Ten Tips for Managing Employment Contracts

Posted on June 23, 2011 by | 6 comments

Guest Author:
Joan Keston –  Keston & Associates, Ltd.

[Editor’s Note:  We are happy to welcome Joan Keston as a Guest Author.  Joan is an experienced attorney and Managing Principal at Keston & Associates, a consulting firm that helps companies achieve a stable international presence by providing a broad range of legal services for international corporate and employment law, and global governance.  She assists public and private companies, NGOs and non-profits, US and foreign entities.]

Employment contracts are a requirement in many countries.  Drafting employment contracts is a blending of the company employment policies and practices, usually based on employment law of the country where the company’s headquarters is located, and the employment/labor law of the country where the employee is working.

Jurisprudence varies greatly among countries, and this will affect basic contract law and corporate law, as well as legal principles.  Layered on top of these differences is employment/labor legislation, an area that is extremely nationalistic and specialized.  The differences are accentuated more so in developing countries.

Managing these contracts is a challenge.  Here are ten best practices to consider: Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in Global HR Expertise, International Employment Law

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Special Announcement from Birches Group and Emergence Growth

Posted on June 17, 2011 by | 7 comments

Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC

This post is a bit of a departure from our normal content, which usually focuses on the “how-to” of international human resources management.  Today we are making an exception to bring you some exciting news.

This week, my company, Birches Group LLC entered into an agreement with Emergence Growth, led by another one of our authors here, Yendor Felgate, to work together to expand our customer base in Africa.  Emergence will become the exclusive agent for our compensation and benefits surveys in Africa, focused on private sector companies that operate across multiple countries.

Continue reading →

7 Comments

Posted in Africa, Compensation, Developing Markets, General, Global HR Expertise, Professional Development

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Wellness Programs — Global or Local?

Posted on June 8, 2011 by | 5 comments

Author:
Jacque Vilet – Vilet International

Many companies are coming to the realization that the health and wellness of their global workforce is an important issue.   Wellness programs that began in the U.S. or Europe, typically at headquarters locations, are now expanding globally.

Towers Watson recently released their 2011 survey entitled “Multinational Workforce Health”.  The survey included 149 participants representing 5.2 million employees in 37 countries. Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in Benefits, Global HR Expertise

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Global Mobility Policies for the 21st Century

Posted on May 26, 2011 by | 8 comments

Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC

It’s now almost the middle of 2011, so the 21st century is well underway.  The new realities of global business are upon us:

  • Companies are expanding from developed countries into new, high-growth markets in the developing world in record numbers.
  • Global talent is being snatched up across borders on a regular basis.
  • Companies are sending expats to new locations, and breaking new ground with each assignment.
  • Companies headquartered in developing markets like India, China, Brazil and South Africa, to name a few, are expanding along with multi-nationals from more established markets.
  • Demographic shifts will result in an increasing number of workers being sought from developing countries to replace the ageing workforce in North America and Europe.  In fact, McKinsey predicts that by the year 2040, the largest working-age population in the world will reside in Africa.

So what does this have to do with global mobility?  A lot!

Continue reading →

8 Comments

Posted in Compensation, Expatriate Recruitment, Expatriate Selection, Expatriates, General, Global HR Expertise, Global Mobility Services, International Assignee Recruitment, International Assignee Selection, International Expertise, Repatriation, Talent Management

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From Training Departments to a Company Academy Part 2

Posted on May 19, 2011 by | 1 comment

Authors:
 Han van der Pool – Van der Pool Consultancy
Lex Lindeman – HRBoosters

We are happy to share the second part in our two-part series about Company Academies.  In Part 1, we discussed how Company Academies have evolved and their stages of development.  In this post, we’ll discuss trends and new developments in Company Academies, and the roles the various stakeholders should play.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in Professional Development, Talent Management, Training

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2011 Global Talent Index

Posted on May 11, 2011 by | 2 comments

Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC

The famous “war for talent” lives on.  Or does it? Heidrick and Struggles, the international recruitment firm, together with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), have just published their 2011 “Global Talent Index” report.  This year, in addition to a report which can be downloaded here, they have provided the resources for blogs and other sites to help spread the word about the report, including videos and interactive tools.

Here is a video introduction to the Global Talent Index from Kevin Kelly, CEO of Heidrick and Struggles:

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Global HR Expertise, Talent Management

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Importance of Medical Insurance in Multinational Pooling

Posted on May 9, 2011 by | 1 comment

Author:
Jacque Vilet – Vilet International

Many companies with employees located in many countries globally provide supplemental benefits in addition to those that are government mandated.   Many of these supplemental plans are insured:   life, accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D), disability, retirement, etc.   Typically, the office in each country location manages their own process of selecting insurance companies, types of coverage, comparing premiums and settling on the final contract language.   Sometimes the number of employees is very small and, therefore, the premium is high because the risk is spread over a small number of people.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in Benefits, Compensation, Global HR Expertise, International Benefits, International Expertise

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From Training Departments to a Company Academy Part 1

Posted on May 2, 2011 by | 5 comments

Authors:
 Han van der Pool – Van der Pool Consultancy
Lex Lindeman – HRBoosters

Nobody questions the importance of learning and developing.  However, in these uncertain times, training and development activities are often put on hold or investments in T&D are drastically reduced. One of the reasons T&D activities are cut or reduced is the difficulty of proving that HR Development is a valuable and effective component of successful management. The concept of Company Academies (also known as Corporate Academies or Corporate Universities), however, offers a good starting point for a clear positioning of Human Resource Development.

Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in Professional Development, Talent Management, Training

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Benchmarking Regional Roles – What Works?

Posted on April 13, 2011 by | 7 comments

Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC

More and more companies are consolidating operations into regional centers, using a base in one country to manage businesses in multiple markets. This makes good sense for several reasons:

  • Efficiency – regional offices eliminate duplicate resources and allow organizations to focus on customer-facing positions in smaller markets.
  • Expansion – a regional approach allows for gradual expansion into new markets, permitting “testing of the waters” before entering a market.
  • Local knowledge and expertise – staff in a regional center are usually familiar with more than one of the markets in the region, so can often help bridge market, language and cultural differences.

So regional offices sound like a great model for many companies. But how does a regional role impact compensation? This is a subject of considerable debate amongst compensation professionals. Continue reading →

7 Comments

Posted in Compensation, Developing Markets, Global HR Expertise

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The Way to Identify your Future Leaders – Part 2

Posted on April 7, 2011 by | 5 comments

Authors:
 Han van der Pool – Van der Pool Consultancy
Lex Lindeman – HRBoosters

Leadership has an effect on the bottom line – not directly, but by shaping the culture within which an organization operates, its climate and through its influence on employee engagement.  Identifying and developing leadership is a business critical process. Leadership depends on the type of personality, personal preferences, skills and relevant experiences.

Burning questions for Talent Development are:

Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in Africa, Leadership Development, Performance Management, Professional Development, Talent Management, Training

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