Managing a World Away

A recent article in Business on Main entitled, How to Manage a Far-Flung Workforce, reminded me of a friend who was recently assigned the responsibilities of managing her organization’s workforce in China. The company had recently expanded into China and, in addition to bringing over some resources from the United States, had hired the majority of the employees locally to join the organization.

The article in Business on Main’s site talked about the importance of engaging employees in global locations in order to ensure they are integrated into the fabric of the organization and that they, and the organization, can be successful.

I shared the article with my friend. Of particular interest to her was that you cannot impose what works in the company here in the United States on a division or branch of the company in a foreign country. She noted that one of the biggest mistakes she sees is that her organization keeps trying to impose the same processes and procedures overseas in China that exist for the US office. It just does not work and she sees a significant amount of “push back” from China. When she first met with her new overseas staff, she asked them what they needed from her. One of the key things in their response was that they wanted to feel a part of the company and have a closer connection with the US headquarters. They also wanted to see if she would be able to change some of the processes and procedures in place by Human Resources so it makes more sense for them.

A big challenge for those who need to manage employees in global locations is finding time to connect with them and keep them engaged in the company.  There are challenges with setting up times for virtual meetings or phone calls and sometimes email seems to be the best solution. However, it is important that regular meetings are scheduled and held. Try these best practices to better engage a global workforce:

• At least once a week you need to be on the phone or in a virtual meeting with your global employees just to catch up and talk about the status of work going on.
• Arrange an in-person meeting at the global location at least once a quarter if possible. Some face time is always of value.
• Research the country in which you have a global workforce – learn about their culture and business norms. The more you know about them, the better you are able to interact effectively with them and get them engaged in the business.
• Find ways to keep them connected to the headquarters and to other locations. Have strong processes and procedures for reporting status of project. Provide training to global workers. Empower your global managers so that they can effectively manage the workforce and resolve problems that arise.

For one client we set up a collaboration portal for their global workforce.  This portal provides all employees a common place to share documents, research benefits and ask questions of human resources, look up current projects, get assistance to questions, and download just-in-time training modules. It is, effectively, a “one stop resource” for all employees. When the CEO needs to communicate with all employees, he does it via the portal. It has become the place to go for all information about the company, its clients and current projects.

Your thoughts? How are you handling a global workforce? What are your challenges? How do you interact with global colleagues on a regular basis? Please share with others in the Comments field below. Thanks!

Disclaimer: This post is a part of an online influencer network for Business on Main. I receive incentives to share my views on a monthly basis.