HRM318: BLaZe is a financial service and software service start-up. Blaze has just attained unicorn status and has established: Human Capital Measurement Assignment, SUSS

BLaZe is a financial service and software service start-up. Blaze has just attained unicorn status and has established several offices around the world to drive development and sales in the global markets. BLaZe’s vision is to make internet business simple, transparent, and profitable. BLaZe’s mission is to develop simple and innovative software that can help customers to build and run their internet business. BLaZe’s customers are diverse ranging from small businesses to large enterprises that use the internet for their financial transactions.

BLaZe’s drive for innovation and its unique software products are so successful in the market that BLaZe was able to recently raise Series C funding. This success was attributed to its people who are passionate and have a strong belief in the company. However, ever since BLaZe was awarded the Best Employer Branding in 2018, employee engagement has been on a downward trend.

While BLaZe has achieved success in the market and with investors, turnovers are increasing. Several key employees who played key roles in the early stages of the company have resigned, with most of them leaving for competitors. Exit interviews have cited a lack of growth and development opportunities, especially in management pathways and leadership. This largely corroborates the scores in these areas in recent employee engagement.

Senior management including the Chief People Officer has brainstormed solutions to stem the loss of key talents and improve the engagement of the employees. The senior management team has realized that BLaZe must focus on developing a pipeline of good managers but also leadership competencies. Given that BLaZe wants to be a global leader in this segment of the industry, BLaZe must be able to select managers and leaders who are not only competent in their work but also competent in managing and leading employees from different backgrounds and nationalities.

Recent employee focus groups also suggest that employees would like to be exposed to more global experiences where they have a chance not just to work with people from a different culture but also to experience a different culture. Senior management has acknowledged this and views this as a good opportunity to develop more diverse teams which can enable more innovation.

In order to achieve this, BLaZe has embarked on sending high-performing employees on international assignments mostly from three departments: Product development, sales and marketing, and software technology and engineering. These three departments were deemed to be critical to the company’s success.

These assignments were mainly two-year international assignments with expatriation packages. This includes cost-of-living adjustments, housing allowances, relocation services for families, and education assistance for dependents. The purpose of sending employees to various international locations is to increase the diversity of the host team and also increase the socio-cultural exposure of the expatriate employee. This initiative is expected to increase the cross-pollination of ideas and practices across locations.

This can develop key talents in two areas. First, given that BLAZE is a global organization, sending key talents can hone their leadership skills across cultures which are becoming more important as BLAZE competes in a globalized market. Second, it will also foster innovation through a diverse workforce. Teams with different backgrounds in these functions are in a better position to unlock innovation that can drive more market growth through innovation.

However, there has been some dissatisfaction among the first batch of employees sent on international assignments. A survey on their international assignment experience revealed some issues. The first batch of expatriates had an overall poor assignment experience. They have also reported high job stress, dissatisfaction with pay, and dissatisfaction with coworkers. The experience was so negative that several expatriates had expressed leaving the company.

The HR lead who is managing the expatriate experience has reported to the Chief People Officer that the first batch of employees who were sent on international assignments may not have been well-prepared prior to the assignment. There was no formal training that was conducted to prepare these employees. While practical assistance was provided in terms of finance and relocation services, psychological preparation in terms of adjustment to the new living and work environment had been left up to these employees and several expatriates have difficulty in adjusting to the new environment.

Given these findings, the Chief People Officer has secured training resources to better mentally prepare employees who are on international assignments. These include cross-cultural adaptation training and resilience training. Cross-cultural adaptation training focuses on enabling employees to be more aware of the cultural nuances of working in an international location as well as providing socialization tips and resources to foster better work and social relationships.

Resilience training provides the employee with more awareness of mental health and well-being as well as techniques and resources which employees can use to increase mindfulness and reduce stress. These employees were also given more clarity on their role and purpose in these international assignments as well as more frequent check-ins from their local and international managers.

Employees from the second batch who were sent on international assignments received this pre-assignment training. The details of the survey are reported in Appendix 1. As the HR analyst supporting the HR team managing the expatriate experience, you are asked to analyze and report insights from the survey results.

Task

Discuss the link between human capital to the enterprise by using Fitz-Enz’s Human Capital-to-Enterprise pathway for the organization in the case vignette. For the human capital management level, determine the relevant human capital activities at the human capital management level that best relate to the initiative proposed by the organization.
Generate insights by analyzing the data provided using the appropriate statistical analyses. Your insights should include justifications for the choice of statistical analyses and descriptions of all significant results. These are the key questions that the company wants to answer based on the data collected.
a) What are the variables that predict expatriate assignment satisfaction?
b) Is the pre-departure training helpful in improving expatriate satisfaction? If so, what is/are the likely area/s in which the pre-departure training for the expatriates helps to improve?
c) Based on your analyses and results, recommend ONE (1) area of focus for the training and development team to consider so as to better support the expatriates in their international assignments with explanations based on your previous results and from academic research.
d) Examine TWO (2) key limitations in using this data and statistical analyses for your insights. Please also state the implications of these limitations
Appraise the types of human capital activity that best reflect the measurements in the international assignment survey with explanations. Propose TWO (2) measurements or metrics that can track the outcomes of the international assignment as stated by the purpose of the international assignment initiative described in the case vignette with explanations.

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