The Virtual Global Workforce: Leveraging Its Impact

1. The Virtual Global Workforce: Leveraging Its Impact Wayne F. Cascio Gateway I/O Psychology St. Louis, MO March 30, 2012

2. Global Labor Markets • Knowledge, trade, technology, capital, goods, and services are more globally connected than ever • Coupled with the rise of emerging markets,and focus on new revenue streams, these trends have created a swell in global worker mobility

3. Labor Will Become More Mobile • 500M people, double the number today, will legally work outside their home countries in the next 20 years; why? • Conflict, natural disasters, climate change, economic opportunism • Implication: Great need for cross-cultural skills, adaptability, and flexibility Source: SHRM, “At Work in 2020”

4. The Search for Talent • Having access to the best talent continues to challenge CEOs and business leaders • 97% of CEOs in PriceWaterhouse Cooper’s 2011 Global CEO Survey say that having the right talent is THE most critical factor for their business growth

5. SIOP XXVI - Number and Title of the Workshop

6. Global Talent Gap As many world populations age, birthrates in most mature economies are trending downward • Many Western economies cite declining birth rates as a major problem in the war for talent • China, India, Eastern Europe, and parts of South America are also grappling with critical talent shortages • Russiaalone faces an estimated reduction of approximately 20 million working-age people by 2030 • The UN anticipates that China’s working-age population (those aged 15-59) will fall behind Vietnam’s in 2020, and lag behind India and Brazil in 2025 • Result: Safeguarding the talent pipeline will be a key driving force in HR strategy over the next decade

7. The Rise of Virtual Teams • Aon Consulting’s 2009 Benefits and Talent Survey: • 97% of respondents said their organizations either planned to increase virtual work and telework options or keep them at the same level

8. “According to our research ~30% of tasks in multinational corporations could be done virtually. Virtual mobility can also take a lead in women inclusion and enablement that have previously been excluded from the active labour force.” – David Arkless, President, Corporate and Government Affairs, Manpower Inc.

9. Source: Johnson, S. L., SIOP/LEC, Oct., 2011

10. Source: Johnson, S. L., SIOP/LEC, Oct., 2011

11. Source: Global Talent Mobility (2011)

12. Examples of Virtual Mobility • Intel – virtual recruiting • An Intel representative presents an audio or video presentation, and prospective employees can submit topic and job questions • Intel also offers a variety of social-networking opportunities — blogs, podcasts, video, Facebook, Twitter — to allow interested individuals to interact with Intel employees around the world • “E-lancer” businesses- composed of one or more workers connected by electronic networks- will enable more people to undertake full or part-time work from home, such as outsourced tasks from other companies

13. Key Management Challenges in Virtual Teams • The success of any team – virtual or not – depends on the people • Technology can bring people together, but it’s the manager who must ensure that: • Relationships stay vital • Each team member is valued, and • Productivity is high

14. Source: Johnson, S. L., SIOP/LEC, Oct., 2011

15. Managing Global Virtual Teams • Must be sensitive to language differences, differences in business protocol, and time zones • With ESL: It’s vital to determine that everyone understands what’s been said • “I heard you say…” is a good way to clarify • Show respect to far-flung team members by varying start times, so people take turns participating in meetings in their early mornings or late evenings • Try to visit each country’s team once a year • E&Y’s Americas Inclusiveness Team: all team members meet together annually • Billie Williamson, E&Y partner and Americas Inclusiveness Officer: • Communicate more frequently, check in more often, be sure that people understand what is going on

16. To Nurture Relationships Among Team Members • Set up a community home space featuring pictures and profiles of team members • A discussion board, a team calendar, a chat room • Result: team members can connect with each other outside of meetings and create closer bonds as a group • Listen carefully to each team member on phone calls – is he/she excited? Bored? • Listen to everything, particularly to silences • Silence can mean consent, disagreement, or disengagement • Follow up immediately to those who are not responding, not participating, or missing deadlines. Find out: what’s going on?

17. Source: Johnson, S. L., SIOP/LEC, Oct., 2011

18. What Role Can I/O Psychologists Play? • Staffing Virtual Teams – many psychological issues are at play in virtual work • Cisco and Pear Kandola (UK consultancy) studied hundreds of workers at Cisco and other companies worldwide • Hypothesis: quants, introverts, and reclusive types will thrive in virtual work situations • Finding: It’s extroverts – office gabbers, life of the break-room party – who thrive • They stay connected no matter where they are • Shy, disorganized types are better kept in-house • Hypothesis: Mobile workers are more likely to be disorganized • Finding: Mobile workers are far better organized personally than their office-bound counterparts

19. Developing Feedback Systems • Helps virtual workers feel connected to an organization • Must define expected deliverables clearly and in advance – projects completed on time, customer-satisfaction ratings • Leaders must reach out often; also use micro-feedback

20. Source: Johnson, S. L., SIOP/LEC, Oct., 2011

21. Implications for Managers of Global Virtual Teams • Find ways for more face-to-face contact with introverts on the team • Possibly pair them up with executives in the same geographic area • Create an office-like environment in cyberspace – perhaps through in-house social networks

22. Creating “Swift Trust” in a Virtual Team • Such teams are often assembled to carry out a specific project • Must build trust swiftly at the outset, but it can be fragile • No prior history of working together, no F2F communication • Can create a sense of physical and psychological distance among team members • Solution: focus more on building cognitive than affective trust at the outset • Cognitive trust – rational characteristics – reliability, integrity, competence, professionalism • Affective trust – emotional aspects and social skills of others – care and concern for the welfare of others, and an emotional connection

23. Creating Trust (Cont.) • To work effectively, team members need to establish trust quickly to enable them to take risks and to rely on fellow team members • With short-lived virtual projects there is insufficient time to gather enough info about team members to assess their trustworthiness fully • Assessing cognitive, work-related attributes, such as competence, enables team members to judge potential trustworthiness quickly

24. Creating Trust (Cont.) • Cognitive trust can be fragile • One missed deadline or failure to respond can shatter the team’s faith in an individual • Teams with higher levels of affective trust: • Have more continuous and frequent communication • Communicate more social information • Allows closer relationships to be formed • With time, virtual teams can build affective trust

25. Source: Johnson, S. L., SIOP/LEC, Oct., 2011

26. Implications for Managers • Facilitate cognitive trust building at the outset by sharing “CV information” among team members • Include details of their accomplishments, competence, experience, and integrity • Use socialization strategies to facilitate development of affective trust • Online chat rooms, social videoconferences, social conference calls • Must maintain trust once it does develop! • Use research-based conflict-resolution strategies to deal with disagreements quickly before they undermine trust

27. Data Privacy and Other Concerns • Organizations will need to pay close attention to the risks that emerge as a result of technological enhancements • Key focus areas include: • The potential interception of financial or personal data when transmitted across borders • The importance of personal data privacy when tracking an employee’s movement • The need for a distinct separation of business and personal profiling with regard to social networking

28. Concerns (Cont.) • Need clear company guidelines about the extent to which an employee is seen to represent the corporation in social networking sites • Employers need to be careful about monitoring the ‘behavior’ of employees when accessing these communication channels

29. Hidden Benefit of Global Virtual Work Arrangements • Permits employers to keep fast-track employees who are unwilling or unable to relocate for job assignments to remain in their leadership-succession pipelines • Hidden cost: Failure to get direct exposure to international assignments

30. Conclusions • World Economic Forum (2011): “Widespread talent scarcity will persist for decades. That scarcity will redefine human capital practices and ways of doing business for a long time to come” • I/O psychologists will play crucial roles in defining and facilitating those human capital practices • The rise of global labor markets and global virtual teams offer ongoing opportunities for I/O psychologists to develop and refine innovative practices to meet these challenges • Isn’t it time we got on with the job?