– HR and the Global Environment

HRM’s Role in Making Downsizing Successful

During downsizing, HR needs to be a strong liaison between the top management and staff. Ideally, HR will have a strong enough standing with the executive staff to advise accordingly on how the organization can be restructured and realigned. There should be a strategy on how the organization will look over the next few years following the downsizing, including how sales, production, and customer service needs will be met with the reduced staff. HR's role should also be to help identify who the star performers are in the organization, and how to reposition people so that you keep as many of the best performers as possible. HR should also know who the leaders are, so that they can be positioned accordingly.

HR should lead the way in communicating with tact and diplomacy will be necessary to convey bad news in a kind and compassionate manner. Treating many employees poorly on their way out affects the brand reputation of the organization. There should be sufficient resources available to help employees find new jobs and have a soft landing. During a downsizing of my organization, HR also gained approval from City Council for employees to receive 40 hours of leave time to use for looking for employment.

HRM’s Support in International Operations
Organizations rely more and more on HR specialists as the facilitators of work across borders and among different cultures. Therefore, HRM must be knowledgeable of other cultures, languages and business practices. They will be required to develop and manage an international workforce, maintain written and unwritten corporate polices for transportability to other cultures, keep top management informed of the costs of not paying attention to the transnational issues and provide their services to a variety of locations worldwide.
Such international cultural differences have several HR implications. First, they suggest the need for adapting HR practices such as selection testing and pay plans to local cultural norms. They also suggest that HR staff members in a foreign subsidiary are best drawn from host-country citizens. A high degree of sensitivity and empathy for the cultural demands of coworkers is always important when