ORC Sightlines

February 2007

Getting Full Strategic Benefit from Affinity Groups

Affinity groups, also known as employee networks or resource groups, have become commonplace in large companies. Affinity groups provide members with a supportive community within the larger organization and are valued as tools for recruiting, retaining, and developing members of ethnic minority groups, women, gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender individuals, veterans, and people with disabilities. In a number of companies, groups for employees with other shared interests, such as parenting, have also emerged, and religious groups have appeared in some organizations (although ORC research suggests that most are wary of faith-based groups).

In fact, in many companies, affinity groups have grown to the point that they account for the single largest item in the diversity function’s budget, and supporting these groups consumes much of the diversity manager’s time. Given the level of investment, then, it came as something of a surprise and an “Ah ha!” moment during a meeting discussion earlier this month when members of ORC’s Workforce Opportunity Network realized that most of them did not view their affinity groups as key partners in driving their organization's diversity agenda.

“Affinity groups have become more or less a given in a lot of organizations,” said ORC vice president Patrice Hall, who heads up the firm’s global equality, diversity, and inclusion practice. “But it's striking that some diversity practitioners are finding productive ways to make their investment of time and money pay off."

Among the fifty Fortune 500 companies represented at the meeting, roughly 10 percent indicated that their affinity groups are important partners in achieving diversity goals. It became clear that those companies had taken proactive steps, typically over substantial periods of time, to fully engage the groups in the diversity strategy. Some of the practices shared included:

ORC's Liz MacGillivray, diversity chair of the Workforce Opportunity Network, notes that “For the most part, large companies that have affinity groups in place have found them to be an effective means for connecting minorities and women with a critical mass of supportive coworkers. But what we’ve learned from some of the best practice companies is that there is a whole lot more these groups can do.”

For more information regarding affinity groups, ORC’s equality, diversity, and inclusion practice, or ORC’s diversity networks, contact Patrice Hall, Liz MacGillivray or, Nita Beecher in the US or Deirdre Golden in the UK.

International Assignment Research Highlights Global Talent Management Challenges

ORC’s biennial Worldwide Survey of International Assignment Policies and Practices provides a comprehensive catalogue of compensation, benefits and perquisites, and management policies governing expatriate assignments in North American, Asian, and European companies. Results of the 2006 survey, released this month, also shed light on the complex talent management issues facing global companies that strive to deploy talent strategically wherever needed around the world.

Almost 900 multinational organizations with a total census of 173,000 expatriate employees contributed data to the 2006 survey. Fifty-six percent of them are increasing the number of employees on international assignments, compared to 37 percent in 2002. Even with this trend towards greater reliance on expatriates, the proportion of expats who are women has risen only slightly in the last several years, from 9 percent in 2000 to 11 percent in 2006. This figure is fairly consistent in every region of the world (except Japan, where very few women at all are given international assignments).

The low female representation may be partially explained by the reluctance of those who are married to tear husbands away from their own jobs and careers. However, dual career issues are troubling for men as well and, in fact, are the most commonly cited reason that employees refuse international assignments. To address this, 38 percent of responding companies have developed special programs for working spouses, offering supports such as assistance looking for a job or getting a work permit in the new location, preparing resumes, paying for retraining or education, and facilitating networking with other spouses. A few employers will help the expatriate’s spouse find a job within the company.

The definition of “spouse” for these and other benefits has become more liberal in the past few years. Thirty-three percent of companies say they define spouse to include unmarried partners of the same or opposite sex (compared to 23 percent in 2002). Another 8 percent recognize unmarried partners of the opposite sex, and 19 percent do not define spouse at all.

Performance and career management of mobile employees is another concern for global organizations. Reconciling expectations and performance is especially challenging when stakeholders (home organization, functional organization, host country management, the employee him or herself) are geographically scattered and may have different goals. Fewer than half of the companies in the survey said that specific objectives are defined for assignments. Most give responsibility for performance evaluation to the host country manager, but 37 percent conduct reviews in the home country.

Career planning was identified as the single biggest issue connected with repatriation of expatriate employees, followed by succession planning for the vacated job. In most regions, the majority of companies guarantee the expatriate another job after repatriation, but only 37 percent of employers in North America make that commitment.

To discuss talent management issues related to a global workforce, contact Jodi Starkman, vice president and leader of ORC’s talent management practice, at 310-374-6270.

For more information regarding international assignment policies and remuneration contact any one of these ORC offices:

Globalization of Employment Law

In-house attorneys, like everyone else in multinational organizations, are finding that they have little choice but to expand their expertise beyond traditional boundaries. Employment lawyers in American corporations must understand how local laws and regional treaties affect management policy and practice outside the US. Accordingly, at the first 2007 meeting of ORC’s Employment Law & Litigation Group, members were eager to learn some of the ins and outs of anti-discrimination law in Europe from partners and associates with the international law firm of DLA Piper.

Darrell S. Gay, who has nearly 30 years of experience in labor and employment law, noted that US companies need to be very careful when applying legal principles in EU countries because the terminology may not be the same or carry exactly the same meanings. “Victimization,” for instance, is not often used in US employment cases but is a recognized cause of action with a specific definition in some European countries. Similarly, while the term affirmative action is not used in Europe, a number of countries would recognize a similar concept under the term “positive discrimination.”

Since the devil, as they say in the US, is in the details, Gay’s colleagues, Sandra Wallace, a DLA Piper partner in London, and Pascal Kremp, an associate in the firm’s German office, guided ELLG members through a comparison of anti-discrimination provisions in the US, UK, Germany, and France. While several EU directives dictate baseline standards for member states, each country is allowed some latitude in how to implement and supplement those standards. Consequently, there is considerable deviation in types of discrimination covered, remedies available, and procedures.

For example, the three European countries share with the US a recognition of both direct and indirect discrimination (corresponding more or less to what American law calls “disparate treatment” and “adverse impact”). However, France includes morals and political opinions among the characteristics against which employers may not discriminate, while the UK forbids discrimination on the basis of fixed term or part-time status. Time limits for filing legal claims vary from three months for most actions in the UK to 30 years in France! Remedies and damages are also very individual country to country, with France even providing for criminal sanctions, including up to three years in prison.

Plaintiffs’ lawyers from the US have scented fresh hunting grounds in Europe and are adapting their tactics to the varying requirements of EU laws. US companies must prepare to respond. However, given the range and subtlety of differences country-to-country, Gay, Wallace, and Kremp cautioned ELLG members to be careful about becoming involved in European litigation without fully understanding the legal environment.

ORC’s Employment Law & Litigation Group offers confidential forum sharing and learning among senior level in-house employment counsel. In addition to sharing the most effective employer responses to developments in legislation, regulation, and litigation, members also earn CLE credit. For more information, contact Nita Beecher, 314-726-1740.

ORC Authors Explain It All

Thomson/West has published the 2006-2007 edition of the International Human Resources Guide by ORC Senior Vice President Roger Herod, with chapters contributed by ORC consultants Marta Bredehoeft, Deirdre Golden, and Liz MacGillivray as well as other recognized experts.

The Guide is a comprehensive primer on strategic HR management in global organizations. In the first chapter, Herod lays out the critical roles and strategic challenges for global HR leaders. Subsequent chapters lead the reader through setting up a company overseas, managing and leveraging a diverse global workforce, developing policies to manage an expatriate population, managing expatriates’ careers, hiring and managing a multinational workforce, offshoring and outsourcing HR activities, and much more. Appendices provide helpful checklists and resources. An accompanying CD includes sample planning tools and forms.

The International Human Resources Guide is available from Thomson/West.

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