Recruiting globally is a whole new ball game. Unfortunately, it’s not just a matter of posting on Indeed and hoping for the best. No, you’re going to need a comprehensive global recruitment strategy in order to keep your competitive edge, avoid the inherent risks in the process and attract top-tier talent.
A well-thought out strategy is crucial to your organisation’s success because it’ll give you complete clarity on everything from attracting to interviewing to hiring the best people from all over.
Things to consider before kick-starting your global recruitment strategy
There are plenty of factors to consider (and a few questions to ask!) as you begin to devise your comprehensive global recruitment strategy:
Make sure your hires match your goals
Start with your why.
- Why are you hiring now?
- What position(s) do you need to fill?
- Will these hires align with and contribute to your organisation’s overall goals?
Determine your requirements
You should consider how many hires you’d like to make in your recruitment drive. Your global recruitment strategy should grow as your organisational needs do.
- How many hires do you need and why?
- In which country(ies) will you hire and why?
The right people for the job
Dial down what you’re on the lookout for in terms of skills, expertise and cultural attributes when filling your positions. If you’re looking for a web design wizard, it’s no use employing a copywriter, for example. And if you want diversity in your team, look to hire from a range of regions.
Building a global employer brand
Hiring is not the only thing to consider in your global recruitment strategy. It’s crucial to pay attention to building a global brand for your organisation. Your future team superstars need to trust in you, and what better way to build that trust than by having a solid global brand. It can be a little tricky, though, because you’ll need to appeal to a broad demographic yet maintain brand consistency. You’ll need a robust global EDI plan in place, as well as tailor-made communications via social media, job boards and webpages.
Also, location matters. You should look to adjust your branding for local regions by using content that is meaningful to the audience. You’ll want to communicate in your future hires’ language and demonstrate your deep appreciation and respect for their culture(s).
Do your due diligence in understanding the culture of where you’ll be recruiting from, right down to how they hunt for jobs. Creating a positive experience for your potential people will go a long way to making them yours! Use social proof and showcase your authenticity. Make sure your job postings are accessible on mobile too, because many of your future team use their phone to scout for jobs.
Local rules and regs
When hiring globally, you’ll need to take into account the need to get work permits, visas and immigration laws (amongst other things that factor into global hiring and employee mobility). You absolutely must understand global HR compliance and adhere to local labour laws and comply with them at all times. If this is a concern, you might want to partner with an EOR, who’ll help majorly in making sure you’re compliant every step of the way. They’ll skilfully navigate the subtleties of hiring in geographically diverse locations, while keeping you constantly compliant.
Sourcing global talent
You’ll want to have a think about how you’re going to go about recruiting your new hires. Naturally, the popularity of hiring channels differs from country to country. Just because Facebook is great for one country, doesn’t mean it is for another. With that being said, social media is an effective way to reach huge swathes of potential recruits. On the flipside, it may impede recruiting a diverse team as certain folks may have a preference for offline human contact. There are countless ways to recruit globally and other options include: international job boards, recruitment agencies, universities and professional networks. Do your research and find out what works where, then apply it.
Why remote teams rock
Location’s no longer an obstacle to hiring these days. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the amount of remote workers around the globe has skyrocketed. Now more than ever, global remote and virtual teams offer unrivalled access to pools of incredible talent all over the world. You can hire the best person for the job, no matter their location or time zone.
Effective screening and interviewing
With global candidates come all manner of different educational systems and standards of resumes. Do your best to understand and evaluate these from the get go.
You’ll need to consider effective screening and interviewing techniques when hiring globally and here’s where technology is your best friend. Chatbots can be used to screen potential hires 24/7, and video conferencing will allow you to “meet” the person virtually, so you’re able to see their face and have a much more personal experience (minus the eye watering flight costs!)
Make sure you’re clued up on all things EDI to make sure you’re evaluating all recruits as fairly and objectively as possible, while being culturally sensitive. The last thing you want to do is alienate your potential hires.
Measure and improve
Find out where you’re at, what you need to improve and how you’ll get there by having in place some appropriate KPIs throughout your global recruitment strategy. Constantly measuring and improving your global recruitment efforts will make sure your strategy is continually evolving.
Another way to evolve is to get feedback from your new team members. Finding out how they experienced the hiring process offers actionable insights as to how to improve for next time.
Hiring internationally is exciting and daunting in equal measure
But arming yourselves with a well-defined global recruitment strategy will make sure you get the most out of recruiting globally, whilst avoiding the pitfalls.
Cintra Global helps you hire, manage and engage a happy, productive and global workforce, helping you manage your precious people throughout the entire employee lifecycle, so you can deliver the best of international HR for your people, wherever you are. Keen to find out more? Get in touch today.
