A manager who succeeds at running human resources in one country can still fail badly the moment the role goes international. Different cultures, different labour laws and different expectations around work mean that domestic HR habits do not automatically transfer across borders — and organisations that ignore this gap pay for it in failed assignments and lost talent.

This course from the Arab British Fellowship Training Academy looks at why international HR has become one of the most talked-about disciplines in today's global economy, and equips participants to handle the specific challenges it raises: culture shock, employee homesickness, differing values, and the higher investment risk that comes with operating across borders.

Participants also examine how to source people either from the parent company's home country or from the host country, weighing the advantages and drawbacks of each option, and build the communication and strategic skills needed to direct international teams toward shared business goals.

• Human resources rehabilitation and organisation workers.
• Recruitment managers in corporations operating across borders.
• Employees of international human resources departments.
• HR professionals whose organisations operate across international borders.
• Graduates and those interested in the field of international HR.

Target Audience

By the end of the programme, participants will be able to:

• Explain how managing international talent differs from single-country HR practice.
• Advise on how different aspects of HR need to adapt across borders.
• Review their own organisation's international HR practice and recommend changes.
• Identify the core qualifications of a global HR manager and benchmark their own competence against them.
• Communicate effectively with staff from different cultures while managing that diversity strategically.
• Build a personal network of international HR practitioners.

Module 1: The International HR Landscape

• Defining the international context and how it reshapes HR work.
• Key differences between domestic and international HR management.
• Core qualifications of an HR professional working across borders.

Module 2: Understanding Culture Before Managing It

• Assessing personal and organisational understanding of international cultures.
• Models for evaluating and comparing different cultures.
• Working through cultural dilemmas, employee alienation and homesickness.

Module 3: Building the International Workforce

• Sourcing talent from the home country versus the host country, with the pros and cons of each.
• Global economic patterns, workforce mobility and demographic challenges and their effect on the organisation.
• Auditing and managing processes related to international talent.

Module 4: Rewarding and Developing Global Talent

• International reward structures and recognition strategies.
• Managing and developing performance on an international scale.
• Motivating employees toward business goals despite cultural distance.

Module 5: Delivering the Programme and Building Your Network

• Delivering the course across borders and building a personal professional network.
• Personal review and drafting an individual action plan.
• Certification, delivery formats (in-house, individual, group and practical training) and available locations.