At present, the training of expatriates mainly focuses on cultural sensitivity training before assignment, such as cultural introduction, role-playing, and cultural understanding of other countries. With the development of human resources theory and practice, traditional training methods seem to be unable to meet the needs of expatriates. At present, there are three aspects of training for expatriates: practical training in the host country, global mental model training and multimedia/Internet-based training.
Second, practical training in the host country.
Practical training in the host country refers to cross-cultural training when expatriates arrive in the host country, or targeted training for emergencies encountered by expatriates.
Most companies believe that cross-cultural training before assignment provides expatriates with the knowledge and skills they need to work overseas. In fact, this idea is wrong. After analyzing the process of assignment from different angles, researchers in the field of international human resource management pointed out the importance of continuous cross-cultural training in the early stage of arrival in the host country. In fact, some researchers have pointed out that the cross-cultural training of expatriates after their arrival in the host country may be more effective than the training before their assignment. In addition, expatriates will inevitably encounter unexpected events in the host country, and cross-cultural training before assignment often cannot cover all the principles, norms and "grey areas" in cross-culture, or provide all the answers for expatriates who encounter unexpected events in the host country. Therefore, expatriates still need more education and training after they arrive in the host country, so as to properly handle emergencies. In other words, they should be provided with special training in the host country. There are two basic training methods in the host country: traditional group training and realistic individual training.
1. Traditional group training
The traditional way of group training is to gather expatriates who arrive in the host country and provide them with more specific and complicated in-depth knowledge of the host country culture than pre-assignment training. The only difference between this kind of training and pre-job training lies in the localization and deepening of the training content of the former.
One disadvantage of traditional group training is that all expatriates receive the same content. However, if some expatriates face very specific cross-cultural problems and need help, and the training content does not involve their unique concerns, then the effect of this training will be greatly reduced. These expatriates often use their breaks to consult with trainers in order to get specific treatment strategies. Admittedly, this is not a very effective learning method. It is this specific cross-cultural problem that needs help that forms the second way of training in the host country, namely "real-time training".
2. Realistic personal training
It is normal for expatriate managers to encounter unexpected events in their work and life in the host country. At this time, they need specific solutions to ensure that there will be no negative impact among employees, customers, local government officials and suppliers. For sudden cross-cultural problems that cannot be solved by pre-assignment training and traditional group training, practical training or personal counseling/consultation can just meet the needs of some expatriates, which is consistent with the recent meaning of "personal counseling", mainly through external consultants to provide appropriate handling strategies for expatriates.
The main purpose of personal practical training is to improve the leadership style, communication skills, conflict resolution methods and production techniques of expatriate managers. They found that practical training is helpful to their career planning, and to deal with uncertain problems and pressures, as well as the increased demand due to job changes.
The actual individual training mainly realizes the guidance of dispatching personnel in the following ways. First of all, confirm the motivation and development needs of expatriates and help them set clear development goals; Second, confirm the effectiveness of the problem-solving process; Third, encourage expatriates to test the new skills they have acquired at work and help them evaluate these results; Fourth, listen to and agree or deny whether the assumptions made by expatriates about work and life are reasonable; Fifth, raise their awareness of potential conflicts, such as work-family imbalance, and try to solve these conflicts; Sixth, link the self-image of expatriates with real life and future sense of accomplishment.
Compared with the traditional group training, the actual personal counseling has the following characteristics: (1) highly personalized. The consultation process begins with assessing the skills and attitudes of expatriates. (2) Task-oriented. The purpose of personal counseling is not to focus on the future useful ability development, but mainly to provide expatriates with strategies to solve specific problems at present. (3) confidentiality. Personal coaching seems to be particularly suitable for the personal development of top managers.
In fact, the actual individual training does not deny the traditional collective training, and the two complement each other. For example, a trainer of a company finds that expatriates face similar problems, and he may organize all expatriates to participate in traditional group training. In the process of training, the trainer will involve the content that everyone pays attention to, thus helping the expatriates to adopt appropriate strategies. Because this kind of training is mainly aimed at a certain cultural level that expatriates are concerned about, it usually takes only one day or one afternoon, which saves the training cost of the company.
Third, global mental model training.
The fundamental purpose of global mental model training is to broaden individual thinking, so as to transcend the narrow vision of local areas in the past and form a psychological schema that can accommodate the whole world. Although this kind of training often focuses on managers, it is also suitable for ordinary employees/expatriates. There are three main ways to train the global mental model.
1. Take advantage of the role of the company's dispatched personnel.
Returnees refer to managers or employees who return to the company headquarters from their home countries after the expiration of their assignments. Because these people generally have a good global vision, rich experience in overseas markets and good foreign language skills, they have an important guiding role in forming a global mental model for companies. However, a large amount of evidence shows that transnational corporations in North America and Europe did not make full use of these repatriated personnel.
When using the experience of returnees, the human resources department of the company can organize seminars regularly. In the seminar, these returnees can pass on the experience and practice of overseas life to managers and their families who are going abroad. Therefore, in theory and practice, this seminar form has at least two advantages. First of all, provide candidates for international missions with contents that are difficult to provide in standard cross-cultural training, such as the roles of key figures in foreign branches and job opportunities for spouses. Second, provide international expatriate managers and their families with certain opinions and attitudes, such as strong self-dependence.
This method is also applicable to employees who have never been abroad, forming a global consciousness thinking. By sending personnel in an organized way to impart their cross-cultural skills, experience and insight to colleagues and subordinates of the parent company, the company will form a corporate culture of "thinking globally and acting locally".
2. Overseas internship
Because the cost of international dispatch is usually too high, it is limited to some executives and potential employees of some companies. For ordinary employees, it is a good way to train their global mental model and short-term field practice.
The core idea of field practice is to let employees stay in their own sub-cultural circles for a suitable period of time, which can not only ensure employees to learn the behavior of local people, but also prevent the loss of precious time from their work. Generally speaking, it can be designed as a one-week cross-cultural field practice. This method itself is simulated, which can make the employees who participate in this training "immerse themselves in foreign cultures" to a certain extent. They must effectively integrate different social systems and functions in a strange environment to cope with cultural diversity, so it can help employees form so-called global leadership skills, such as reducing subjective prejudice, broadening their horizons and improving their interpersonal skills.
3. Application of evaluation center technology
Compared with other management tools, the evaluation center technology is usually not adopted by many companies because of its long time and high cost, but it has many advantages. In addition to the traditional personnel selection, staff training and career planning, the evaluation center can also provide managers with attitude information about overseas dispatch, establish a global corporate culture and form a global mental model of employees.
In recent years, people have designed special assessment center technology and applied it to international business dispatch and multicultural assessment centers.
Cross-cultural assessment center is one of them. The method is to use many cross-cultural role-playing, case studies, group discussions and international negotiation simulations to measure candidates' tolerance for uncertainty, goal orientation, communication skills and meta-communication skills, so as to evaluate the multicultural ability of overseas candidates.
At present, some European multinational companies have begun to adopt this assessment center method as part of their transnational management projects, such as DaimlerChrysler Aerospace's biennial national assessment center technology to select and train candidates sent overseas. Young managers with good performance and potential in China will be involved in this project by their superiors.
After participating in the evaluation of the evaluation center, the candidates received detailed feedback on their strengths and weaknesses in international dispatch. According to the feedback, the human resources department has made a specific training plan to meet the specific needs of these managers. The candidate once again requested to participate in the 18-month management training program, including cross-cultural communication, self-awareness training and foreign project assignment. After the training program, the candidates will participate in the second round of international evaluation center to evaluate their learning process, and the manager who wins in this process will be appointed as the candidate for the main position of the company's overseas company.
This biennial international assessment center technology can provide participants with a global perspective. When more and more managers of the company participate in such evaluation center technology, a truly international corporate culture is formed.
Four. Training based on multimedia/Internet
With the development of science and technology, the application of network and computer makes people's study in daily life more convenient and fast, and a large number of educational software have been developed to help people improve their learning effect. At the same time, multimedia software and internet-based training have also been applied to the training of foreign employees.
1. Multimedia software
Among the multimedia softwares for overseas training, two are famous, one is "Bridging Culture" produced by Park Li Company, and the other is "Cultural Compass" produced by Trompenars Hampden—Turner Company.
The connecting culture software produced by Park Lee Koji is mainly a self-training program designed for people who are traveling or living overseas. People who will be sent abroad in the future can also use it for self-training or use it together with traditional pre-departure training. For individuals, the software is used for different purposes, such as overseas assignment, family assignment, business trip, overseas tutor assignment and repatriation. The advantage is that the spouse and children sent abroad can be trained by learning the activities designed for them, and such family training is often ignored in the company's overseas training.
Each overseas project in the software has an independent learning path, and the corresponding learning model is attached in the manual. Individuals can use the instruction manual and CD-ROM to learn at the same time, or they can learn only through CD-ROM. At each learning stage, the software will introduce the important concepts to be discussed to the students, and then give the self-evaluation test of related concepts, and the test results will be calculated by the software and explained to the students. Then they can have the opportunity to learn more concepts and evaluate their recently learned skills through cultural understanding and interactive case exercises. The results of these quizzes will also give positive feedback according to the actual ability of the students. This software is of great value in dealing with personal adaptation, cross-cultural adjustment and cross-cultural differences in values. It is true that the software of bridging culture is not omnipotent, and it cannot replace the traditional training and practical training, but it is a very good tool for expatriates and their families in cross-cultural adaptation.
Another multimedia software is cultural tour guide software. The software is an interactive learning tool designed according to the customs of various countries, and plays a guiding role in the interactive training between business travelers and expatriates who often deal with different cultures and specific countries. Therefore, in overseas training, cultural guide software can be used to explain unique cross-cultural problems.
2. Internet-based training
With the rapid development of network technology, more and more consulting companies promote their products through the network, such as questionnaires, information and other services, but most of these services are not free.
The most valuable network for expatriates' self-training is their own homepages, such as Williamsons's, a British couple living and working in Malaysia. Their homepage reads: "Whether you are looking for overseas job opportunities or planning your overseas trip, WWW is a good starting point. The purpose of this home page is to provide the most valuable network connection we have found. Finally, we also hope to have a website to provide information for the families of foreigners. Although these websites have obvious British cultural characteristics, we hope that everyone can find something useful from them. " In this website, they discuss the reality of culture shock and how to overcome it, discuss the necessity of optimism and adventure for expatriates, and provide suggestions on living in tropical areas and other websites with such good information. In short, they provide optional expatriate information resources for expatriates.