AHRI: Where on earth

Improving your understanding of other cultures and gaining skills from outside Australia - there are plenty of reasons to consider heading overseas for work, writes Carolyn Boyd

It’s not surprising that more than 78 per cent of Australian employees would move abroad to pursue a new career opportunity, according to a recent Employee Insights Survey by international recruiter Robert Walters. Many would go chasing better salaries (42 per cent), or the opportunity to work for a larger company (17 per cent). Europe was the most popular destination for an overseas move (37 per cent), followed by Asia (30 per cent) and the Americas (13 per cent). An international stint could be particularly valuable for people working in human resources, according to another recent survey by global recruitment agency Hydrogen Group. The Global Professionals on the Move 2011 survey found human resources, energy, clinical research and finance professionals rate international experience more highly than their counterparts working in other sectors. The survey was conducted by ESCP Europe Business School. Dr Claudia Jonczyk, associate professor of organisational behaviour at ESCP Europe, says that in HR, international experience is essential. “How are you to recruit, evaluate and attract people in an increasingly global workplace if you don’t know the different rules of engagement in respective national job markets?” she asks. “It’s essential to understand that newcomers (from abroad) need to learn to deal with cultural differences and understand what makes them feel welcome and stay engaged.”Regardless of job role though, virtually all (98 per cent) of the respondents in the Hydrogen survey who had worked overseas said they would recommend working abroad to others. Similarly, 93 per cent said they would go abroad again if given the chance. Although Australians were happy to advise others to work overseas, 40 per cent of those surveyed wanted to return home, compared with only 18 per cent from other countries. This shows, says Hydrogen Group chief executive Tim Smeaton, that “no matter how good the overseas experience is for them, Australia is still the best place to be long term”.

CHINA
The demand for experienced HR professionals in Asia is growing as an increasing number of multi-national companies move their Asia-Pacific headquarters to China, says Mike Zhang, manager of the HR division for recruiter Robert Walters in Shanghai. China-based companies are also going global and “need to set up international management teams for business development and operation”, says Emma Charnock, regional director of recruiter Hays in China. But there is a catch if you’re headed to China – you’ll probably need to speak the local language. “There is a growing need for candidates with the ability to speak Mandarin, and thus talent from neighbouring countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong are highly sought-after,” says Zhang. Charnock agrees that local language skills are crucial. “To be able to work in China, foreigners need to be able to speak fluent business Mandarin (or Putonghua as it is called in China),” she says. Competition is hot for jobs in China, Charnock points out, and there are lots of professionals looking to move into China from North America, Europe and even Asia. That’s why it is always an advantage to know China’s culture and human resources policy well. HR management experience in a multinational company that operates in China would be helpful too.

HONG KONG
Hong Kong-based Australian Cameron Murray [see profile on page 18] is the Asia-Pacific human resources director of marketing communications company Constituency Management Group, part of the Interpublic Group. The HR industry in Hong Kong and many parts of Asia is crying out for good HR people, he says. “Generally speaking, employers are looking for people who come from places like the UK and Australia because this is where some businesses would like to see their HR practices moving towards,” Cameron says. “However, unless you are fluent in Mandarin, the HR job market in Hong Kong is pretty tough at the moment for people in their 20s (or the first five to 10 years of their career). Many businesses in Hong Kong have strong links to China or are going through massive growth in China, so the need is for China experience and language skills.” One way around this is to be already working in a large multinational with the opportunity for an internal transfer. “This doesn’t mean language is essential, I don’t speak or write any Asian languages and have been fortunate enough to work for some fantastic companies,” Cameron says.

SINGAPORE
There is a need in Singapore for Australian HR professionals with relevant regional experience, says Joanne Chua, manager of the Singapore HR and supply chain division of recruiter Robert Walters. “Within the financial institution sector, HR business partners with relevant product knowledge are demanded by financial institutions here in Singapore,” Chua says. “HR professionals with change management or project management experience are also sought-after.” Most Australians transfer to Singapore with their existing employers, Chua says. And, she notes, Australian HR professionals who have worked for large companies have the advantage of emanating from a country where HR practices are more mature than in Singapore, which has only seen the emergence of home-grown business-savvy HR professionals in the last five to 10 years.  The job market in Singapore is very buoyant for all types of jobs, including HR, says Fiona Chisholm, an Australian human resources manager with GE Oil & Gas (see profile on page 21) in Singapore. “There are a lot of Australians here,” she says. Because many HR roles in Singapore have Asia-level responsibility, Chisholm says “at least being familiar with the region and the different types of employment markets that operate in different countries is an advantage”. A working knowledge of a second language, even in a country like Singapore where the business language is English is important. “It will help you gain credibility more quickly,” she explains.

THE UK
Australians are still viewed quite favourably by many UK employers, says Aileen Brown, director at Hays HR in the UK. “They are seen as being very career-focused and having a strong working ethic,” Brown says. “The Australian HR system is quite similar to the UK so the transition is relatively smooth for professionals who do make the move.” Graduates could find it difficult to secure their first role but “the UK market is quite buoyant at the moment for experienced HR professionals”, Brown says. “We have many clients requesting various HR specialists, both on an interim and permanent basis, to help prepare their organisations and workforce for the upturn. Employers want commercially savvy HR professionals who can deliver in specialist areas, such as transformation and employee engagement. The key is to demonstrate experience dealing with similar challenges and working in similar industries.” However, it’s a competitive market, and opportunities can be limited by that, Brown says. “Many Australian HR professionals opt for more junior or temporary positions while in the UK,” she says.

THE US

Unemployment in the US remains high at 8.9 per cent but the Bureau of Labour Statistics is predicting a big growth in human resources roles in the next seven years. Human resources jobs are expected to expand by 22 per cent in the decade to 2018, much faster than the average for all occupations.   “Legislation and court rulings revising standards in various areas … will increase demand for human resources, training, and labour relations experts,” says a Bureau of Labour Statistics report.  “Rising healthcare costs and a growing number of healthcare coverage options should continue to spur demand for specialists to develop creative compensation and benefits packages that companies can offer prospective employees.”  Additional job growth may stem from increasing demand for specialists in international human resources management and human resources information systems.Certain specialists may also be sought after. For example, as highly trained and skilled baby boomers retire, there should be strong demand for training and development specialists to impart needed skills to their replacements.

TIPS FOR LANDING A JOB
References are essential. “One of the challenges we often have is getting hold of Australian employers to provide a reference,” says Aileen Brown, the director at Hays Human Resources in the UK. “This can delay the recruitment process and in the worst-case scenario it means that individuals lose out on a job opportunity.” As with most jobs, it is your CV that will secure the interview. Organising the relevant working visa is a must, as is doing some research before leaving to find out what roles are available and who is recruiting.   Once in-country, it helps to meet recruiters face-to-face. “This will enable individuals to showcase their skills and experience, which will ensure that the recruiter only puts them forward for suitable roles,” says Brown. Fiona Chisholm, a human resources manager with GE Oil & Gas in Singapore, says it can help to be open to being hired as a “local”. “The majority of Australians [in Singapore] are on expat employment contracts, so employers can assume that you are looking for a higher level of support, which may not be financially attractive for them,” she says. “In Singapore it is possible to obtain your own work rights (i.e. without company sponsorship), so I would recommend doing that as it will open up more job opportunities.”

AHRI’s global reach
An ability to take the fundamentals of human resources management and adapt them to different situations won AHRI contracts to deliver training in the Middle East and Asia. Since 2007 AHRI has been training government workers in Dubai where Lyn Goodear, AHRI’s deputy chief executive and national manager of professional development, says the government saw training its own people in HR as integral to its vision for major reform.
“The Dubai Government recognised that while we’re very flexible and adaptable, we hold onto the core competencies that we know need to be taught, and assess what we know needs to be contextualised,” Goodear says.  The core courses delivered have been developed from AHRI’s Professional Foundations of Human Resources Certificate and the Professional Diploma of Human Resources. “We felt it was a very positive thing for AHRI to be recognised on the global stage as far as the quality of our training materials and delivery,” says Goodear.

AHRI’s international clients include:

·         Bahrain Institute of Public Administration (where the program is delivered in Arabic)

·         Mars Asia – providing AHRI education training across seven countries including: China (Beijing and Hong Kong), Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan

·         The Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Leadership Development

·         The Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University

·         University of the South Pacific, Fiji

·         Saint Goban (Hong Kong)

·         RS Components (Hong Kong and Singapore)

AHRI is currently in negotiation to deliver programs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

CASE STUDY

Cameron Murray: Hong Kong

When Cameron Murray, the Asia-Pacific human resources director of marketing communications company Constituency Management Group (CMG) Asia-Pacific, part of the Interpublic Group, is hiring people for overseas roles, he looks for global business experience, work overseas, travel or anything that shows the person is mobile. “There would be an inherently higher risk with someone who has never been overseas,” he says. Based in Hong Kong, the Australian says one of the biggest failures he has found with bringing expatriates from other countries is that either the employee hasn’t researched their new lifestyle or the company hasn’t asked the right questions to ensure the person is comfortable with the move. Cameron has worked in the UK and Singapore, as well as Australia. “Working overseas has totally changed my perspective on people and business,” he says. “It has given me many new skills I could never have gained staying in Australia. Number one would of course be the cultural experience of living and working in a place like Asia where you have such a complex melting pot of cultures.  “HR practices are different from country to country and Western ideals or HR ‘best practices’ often don’t copy and paste. This adds to the challenge because you could be working with businesses in Australia where they have a very mature HR industry, to somewhere like China where we’re only just beginning to scratch the surface at what opportunities and challenges are ahead.” For young professionals positioning their skills as more appealing in the international market, Cameron suggests taking “every opportunity to be involved in regional/global aspects of their role, travel overseas, learn about cultures, and explore fresh approaches to HR and champion their own passion for HR in the creation and implementation of their own ideas”.

CASE STUDY
Rhonda Brighton-Hall: Netherlands and the US

Looking about her when she first arrived in Holland, Rhonda Brighton-Hall couldn’t believe her luck. “As an Australian, you go, ‘wow I’m working in Europe and it’s so exciting,’” she recalls. While she might have been overwhelmed by the culture, Brighton-Hall quickly learned that when it comes to HR, Australians are just as good as their European counterparts. “I thought I’d learn lots from Europeans who would be better at HR than us, and I suddenly realised we can hold our own. Australia does HR as well as anyone in the world.” However, there was a bigger scope of opportunities. Like when she was asked to take over her European employer’s branding and diversity program. “You can’t say, ‘I don’t know anything about European diversity’ which of course I didn’t, so I literally rang the EU in Brussels and said ‘you’ve just released a white paper on diversity, where does it come from?’ Brighton-Hall recalls. She was also given the chance to study strategic human resources at London Business School, and leadership at IMD in Switzerland. There was also a massive cultural learning curve. When Brighton-Hall was posted to the US, a senior manager taught her how to navigate the almost invisible corporate politics that plays out in America. He taught her “not to play politics, which would have been a disaster, but how to avoid it and to stand aside from it,” Brighton-Hall recalls. “It is a lesson I’ve retained as I returned home, and a skill I rely on every day”. Brighton-Hall, 47, says you have to hit the ground running in a new country. “You need to be as effective as if you were born there, you can’t be effective when you’re ready, after two years of assimilating.” It’s particularly pertinent if you have been brought in rather than hired locally. “International assignments are fast,” says Brighton-Hall. “If they are going to bring someone in from overseas all the locals look at them as if to say, why? So you need to be good and you need to be good quickly. To do so you’ve got to get inside the way business is done in your new country, and be courageous about making a contribution.” Brighton-Hall returned home four years ago as she wanted her three children to have the benefits of an Australian culture and lifestyle, including her late son who was born with autism. She now leads the human resources team for the retail bank of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.  In 2009 she was awarded the Dave Ulrich HR Leader of the Year and the Telstra NSW Business Woman of the Year.

CASE STUDY

Lisa Dula: London

Lisa Dula never meant to stay in the UK for 16 years. “I went over with my then-fiancé just for a couple of years to have some fun,” she says.  Dula landed in London with a background in business and hospitality, having worked as a training manager in a hotel group in Australia. In London, Dula found the pay was poor in hospitality so took on a general business role.  “Within 18 months it kind of morphed into an office manager/HR role,” the 42-year-old explains. “Quite often in the UK when you’re the HR manager or HR officer, you’re also responsible for the office.” Sponsored by her employer, Dula completed a masters in human resource management, which helped her gain Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development accreditation. “It’s much easier to get a role in HR in the UK if you’ve got your CIPD, which is a certificate in personnel and development,” she says. Dula loved living in London, particularly in her 20s, but says once her three daughters came along, it was time to come home. “I just wanted my kids to have a better quality of life,” she says. “And there’s no comparison. I think before you’ve got kids, London is fantastic, but once you’ve got kids, it’s not quite so much fun.” Dula warns that the two-year working visa has been tightened up in recent years. “With the two-year working holiday visa you must holiday for 12 months of that two years,” she says.

CASE STUDY

Fiona Chisholm: Singapore

Fiona Chisholm, 32, has been working in Singapore with GE Oil & Gas since August 2008. Has being Australian helped? Chisholm thinks so. “Australian HR style is very generalist and hands-on, so having that approach really helps when you move into a new country and environment – you’re not afraid to roll up your sleeves and ask lots of questions, which is important as you will often find issues you have not encountered before and need to apply common sense,” she says. Chisholm went to Singapore on a rotation as part of her company’s global Human Resources Leadership Program. Her original role was a cross-functional one, as a supply chain finance analyst. Then in April 2009 she became a human resources manager supporting a client base spread across the Asia-Pacific and China. She says working in Asia has made her a lot more culturally aware. “I am able to adjust my style depending on the background of the person I am dealing with,” she says. “This is even more magnified having worked in Asia as opposed to the UK or US (for example), as there is such a huge diversity of ethnicities and religions here.”  Does she have any advice for young hopefuls? “Be open to a steep learning curve and to being personally challenged – don’t assume you know it all, be humble!” she says.

Questions

What HRM problems might prospective migrants face when seeking out international work experience?

What are the benefits of gaining international work experience?

What HRM problems might companies face when employing people from a different country?

What are the benefits for companies of recruiting internationally?

For Quality Research Projects: kojalajohn12@yahoo.com