Best Practices for Hiring Talented International Employees

Once a business has a reliable customer base and steady sales, the natural next step is to expand it. This means attracting new customers and therefore growing sales. One way that many companies do this is by expanding into a new geographical location, such as a new country.

While entering new international markets offers many opportunities for businesses to grow, it also comes with many challenges. It can be especially difficult if the language and culture are not similar. However, many of these challenges can be overcome by hiring great local talent.

This begs the question of how to find, recruit, and retain highly qualified people who fit in with your company’s culture, who comply with your guidelines and practices, and who are able to serve your business interests effectively. Selecting the right international employees can have a decisive effect on the success of your company’s global expansion.

This article lists some of the guidelines and best practices that successful international companies follow when hiring overseas.

THe benefits of hiring internationally

You might, however, be thinking that it is easier to relocate some talented employees you have now overseas. After all, they already know your business inside out and have proven their capabilities. But you would be surprised at how complicated and time-consuming the process of shifting local talent abroad can become. In fact, it is likely you will need a new member of staff just to manage it for you!

Once you have found employees who are willing to relocate, it will take them time and money to get the right visas, sort out the logistics of the move, and perhaps take language classes. The company might need to offer perks or a sweetener to convince people to move, as well as foot the bill for travel expenses and temporary accommodation.

Hiring internationally, on the other hand, offers many advantages to businesses. It gives you access to a much wider pool of talent, and allows people with a far more diverse array of perspectives to contribute their thoughts and ideas when decisions are being made about the company’s future.

There is also the fact that their insider knowledge might help spot opportunities or threats in your chosen new market that your company may have overlooked. Communicating with and understanding lower-ranking staff and customers will also be much clearer, and compliance with laws and regulations will likely be better managed by people who are already familiar with them.

Best practices for hiring international talent

These are the tips and techniques that a professional headhunter or a large multinational company might use to attract motivated, talented local employees.

Seek referrals: Sometimes innovative hiring solutions are called for, but in many cases the old ways are still the best. Referrals from trusted sources remain one of the most effective ways of hiring top talent. If your business is already large enough to be considering overseas expansion, then chances are you are only a few degrees of separation away from somebody in your chosen destination who can really help your business.

Seek out senior employees, business partners, or anyone else in your professional network who may have overseas connections and ask them to reach out to their network for referrals or to make introductions with potential hires.

Nail job postings: Referrals are generally reliable but they can take time to come through. You may wish to also advertise the job publicly, and how well you do this will inevitably affect the quality of the international candidates who respond. Make sure the job description is informative and clear, as well as being written in the local language. Also write an English version if you need candidates to be English speakers for the role.

Then, you will need to post the listing in the right places. This is best achieved if you can reach out to someone on the ground in your new market or who is very familiar with it. The popular job and career websites overseas may not be the same as in your home country.

Be flexible about interviews: Time zones, distance, and the quality of technology available must all be considered when arranging interviews with prospective candidates. There may be a high opportunity cost to missing out on the right candidate, and losing them because you couldn’t come to an arrangement about the interview is silly. It is best to be flexible and offer multiple options.

You could outsource the interview to a recruitment agency, fly out to do the interview yourself, or arrange for them to be flown in. Or you could offer a simple video call. Remember that the interview is a chance for the employee to assess you too. Being too demanding or rigid now may not reflect well on you, and the candidate might well tell other talented locals about it.

It can be a challenge to attract global talent, but a flexible, common-sense approach like the one outlined above will give your company the best chance of hiring the right people.