The unexpected value of international talent

At one point in time, international talent acquisition was reserved for large multinational corporations that could afford the logistics of employee relocation. Today, it’s common practice for small and mid-sized enterprises to look abroad for talent and invest in global mobility. For most companies, it will eventually become a necessity.

Eventually, every growing company faces the prospect of international expansion. That might be as simple as hiring freelancers in another country or as involved as opening multiple foreign entities. Needless to say, if you operate abroad, you’ll need to adapt your hiring strategy accordingly.

What’s more, increasing demand for a variety of skilled workers has made it challenging to find the right fit. In fact, one of the greatest concerns for CEOs across the world is whether or not they’ll be able to recruit and retain top talent.

Recruiting internationally is a great way to attract great employees. Especially if you go one step beyond global recruitment and invest in a global mobility program. Not only will this allow your company to source skilled workers from other countries, but it will also give them the option to choose where they want to work in the future — a workplace benefit that's becoming a must-have for many workers.

Below are some of the other advantages of global hiring that every company should know about.

8 employer benefits of hiring international employees

Employers can experience many benefits when they hire talent from all over the world. Here are just a few of them:

1. Access to a global talent pool

In 2022, 60% of job seekers expressed a desire to look into remote opportunities.

Employers can tap into a more diverse and expansive talent pool by expanding their recruitment efforts to include global candidates.

Hiring globally means you get a better chance of finding talent value with qualified people who might not be available locally. Attracting world-class talent allows you to boost your capabilities, innovate, and grow by filling essential skills gaps. International workers also bring new ideas, problem-solving skills, and quality service to the table to help your business succeed.

If you want to hire from different countries, you can post job advertisements on platforms like Remote Talent. This means you can reach talent regardless of their location.

2. Operational flexibility

When you leverage various talents from different parts of the world, you gain new perspectives and market insights that can help you gain a significant edge over your competitors.

For instance, global staff operating in multiple time zones can boost operational efficiency by providing service and support around the clock.

Remote workers bring unique skills and experiences to your company that can help it become more innovative, creative, and productive.

3. Increased competitive edge

Capitalizing on the skills of international employees can give your business a substantial edge in the market. The ability to draw on diverse knowledge, perspectives, and experiences to better understand the market is a critical differentiator and a driver of long-term success.

With 75% of US companies struggling to find top talent, hiring globally means you can access highly skilled staff regardless of their location.

A global team can help you stay ahead of the competition by making you more innovative through unique and specialized skill sets.

4. Enhanced global presence

Hiring international employees can give you valuable insights into international markets and the preferences and needs of diverse customer bases.

Remote staff with native knowledge of their home countries' cultures, consumer habits, and market trends can help your company break into new markets and expand internationally.

With the expertise of your international network, you can easily create advertising campaigns and strategies that speak directly to local audiences, increasing sales and customer engagement.

5. Enhanced culture

Hiring internationally enriches your workforce by making it more diverse — not only in terms of nationality and ethnicity but also knowledge and life experience. This can help define your workplace culture as open and inclusive, which is beneficial for several reasons.

Unfortunately, discrimination is still a major problem in many workplaces. Even in progressive organizations, there’s still unconscious bias. The slightest experience with prejudice can negatively impact an employee’s willingness to share their ideas and participate — especially when there’s a noticeable lack of diversity at the company.

However, with greater representation from diverse communities, it’s easier to build a culture where everyone’s opinion is valued.

A diverse workplace also teaches employees to be actively mindful and respectful of individual differences. This promotes more understanding and empathy: soft skills that are necessary for forming productive and healthy relationships with co-workers.

6. Better creativity and problem solving

One main advantage of diversity is that it influences innovation. When people come together in groups, they bring a variety of ideas, knowledge, and opinions. This diversity of perspectives leads to new and creative ways of thinking and problem-solving, which impacts productivity and performance.

On average, companies with diverse executive teams when it comes to gender and ethnicity are 9% more likely to outperform their competitors. A diverse workforce fosters creativity and innovation, resulting in better problem-solving.

7. Valuable insights into new markets

International employees offer businesses unique insight into the markets they come from or live in. Because they’re already familiar with the local market, language, and customs, international employees can be a source of strategic knowledge.

This can be valuable on many levels, like market and customer research, competitor analysis, and branding. You could hire an external consultant to acquire this kind of information, but at a much greater cost. It’s more sustainable to rely on employees for these kinds of insights as your relationship with them will be long-term, not brief and transactional.

8. Superior customer service

If your business is international, your customer service needs to be international. Hiring internationally empowers companies to provide better overall service to their clients, no matter where they’re located in the world.

Additionally, hiring internationally could mean that you’ll have employees who speak multiple languages. This is a huge plus for customer service teams, as it removes language barriers and allows for a better overall consumer experience.

Finally, having an international customer service team in various countries increases your ability to connect with customers by understanding their frustrations and the problems specific to their country. This can have a positive and lasting effect on CSAT scores and customer retention.

Best practices for hiring international employees

The benefits of hiring international talent are undeniable, but if you haven’t done it before, it can be confusing. Here are a few quick tips to get started:

Offer competitive compensation and benefits

Attracting and retaining top international talent requires competitive compensation packages that meet local expectations and industry standards.

This involves more than just paying a competitive wage. It also means offering full benefits, including medical coverage, retirement savings programs, and vacation time.

You can research market trends in the target hiring country to ensure your offers are competitive and appealing to candidates.

Ultimately, providing competitive salaries and benefits can increase your appeal as an employer and help you compete for top talent globally.

Develop your onboarding process

A well-developed onboarding process is essential for successfully integrating remote employees.

Before their first day on the job, it's important to brief new employees on the company's culture, their roles, and other essential details. For instance, welcome videos, virtual tours, and pre-arrival meetings can make new international hires feel welcome and well-equipped to start working. You can also assign them workplace mentors to help them through the transition and answer any questions or concerns they might have.

An effective onboarding process helps you make sure your new foreign hires are engaged, well-prepared, and ready to succeed right off the bat.

Use an EOR to facilitate remote hiring

Using an employer of record (EOR) can streamline the process of hiring international employees. In addition to helping with onboarding and benefits administration, they can be a great asset when dealing with the intricacies of international employment.

An EOR is your company's representative in legal employment matters, including payroll and taxes, and ensures that you stay compliant with local labor laws. Moreover, they offer continuous HR support to assist with any problems that may develop during employment and ensure that international hires have a good experience. This means you can focus on your main business tasks while knowing you’re meeting all legal and regulatory requirements.

Plus, when you partner with an EOR, you can use their HR software and applicant tracking system (ATS) to streamline the hiring process.

Focus your efforts

Just because you’ve made the decision to recruit internationally doesn’t mean you have to recruit everywhere. When coming up with your hiring strategy, think about the skills and roles you need to hire for, then do some talent research and scouting. It may take some trial and error, but that’s okay.

If you find a country with lots of applicants that meet your needs, consider the legal and tax implications of hiring there. It’s also good practice to prioritize locations where you and/or your existing employees have a connection. As mentioned above, internal staff are an invaluable asset to have when branching into a new market.

Localize your global recruiting strategy

When hiring global talent, there isn’t a blanket approach. Each market in which a company operates requires its own strategy. What may be successful in the United States may not be quite as effective in India, South Korea, France, or Brazil.

Talent recruitment, compensation, and benefits can vary widely by location. The same is true of recruitment marketing and messaging. It is in your best interest to consult with local experts when developing recruitment strategies for individual markets.

Understand worker classifications

You can hire workers in other countries in two ways: as contractors or as full employees. But which is right for your situation? That depends on the nature of the relationship. Be careful not to misclassify employees as contractors, as doing so can have severe financial and legal consequences.

If you do not own an entity in the country where a person lives but you want to hire that person as a full employee, you will need to work with an EOR. An EOR can hire the employee on your behalf, handling the compliance, payroll, and benefits administration paperwork.

Have clear communication channels

The key to successfully managing a global workforce is having clear and effective channels for communication. You can start by setting up regular communication routines, such as weekly meetings and check-ins, to ensure your international staff stays informed and connected.

One way to overcome geographical and time zone barriers is to use a combination of communication tools and collaboration platforms to collaborate in real time.

It’s also critical to foster an inclusive and welcoming communication culture. When international employees are encouraged to actively participate and provide feedback, they’re more likely to feel valued and included in the decision-making process.

International teams are for everyone

Many companies, especially rapidly growing ones, stand to benefit from tapping into the international talent pool. In some respects, global hiring has become a necessary survival tactic for businesses to attract talent and remain competitive. But it’s a lot more than that, too.

There are so many benefits to being part of an international team. It expands your horizons and makes you more successful in the process. To optimize your recruiting and hiring outcomes, think strategically about location and personalize your approach for each market. If you do, the results will speak for themselves.

Hanna Asmussen is the CEO & Co-Founder of Localyze, a global mobility platform for companies and employees. Having built a hybrid yet remote-first, international company from the ground up, she’s very familiar with the benefits — and challenges — of global hiring.

Let Remote enhance your global hiring efforts

It can take a long time and cost a lot of money to set up a legal entity in a different country. An EOR like Remote can greatly help you throughout the hiring process, enabling you to onboard international employees with greater efficiency and speed.

With Remote, you can swiftly expand your global presence and react to market opportunities without the pressure of having to set up a local entity everywhere you hire.

Contact one of our experts today to learn more.