Manage
HR
It
is the quality and the standard of the human resource recruited
that plays a key roll in differentiating between a successful
organisations and a "run of mill" organisation . In
this section, we will discuss the issues relating to this valuable
resource through a series of articles. And yes, we are
open to contributions from masters of this Art ... Are you one?
Global
Mentoring creating relationships across the borders
Mentoring
refers to the pairing of any two individuals for the purpose
of information exchange and learning's on leadership objectives
and personal growth. There is nothing like being able to talk
about your work with an experienced executive. Even a CEO can
benefit from a "Mentor-mentee" relationship. Mentors
help you see things in a way you might not have thought about.
You gain experience as a leader, you learn to take better decisions
and improve your skill-set.
Traditionally,
mentoring programs centred on efforts to support mainly recruitment
and retention. It's only recently that mentoring is enjoying
a renewed status in corporations who feel the need to "gain
competitive advantage through people development" (Kanter).
Even
though different organisations may have their own set of ideas
regarding competitive advantage, most agree that there is a
need for global managers who can see the 'market as one'.
This
change in outlook has come about mainly due to-
•
Economic,
political and social shifts
•
Increase
in direct foreign investments
•
Removing
of trade barriers
Financial
services and the spread of the et has shifted markets from "local
to global"
As a result, firms are increasing their competencies in relation
to their competitors. Thus the primary source of competitive
advantage has become Information Exchange. A firm that "process,
filter and learns from information" has what it takes to
position themselves on a competitive platform by helping employees
see the big picture.
Moving
on to specifics, this article concentrates in mentoring issues,
applications and benefits for global conglomerates.
Employee
development
A company's growth is directly linked with employee development.
More and more companies are turning to training programs to
harness a corporate culture capable of being more innovative
and flexible.
Training
can be in the form of seminars, video aids or computer courses.
However, most of them are way to expensive and take s a long
time to materialise. To turbo charge the information exchange
formal (formal because corporate sponsored) mentoring should
be considered. Messmer suggests one-to-one mentoring or group
project management leads to knowledge workers who can acquire
"years of knowledge" within a shorter span of time
than those without mentoring.
Mentoring
is also seen as a "tool" for succession planning.
There is strong relationship between retention and mentoring
programs. Retention helps to develop the leaders of tomorrow.
Addressing
issues globally
Recruitment is increasingly crossing borders. Employees are
and should be viewed by all organisations as "common resource."
Global approach to HRM is gaining momentum. Implementing a global
mentoring program maybe a problem. Some of these difficulties
may be -
•
Time
•
Languages
•
Biases
(cultural)
•
Costs
•
Administration
Time
The time involved in a one-to-one communication is of concern
to many. In reality communication can be carried on side by
side along with work. The email is the easiest mode of communication.
You can continue working and mentoring regardless of location.
Language
Language between mentor-mentee could be a problem and often
companies are not willing to invest in interpreters. Thus matching
criteria in a form must include language proficiency.
Biases
A cross-cultural protocol must be well understood by both the
parties. Each country has their own set of etiquettes, which
the other must respect. If a protégé from the
U.S is paired with a German, he must make prior appointments
before contacting his German mentor. Moreover, he should address
his mentor in a formal name until he is asked to do otherwise.
Email
and telephone etiquette is equally important. A small misunderstanding
can fire up into a big issue due to the lack of cross-cultural
understanding. A mentoring program that involves cross-cultural
communication must be treated with more care.
Cost
The most significant costs involved are the cost of administering
the training. Many firms find it an expensive affair to bring
all the employees together for a mentoring program. For such
companies telementoring or electronic collaboration rooms are
an alternative.
Mentoring
coaches ideally should be from diverse backgrounds. After the
initial training the mentor-mentee pair can meet up less frequently.
Rotation every one year is an effort to relieve existing mentor
of his responsibilities and develop new trainers.
Advantages
Goodwill and mutual trust between cross cultural mentor and
mentee is the starting point of a global mentoring program.
The advantages of global mentoring are:
•
Initiative
and support to create new strategies
•
Mentors
learn to share information better
•
Develop
acute listening skills
•
Information/knowledge
is not lost or misplaced
•
Better
understanding of the company as a whole and your part in it
•
Develop
leadership skills
•
Keep
in change with pace
•
Help
you see the bigger picture
•
Transmission
of knowledge beyond the boundarie
•
Understanding
customer needs
•
Acquire competitor's
information
Limitations
The limitations of mentoring are overlooked. There will always
be pockets of resistance due to the lack of perceived benefits
and rewards. For global mentoring programs, especially, the
lack of vocational support and lack of organisational benefits
further posses as a barrier. The attempt to impart "one
corporate culture" through information exchange in order
to gain competitive advantage is a difficult task. There needs
to be clear support for regional goals. There needs to be further
research on global mentoring so that corrective measures can
be implemented.
Despite
its limitations global mentoring is the best way to foster global
learning and knowledge exchange helps to bridge information
gap, reduce xenophobia and ethnocentricity. Mentoring programs
are expensive but necessary and not only for top management,
also for regional heads. Global cultures cannot be acquired
by a vision alone; it can be acquired by the flow of information
and the acquisition of knowledge by a concerted effort from
the entire organisation.
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