Do you remember the 1964 World’s Fair Disney exhibit, "It’s a Small World"? (It debuted the song you can’t get out of your head as soon as you hear it.) Well fast forward to the 21st century and we’re there – "it’s a small, small world." The notion of a global marketplace is no longer a prediction; it’s here, and its impact is far reaching. We’ve grown beyond just large corporations like Coca-Cola and Sony needing to pay attention to how international business is driving changes to our education systems, leadership development programs, customer service approaches, technologies and financial decisions. Business investments in products, services, workforces, facilities, technologies, and communities all have to consider what’s occurring in the global marketplace. Is your organization considering these influences? Is your leadership team designing strategic initiatives for competing and winning in a smaller world?
A "World-Wise" Road Map
The 2010 IBM Global Chief Human Resource Officer Study, titled Working Beyond Borders, found that "while organizations continue to develop and deploy talent in diverse areas around the globe at an accelerated rate, the rationale behind workforce investment is changing." The study findings indicate that:
- expansion requires workforce redirection to locations providing the greatest opportunity, not just lower costs
- management strategies to reflect an increasingly dynamic workforce must be re-imagined
- competitive success will depend on leadership talent to assimilate information and share insights among a diverse group of employees living and working around the globe
- social networking and collaboration "soft" skills also have a beneficial bottom-line consequence
Kathryn’s article focuses on the strategies necessary to help organizations build "culturally competent" Chief Human Resource Officers (CHRO). I saw the value of these strategies carrying over to any manager responsible for leading international work teams; not just HR. So I’m offering them for your consideration.
Ms. Tyler suggests that organizations and individuals can independently and collaboratively incorporate career learning opportunities, such as the following, to boost global leadership development:
Travel - A long term assignment may not be practical for everyone; but with a slight modification, perhaps taking an 18-month assignment with two-week trips back to the states every three months, it may be a workable option. Work and travel should be focused on countries and cultures that are important to the organization whether the location is dedicated to operations, labor or customer markets.
International degrees and workshops - Not all professionals need an international degree. Enrolling in global courses can be very educational and rewarding. Schools such as the Thunderbird School of Global Management offer courses on various topics related to globalization. However, for managers who have the time for and interest in an international degree, the experience can be valuable and allow for establishing a strong business network with executives from other countries.
Read globally - Keeping up on world news through country specific newspapers and resources such as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Economist, Fortune and Harvard Business Review is a must. Incorporating discussions about current international events into management meetings can also lead to innovation and creativity.
International projects - Managers should be encouraged to study a new language, assisted by resources such as Rosetta Stone; and to volunteer for project assignments as they are identified. An organization can build a competitive advantage by locating managers in emerging markets for a year or two in order to gain an understanding of the way work and business relationships are accomplished.
Multicultural network - Leaders should be encouraged to network with other managers and executives who have international backgrounds and responsibilities, even if their role is not the same. Managers can also be matched with mentors outside the U.S. and should be offered access to opportunities where they could join in on international team projects.
So What’s Next?
The writing is more than on the wall: Globalization is here to stay, and leaders need to be taking the right steps to embrace it. Just by virtue of the word, globalization means business not usual. Therefore, it requires new thinking and new ways of doing things.
As I wrote about last week, planning and implementing organizational change isn’t a strong suit for American businesses; as demonstrated by a 70% failure rate. It takes time and commitment to successfully initiate change and to have it embraced by employees. But it can be done with the right leadership and change management approach.
According to Peyman Dayyani, VP of Organizational Development and Human Capital for Mobile Communication Company of Iran, who was quoted in Tyler’s article, "acquiring global skills should include a 70-20-10 learning approach: 70% learned by doing, 20% from being mentored by individuals with a global mind-set, and 10% by reading and attending classes." This formula can provide a good yardstick for developing the mixture of global learning experiences suited for specific organizational needs.
Not only do organizations need to consider the impact of globalization in their approach to strategic expansion, they also have to re-imagine their orientation, leadership development and human resource programs that support workforce analysis, succession planning, engagement, job rotations and more. Leadership development, especially to grow global cultural competencies, still seems to be elusive to many organizations. According to IBM’s Study, companies are struggling to both find and nurture effective future leaders.
Cultural competencies necessary for the success of global leaders according to Kathryn Tyler include self-awareness and the knowledge of how you are perceived by others; language acquisition, which not only provides a means for communication, but also allows for insights into the culture; and societal sensitivities, which allow leaders to be open to different solutions and adaptable to different cultures and work style norms. Leadership development programs focused on integrating these competencies along with the traditional leadership skill sets would go far in helping executives prepare for managing an international workforce.
The experts have gathered data, analyzed it and are laying out road maps for tuned-in organizations to follow in their quest to motivate and prepare leaders for the changing requirements of global management. What advice would you add to aid companies trying to strategize about how to prepare for success in a global market?
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