Today, an increasing number of businesses are expanding their operations overseas in a bid to diversify their target market and boost their bottom line. Global expansion is high on the priority lists of many US businesses and can be an ideal way to expand your audience, boost sales, and improve profits.
However, for a global expansion to be successful, it’s important to get the right people on your side. The people that you hire to work in your new international location could make or break your business and these individuals and teams will be hugely instrumental in your success.
Thankfully, hiring overseas or remote employees to work for you as you expand your business globally doesn’t have to be as tricky as it sounds. Keep these tips in mind to ensure that you attract the best people to work on your new international team.
#1 Work With a Local Employer of Record
A professional employer organization (PEO) or employer of record that operates in the local area can help you both find and recruit the top talent locally when expanding your business. Hiring the right people can be difficult when you are faced with challenges like language barriers and time zone differences, so let the employer of record take care of this for you while still giving you the autonomy and freedom that you need to manage your business in the new location. For example, this Taiwan EOR, New Horizons Global Partners, can be a useful resource for businesses looking to expand into Taiwan and hire a local team. Along with finding suitable candidates and overseeing the recruitment process, New Horizons Global Partners can also arrange employee benefits, manage payroll in a different currency, and ensure that your business complies with local labor laws and regulations. Find out more at nhglobalpartners.com.
#2 Scout on Social Media
Even if you are not physically in your new business location you can still scout for top talent from the area. LinkedIn is a great place to start if you want to find talented local professionals in your new business location. You can find extremely valuable data on social media by conducting searches to find any related or similar industries in the local area and reaching out to professionals that you find on social media to ask for any information that they can provide on suitable candidates who may be interested in a position that you have available. Social network groups on LinkedIn or Facebook that are frequented by professionals in the local area may also be an excellent resource when it comes to getting leads on potential new employees.
#3 Consider Relocating Home Employees
If you have employees who are willing to move overseas, relocating them to your new area of the business might be an ideal start. While you may still want to hire local employees to work for you in your new location, relocating current employees who are usually based in the US can be very beneficial since this provides you with people on the ground who are familiar with the business and how things are run, which will make it easier for you to get set up successfully. If you can, sending trusted employees over to work at your new location can make the expansion easier since you can bring them into the recruitment process and leverage their expertise and business knowledge to help you find the right people.
#4 Consider Cultural Differences
Bear in mind that when hiring local employees there is likely going to be a range of cultural differences to consider. Cultural differences do not only involve the customs and norms of the country, but they can also affect the way that people do business. For example, the interview process for a new job position is likely going to be very different in Japan compared to the US, for example. Learning about these cultural differences will make it easier for you to make potential candidates feel more comfortable during the hiring process and spark the interest of local professionals in working for you. After all, people tend to prefer working for companies that they feel understands them on a deeper level. Not only will taking the time to deeply understand the cultural differences in your new location benefit you during the hiring process, but it will also make things easier when it comes to managing your new international team in the future.
#5 Consider the Financial Side of Things
Every country has different economics that affects things such as salary and cost of living. Bear in mind that when moving into a global market, the locals might expect a very different salary compared to what your employees back home are paid. In certain countries, you might find that expected rates of pay would be unheard of in the US for being extremely cheap while in other locations, you could be paying entry-level staff a lot more than you’d expect to pay them back at home. Figuring out the financial side of things in the country that you decide to expand to will enable you to put together a salary package that is in line with expectations and attractive enough to make local talented professionals take notice of your business. For this reason, a PEO company can streamline the process of building a team and paying, specially, in some countries with stringent regulations for setting up foreign subsidiaries and the considerable benefits of regional prominence and a strong consumer base.
#6 Consider Local Competitors
When hiring overseas employees, bear in mind that there are going to be competitor organizations that will also want to recruit the top local talent. Learn about businesses in your industry or related industries that are sharing the same area as you internationally and find out what they offer to their employees. A solid understanding of your competitors allows you to get the edge and make sure that your employee packages stand out in the market and attract the best people, rather than losing out to your competition.
#7 Travel to the Area
If you can it’s worth traveling to the area yourself to meet your candidates and hire them in person, where applicable. Although video technology like Skype or Zoom is a great way to conduct interviews and communicate with potential hires in international locations, if you are ready to make an employment decision, it’s worth taking the time to travel to the location and meet your candidates in person. Not only will this help you get a better idea of the people that you’re going to be working with, but a face-to-face meeting is the best way to form a strong professional bond with your new hires.
#8 Get References From Trusted Sources
Hiring remote or international employees will always come with its challenges and one of these is that the distance between you can make it difficult for you to completely verify that potential employees are who they say they are. Be sure to get references from trusted sources such as other local organizations. Asking for recommendations from businesses in the local area that you trust or from trusted employees who have local connections will help you ensure that you make the right hiring decisions.
Expanding your business globally can have a huge range of benefits but hiring the right people to work for you overseas can be challenging. Keep these strategies in mind to ensure that your new business expansion is attracting the right talent to put together a team that can work towards success.
