Global HR Competencies: Mastering Competitive Value from the Outside-In

CHAPTER 66

EUROPE

ALLAN FREED, CHRISTINE CLEEMANN, EVEN BOLSTAD, AND HÅVARD BERNTZEN

HR professionals in Europe operate in a unique and exciting context. With a combined population above 500 million, the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) have 23 official languages and more than 150 others that are used regionally—all in an area approximately the same size as the United States.¹ As we attempt to identify trends and practices that are helpful to HR professionals across Europe, we are keenly aware of cultural, ethnic, and economic heterogeneity and an increasing tendency toward high levels of institutional and political homogeneity.

In this chapter, we explore two crucial questions that go beyond national boundaries and that prevail in ...