You are currently the head trainer of a global U.S. automobile manufacturer. The organization has decided to expand its operations into the Eastern market such as China, Japan, and Singapore. The vice president of human resources has asked that you create a proposal outlining your plans for a new hire orientation program for the Eastern market. In your proposal, include the elements listed below.

Discuss how the Eastern market will potentially view new hire orientation, and then discuss two to three ways to tailor the new hire orientation to this market.
Discuss how the Eastern market perceives the relationship between the learner and trainer.
Discuss who will be responsible for giving the new hire orientation to the Eastern employees and how the orientation will be delivered. For example, will a local who is familiar with the language deliver a live orientation training session, or will it be a remote training session with a translator? Will it be some other delivery method? Once the method is chosen, discuss why this method is appropriate for the given market.
Your completed assignment must be at least two pages in length and use at least two outside sources. Adhere to APA guidelines when constructing this assignment, and include in-text citations and references for all sources that are used. Please note that no abstract is needed.

ANSWER

Cultural Considerations in Learning and Development

Introduction

Learning and development are essential functions within the human resource department. Through the HR department, the most appropriate and effective L&D programs are designed and tailored to reflect and align with the corporate MVGOs (Mission, Vision, Goals, and Objectives) (Dessler, 2013). The US-based automobile manufacturing company has expanded its operations in the eastern markets, hence requires an effective L&D plan and program for effective orientation and training of employees in the new market. The plan is a cross-cultural program that will enable the new employees to acquire knowledge, content, and tools to effectively cut through their duties and responsibilities to attain the organizational goals and objectives. As the appointed head trainer mandates include designing the plan, developing training protocols that align and meet individual and corporate needs and protocols, implementing and structuring effective, purposeful training techniques and methods, and finally strategizing and coordinating internal and external stakeholders to deliver effective training.

Eastern View on the New Hire Orientation Program

Orientation refers to welcoming and educating newly hired employees and staff on their roles, goals, and responsibilities in an organization, ensuring they understand what is expected of them and solving issues related to human resources or compensation and benefits (Dessler, 2013). In this program, employees will be welcomed and educated on roles, duties, corporate MVGOs, and expectations. In eastern countries, operating milieus and nature are less flexible where people act in line with commands with much emphasis on an individual’s skills and time of work. Work scopes in these countries vary with an individual’s ability while job performance is measured based on contextual skills. Hence, the orientation plan will focus heavily on skills, work scope, and tools necessary for completing tasks. Tailoring the new hire orientation will be guided by factors namely:

1. Mandatory provision of a complete briefing of the work, responsibilities, skills necessary, market insights, and a tour of the organization.
2. Introducing the newly hired employees with chain managers, superiors, and other stakeholders where they will be paired with ‘mentors or buddies.’
3. Complete reviewing of new schedules, responsibilities, and projects in the organization.

Eastern Perception of Learner and Trainer Relationship

Learner engagement in every orientation and training program is essential, which is determined by the established learner-trainer relationship. Even though learners are responsible for their knowledge acquisition, it is the trainers’ responsibility to enhance learner engagement and effective teaching (EPL, 2019). In eastern countries, the culture and people are accommodative and integrative of foreign operations; thus, the learner-trainer relationship is expected to be active, engaging, amicable, and productive. Moreover, through the parent company, effective training protocols will be integrated where learners will be trained by SMEs and culturally responsive to maximize on rapport and understanding. This way cultural and language barriers will be eliminated maximizing learning experiences among trainees hence increased capability to take over their tasks, duties, and responsibilities.

Stakeholders Responsible for the New Hire Orientation Program

The parent company will be responsible for delivering and implementing the L&D program in collaboration with a mixed delivery approach. This will include an internal and a local trainer familiar with the industry, language, and culture of the Eastern markets and employees. The local trainer will use a live orientation and training session in issues such as explaining processes at length and introducing the course. Training tools and approaches will align with the blended approach, including live sessions, online modules, and one-on-one training for comprehensiveness (Chebium, 2015). This cross-cultural L&D program will ensure the team copes with new cultures and practices to build on their confidence, trust, and comfort by addressing any invisible and subtle cultural and people differences. Issues of language barriers and cultural shifts will be addressed through the local trainer while corporate cultures communicated by the internal trainer. The local trainer will introduce the program and session to create an amicable environment and a sense of togetherness and commonality.

References

Chebium, R. (2015, January 7). How to Create an Effective Cross-Cultural Training Program. Retrieved from SHRM: https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/010215-cross-cultural-training.aspx

Dessler, G. (2013). Human Resources Management,13TH Edition. New York: Pearson Education Inc.

EPL. (2019). “Learner engagement: The relationship between learners, instructors, and content in online education”. Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol 33(1), pp; 31-33.