5 ways to build a successful global HR strategy
Hiring globally requires rethinking all of the traditional components of HR that you previously took for granted.
We are well into the era of remote work. News about global teams has been plastered onto the front page of your favorite news site for what seems like an eternity, you haven’t been into the office since pre-2020, your current boss is now working from somewhere sunny with a beach––you get the idea.
Having a remote, global team is a good thing, for many reasons. But the trend to hire globally is still relatively new, at least in the grand scheme of work. Naturally, most companies are making mistakes. Hiring globally—the right way—requires rethinking all of the traditional components of HR that you previously took for granted.
Related: Recruiting and retaining employees top concern for global CEOs
With the Great Resignation reverberating throughout the world, and job openings going unfilled, employing a global HR strategy can help companies clear these hurdles. Before considering this route, companies should consider these five best practices for building and executing a successful global HR strategy.
1. Find a really good (local) recruiter
Lots of teams want to hire globally, but when they begin the process, they realize they don’t actually know how to hire great talent in another country. They’re not used to the system. Many successful global teams hire a dedicated recruiter to help them source the best talent. There are two ways to do this:
First, you can look for a local recruiter who has experience with the local market and knows how to find the best talent. This is an easy route to take, and it’s smarter than trying to do things all on your own.
Second, boost your first effort by partnering with recruiters who’ve worked with large global companies. For example, if you see that someone worked (or currently works) as a recruiter at a company like Uber, you can give them a little more implicit trust. These recruiters are often very good at what they do and they’re used to working with international teams.
2. Treat every new hire the same
Historically, when companies hired globally, they’d do it to save money. Many organizations viewed their global teams as lesser talent––people they hired at a low wage to do basic work. This is a bad way to think about global talent, and it’s not going to succeed in the future of work.
As you build your global HR strategy, make sure the playing field is level for everyone. Don’t give advantages to people living in one particular country. This type of ethno- and geo-centrism is unequal, unethical, and harmful for your company’s growth. Treat every single global hire with the same process, compensation considerations, and respect as you would someone in the country your business is headquartered in.
This is borderless hiring. You’re hiring the best talent, and you’re not considering location. That’s all there is to it. Don’t treat your global employees like second-class citizens.
3. Rely on good documentation
The hiring process can get messy when you’re hiring within your city. A global HR practice requires you to stay on top of how you hire, onboard, and manage your team. This requires a culture of documentation: It’s what almost all successful remote teams do.
Create a beautiful, smooth onboarding experience that’s the same for everyone. Set up documentation so it’s easy for people to onboard themselves. Make sure your documentation is comprehensive enough that someone who’s never heard of your company before can learn all (or most) of what they need to after a couple days of exploring your documentation on their own.
4. Make compliance with local laws a priority
Legal issues are the biggest obstacle to hiring globally. If you want a good global HR strategy you need to make sure you have a system in place to avoid running into legal troubles in the various countries you want to hire in. As of today, there are two options for doing this. If you do it the traditional way, it might take longer than 6 months and cost nearly $100,000. That’s because the paperwork and legwork involved are often very difficult.
You can also work with a company that provides Employer of Record (EOR) services. These companies handle compliance for you––so your employees are technically hired through the EOR company, but they work for you.
5. Be intentional about how you organize collaboration
Most successful global teams adopt some form of asynchronous communication, which means that they don’t work––or communicate––during the same times of day. Instead, they communicate through documentation and messages (instead of Zoom calls and frequent check-ins).
But, asynchronous communication can be a challenge. And if you don’t properly organize your team’s collaboration, global employees can end up working in silos. When people work in silos, it hurts productivity and innovation. It also hurts your employee retention. A few simple ideas to remedy this:
- Make sure everyone’s working in the same task management tool, so they can see what other people are working on. ClickUp and Monday are two popular options here.
- Have different departments post updates on their current goals in one document so everyone in the organization knows what every other team is doing.
- Use AI tools––or manual ones––to schedule random one-on-ones. Unlike in an office environment, many of your global teammates will never cross paths. To overcome this challenge, some companies use tools that suggest scheduling one-on-ones to get to know people from other departments. At Panther, we use Donut.
There are plenty of other ways to do this, too. If you rely on documentation and have intentional systems in place, you’re ahead of most companies.. Remember, running a global team is a superpower. But it only works if you’ve got the right HR strategy in place to begin with.
Matt Redler is the CEO at Panther. There, he makes it easy for businesses to hire anywhere in the world, with the goal of creating a world where talent has no borders. Matt believes that remote, global work lets talented people get access to work wherever they are. And that people deserve the agency to work from where they’re happiest.
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