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Photo by Jezperklauzen / Photos.com
“LIKE ANY SKILLED HR PROFESSIONAL IS AN
INVALUABLE ASSET TO AN ORGANIZATION,
A GLOBAL HR PRO WHO HAS SUPERB
UNDERSTANDING AND SKILLS IN OPERATING
IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT IS AN ASSET
WORTH HIS OR HER WEIGHT IN GOLD.”
– ALIM DHANJI, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES, TD BANK GROUP
DRILL DOWN WITH YOUR RESEARCH
And then, of course, you need to know all about the region you’ll
be working in.
“I’ve seen very competent professionals from the U.S. come to
the Middle East and be unable to adapt and be sensitive to the
needs of the culture,” said Khan. “Ultimately, they end up going
back home rather quickly.”
Understanding the ins and outs of a new region means dig-ging
for any information you can unearth. Find out about
typical business customs, valued skills and attributes, standard
salaries, cultural priorities and values, typical breakfast foods
– anything you can think of may eventually become important
down the road.
Not only will this mean you can operate in a gaffe-free manner,
but it also enables you to better align such HR programs as perfor-mance
management or rewards to better suit regional environments.
SKILLS DRILLS
So how might an HR pro, who’s worked entirely in Calgary, for ex-ample,
begin to prepare for a position in Caracas, Venezuela?
Some HR pros in larger corporations may be able to take ad-vantage
of corporate immersion programs, designed to prepare
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ MARCH/APRIL 2014 ❚ 17