HR CULTURE-CROSS HR STRATEGIES
Hofstede came up with the cultural dimensions which are still being practiced today as a pre-requisite to the understanding of the concept of cross cultural communication. These dimensions are also said to have a strong influence on the values of members of a society and also on how these values link to the behavior. Cultural dimensions give insight into how organizations and businesses would make policies for a specific location. The six dimensions of culture include power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long term orientation and indulgence (Hofstede, 1984; Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov, 1991). Before actually relating these dimensions to the HR strategies, we would first understand them one by one.
Hofstede and Bond (1988) mentions that power distance is the type of dimension which highlights the degree to which those members of the society who are less powerful accept that there is an unequal distribution of power. It is a known fact that no all societies work on the basis of equality. Certain levels of inequality have to be there in order to ensure that the society functions the way it has to. There are societies with low and high power distance. In societies, where the power distance is low, the members believe that the power is not equally distributed and raise the voice to understand the justification regarding the inequalities. However, the case of countries or societies where the power distance is high, the need for justification does not arise and hierarchical order is strictly maintained. Individualism is an approach where the members of the society care about their personal gains and benefits. People are focused on gaining their personal goals without really caring for what others are going through. On the other hand, the collectivism is based on the idea the members of the society focus on collective gains (Schwartz, 1994). Collectivism is common in Asian cultures where people value relationships and bonding with family members more and believe that real success lies in benefiting others than benefitting the self.
The dimension of masculinity is based on the idea that society attaches material rewards to the phenomenon of success and is truly competitive in nature. Masculinity is also linked to assertiveness and achievement (Hofstede, 1998). On the contrary, feminity is based on the idea of caring, cooperation and modesty in all forms. Societies based on feminine values are more oriented towards consensus and are usually tender in nature. The masculine societies are rigid and tough mostly. Uncertainty avoidance is the degree to which the members of a society have an uncomfortable orientation towards ambiguity and uncertainty. Societies fail to actually decide why they cannot know their future and if they must really try to figure out what future holds for them. Cultures, where the index of uncertainty avoidance is high, are based on strong rules and principles whereas the societies where the index of uncertainty avoidance is low usually, have a more relaxed and casual attitude towards daily life matters and situations. It is really important for all cultures and societies to maintain some forms of connections with the past as they move towards betterment in the future. Societies which have a low score on this dimension maintain the traditions and norms and do not really appreciate the change and innovation. However, the societies which score high on this dimension follow a very practical approach as they focus on improvement in the future and take as many possible steps as they can in order to compete with the external world through innovation and change. Indulgence refers to a society which allows some form of satisfaction which is in line with the basic aspects of human nature such as fun and enjoyment. On the other hand, restraint is all about suppressing the satisfaction needs of the members of the society by exposing them to really strict and rigid norms and regulations.
Linking these dimensions with the HR cross cultural strategies would be of much interest. There are four important activities of human resource which vary from culture to culture. The HR policies have to be aligned to the societal norms and culture so that the policies are acceptable and can be enforced with convenience. The functions of human resource which will be discussed within the context of cultural dimensions would be recruitment, training, team working and retention.
Recruitment
In many countries such as Saudi Arabia, China and Sweden, the HR practice of recruitment is different. In China, the process of recruitment is based on the idea that individual would contribute towards the collective gains of the society and the growth and career development of individuals is not really placed at the priority. On the other hand, in Sweden, where the society follows an individualistic approach, the recruitment is based on the personal growth of individuals and the success of the organization is kept at priority. The goals of recruitment are different in China, Saudi Arabia as well as in Sweden. Organizations operating in several locations have to ensure that the recruitment policies are based on the cultural and legal regulations in each location. The core aim of recruitment is however, taken into consideration.
Training
The concept of training is in the organization is highly dependent on the culture. In countries where the masculine approach is being practiced, the employees are trained in a manner so as to ensure that their actions and strategies are aligned to the rules and norms of the society and achieving material success is usually the core aim. On the other hand, societies which focus on feminist approach train their people to learn to cooperate with each other and provide feedback for growth and development whenever necessary. In Sweden, where the masculine approach is being followed, the training of employees is done in a different manner and personal growth is at the focus. On the other hand, the culture of Saudi Arabia and China is not based on masculine approach, so the trainings are done with a feminist goal where employees are taught how to take care of each other and cooperate in all personal and professional matters.
Team Building
Countries such as China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia which follow the collectivist approach believe in team building and team achievements. They have strong faith in the idea that teams bring more productivity and creativity to a task because teams are usually composed of people belonging to different backgrounds and skills and while working as teams, they share their diverse experience and skills with others and come up with better and fruitful team results. On the contrary, in modern societies such as those of Europe, individualist approach is being practiced. Although people are organized into teams when a certain goal is needed to be achieved but on an overall basis, people avoid achieving goals in team formatting. Individuals would like to make the most of their skills and knowledge to reach solutions (Elron, 1998). The HR strategies of team building are different for Sweden, China and Saudi Arabia.
Retention
Retention strategies are of much significance in organizations because if not formulate properly, the organization would lose its assets in the form of employees to competitors. The retention strategies being followed by various countries and societies are different based on the cultural orientation of the society. Policies of retention can be made either strict or flexible based on the orientation being adopted by the society. Retention methods in Saudi Arabia are not similar as practiced in Sweden. In Saudi Arabia and China, the retention incentives are different as compared to strict policies of retention as in Sweden.
References
Elron, E., 1998. Top management teams within multinational corporations: Effects of cultural heterogeneity. The Leadership Quarterly, 8(4), pp.393-412.
Hofstede, G. and Bond, M.H., 1988. The Confucius connection: From cultural roots to economic growth. Organizational dynamics, 16(4), pp.5-21.
Hofstede, G., 1984. Cultural dimensions in management and planning. Asia Pacific journal of management, 1(2), pp.81-99.
Hofstede, G., 1998. Masculinity and femininity: The taboo dimension of national cultures (Vol. 3). Sage.
Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G.J. and Minkov, M., 1991. Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind (Vol. 2). London: McGraw-Hill.
Schwartz, S.H., 1994. Beyond individualism/collectivism: New cultural dimensions of values. Sage Publications, Inc.
