CRITICALLY DISCUSS ON STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE CHALLENGES IN INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS (relating to expatriate management)DURING PRE & POST PANDEMIC COVID-19. ELABORATE AND PROVIDE EXAMPLES.

 

Answer:

Decision makers in multinationals have taken a number of measures to alleviate the effects of the pandemic. These actions in most cases concern distance management and rethinking boundaries, at macro- and company level, in one way or another. Distance management and rethinking boundaries are the main focus of a lot of International Business (IB) research because the area of the IB is a legitimate field of academic research. The pandemic has led to more cross-border problems (for example, due to travel bans and reduced international mobility) as well as new challenges to distance employees who were previously co-located.

In present, extreme cases of required physical distance, the psychological distance does not increase equivalently and companies also have an insight into the unexpected benefits of a virtual work force - a kind of workforce that may influence the "new normal" of the post-COVID world. Extant IHRM research gives usable insights today, but there are still excellent knowledge gaps. For the future, we offer three areas of research for IHRM: management of uncertainty, international and even international work, and redefinition of organizational performance.

Step-by-step explanation

Managers have had to make many decisions within a very short time - choosing who should stay at work and who should go home; how and where to move people into digital space; and what are the priorities and how to communicate these priorities best to the employees. A large group of employees, who already had stress from the health risk itself, were led to work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time now, numerous managers lead remote teams, which complement this stressor. This sudden change exacerbated the challenges of collaborating and of leading from distance, challenges that we are well aware of in the field of international business (IB).

The IB field has long addressed the challenges of major global threats and geographical distance problems. The issues raised by the current COVID-19 pandemic in terms of existing academic knowledge bases can be redefined using the general lens of IB and international managment of human resources (IHRM). With this theoretical reflection, we can better see the issues and provide multi-national enterprise (MNE) managers with insights into the challenges of leading their people through this crisis.

Just as the stress-related experience shared by colleagues can facilitate their emotional connection, so would the current COVID-19 climate be a success in other HRM practices. For example, the need for professional growth of employees may strengthen the desire for further formation for many employees. The lack of professional stimulation while working at home during the COVID-19 pandemic promotes more self-driving knowledge to satisfy the need to learn, increase, and demonstrate skill. For instance, since the start of home orders, LinkedIn learning has seen a triple increase in usage.

Those working on global cross-national MNE teams face health risks due to time-zone requirements and flexible schedules and 24 hour availability expectations. In the ambiguity both of global work and in the current COVID-19 pandemic, the challenges needed to receive assistance will vary according to the work-life of the individual. There's no time for the world to come out of a comfortable zone to work again in different nations and with people of different cultures, but the global economy doesn't take time to pause. In this time of uncertainties, human resources managers in MNEs must promote cohesion through selection, training and support practices. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed health and safety issues at the forefront, highlighting the role of the HRM role in international workers' safety and health management. Although management researcher is well aware that health and safety of employees are connected with demand (for example, heavy workload) and resources (for example, a supportive manager), the international field of HRM offers specific information on health and security management for mobile and spatially dispersed people. We recognize the difficulties of shielding workers and their families from injury and disease across national borders and in a variety of work settings at IHRM. 

Many foreign business travelers and globally mobile workers in MNEs have experienced significant changes as a result of the pandemic; their current "grounding" may indicate a sense of loss. We all know how important it is for all managers, particularly HR practitioners, to recognize work-related demands and resources in order to support and sustain employee health and safety. Managers and HR must communicate openly and regularly about health hazards and available health services.