Global Human Capital Management Trends

Change is never easy. Casino X has been working with the same mindset for many years. In the past this was a profitable company but with the globalization of culture and the marketplace, due in part to the technology growth and the internet, they cannot successfully work with an outdated human resource system. The casinos have had a transactional style of leadership; believing that the primary purpose of a subordinate is to do their jobs, create clear work requirements, and expect the job to be done without question and immediately.
The leaders have a realist view of thinking and use their expertise as their source of power (IAAP Administrative Professionals Week Event, 2009). National boundaries are less important, and multinational companies treat the world as one market. Through technology smaller countries are finding bigger markets for their goods and services, creating more competition for older managed businesses (McAdams, Neslund, & Zucker, 2012). The best way to ease these concepts into the corporate mind is through: example, presenting them analytical data, and real word examples of how changing their views of human capital has worked for other companies.
This may help them see how they can make changes. Insuring that they do not feel they must be at the highest level of the People Capability Maturity Model (CMM) tomorrow will also help with the transition to a mature workforce. There are no legal penalties for not improving the cultural climate of the corporation, but the continued loss of productivity and revenue should be of some influence. Initially, the leadership must be made to see the influence of globalization on the workforce in the country and then to understand how it affects other companies and then their company.

They will then be able to understand that the benefits of treating their employees as individual assets under the People CMM will insure they can be competitive in the marketplace. A major global human capital management problem in the country is the greater number of immigrant workers; not since the turn of the century has there been a greater influx of non-European peoples. This influx has created cultural conflicts in the United States. Developing cultural understanding is required to prevent cross-cultural conflicts.
There needs to be a consistent emphasis of the value on diversity in communication, vision and strategic planning (Lankau, 2013). The leadership needs understand how that emphasis will improve the bottom line of Casino X and improve the bottom line of Casino X Macau. The leadership of the corporation will be introduced to the four cultural dimensions to illustrate how culture can affect the financial health of the company. These are: collectivism vs. individualism, power distance, orientation towards nature, and communication content (Milliman, Taylor, & Czaplewski, 2002).
The United States is seen as individualist nation, primarily depending on individual task completion. Many other countries prefer a collectivistic view, they care about the group and depend on relationships to complete projects. Understanding that view can improve communication with employees, suppliers and the customers. High power cultures have distinct structure, accepting unequal power and deference to superiors, while in the United States, a low power distance culture, all people are considered to have equal power.
An American attitude is that we can control everything in nature, giving us a personal stake in all we do while those with an orientation towards an uncontrolled nature feel that failure or success is out of their hands. Communication is the fourth topic that the leadership of Casino X must realize about the cultures of other countries, most take into account the context of communication; they take into account all of the things surrounding the message: not only what is said but the surrounding context, what was said before and after, if only through email how it is said, body language, if the communication is in person.
Knowing the cultural make-up of the employee base will help this leadership improve its communication with their employees. Understanding the cultural differences in communication will assist in the improvement of employee relationships and increase productivity. The introduction to the cultural distinctions and world views of employees and overseas companies will make the People CMM more understandable, and possibly increase the buy-in to the People CMM program. To achieve success with the People CMM, Casino X must first decide on which level their company’s maturity falls into.
By surveying their employees they can get an overall picture of where they stand on the People CMM ladder. Then by going through each description they can realistically figure out what they need to do to improve the financial bottom line. The Initial Level will be shown to have inconsistent workplace practices, no clear policy and an emotionally detached workforce. This does not describe Casino X. The Managed Level shows an implementation of policy, but shows signs of overwork, distractions, unclear objectives poor communication and a low morale.
It is imperative to emphasize corporate-wide improvement programs to identify critical skills and improve management skills at this level. This is the level at which Casino X falls. Their employees are accomplishing the job, but have no pride in it, and no organizational loyalty. Because of this they have no innovative thinking and Casino X is spending a great deal of money and time retraining employees instead of improving them. The next level of maturity is the Defined Level, they are working better but are now missing key opportunities because of a lack of talent.
They will need to work on workforce competency and more strategic thinking. Level 4 is called the Predictable Level of maturity in a company. They are following all policies and completing all requirements with full trust of management. Now is the time to innovate information technology, introduce new programs and training. At maturity level 5, The Optimizing Level, there is accountability and measured improvement in the way the company works, the employees have high morale, and the financial outlook is good (Curtis, Hefley, & Miller, 2010). This is the level, the attainable star, that Casino X needs to shoot for.
By showing them the tools and insuring they realize that it is a process and they do not have to get there overnight (nor should they try) they can overcome the global human capital problems they face with predictable changes and understanding. The management styles of Casino X must be improved to obtain the employee improvement and eventual profit there is to gain in the operation of the casino. Motivating these managers to work together may be a challenge. The best approach to creating change is to work with them; when you work with your employees, they will be happier to work with management.
This works well when people want to collaborate but are struggling to adjust to the situation, i. e. a merging of companies, and achieve the goals of change. This may help to instill a feeling of responsibility in the importance of the completion of this project and how they are the key may give them an incentive for success. Involving them in working together intellectually the employees may become more involved emotionally which may persuade them that it is the right thing to do, to follow the new vision of the casino (Changing Minds, 2012-2013).
To appeal to the preceding issues the following memorandum was submitted to the leadership of Casino X: The casino industry has been managed in the same fashion for several years. The autocratic management style is quite firmly entrenched drawing from the fact that the industry began as an illegal activity. In addition, the gaming industry has been clouded by an atmosphere of distrust as evidenced by constant supervision of personnel activities, such as video surveillance of all gaming tables. The industry is also heavily unionized. This unionization has fostered an anti-management mentality (Reimann, 1993).
With the influx of multinational employees it has become more evident, by a high turnover in staff and lost profits that changes need to be made. Over the past several years competition has increased as well. This competition is from video, internet, and riverboat gambling, as well as gaming on Indian reservations (Reimann, 1993) and competition from other overseas establishments. Because of all this competition the employee base is becoming more diverse, and while Casino X is trying to maximize their profits, they must also recognize the potential profit in their human capital.
To do this they must insure that the exchange between the casino and the employees of the casino are mutually beneficial (Chen & Chuang, 2013). Therefore, the use of change management by organizational development is even more important for a profitable evolution in management. As you have realized, you have a problem with the lack of employee loyalty and high turnover. You have taken the first steps in the process of Organizational Development in that you have found what needs to change and have retained me to assist you in the matter.
We next discussed the underlying reasons: a lack of understanding the cultural differences and globalization of your competition and employee base (French & Bell, 1995). I informed you through a prior memorandum of what we learned from the data we collected. Now we need to discuss the root causes and remedies for your dilemma (Rooney & Vanden Heuval, 2004). We need to invest in the human capital of your employees; they need to feel that they are a part of the Casino, not just working for a supervisor who works for the Casino.
We need them to be motivated and inspired to work. This will reflect on how they deal with your customers, and will show return in investment in repeat customer loyalty and, in turn, profit. I recommend starting with training the management teams in cultural diversity; this would also serve you well in customer relations, as there is an increase in foreign travel to Las Vegas. The management needs to understand how to relate to other cultures and ethics systems so they can identify ways to improve communications with employees and employee communication with customers.
Most important, as the Casino leadership you need to have a vision of how you want your Casino perceived: as an entertainment location or a gambling establishment. Your vision needs to be clearly articulated to your employees and should serve to inspire your management teams. Your vision should set an example your employees want to follow. I also suggest giving your employees a voice in improving customer relations and improving their working processes, both of which can be achieved by creating a team concept. These teams would consist of employees working in the same environment with rotation of team leadership.
Team leaders would bring suggestions for improvement to management. An important goal in this process would state that employees could not bring a problem to the employee team’s attention without bringing a proposed solution. Keep in mind that in larger hospitality organizations an entrepreneurial spirit is more easily sustained when shared visions of management styles are part of the organization rather than only a process (Agrusa & Lema, 2007). Once we get the organization processes in action we will monitor the progress.
Everyone who contributed information should have an opportunity to learn about the findings of this assessment process, maintaining confidentiality. The feedback should start with the Casino Leadership and the Management teams. It will be processed down through the employee teams to reach all who have participated. This provides an opportunity for the organization’s people to become involved in the change process, to learn about how different parts of the organization affect each other, and to participate in selecting appropriate change interventions (French & Bell, 1995).
We will then make changes as through the creation of an implementation plan developed based on the assessment data; logically organized, results-oriented, measurable and rewarded. This will be a continuous process and done at regular intervals. This will not work without your full support and cooperation. You, as the Casino Leadership, are the example to the entire company and without your support this will be an empty attempt at progress; the employees will know that their input in not valued and you will be right back to square one.
The next step is to plan for a participative decision-making process for implementing the changes. Leadership must remain flexible enough to modify the process as the organization changes and as new information emerges (IAAP Adminstrative Professionals Week Event, 2009). You must emphasize to your employees that the changes they wish to make must be of equal or greater quality to the customer and the work environment. The human capital change management process is important to obtain a profitable success.
You must remember that your employees who are doing the jobs know best how to do those tasks; they are an asset to the positive changes you wish to make. They are also the greatest resource you have for knowing which changes will be of the greatest benefit to the customer, the employees, and the bottom line. You should leave problem solving and decision making to the lowest levels possible; this will empower your employees. Expect the best of your employees; they will only rise to the level expected from them.
If they are empowered and inspired to do so, your employees can perform at consistently higher levels (Reimann, 1993). These are the recommendations and guidance we provide to the leadership of Casino X. The movement to overseas casino operations has begun in your operation, and is already established in the city of Macau in the Philippines. There are many global staffing theories available to your organization; a review of these theories will assist in the development of your company to a higher management maturity level and greater profit margin.
Global staffing is the function of the human resources department to fill key positions at an international level. There are more employees willing to take on the challenge of working in a different country, to expatriate, this gives them more experience and they may possibly gain better positions far more quickly than those who remain in the home location. Companies benefit from being a multinational organization by being able to attract a greater talent base. “The overall global staffing strategy must be inclusive of methods to motivate employees to attract them to their organization” (Scullion & Collings, 2006).
A popular Global management theory is performance management; this method emphasizes the excellence of each person or teams process in the organization, it is said to motivate employees through holistic evaluations and to strengthen the link between company accomplishments and employee rewards (Gliddon, HRMT 620 Class Notes 6, 2013). This management process has had some problems in the host countries local population managers, or inpatriate managers (Maley, 2011). You must insure that the inpatriate managers are developed as much as your in-country managers are if they are to gain a sustainable competitive advantage.
The performance appraisals written for your inpatriate managers must be reflective of the cultural norms of their country and still keep the performance to the standards your company requires. This form of management has been shown to be difficult for many organizations (Maley, 2011) although it has worked well in other casinos in Macau. The aligning of employee needs and organizational needs can be seen in job satisfaction and internal service quality. It is necessary to have positive employee relationships with organizational commitment, which is extremely important to hospitality companies, such as casinos, for competitive advantage.
With respect to the impact of job satisfaction on turnover, many studies conclude that highly satisfied employees are less likely to seek new employment. The most important link to job satisfaction, especially in other countries, are “hygiene factors” linked to work environment and work conditions. In a casino environment, job stress can typically result from constantly changing work shifts and being closely watched by players and surveillance cameras; this should be closely monitored. Macau casino employees have a greater problem with job stress. Stress has been shown to lead to job dissatisfaction and may lower customer service quality.
Minimizing job stress is an important aspect of job satisfaction for casino workers (Gu, Siu, & Chi, 2009). The most important part of performance management is the linking of the individual performance with the objectives of the business (Stiles , et al. , 2006). Performance management also requires periodic coaching and advising to maintain motivation and organizational vision. Another theory is reward management; this would attract highly skilled employees by using pay incentives to align employee interest with the business and the stakeholders’ interests.
Rather than acting as a guiding tool, reward management can remove fixed costs in employee wage. Operating based on mutuality, and typically emphasizing the notion of shared responsibility, employees stand to do well if the firm performs well and vice versa. There is also an increasing view of companies to view talent effectively as a strategic priority. Talent management theory uses recruitment practices that follow a talent pool strategy where the company first recruits the best people and then places them into positions rather than trying to recruit specific people for specific positions (Gu, Siu, & Chi, 2009).
This process need a large applicant pool to draw from and therefore this would not be an effective method for Casino X’s global resource management team to use, as there are not enough specifically qualified people in your host country to generate a sufficient pool of talent from which to draw. Total Quality Management (TQM) is the most well-known management theory; the most appealing part of TQM is that it is not stagnant. TQM is an evolving and changing management system that works by fitting the company, the employees and the ever-changing market.
This would be the best way to manage your business. TQM works by using the concept of “improvement through transformation” (Gliddon, HRMT 620 Class Notes 5, 2013). One of the major factors you must consider when using TQM from a management standpoint is how much commitment are you willing to give to change, realizing that if the management is not a part of the change the employees will not follow. Also, remember that the process is not a short-term solution it is a long-term commitment to success (Chen & Chuang, 2013).
You must understand that the impact on how your managers perform their jobs is directly affected by how you distribute the information regarding changes you make and the results of those changes. Your employees will be more concerned with being rewarded. Leadership in regards to change should understand that rewarding employees for their efforts and change in behavior during and after the change event is important and has a direct impact to how they perform their jobs. Casino X’s leadership must realize that the support of a large number of resources including the employees is necessary to implement their change program (Peterson, 2010).
Above all there will need to be orientation training, learning about the cultures of the employees and the host country. Learning is a continuous process, and global learning is the ability of an organization to review its progress continuously, to learn from its experiences, and to transfer the knowledge and expertise developed in each part of its global network to all other parts worldwide (Ling & Jaw, 2006). Casino X Macau must have a first-class casino labor force to be competitive.
Presently there are only a few things that need to be done to improve the casino employees’ work performance. The most important of these is to improve employees’ interpersonal skills and to strengthen the person-to-person interactions of Macao casinos’ customer service practices. Additionally, employees’ language ability should be enhanced for both Mandarin fluency and English knowledge so that Casino X Macau can meet the demand of an expanding Mainland Chinese market and the need for becoming a more internationalized market and workplace (Gu, Siu, & Chi, 2009).
High-performing companies have integrated their core values into the human capital resource process: how they attract, hire, and develop talent; manage performance; compensate employees; and so on. Methods for developing and maintaining a strong culture should be systematically used. These methods should focus on attitudes and cultural fit in the selection process, on secondary socialization and training, and performance management.
The methods that Casino X should use are built around company core values and use both symbolic and values-based leadership (Stiles , et al. , 2006). Training programs need to be established that create a foundation upon which to base continuing training. A multinational organization needs the ability to train cross-cultural teams. These teams will ensure high levels of collaboration and performance. However, before you decide how to train your employees you must consider how you will recruit them.
The socialization process begins with recruitment in that the organization is likely to select new members who already have the “right” set of attitudes, beliefs, and values (Stiles , et al. , 2006). It was found that high-performing companies have instilled their core values into every process. Their vision is instilled in how they attract, hire, and develop their employee base, how the company manages performance, and how they compensate employees. Casino X needs to focus on attitudes and cultural fit in the selection process with an emphasis on secondary socialization and
training. Leadership must insure that the performance management and compensation & benefits systems are built around company core vision and that they are the example of the symbolic and values-based leadership. All levels of the company have a role in the hiring and keeping of quality employees. The human resource department should be responsible for developing the strategy, policy and basic infrastructure of the hiring process. They will also need to provide translation and coordination of global issues in Macau.
The closer to the country you are working in the more detailed your human resources department should be, locally in country, they should deal with national polices and locally specific policies. It is not good enough to adopt a best practice policy without considering the cultural implications, United States best practice will not always work in other countries. Casino X Macau will have to insure that their recruiting practices align with all level of their business needs and insure they are complying with all local and country laws and policies.
As I have previously noted in our discussions, it is quality of leadership that is ultimately responsible for ensuring congruence between the various aspects of the organization, its environment, and strategies (Stiles , et al. , 2006). Part of that responsibility will be the training of your employees. When hiring expatriates it is imperative that you do some sort of cultural training, and would be more productive if you conduct cross training, so that both the expatriate employees and the host country employees can learn about each other in a controlled environment.
Commonly used techniques to develop cross-cultural teams are the cognitive approach and the experiential approach. These approaches to cross training focus on building a greater level of understanding and respect between employees of different cultures. Encouraging your employees in the process of discussing variations in each other’s culture will help in increasing their level of cooperation and enhance their ability to get the work done in a profitable manner.
Additionally you can add training to enhance other leadership qualities such as communications, listening skills, conflict resolution, negotiation skills, and problem solving (Scullion & Collings, 2006). As for the original Casino X, I again recommend cultural sensitivity training, due to the large influx of Mexican immigrants to the area. The Mexican culture is much more relationship based than that of the United States. Research shows that Mexicans form loyalties to individuals versus companies. Much of their impressions about the new company will be formed at orientation.
I would also recommend that the orientations include time with the departments they are working with, it has been shown that starting the employees with face-to-face contact with those they will work with will provide a better employee base (Carrillo, 2006). Remember that change is difficult for many people, but in the end is very profitable if managed correctly. “Strong resistance to change is often rooted in deeply conditioned or historically reinforced feelings. Patience and tolerance are required to help people in these situations to see things differently (Chapman, 2012). ”