Managing Diversity among Expatriates: Google Employees Deploying in Rwanda

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Google LLC has been keen on expanding its operations beyond the North American and the European markets. Africa is currently considered an attractive market because of its growing population and economy. The company has been deploying its employees to work in international markets. One of the challenges that employees in foreign countries face is diversity. Cultural practices and beliefs in the United States are significantly different from those in Japan, India, or South Africa. Sometime, the language barrier can limit the capacity of an expatriate to perform specific duties effectively in a foreign nation (Singh & Ramdeo, 2020). It is necessary to find a way of training all the expatriates on what to expect when they are sent to a new country. As the firm explores new markets, it is necessary to train its employees on how to overcome the barriers. In this training program, the focus is to help expatriates that Google has deployed to Rwanda to cope with challenges associated with diversity.

Target Audience Description

The target group for this training is expatriates coming from the United States and Europe and moving to the new Google LLC’s offices in Rwanda. A significant number of them have never visited this part of the world before and do not understand the local culture. Given that most of them will be holding executive positions, they need to understand how to manage diversity in this foreign country.

The Intercultural Issue That Creates the Need for Training Interventions

Google has been keen on finding new markets rapidly to foreign countries around the world. Africa has become the new frontier and Rwanda was identified as one of the best destinations in the region. The challenge that the management faces is that there are some cultural differences in the host and parent countries. Issues such as the power distance index, individualism versus collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance index, as identified in Hofstede’s cultural dimension model, vary between the host and parent country (Vellnagel, 2020). Other issues include masculinity versus femininity, long-term versus short-term orientation, and indulgence versus restraint.

Behavioral Objectives of Training Program

The training program specifically targets expatriates who will be working in Rwanda. The team responsible for the training should understand the specific objectives that should be realized upon the completion of the project. The following were identified as the primary behavioral objectives for this training program.

To assess cultural differences between the parent country (the United States) and the host country (Rwanda);
To assess the impact of the identified cultural differences on the performance of the expatriates;
To assess the ability of the expatriates to understand the local culture and embrace it effectively as a way of managing diversity;
To help improve the performance of individual expatriates in the foreign country despite the cultural differences;
To find a way of creating harmony in the workplace despite the existence of cultural differences.

Course Outline for Participants

The team will need a clear outline, identifying specific activities that have to be conducted to achieve the above goals. The outline shown in table 1 above will be used to guide the trainers in this program.

Table 1: Course Outline

Expatriate Training Course Outline for Google Employees in Rwanda
Task	Details
Understanding the local cultural practices	The expatriates should understand cultural practices in the host country that can directly affect their official and private lives
Understanding barriers that expatriates face	The expatriates should understand specific barriers that may affect them negatively in the foreign country
Managing the barriers	To help the expatriates of the company to understand how they can manage the identified barriers to ensure that their experience in the foreign country is as positive as possible
Working in harmony with the locals	The expatriates should understand how to work harmoniously with host country employees and the local community

Step-By-Step Training Assessment Model

It is necessary to have a step-by-step training assessment model to help determine the effectiveness of the program. Kirkpatrick’s model, shown in figure 2 below, can help in the assessment process. At the first level, the focus is to assess learners’ reactions to determine if they have the right attitude. The second level is the actual assessment of the learning process to determine what they have gained from the program (Blankenship & Baker, 2019). The third stage is to assess their behavior to determine if they have applied what they have learned. The last step is to determine the overall benefits of the training to the organization in terms of performance.

Timeline for Possible Project Implementation

The training team needs to be adequately prepared. All the activities have to be outlined, and a timeline clearly stated. It makes it easy to monitor the progress and determine if the objectives of the program are achievable within a specific period. The Gantt chart shown in table 2 below shows the activities that should be completed within a specific timeline.

Table 2: Gantt Chart of Training Activities

Time/Activity	Mar 1-12	Mar 14-30	Apr 1-22	Apr 24-28	May 1-Aug 15	Aug 17- 29	Sap 1-30
Team briefing
Budgeting activities
Prepare templates
Distribute templates
Execute training
Conduct assessment
Develop final report

Content Module

The instructor will need to ensure that there is adequate preparation for the training. Factors such as specific training activities, class size, and logistics involved or mode of learning that will be used. The module should also explain how learners should provide their feedback to help determine when it is necessary to introduce specific changes to enhance the outcome of the program.

Detailed Instructor’s Outline

The instructor will need a detailed outline that defines specific activities that have to be completed within a given period. The outline should also define the logistics for the students or the means of learning that is convenient for them and the instructor. As shown in Table 3 below, the outline also shows the class size of learners.

Table 3: Instructor’s Outline

Timeline	Activity	Class Size	Logistics/Mode of Learning
Week 1-3	Investigating the local culture and determining how unique it is compared with that in the home country	40 learners	Online classes: handouts and slide contents e-mailed to learners immediately after online classes
week 4-6	Investigating the level of diversity in the country and at Google LLC	40 learners	Online classes: handouts and audio-visual materials (videos) sent to the learners immediately after class
Week 7-9	Determining specific challenges that expatriates face because of the diversity	40 learners	Online classes: handouts and case studies e-mailed to learners immediately after online classes
Week 10 & 11	Determining ways in which the expatriates can manage the identified barriers in the host country	40 learners	Online classes: handouts and slide contents e-mailed to learners immediately after online classes
Week 12 &13	Outlining how other expatriates can work in harmony with the locals, taking advantage of the diversity instead of viewing it as a challenge	40 learners	Online classes: handouts and slide contents e-mailed to learners immediately after online classes
Week 14	Examination	40 learners	Online exams. To be completed within 1 hour at the premises of the company.

Promotional Piece and Special Needs

The training team will need to promote the training program among the targeted audience. The promotion should explain the relevance of the training to the company, individual expatriates, host country employees, and clients in the foreign country. It will encourage the target audience to enroll and attend all the online classes for the program. The program does not include special needs learners. As such, the preparations and actual training will not require any special training.

Feedback Sheet

The expatriates will be encouraged to provide feedback after every session of training. It will help in determining improvements that should be implemented by the trainer. Table 4 below is a feedback sheet that they will use to provide their feedback regularly.

Table 4: Feedback Sheet

Period	Satisfied	Dissatisfied	Did not attend
Week 1-3	–	–	–
week 4-6	–	–	–
Week 7-9	–	–	–
Week 10 & 11	–	–	–
Week 12 &13	–	–	–
Week 14	–	–	–

References

Baker, C., & Blankenship, R. J. (2019). Conclusion: Creating better teaching and learning environments by focusing on teaching and learning. In Cases on digital learning and teaching transformations in higher education (pp. 184-193). IGI Global.

Daffron, S. R. & Caffarella R. S. (2021). Planning programs for adult learners: A practical guide. Wiley.

Singh, R., & Ramdeo, S. (2020). Leading organizational development and change: Principles and contextual perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan.

Vellnagel, C. C. (2020). Cross-cultural brand personality and brand desirability: An empirical approach to the role of culture on this mediated interplay. Springer.

Click Here To Order Now!