An International HR Consultancy for Moldova - Areas of Support

My previous reports outlined some of the areas of concern I had in my mind about the possibility of launching an HR Consultancy for Moldova. There are barriers, of course, but they're not

insurmountable and with a good following wind and a professional approach there is a potential for a business.

Language barriers need not be a problem. Businesses prepared to establish a link with an international HR professional are around and willing to take that chance. 

A lot of this is on the back of Moldova looking West and not relying on intervention or support from Russia. Indeed, the economy and politicians and business people all point to integration with Europe and financial support from Europe as being an important strategy in developing Moldova into a sustainable economy, growing and vibrant.

So what do the businesses want in terms of HR support? The Top Areas were as follows:

Recruitment and Selection

Training and Development

Coaching and Mentoring

Performance Management

Reward and Recognition

Succession Planning and Talent Management

Employee Engagement

For the full report "An International HR Consultancy for Moldova" and a commentary contact me at iain@iwhrconsulting.co.uk.

If you would be interested in utilising an International HR Consultant contact me at iain@iwhrconsulting.co.uk. 

(c) Iain Williamson 2015

Would you use an International HR Consultancy?

Thanks for reading the recent blogs on the potential for an International HR Consultancy for Moldova. From the previous publications you'll have seen that speaking only English is not necessarily a barrier to establishing a business in the country; indeed, English ranked alongside Russian and Romanian as business languages.

So far so good. But that's not the question. Clearly, as in all countries, the question comes down to a simple statement. Would your business use an International HR Consultant? If you don't ask, you'll never know!!!

The answer was quite conclusively Yes with 59% in the affirmative. Is that enough on which to make a decision?

If the Conservative Party can plough ahead with its vision for the next five years for the United Kingdom with only 36.9% of the popular vote then a 59% result is surely a landslide vote for a go-ahead decision for an International HR Consultancy.

Even with the 59% result, there still has to be a modicum of reticence. On the other hand, it means 41% of the community would not use an International Human Resources Consultancy. Or is this just the usual British way of reacting to avoid a big disappointment. snatching defeat from the jaws of victory?

Maybe the real decision point can only lie in what the customer wants? A-ha!!! That's it, there lies the solution and in the next instalment I will tell you what the survey responses said would be most needed.
If you wish to contact me, then please leave a comment on here or alternatively send me an email to iain@iwhrconsulting.co.uk

Thanks for reading and as always please visit one or other or both of my websites.

www.iwhrconsulting.co.uk                             

www.abespokecv.co.uk

Alternatively view my LinkedIN profile

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/iainwilliamsonfcipd

(c) Iain Williamson 2015

A Language Barrier to Business - Добрый день Good afternoon

Despite enjoying the marvels of the Scottish education system (many moons ago now!!!), I am still very much like the rest of the population of the United Kingdom where we expect the rest of the world to understand and speak English. Yes I can speak and understand French and can read Italian but that's about it.

When I visit Moldova, I am in a bubble of non-comprehension. I don't speak any Russian, apart from a few words - and certainly not joined up in a sentence that makes any sense to anybody. As for Romanian, well I don't speak or understand that either. The only plus point is that Romanian is written in the Latin alphabet and I can guess what a lot of the words mean when I see them written down. As for Russian!!!!! Помоги мне

I am so glad and delighted that my wife speaks fluent Russian - a Godsend.

So when thinking about the potential of operating a business in a country where you don't speak the language there is an immediate hurdle to overcome. So an important part of my survey was to try to understand how big of a hurdle is that and is it surmountable.

The conclusion surprised me very much. The result to the question "What languages are used in your business?" was:-

1. Russian 29%
2. Romanian 29%
3. English 28%
4. Moldovan 12%
5. Other 2%

So there you have it, the news is that English would be used. The challenge, and unanswered piece, is how prevalent is the use of English. Is it used at all levels of organisations?

Certainly the people I spoke to had an excellent command of the english language. Admittedly these were senior professionals in their business but they didn't see that my lack of speaking another language as a problem. Indeed, the Moldovan push and move towards the European Community enhances the need for involvement of professionals from other countries. Moldova certainly has a bright future - it just needs that support to get there.

In my next posting, I will give you another section of the survey and my interpretation of what it said.

If you wish to contact me, then please leave a comment on here or alternatively send me an email to iain@iwhrconsulting.co.uk

Thanks for reading and as always please visit one or other or both of my websites.

www.iwhrconsulting.co.uk

www.abespokecv.co.uk

Alternatively view my LinkedIN profile

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/iainwilliamsonfcipd

(c) Iain Williamson 2015

Real Option or Cloud Cuckoo land? An International HR Consultancy for Moldova?

It's been quite a while since my last post because I've been rather busy but that's no excuse really. I hope you haven't missed me too much and your anticipation of reading Iain's words of wisdom has not waned.

A lot has been happening and my work has kept me away from spouting forth. Plus, of course, I have had to try and keep my golf handicap to a certain level - without much success I should say, but that's a story for another day and time.

Over the past few months I have been steadily building connections, via LinkedIn, with lots of people in Moldova across a multitude of business sectors with a view to testing the water to see if there was an appetite for using an international HR Consultant within their business.

I sent a comprehensive Survey to them to gather responses and the next step was to meet a few selected participants when I was in Chisinau (capital of Moldova) and see if there was really any opportunities. Remember I speak English only and not Romanian or Russian, the predominant languages in the country. My knowledge of Russian is extremely limited, to the extent that you'd probably agree it is non-existent. And my Romanian is even less - but at least Romanian is written in the Latin alphabet so I can get the gist of what is written but don't speak it.

Over the next few posts, I'm going to give you the results so keep reading as all will be revealed. If you want an advance copy of the Executive Summary and the results then contact me on EMAIL .

In closing, I'd like to remind you of how to contact me:-

Web sites:-

www.iwhrconsulting.co.uk   iain@iwhrconsulting.co.uk

www.abespokecv.co.uk

Twitter

@iwhrconsult

@abespokecv

(c) iain williamson 2015