Expert Neil Krupp gives the lowdown on attaining and maintaining a competitive edge in the global HR marketplace.

It is fairly commonplace for an organisation to announce its commitment to providing competitive compensation and benefits programmes. It is not however a routine exercise when determining what “competitive” means in a global context. Competitive and creative compensation and benefits plans are vital to achieving successful “total rewards” programmes and an important tool in motivating employee performance toward maximising company profitability and shareholder value. However, what may constitute competitive and creative at one international location is by no means a template which can be applied to all other locations.

Those companies that will excel in the emerging global marketplace will align their human resources programmes to support their strategic business plans. This involves significant effort and dedication in developing a truly global human resources total compensation programme that supports the way the business is structured, organised, and operated both globally and regionally. In short, the most successful global HR programmes will recognise the need that is captured in the axiom, "think globally but act locally."

Two factors are most critical to a programme’s overall success:

• Ensuring that all “stakeholders” in its expansion team are educated on the costs, opportunities, and challenges of doing business in those countries in which it chooses to operate—and;
• Each understands the power of having local knowledge and implementing competitive compensation and benefits practices.

Thinking ahead is necessary, in the form of a project plan, and creating an infrastructure that comprises both identifying ways of providing competitive compensation and benefits programmes and compliance with local employment laws and labour legislation.

Effective methods of administering to a global workforce typically involve assessing the following:

• Payroll tax and legal requirements
• Benefit norms
• Compensation information on benchmark jobs
• Incentive opportunities
• Employment practices
• Payroll provisions
• Staffing issues

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