Organizations have seen many changes in the last few decades, but none have been as transformative and radical as what we now call Globalization. Today, more and more companies are opening up offices/factories in countries in addition to their own, in order to reap the benefits of a globally distributed workforce.
With global expansion comes the responsibility of hiring high quality manpower at all company locations.
Hiring internationally, where the recruiter sits in one country and hires for operations in other countries, is a critically important component of multi-national companies. Read on to learn some of the hallmarks of how to have a successful international hiring practice:
- The Right Sourcing Strategy & Sourcing Channels
Effective employer-branding is always a great way to attract talent. As a global employer, you should aim to maintain global attractiveness and competitiveness for potential candidates.
As for finding good talent, different countries have different success rates for the same sourcing channel. For example, you may get a good response through newspaper advertisements in one country, while receiving very weak response for the same in another. A successful sourcing strategy should account for such differences in a country’s culture.
Online job portals are effective in most countries. However, different job portals may have different reach from one country to another, depending on level of penetration in technology use among the general population. So again, it is important for a recruitment team to do their research to ensure that the online portal you choose has good visibility and access in the country where you want to recruit.
- The Right Interview Questions
It is critical to have a well-researched understanding of the different educational qualification levels as well as the varying quality of schools in the region from where you are considering recruiting. The name of a qualification/course covering a similar syllabus or curriculum will be different in different countries and in order to ensure you are evaluating candidates appropriately and fairly, it would benefit all multinationals to have done some homework beforehand.
There are also interviewing strategies and techniques that differ from region to region, resulting in a fairly comprehensive list of dos and don’ts in interview questions. For example, in some countries you can ask the candidates about their current & past salaries, while there are laws against doing so in many others. CVs in some countries are explicit about physical features or marital status and will often include a photograph of the candidate, whereas that would be verboten in others.
The lesson here is ‘always do your homework’ before starting and conducting hiring operations in a country other than your own.
- Understanding the Cultural Differences
Understanding cultural differences and how they play out in the interview process is also critical to success when trying to recruit in a new country. For example, if you are exhibiting advertisements as part of a marketing campaign to attract new talent, working with local experts could help position your messaging both competitively as well as appropriately for your target audience.
The interview process will also reveal cultural differences. For example, if candidates are expected to trumpet their accomplishments aggressively in your home country, you will find yourself puzzled if the new country’s recruitment targets are quieter, more humble and self-effacing. Doing some research on the norms and customs you are likely to encounter will avoid confusion and missed opportunities later on down the road.
Lastly, it goes without saying, language and pronunciation differences will also be a feature of operating in a new country’s hiring culture that should be accounted for in order to avoid misunderstandings.
- Understanding Compensation Differences
Different countries have different currencies and attitudes towards pay. The recruiter should be aware of the currency of the country for which the recruitment is being done and also how that is related to currency in which organization maintains its budget and expenses. This helps in understanding a candidate’s salary expectations with regard to the budget for the position and also helps in effective negotiation.
Moreover, the recruiter should know the compensation range of the different job types in the new country. There could a big difference in the compensation ranges of the same job in different countries. A recruiter who knows the differences will definitely be more effective.
- Keeping in Compliance
When hiring internationally, It is important to be aware of the compliance issues related to recruitment and compensation. Different countries have different statutory requirements related to employment categories such as minimum wage, social security, income tax, medical benefits, leave policy, working hours, offer letter, appointment letter, notice periods, etc.
A recruiter should be ready to deal with questions related to these employer and employee obligations. The offer letter or appointment letter, for example, should include the terms and conditions which are required by the labor laws of that country.
Even before recruiting your first employee at a new location, you have to ensure basic compliance with employment regulations. If you have access to the minimum statutory requirements of different countries and their applicability, you can then rest assured of smooth sailing later.
International recruitment can be challenging but there are many tools and services available to help the global recruiter who is eager to learn.
Global People Strategist provides solutions to seamlessly overcome such challenges by providing relevant employment information, labor law insights, current events updates, etc. at your fingertips. We can help you meet your numbers through our real time updates fully customized according to your needs. Click here to learn more
