Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/86587
Compliance in which providers are mitigating them for clients. All agreed that global deals, due to cost effectiveness and functional efficiencies, are progressing quickly, creating opportunities for both global and in-country service providers. Multi Multinationals Despite the still-uncertain economic environment in the aftermath of the global credit crunch in 2007, and the financial crisis and recession in its wake, many organisations continue to establish or extend their foreign operations and sales outlets. Lower labour cost in several emerging economies is a factor in these objectives, as is a burgeoning middle class with new buying powers in these regions. Add it all up, and there is no slowdown in the growth of multinational enterprises. As these organisations spread further across the planet, they must address wide-ranging laws and regulations governing labour, payroll, benefits, and the treatment of employees, among other legal and administrative concerns. "There is a difference between global processes—the way that HR transactions occur—and local policies, the specifics around an individual employee's terms and conditions of employment," says Howard H. Nelson, director of HR and learning solutions in the global process services division of IBM U.K. Ltd. "For example, the end-to-end recruiting process is pretty similar globally, but there will be some local country legislation around how contracts are issued or about pre-employment checks," he adds. "Processes benefit from being standardised globally, but local policies will always need to be accommodated." SUMMER 2012 | www.hroglobal.com [29]