HR Training for Overcoming Workforce Management and Labor Arbitrage Challenges

In the modern age of human resource management, many challenges are brought about because of the large-scale changes that have happened over the past few years— thanks to the advent of far more efficient technology and the subsequent growth of the globalization of industries as a result. Areas that are affected most often revolve around recruitment, workforce management and labor arbitrage, where there is a large difference in the cost of labor between two different countries. Human resources training is increasingly important to ensure personnel understand these challenges.

When an HR professional is recruiting a new employee for a specific position, the process will involve choosing someone whose skills, personality and expertise best fit not only the position that is available, but also the company as a whole to make sure that they can blend in well.

Labor arbitrage can be an issue at this stage of a company's process, especially if it is a globalized organization. The fact that the work can be found in different countries at different prices can mean that it is rather difficult to make the right choices that are not skewed by the fact that it can be found cheaper elsewhere.

Other issues can also affect human resource management with regard to recruitment. Effective Human resources training to ensure that new hires have the right skillset is vital. It is important to make sure that there is a strong grasp of what any advertised role within a firm entails to guarantee that they are hiring the best person for any available position. Making sure that someone knows about every position they are hiring for within the company is important. This can be perhaps one of the biggest challenges to HR professionals— after all, HR partners can be an expert in their own field, but may only have a passing knowledge of other parts of the business.

Other issues that make recruitment a challenging market to work in is the fact that new technologies are always on the rise. With the increase in online recruitment and sites, training HR personnel in how to best make use of these can be an effective way to make sure that the operation is performing at an optimum level. The rise of technology means that recruitment now needs to be immediate, adaptive, responsive, and most of all, cost-effective.

There are also a number of challenges that can be thrown up in a globalized market in the realm of human resource management. Charles M Park and Yongsun Paik said in Managing a Global Workforce: Challenges and Opportunitiesin "International Human Resource Management" in the fast moving 21^st century, it is important that people managing on a global scale are aware of the local nature of any branch extension of its firm.

The authors emphasized that challenges are presented due to the fact that there are cultural differences evident in any two parts of the world, meaning that it can be vital to make sure that employees managing a workforce globally are trained on the local aspects to ensure they are best dealing with staff.

It can also be difficult to manage globally when often those in higher positions can be distant from the people they are supposed to be directing. For this purpose, training in the best use of technology and communication techniques can be an important aspect of helping someone complete the task most effectively.

Finally, labor arbitrage also brings up interesting choices for HR professionals in the modern age. This problem exists where labor can be "sold" to another market in a way that will make it more profitable, because of the difference in prices, as well as wages.

One sector in which this is common is the manufacturing market. Traditionally, it has been the case that emerging markets such as those evident in China and India are far cheaper to run manufacturing operations in, because the workforce and facilities reduce costs.

However, globalized companies are now seeing the economic benefits of manufacturing closer to home, and many large firms with US and Canadian bases are now finding it far more worthy to return their operations to their own countries.

With these choices in mind, and the amount of money that could be wagered on a decision, it is important that HR training is provided to help business partners understand such challenges. Instilling knowledge of how labor arbitrage works can allow HR to weigh the pros and cons of working in different markets, and allow them to make a more balanced decision.