Cultural diversity among the personnel as a competitive advantage and a strategic choice to combat the shortage of expertise : international recruitment practices shared by the companies from the Lahti Region
Vuori, Anri (2022)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022090319812
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022090319812
Tiivistelmä
This Master’s thesis explores the current state of cultural diversity in Finnish companies, especially focusing on the companies based in the Lahti Region, the competitive advantages it creates, and how diversity can be managed efficiently.
The thesis presents multiple ways the companies can in practice reach, hire, and retain successfully international experts in order to access a wider pool of talents and achieve a higher cultural diversity among the personnel. Culturally rich personnel can help increase company´s competitiveness, improve its employer image and help ultimately help reach its social responsibility goals.
The background of this thesis relates to a widely acknowledged labor market encountering problems affecting Finnish business life extensively, and the rapidly aging population in Finland resulting in a lack of experts in many business sectors. Economically it is effective to increase labor-based migration to combat the shortage of expertise.
The results show that companies with international operations benefit most from culturally diverse personnel, and they are also most experienced in hiring from abroad. The thesis also presents a growing form of hiring international talents - diversity recruitment - and why it is an efficient way to attract the right talents from international networks. The results also show that more flexible policy guidance is needed from the state level as well as more open attitude among the companies to speed up the cultural diversity in Finnish workplaces.
Primary data consists of interviews among the selected Lahti region-based companies with recent experience in hiring international experts. The secondary data was sought through topic-related literature and studies. Theoretical background together with interviews provides useful knowledge and supports companies’ decisions to increase and find the right cultural diversity management model and include them in the company strategy.
The thesis presents multiple ways the companies can in practice reach, hire, and retain successfully international experts in order to access a wider pool of talents and achieve a higher cultural diversity among the personnel. Culturally rich personnel can help increase company´s competitiveness, improve its employer image and help ultimately help reach its social responsibility goals.
The background of this thesis relates to a widely acknowledged labor market encountering problems affecting Finnish business life extensively, and the rapidly aging population in Finland resulting in a lack of experts in many business sectors. Economically it is effective to increase labor-based migration to combat the shortage of expertise.
The results show that companies with international operations benefit most from culturally diverse personnel, and they are also most experienced in hiring from abroad. The thesis also presents a growing form of hiring international talents - diversity recruitment - and why it is an efficient way to attract the right talents from international networks. The results also show that more flexible policy guidance is needed from the state level as well as more open attitude among the companies to speed up the cultural diversity in Finnish workplaces.
Primary data consists of interviews among the selected Lahti region-based companies with recent experience in hiring international experts. The secondary data was sought through topic-related literature and studies. Theoretical background together with interviews provides useful knowledge and supports companies’ decisions to increase and find the right cultural diversity management model and include them in the company strategy.