzberg, who speculated that activity motivation and employment disappointment act freely of each other. Demeanours and their organization with mechanical emotional well-being are identified with Abraham Maslow's theory of motivation. His discoveries have had a significant hypothetical, and additionally a handy, effect on dispositions toward organization (Faughnan, 2007). As indicated by Herzberg, people are not content with the motivation of lower-arrange needs at work; for instance, those necessities related with least pay levels or sheltered and wonderful working conditions (Hastache, and Iimi, 2011). Or maybe, people search for the delight of larger amount mental necessities doing with accomplishment, acknowledgment, obligation, progression, and the idea of the work itself (Verri, Oelze, Habisch, and Molteni, 2016). This seems to parallel Maslow's theory of a need chain of importance. Be that as it may, Herzberg added another measurement to this theory by proposing a two-factor model of motivation, in light of the thought that the nearness of one arrangement of occupation qualities or motivations prompts specialist motivation at work, while another and isolate set of employment attributes prompts disappointment at work. In this manner, motivation is not on a continuum with one expanding as alternate reduces, however are free wonders (Hastache, and Iimi, 2011). This theory proposes that to enhance work states of mind and profitability, executives must perceive and go to the two arrangements of qualities and not expect that an expansion in motivation prompts diminish in disappointment (Degraeve, Roodhooft, and Doveren, 2005).

References

1.      Brandmeier, R.A. and Rupp, F. 2010, "SRM Sale of Goods Act 1979 functions: causes for superior performance", SRM: An International Journal, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 5-26.

2.      Degraeve, Z., Roodhooft, F. and Doveren, B.v. 2005, "The Use of Total Cost of Ownership for Strategic Sale of Goods Act 1979: A Company-Wide Management Information System", The Journal of the Operational Research Society, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 51-59.

3.      Faughnan, A. 2007, Integrating Sale of Goods Act 1979 to the corporate strategy: smart British Law companies are ensuring that their purchasing strategies are intrinsically linked to corporate strategies to stay a step ahead of the competition, according to international consultants EC Harris, Via Communications Ltd (formerly Via Media Ltd).

4.      Hamza, N. and Greenwood, D. 2009;2008;, "Energy conservation regulations: Impacts on design and Sale of Goods Act 1979 of low energy buildings", Building and Environment, vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 929-936.

5.      Hastache, A. and Iimi, A. 2011, "(Un)bundling infrastructure Sale of Goods Act 1979: Evidence from water SRM and sewage projects", Utilities Policy, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 104-114

6.      Verri, L.M., Oelze, N., Habisch, A. and Molteni, M. 2016, "Implementation of responsible Sale of Goods Act 1979 Management: An Institutional Perspective", Business Strategy and the Environment, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 261-276.

How to evaluate the employee performance

Employee Surveys – By reviewing employees, organizations can pick up understanding into the motivation and retention, engagement and motivation and retention of their employees (Bichler, Guler, and Mayer, 2015). It is vital for organizations to comprehend the point of view of the employee so as to make programs focusing on specific issues that may affect employee performance.

Post-employment surveys – By incorporating post-employment surveys during the time spent employee division, organizations can increase profitable knowledge into the working environment encounter. Post-employment surveys enable the organization to comprehend the triggers of the employee's want to leave and the parts of their work that they appreciated. The organization would then be able to utilize this data to roll out important improvements to their organization to hold top ability. Post-employment surveys must, notwithstanding, ask the correct inquiries and inspire legit reactions from isolating employees to be powerful (Ibrahim, Price, Malik, Khalfan and Dainty, 2010).

References

1.      Bichler, M., Guler, K. and Mayer, S. 2015, "Split‐Award Sale of Goods Act 1979 Auctions—Can Bayesian Equilibrium Strategies Predict Human Bidding Behavior in Multi‐Object Auctions?", Production and Operations Management, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 1012-1027.

1.      Ibrahim, A.D., Price, A., Malik M A Khalfan and Dainty, A. 2010, "British Law Sale Of Goods Act 1979 Strategies Of National Health Service In The Uk: A Critical Review", Journal of Public Sale of Goods Act 1979, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 31.

What are types of employee stress in SME?

The three common types of stress found by many authors such as Saridakis, Muñoz Torres, &Johnstone, (2013),Rutherford, & Holt, (2007)

1. Time stress

Employees encounter time stress when they stress over time, or the deficiency in that department. They stress over the quantity of things that you need to do, and you expect that you'll neglect to accomplish something imperative. You may feel caught, troubled, or even miserable. Regular cases of time stress incorporate agonizing over due dates or racing to abstain from being late for a meeting (Aragón-Sánchez, Barba-Aragón,  &Sanz-Valle, 2003).

2. Anticipatory stress

Anticipatory stress depicts stress that you encounter concerning what's to come. At times this stress can be centered on a particular occasion, for example, an up and coming presentation that will give. In any case, anticipatory stress can likewise be dubious and vague, for example, a general feeling of fear about the future, or a stress that "something will turn out badly (Prouska, Psychogios, &Rexhepi, 2016)."

3. Situational stress

Employees encounter situational stress when you're in a terrifying circumstance that you have no power over. This could be a crisis. All the more ordinarily, be that as it may, it's a circumstance that includes strife, or lost status or acknowledgment according to team. For example, getting laid off or committing a noteworthy error before your group is cases of occasions that can bring about situational stress (Yetim, &Yetim, 2006).

Reference

1.      Aragón-Sánchez, A., Barba-Aragón, I. & Sanz-Valle, R. 2003, "Effects of training on business results", The International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 956.

2.      Prouska, R., Psychogios, A.G. & Rexhepi, Y. 2016, "Rewarding employees in turbulent economies for improved organisational performance: Exploring SMEs in the South-Eastern European region", Personnel Review, vol. 45, no. 6, pp. 1259-1280.

3.      Rutherford, M.W. & Holt, D.T. 2007, "Corporate entrepreneurship: An empirical look at the innovativeness dimension and its antecedents", Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 429-446.

4.      Saridakis, G., Muñoz Torres, R. & Johnstone, S. 2013, "Do Human Resource Practices Enhance Organizational Commitment in SMEs with Low Employee Satisfaction?", British Journal of Management, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 445-458.

5.      Yetim, N. & Yetim, U. 2006, "The Cultural Orientations of Entrepreneurs and Employees' Job Satisfaction: The Turkish Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) Case", Social Indicators Research, vol. 77, no. 2, pp. 257-286.