Two years ago, I had the pleasure of touring the beautiful country of Italy. I visited Rome, Positano, Naples, Venice, and Florence. I ate my weight in pizza and drank just much wine and quickly fell head over heels in love with the country. Everyone warned me. “Careful,” they said, “You’ll fall in love and never want to leave.” They were right. Since my trip, I have dreamed of going back, buying property, and/or pursuing a job located in the country. Working overseas has always been a goal of mine; maybe not permanently, but for a short period of time. With that being said, I have taken the initiative to dive a little deeper into the realities of Human Resources Management in Italy. What are the differences in HRM from the U.S.? What policies and practices work best? What would my days look like performing HRM duties in Italy?
Sirianni (1992) suggests that some Italian companies have recognized the need and importance of well structured HRM policies and practices, but there is a lack of resources provided to incorporate those policies and practices. He states, “There is a difference between an ideal profile of human resources, expressed by the behavioural needs of the organization structure, and a real profile represented by the effective availability of resources. The greater the gap between these two profiles, the less efficient professional business services will be.” Likewise, Camuffo & Costa (1993) suggest that successfully implemented HRM practices can play a major role in developing and implementing some Italian firms’ strategic objectives. They state, “When managed well, human resource management is always instrumental to strategic change. It is the HRM department’s job to make sure that human resource policies support the company’s strategy. But few executives and managers recognize HRM as also constitutive of strategy. HRM is more than one department’s activities; it is a general management activity.” It is clear that Italian companies need assistance in recognizing the importance of proper HRM within their organization.
When considering such things as pay and benefits, training and development, and recruitment and selection, each country is unique and what works in one region may not work in another. Such is the case for Italy. Pallini (2019) suggests that Italy does not have an established minimum wage but pay and benefits are agreed upon under an employee contract. In addition, Pallini (2019) states, “All employees must be insured under the compulsory state pension scheme, and collective agreements may require the employer to pay a proportion of an employee’s wages into an occupational pension scheme.” Pallini (2019) also states that employers are not required to provide training and development nor are they responsible for financing any training provided to employees. Recruitment and selection policies are very similar to U.S. policies in that they are prohibited from being discriminatory (Pallini, 2019). Additionally, Italian firms are required to employ a certain percentage of disabled individuals (Pallini, 2019).
In conclusion, there are not terribly too many differences in HRM between the U.S. and Italy. Employment law is relatively similar, and the cultural and institutional frameworks are familiar which suggests managing the country’s people will be familiar as well. The biggest challenge for individuals pursuing an HR position in Italy seems to be the level at which organizations recognize the need for fully developed, supported, and incorporated HR departments and the training and resources needed for upkeep. Before digging deeper into the details of HR in Italy, I was afraid there would be huge differences from what I know and am familiar with. I am pleased to find out that I am wrong, which increases my desire to live in the stunning country someday!
Camuffo, R. & Costa, G. (1993). Strategic human resources management – Italian style. Retrieved from https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/strategic-human-resource-management-italian-style/
Pallini, M. (2019). XpertHR – Italy. Retrieved from https://www.xperthr.com/international-manual/italy/
Sirianni, C. (1992). Human resources management in Italy. Employee Relations, 14 (5). DOI:10.1108/01425459210022427