Globalization has changed the face of organizational culture. Diversity has infiltrated the workplace, leading many businesses to success. In fact, in many cases, diversity became part of the employer’s brand. Since the talent pool is shrinking, diversity offers the potential of accessing a changed market place. It facilitates recruitment and increases retention of top talent. It helps organizations more effectively leverage their human resources in order to outperform competitors.
Acculturation syndrome
Donald Trump is unequivocally driving change: change in how politics is handled, change in communication style, change in worldwide vision, change in positioning the US in the world and many other changes. It is definitely impacting our values and somehow disrupting the way we normally do things. We are poised to experience a variation of acculturation, which will affect how well the world will adapt to Donald Trump’s style.
Back to the past
It’s unclear how protectionism trade measures will impact free trade. However, it is likely that it will impact workplaces. Companies such as Ford, General Motors, and Nestle employ more people outside of their headquarters countries than within those countries. This creates a global marketplace where there is more opportunity, because there are more potential customers. Organizations are required to think globally and act locally.
Should the era of protectionism return, opportunities for competitiveness will decline, influx of international workers will decrease, the economy might potentially slow down resulting in major lay-offs.
As organizations transform themselves to stay competitive, they will need to confront and resolve some, if not all, of these dichotomies or paradoxes. This will undoubtedly result in a major transformation in people management.
Reclusion versus inclusion
The response to increased diversity has, in many cases, been increased organizational flexibility. Changes in business and operational processes need time to stabilize for employees to learn the new processes, become familiar with them, and be able to operate effectively and efficiently. Competitive pressures caused organizations to go through a series of changes without giving employees adequate time for learning and training, and for the benefits of the change to be fully realized in the organization.
Would reclusion be a way to slow down changes and provide employees adequate time to learn?
Globalization requires that organizations increase their ability to learn and collaborate and to manage diversity, complexity, and ambiguity. To what extent will Donald Trump’s unique vision impact leadership, people management and HR ? We face an interesting future.
