This article (link below) in the HR magazine, considers the benefits that international experience might offer an HR Director and moots the point that without it, HR Directors are falling behind Finance Directors in the race to become CEOs (!)
There is a lot in this article, and I haven't had time to critically analyse the many assumptions and issues referred to, but thought it was worthy of discussion here, especially given the considerable criticism of the HR profession within the article.
The article quotes the Head of HR at Alium Partners (they recruit and place "Interim Managers") who says "This lack of international capability will bar people from top roles. HRDs will only get left behind as more businesses become international in their nature."
I do think that for transnational companies (operating across national boundaries, whether in real life or via the internet) an HR Director would benefit technically from having worked in more than one country during his/her career.
But is it important for HR Directors of local companies (operating in a local niche market) that have no grand plans to expand? Perhaps not quite so much, but I actually think that if someone has had the opportunity to work in another country it can only be beneficial regarding bringing a whole lot of extra knowledge and wisdom into the workplace.
Then again, how many of us really have the opportunity to work abroad? (I have few constraints and have been looking for years for an opportunity to work abroad for a couple of years, just for the experience of it, but without success - these opportunities are not easy to find.)
See what you think. Here is the article:- HR Magazine article Peter Crush 27 Jan 2014
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