Expatriates as a challenge for IHRM International Human

Expatriates as a challenge for IHRM (International Human Resources Management) in Arabic countries 1 Päivi Käri-Zein

IHRM and needs for professionals abroad • Demands for the skilled and professional manpower • Challenges faced by the company • Challenges faced by the expatriate Päivi Käri-Zein 2

Who is an expatriate? • An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than that of the person's upbringing. • term is often used in the context of professionals or skilled workers sent abroad by their companies, rather than for all 'immigrants' or 'migrant workers'. The differentiation found in common usage usually comes down to socioeconomic factors, so skilled professionals working in another country are described as expatriates, whereas a manual labourer who has moved to another country to earn more money might be labelled an 'immigrant' or 'migrant worker'. Päivi Käri-Zein 3

Working abroad Sent worker or Expatriate with expatriate agreement Local work agreement abroad EXPATRIATE AGREEMENT Challenges in returning 15/03/2018 Päivi Käri-Zein 4 4

Do you know any Expats? • Have you been working as an expatriate or • do you know someone who has been as and Expat? • Ex= out of • Patria = country, fatherland Päivi Käri-Zein 5

Foreign Work process • Roles and responsibilities clearly defined • HR, line foreman, worker • HR arranged according to business model, can be outsourced KPMG, Deloitte etc. • Depends from the position of the person • high- himself decides, project etc. foreman decides • Time before, during the assignment and afterwards • Process should be carefully planned, big cost for the company Päivi Käri-Zein 6

Cultural challenges • Face problems, inconvienieces, make adjustments – stressful may end up to cultural clashes (Elashmawi&Harris, 1993) • Need to overcome fast from the negative things in order to make their assignment effectively Example: Malesia (Asma, 1996) * Public services, cleanliness, environmental awareness, restricted local media Päivi Käri-Zein 7

Women and gender differences • Understanding different roles by menwomen wife-husbend • Age, seniority • Organizational structure may assist better adjustment Päivi Käri-Zein 8

Expats, taxes etc. • Expat can receive favorable tax treatment • If they return to their homecountry after a certain period • Five years is the most common used maximum period • 20 th century expats were sent by their companies to foreign subsidiaries or headquarters Päivi Käri-Zein 9

Best to avoid culture chocks! Päivi Käri-Zein 10

About doing the expat work agreement • • • Specific to country and each expat time Following things must be considered: 1. employment law demands 2. local country’s law 3. International employment demands If local agreement is done, then there is no workrelationship to Finland Foreign workers’ rights handbook Example from Israel: http: //mfa. gov. il/MFA/Consular. Services/Documents/Foreign. Work ers 2013. pdf Päivi Käri-Zein 11

Content of the work agreement 1. the parties, following family members 2. Task description and duration; where the work is done, main tasks and duties, reporting, power relationships, duration of the agreement 3. Time of work 4. Salary and other benefits, monetary salary, euros/USD, bonuses, apartment, car, children’s education, tickets to Finland- to whom tickets are payed etc. 5. Who is paying the costs; tickets, passport, visa, vaccination, work trips, holiday trips etc. Päivi Käri-Zein 12

Continues… 6. Retirement and social security matters, insurances 7. Taxation 8. General matters; holidays, yearly leave, work safety, secrecy matters, changing the agreement 9. Finishing the agreeemnt, finishing too early 10. Plan to return back to ex-workplace, same tasks, different ones 11. Which law is valid in case of misunderstandings Päivi Käri-Zein 13

Trompenaars’ Dilemmas Applied to Arab Culture • Dilemmas in relationship with people – 5 orientations in this relationship covering people’s attitudes • Dilemmas in attitudes to time • Dilemmas in attitudes to the environment • Arabs are as underlined: • Universalism vs. Particularism • Individualism vs. Communitarism • Neutral vs. Emotional • Specific vs. Diffuse • Achievement vs. Ascription • Flexible time, non sequential • Nature is controlling, not human being Päivi Käri-Zein 14

Example: Destination UAE • What are the arabic/islamic countries • Focus UAE • Geography • History • People • Population • Hierarchical • Ethnical background Päivi Käri-Zein 15

DUBAI: A Modern City • Infrastructure • Services • Health care • Administration: • Non existant corruption • Traditional instead of all modern appearances • Marketing and focus of it Päivi Käri-Zein 16

DUBAI: A Global Exhibition City • Weekends and festive holidays • Languages • Dress code and esthetics • Regional cuisines and what to offer in exhibition? • Sensitive topics • Shopping • Realistic and tolerant • A worldwide Immigrant communities Päivi Käri-Zein 17

Business Aspects of Dubai and UAE • High living standard; Oil revenues, capital investment, wider business opportunities for locals. • Trading mentality for centuries: education and trading are complementary and necessary. Studying for research or to be employed is not a bright idea. • Multinational business community: individual traders, companies. • Huge multinational workforce: immigrants filling all kind of jobs. • Safe environment to live and work. • National origin is important! Päivi Käri-Zein 18

Economic Aspects of Dubai and UAE • Wild Capitalism: Nobody heard of word tax; VAT, Tax on Revenues, Im/Export taxes, etc • Exchange rates, No restrictions on capital in/out movements, banking and interest rates • No National heavy industry except oil & chemical industries • Continuous heavy investment in Infrastructure, building & housing projects • Unexisting monetary policy; all locals currencies are linked to $ • Large Public Sector: Education, Administration & oil, other inventions to create jobs • Wealthy dynamic private sector; ex/import, trading, re-export, free zones Päivi Käri-Zein 19

Coaching discussions in trainings : • Islam and business • Communication patterns, networking, collectivity, position of woman • Negotiation and bargaining skills • Decicion making • Conflict solving • About the project work and general matters learned from the previous workers • Everyday living • Free time, hobbies • Practicalities • Some important words • Answering to questions Päivi Käri-Zein 20

Stereotypes: Example Personal Profile of an Emiraty businessman/-woman • Western educated; often a group of men, they rarely come to our direction (Finland) • English language Fluency • Dressing up differently at home • Silent at the beginning • Hierarchical behaviours • Curious to know everything about you • Generous Päivi Käri-Zein 21

Living and Working in Dubai • A lively multicultural city • Different cultural influences • Tolerant atmosphere • Social networks • Peaceful and safe • Ideal for families • Traffic • Schools Päivi Käri-Zein 22

Expat assignments frequently end in failure; not completed or fails to meet its objectives. Three types of reasons (Briscoe et al (2009: 179)) • Dropout (the expat returns home early) • Brownout (the expat performs poorly overseas) • Turnover upon repatriation (the expat resigns shortly after returning home) • What different factors do you think contribute to each of these three types of failure? • What steps can IHRM specialits to take to reduce the likelihood of them happening? Päivi Käri-Zein 23

Thank you for your time! Good luck for the future! Wishes Päivi Käri-Zein 24