Wall Street Journal did a survey to companies asking the willingness to hire foreign MBA graduates. The numbers were actually pretty surprising: 38% said they would hire, 29% said they were unsure and the rest (35%) said they would NOT fire foreign MBA graduates. We found this article to be interesting because as business is becoming drastically more global, one would think corporations would want to hire a more diverse workforce. For me, I found this article to be relevant to my recent visit to my new company where the corporate workforce was extremely diverse filled with people from India to China to Brazil and other places.
One of the biggest concerns corporations have about hiring foreign nationals is the time and capital invested into visa sponsorship. Because at the end of a person's visa they are required to return to their home country an employer has concerns with that employee's commitment to the job. Another concern for employers is that foreign employees will not be able to communicate efficiently with coworkers and clients. Not being able to mesh with the current company culture is another concern and since many managers have not worked with non U.S. citizens before they are concerned with the difference between cultures, beliefs and customs.
With all this being said, as a manager would you hire foreign nationals? Why or why not?
Also, do you think that more U.S. companies should be hiring a more diverse workforce? What are some benefits and risks involved?
http://www.wetfeet.com/advice-tools/career-planning/why-some-u-s--companies-dont-want-to-hire-international-mbas-and-others-do
Hannah Creech and Jessica Saloman
13 comments:
Hiring foreigners is risky business. Whether a company decides to do this or not should depend on how much it really is going to benefit them and if they can financially afford it. Hiring foreigners is so expensive that if it's not going to benefit the company enough, then it's very possible it's not worth it. The company needs to make sure they do as much as they can to have a successful hire: everything from preparation to culture shock to financially supplementing the employee and his/her family. While the benefits can be of great use to the business if a successful hire happens, there is a huge risk to do something like this. The business needs to be prepared or it is going to be a waste of time and money.
I understand why employers would not hire foreign graduates due to the procedures that are necessary to complete the transfer. Although, I do believe that employers should still strive to create the most diverse workplace that's possible. If I were the manager, I would not opt to never consider foreign candidates, but I would have a more in-depth selection process to find the candidate that is most passionate about the position and looking to possibly make the US their home country.
Kierra Warren
As a manager, I would definitely consider hiring foreign nationals. Going with a polycentric approach to hiring would be the best way to build up a diverse workplace, in my opinion. Especially since globalization is becoming more prominent every year, diversity in the workplace would make it easier to get along with all types of people. Furthermore, having people from many different backgrounds can help a corporation know what/what not to do during a transition to a new market. Obviously, there are financial risks in bringing in foreign nationals (more $ spent on training and whatnot), but I believe that the pros outweigh the cons in many cases.
I believe culture shock would be of little concern for foreign people moving to the US, compared to other countries. America is a melting pot of all the different cultures and from personal experience, expats moving to the US have had little trouble adapting to life over here.
-William Lee
Like Alyse said, I really think it depends on the company and who you're hiring. If he or she is an outstanding candidate who's been well educated, then it's definitely worth the extra cost to hire and maintain a foreign national. Plus, it's really hard to put a price on the benefits working with a foreign national can bring to a company. They bring new ways of thinking and ideas that can definitely make a company more competitive in today's global market.
I would hire foreign nationals if they were qualified for the job, and i thought they would be a good benefit for the company. I think companies should be concerned with the individual in which they are hiring and their qualifications, not their nationality. Unless there were a situation in which a person from a particular country had an advantage.
I believe there is more to hiring a foreign national than just being qualified. You can hire a manager who is qualified to do the job, but is not able to mesh culturally with his/her new home- he/she will most likely fail. You can bring your brightest MBA/PHD whatever to work for your company and if he/she can't adapt or work in the new environment you can kiss your investment good by. It would be like throwing the fastest fish in the world(sailfish) on land and expect it to impress. Its just not going to happen.
This is an interesting one. AS a manager, I would not mind the nationality, but as you've stated, the cost involved prevent companies to see the positive side of it. If companies are willing to outsource, I'll rather promote hiring foreign expertise instead. One of the benefits will be less outsourcing and at the end, the company stand to lose vital human capital.
As a manger, I would hire foreign nationals. There is no doubt that the world is becoming more and more globalized. Hiring foreign nationals can definitely help a company to go global as they can provide more insights into the targeted country's customer tastes and cultural values that are sometimes hard to find in books. Although the procedure of applying working visas may be time consuming and expensive, the cultural values that a foreign national bring worth the penny. Yet, of course, a company has to have a profound selection process in order to recruit a talented foreign national. Hiring is expensive, hiring foreign national is more expensive. Yet, a good employee can be a huge return on investments. As we can all see, top CEOs, leaders, such as Carlos and so on, have spent a decent amount of time working/ living/ studying overseas. Indeed, it is very important to be cultural sensitive and adaptive in order to be successful in the more and more globalized world- and hiring foreign nationals is a way to it.
I would absolutely hire someone from a foreign country. As a manager I would want the best qualified person for a position, and if that person was from another country I would absolutely hire them and take on any financial responsibility that it would cost me in order for them to work for me. In the end we all want the best results from out employees for our company and regardless of where they are from if they can produce and be a great asset to the company I would absolutely hire them. The world is becoming so globalized anyway I feel that having diversity in the workplace can only be a positive for a company.
For me it is not a queston of hiring a person who is foreign or local, the question is who is more qualified for the job. The only time I believe hiring a foreign employee would become and issue is when looking at the finiancial responsibility of the company. If hiring this person is going to mean a lot of money in relocating this person to be near you, this has to be taken into consideration. If the employee is such an asset that it is going to pay off in the long run then yes, but if not I probably would hire the next best thing locally. Especially in todays economy, I think it would be hard to justify hiring someone foreign just to broaden the look of your workforce, when you have a comparable person in the same area.
Courtney Moradipour
I would definitely hire a foreigner. I love meeting people from other countries and I'm sure I would love working with them too! The challenge of managing someone with a different set of cultural norms would be difficult but exciting. And, like other people have said, I would not hire someone just because they are from another country... they would have to be more qualified than the alternative American. Generally, I do think a more diverse workforce is better. Benefits: healthy challenge, personal growth, you and the foreign national learn new things, international acumen, fresh ideas, opportunity for them to work on their english, etc. Risks: more time involved to train and explain things, possibly offensive if they don't know American norms, language barriers, expensive, may come off lazy/too relaxed depending on where they are from, etc.
Definitely before this class, I would be very hesitant to hire a foreigner. After taking this class, I feel like my eyes have been open to the many opportunities that present itself by hiring a foreigner. I do agree that it is very risky to hire a foreigner, but I also realize that it is appropriate to make sure there are no culture clashes or communication problems with the hiring of a foreigner. I feel like the opportunities outweigh the disadvantages to hiring a foreigner, especially with businesses growing on a more global scale.
I would definitely hire foreign nationals. They could prove equally (or more) beneficial to a company and therefore the additional effort required to situate them into a new culture would prove to be worth it. I understand the hesitation, however, especially if the person you are looking to hire does not have sufficient English skills. That would be another aspect to consider before making a decision.
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