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Recruiting new staff in a foreign country can be a minefield of challenges. There are local employment laws to consider, minimum wage, healthcare, insurance, unions and legislation, all of which will be unfamiliar and potentially in another language.
When companies expand overseas, they usually need some local help, guiding them through this minefield.
Once you are ready to start hiring you have a whole new list of factors to consider. Recruiting in another country is a whole other ball game. These are a few ways employers can make mistakes internationally.
- Language
“Fluent English: Essential.”
Depending on where you are hiring you just lost a lot of potential candidates. For customer service roles, say in India where they’ll be speaking to UK customers, this should be an essential skill.
But not all roles need fluent English. Some need more technical skills, with communication important, but easier to teach than coding or engineering. Hire for what you need first, above what you want.
- Culture
Can’t emphasise this enough: respect local culture and customs. Take Indonesia for example: an archipelago covering thousands of islands with a population of over 255 million. A developing country with a GDP of $2.8 trillion. In the media Indonesia is described as a “secular Muslim country,” which is correct, to a point.
The majority are Muslim, but there are also millions of Buddhists, Hindu, Catholics, Protestants and Confucian followers, as well as atheists and tourists with various other faiths. What is culturally acceptable in Bali might not be in Lombok or Java.
Pick any country on the map and you’ll find a similar mix of local and national cultural factors which will have, to one extent or another, an impact your recruitment policies. The more you know, the smarter hiring decisions you will make.
- Local Candidate Values
Wherever you are, people are looking for similar things with an employer: a steady wage, job security and career progression. Perks and a great culture are increasingly essential, especially with more millennials in the workforce.
But generalisations are an assumed given. For you to source great talent in a foreign market you need to understand their values, what makes them tick, and then how your company can create an environment and benefits package suitable for local candidates.
How To Avoid These Mistakes
Before expanding into an international market you need to source the following people:
- A local hiring manager with experience of recruiting for international companies
- A local law firm, familiar with employment law, ideally one which has worked for others expanding internationally
- Appoint a team member to lead the expansion and study the market. Ideally a local or international graduate, with knowledge of both markets.
With international recruitment, you are making an investment in new talent and a new market. This isn’t the sort of thing that you can rush. Make these decisions carefully, and then you can avoid tripping over cultural issues and poorly aligned values, which ultimately hurt your bottom line.
Social Paul
A recruiter who knows how to convert talent by using various tactics on Social Media. Follow Paul here! If you are interested to learn more about Candarine contact us today!
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