It is difficult to put a jigsaw puzzle together without the picture to work from.  In the same way, the traditional international human resources paradigm of "piece by piece" management without a clear picture of the objective is inefficient and costly and therefore, as many Human Resources professionals have come to realize, can be considered to be obsolete.  

International human resources is a complex paradigm -- like a puzzle where all the pieces are intertwined and all placement of the piece in hand decisions impact the total picture.  However, in many organizations international human resources managers are forced to spend most of their time "fighting fires” kindled by the magnitude of issues arising from international growth and expansion, rather than being given the time to concentrate on the greater, and far more important strategic management issues, which could well avert future fires from breaking out at all.  Furthermore, the "solution" that puts out one fire can easily become the fuel for the next fire to be ignited, leaving few resources and little energy to take the considered global view necessary for IHR to be a strategic partner to the business as a whole. 

After many years of assisting organizations large and small to deal with this paradox, and from that experience, we have developed a concept which to date has been able to provide the means for companies to establish an IHR strategy that clearly aligns IHR with the business values, philosophy and goals.  When the IHR strategy "twins" the business strategy, it steers IHR decisions and the fires go out.  If Corporate and local management alike are willing accept it as the benchmark for all IHR design and delivery systems, it can change the HR Directors life from "managing to manage" to "managing by design".  The IHR strategy will provide management with a consistent methodology to evaluate each situation and make decisions in keeping with the company’s values and demographics as well as guide all expenditure choices.   Most importantly, a distinctive strategy enables IHR to be a true strategic business partner contributing to organizational growth and profitability. 

An IHR strategy addresses the "four C’s":  how the company will compete for employees, how employees will be compensated, how corporate culture will be defined and broadcast and of course, the cost side of the equation of managing expenses and liabilities and harnessing global synergies for cost savings.  An IHR strategy recognizes the interrelationships between the "four C's" and becomes the management tool which defines IHR processes and sets standards for productivity and success

The process that we have been able to develop supports growth and expansion by ensuring start-up activities at new international locations aligns with the IHR strategy for the implementation of company-wide policies and culture and the development of country-specific HR policies.  All new compensation and benefits programs are designed to align with the IHR strategy thus avoiding inconsistencies that fuel other fires. On-going IHR operations also become more effective because programs are redesigned to contain cost and maintain competitive pressure.  IHR operations are managed according to the IHR strategy and global view.

All effective, efficient and economically founded management processes begin by ensuring there is a clear picture of the objectives before the individual pieces of the puzzle are addressed. Defining the picture is accomplished through the Assessment and Development phases. 

During Assessment the goal must be to sketch the current picture of business operations and IHR.  The assessment therefore looks at:

§         Company's objectives and goals,

§         Current policies, practices, processes and structures, 

§         Cost elements.

To maintain a clear picture of the completed IHR puzzle, the strategy must be continuously adjusted and refocused.  Therefore, the final phase, Maintenance, never ends.  There are ongoing, periodic and annual IHR processes that must be continuously managed according to the IHR strategy.  As well, policies, plans and processes must be revised as necessary for legal compliance, competitiveness and changes in business plans or goals.  

Management must be kept informed through updates and status reports on any information key to the success of the IHR strategy.  In addition, a worldwide audit of IHR programs and plans should be conducted at least every three years as a matter of course.  While guidelines and an approval process help management navigate through obvious change, subtle changes within the company, local market practice, legislation, and employee demographics can erode programs’ effectiveness over time.  Multinational pools are particularly subject to degrading without continuous corporate sponsorship and should also be re-evaluated periodically.  

Companies using this system that we have developed will budget time and expense each year for auditing and re-aligning their IHR programs as an integral part of the plan itself.  This has proved to be the most cost effective approach to continuous acceptance of IHR as a true strategic business partner.

To be successful a Comprehensive IHR Management must have an IHR strategy that is clearly articulated, committed to paper and continuously refocuses to match the IHR goals and objectives with the business.  Unless, the entire organization views the same picture, conjecture and opinion will rekindle fires.  To remain competitive in the global marketplace and to optimize the international human resources to be most productive, multinational companies must maintain a "global view" and keeping the pieces of the IHR puzzle fitting snuggly together into the picture defined by their IHR strategy.