Are you Diligent With Your Due Diligence? (Part I)


Author:
Chuck Csizmar – CMC Compensation Group

Anyone who has ever been involved in a merger or an acquisition team remembers their first time; how green they were, how much they didn’t know and how much of a challenge it was just getting up to speed.   They didn’t know what they didn’t know.  Most neophytes are shell-shocked by the complexities involved, the myriad moving parts – and when the business target is an international concern, or has a foreign footprint, then it’s often a case of “what do we do now”?

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Liz Perelstein wins Fortune Magazine Award

News and Alerts

We are extremely proud to share some exciting news with our readers.  Liz Perelstein, President of School Choice International, and a contributor to the International HR Forum, has been selected as one of Fortune Magazine’s  Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs for 2010.

This is truly an exceptional honor for Liz, and we wish her much continued success!

Competitive? It’s All Relative.

Author:
Jacque Vilet – Vilet International

With globalization comes added complexity for Human Resources.

Multi-national companies often have a well-documented compensation policy that outlines the specifics of their competitive market positioning.  But should there be one market position across the entire global operations of the company?  I don’t think so.

Let’s explore the realities.  Assume, for example, that the company decides on the 50th percentile (median) as their desired a market position.  Here are the problems with this approach:

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E-Learning in Africa (and the rest of the world!) Part 2


Authors:
Han van der Pool – TNT N.V.
Lex Lindeman – HRBoosters

Introduction
In part one of this two-part post, we discussed e-learning in Africa, and especially the hurdles of implementation.  In this second part, we will delve more into practical advice for successful implementations in Africa, or anywhere else in the world!

In a broad sense, e-learning can be defined as “any form of learning that makes use of a network for distribution, interaction and facilitation.” There are plenty of demonstrable success stories and breathtaking ROIs.  However, the other side of the coin is that in many cases, web-based investments turn out to be fiascoes and only lead to a waste of time.

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Ten Tips to Develop a Global Code of Conduct – Part 2

Author:
Mariana Villa da Costa – Littler Mendelson

A few weeks ago in the first post of this series, I provided five tips to get you started in the development of a Global Code of Conduct.  In this post, we are back with five more tips to help you finish your Code.

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Managing Pay in a Global Enterprise


Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC

You work for a global employer with on-the-ground operations across the world. Your duties include “managing global pay.”  Where do you start?  What are some approaches to consider?   If you’ve been wondering about this, keep reading.

Back in February, I wrote a post entitled “Think Globally, Act Locally”, in which I cited the example of how salary scale designs differ across markets with different characteristics.  But salary scales are just one aspect of the broad range of issues faced when managing pay globally.One of the most important steps in effectively managing compensation across a global enterprise is to have a formal compensation policy.

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Mariana Villa da Costa Quoted in USA Today

News and Alerts

We’re excited to share with our readers a link to a USA Today article, “Companies try efforts to protect workers in world’s danger zones,” which features information about managing risks for assignees in so-called dangerous locations.  And, look for the quote from our own Mariana Villa da Costa, a regular contributor on the blog, who also wrote an article in September, 2009 about managing assignments in dangerous locations.

Congratulations, Mariana!

This post also introduces a new feature on the International HR Forum – News and Alerts.  This special category of posts will be highlighted on the home page with the “ringing bell” icon, and used to update our readers with timely and important developments of interest to international human resources professionals.

Corporate Intranets – A Global Disconnect?


Author:
Jacquelyn Vilet – TriNet

Editor’s NoteWe are pleased to welcome Jacque Vilet as a regular contributor to the International HR Forum. Jacque is a Global HR/Benefits Consultant for TriNet, providing global Human Resources services to SME’s with international operations.  She has over 20 years experience in International Human Resources with both local nationals and expatriates, and has been an expat twice during her career. Jacque holds the Certified Compensation Professional (CCP)  from WorldatWork, the GPHR Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR) from the Society of Human Resources Management and  Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) from Human Capital Insitute.

Every company operating on a global basis is interested in having all their employees worldwide identify  with the company  Many companies use an “Intranet” web site for this purpose.  But oftentimes, the design can be flawed, and even lead to disconnects with global employees.  Do you think the design of your intranet makes employees worldwide truly identify with your company?

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Ten Tips to Develop a Global Code of Conduct – Part 1

Author:
Mariana Villa da Costa – Littler Mendelson

What is a Global Code of Conduct?  Everybody talks about them, and they have become a necessity for global businesses in today’s environment, but truly, drafting one can be a big mystery and a lot of work.  Who should draft them? A lawyer? Human resources personnel? The CEO?  What content should be included? What language?

These questions, and many others, will be answered with my ten tips to develop a Global Code of Conduct.  The first five tips are in this post; the remaining ones will follow soon in a follow-up post. Here we go:

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The Case of the Twisted Quota

Author:
Chuck Csizmar –
CMC Compensation Group

For many global companies with a direct sales force the design and administration of their compensation program is in a constant state of flux.  It always seems to need a further bit of tweaking, as dissatisfaction follows in the wake of any plan design.  Why?  Every uncomfortable participant who’s on the receiving end, from senior management to the employee pounding the street, feels that they know what’s wrong.  The verdict is that not enough money is offered for successful performance.

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