“Global businesses are looking for leaders who have the ability to move easily between different cultures and have deep local roots as well as international operational experience…. The talent pool is very small.”
When there is not enough immediately qualified talent, you have two options.
- Design the work to fit the people you can find, or
- Hire people who will respond to training efforts who can then fill the spots.
The granddaddy in the field was originally developed in the 1970s for the Peace Corps: the Overseas Assignment Inventory. The OAI eventually found its way into the capabilities provided by Prudential Intercultural. Working with Prudential we extensively revised and revalidated it in 2008. It focuses on successful expatriate adjustment to a foreign assignment. Some of the secrets to success that it reveals are:
- Having both personal and career motivations for wanting the assignment
- Having a clear set of job tasks in the new assignment
- Having high quality communication and support from family
All of these are part personality tendency and part learned behavior, so the assessment points out areas for development.
The Global Assessment Inventory (GAI) was designed to look at the skills a person has working cross culturally but not as an expatriate. The most important areas here are global sensitivity (recognize the value of different perspectives), risk taking (flexibility in solving problems), and patience. As with the OAI, the assessment provides a view of personal tendencies and behavior, comparing you with those who successfully navigate cross-cultural relationship situations. Then it offers development recommendations on how you can do better.
The third assessment we recommend, Global Mindset Inventory (GMI), comes out of Thunderbird School of Global Management, which is ranked #1 among business schools in international business. Professors there have studied thousands of their graduates (see HBR article) who are employed all over the globe and identified the set of competencies of high-performers:
- Intellectual Capital – Your cognitive capabilities, business savvy, and cosmopolitan outlook
- Psychological Capital – Your level of confidence, sense of adventure and appreciation of diversity
- Social Capital – Your empathy, diplomacy and interpersonal impact
Development is the surest way to increase your talent pool and it begins with accurate, appropriate assessment. This is one more way to make Human Resources a strategic competitive advantage.
