Managing the global workforce: Challenges and strategies

Executive Overview The globalization of the workplace has become a fact of life for a substantial segment of U.S. companies, bringing a dramatic expansion of the scope of workforce management and a whole host of new organizational challenges. Using data collected from interviews with international human resource managers in eight large companies, this paper identifies three practical challenges to managing the global workforce and four strategies for meeting those challenges. The three challenges are: deployment. knowledge and innovation dissemination, and talent identification and development. The four strategies are: aspatial careers, awareness-building assignments, SWAT teams, and virtual solutions. A diagnostic framework for each challenge is provided that indicates when to use which strategy and basic implementation points are presented.