Prioritizing a global hiring strategy: How it can build your team’s resilience

The world of work is changing rapidly. The “Great Resignation” continues. Hybrid work and the rise of technology-driven communication are transforming team collaboration.

Plus, with the unpredictable economy, companies everywhere need to be prepared with dynamic workforce planning strategies—and an international recruitment process can be a powerful part of your arsenal.

One of the keys to achieving an effective global recruitment strategy is to embrace the digital tools that have become commonplace in the world of work. Not only can doing so help you address any talent shortages you may be facing and fuel your employee retention strategy, it can also strengthen your team’s resilience in the face of unexpected changes that might be thrown at you.

Why is a global hiring strategy the way to go?

HR leaders are well versed in how businesses are adapting to more diverse ways of working and the changing demands of the talent pool. Sixty-three percent of PwC survey respondents expect to be offered some kind of hybrid work arrangement in the next 12 months, and flexible working practices are expected to continue to evolve in the coming years. Employer branding and employee engagement strategies must adapt and keep up the pace.

Post-pandemic, it’s not just businesses that are transforming. Today, entire industries are reinventing themselves. Disruptor firms are triggering vast digital changes: JPMorgan Chase for example invests $12 billion annually in digital re-engineering to successfully address the challenges of blockchain, crypto, and digital payments.

These kinds of reinventions mean HR leaders need to think about their workforce and hiring process differently. You might need to open new roles with agile responsibilities. You might also decide that looking at flexible teams and investing significantly in data and digital-focused skills is the best way to go.

Either way, a global workforce planning strategy is critical to keeping up. It can give you the agility you need and help you thrive in a worldwide economy. Sourcing talent globally  can also help you:

1. Close the talent gap, widen your talent search, and find the people you need to overcome skills shortages or oversaturated markets. Global recruiting can help you tap into a much broader network of professionals.
2. Align with your finance team to cut costs and reach your business goals. An effective global strategy can shorten your recruitment window, time-to-hire, and time-to-fill. Hiring contractors and remote employees can also reduce your overheads. When CFOs and CPOs work together, you can more easily identify potential efficiency and productivity improvements.
3. Lay the groundwork for global expansion. This can help you drive the opening of new sites and connect you with new, emerging markets, helping you diversify and future-proof your revenue streams.
4. Capitalize on the digitalization of workforce communication. Forward-thinking HR leaders are increasingly looking at their people in terms of “skills clusters” rather than job roles—and this approach can help you identify the attributes you need from your people and the new ways of communicating at work that will drive success.

What do I need to think about when structuring my strategy?

The most important thing to consider when planning a global recruitment strategy is how it helps prepare you for market upturns and downturns across all of your sites.

By conducting localized market research and using HR tech to gather data-based insights, you can understand exactly what you should be addressing and how to go about doing it.

Ask yourself:

• In what regions and countries does your business have the most need?
• What kinds of employees will work best for each site? (Think about contract, full-time, remote, hybrid, etc.)
• What skills clusters does each site require? For example, one country may require a developer-heavy focus, whereas another may need a sales and marketing focus.
• Is your interview process fit for purpose when recruiting global talent?
• How can you ensure compliance? Local regulations vary in relation to working hours, attendance, time off, benefits, pension contributions, and more.
• How can you balance your global pay strategy? Think about what currencies you will pay your people in, and how will you account for variable exchange rates. Close coordination with your finance team is essential for effectively managing this aspect of your planning.
• How is the continued digital transformation of work going to affect your plans? Consider whether your teams have the skills they require and if you need to consider building a new infrastructure to support effective communication and collaboration as your business evolves. HR tech can provide the talent intelligence you need to make the right decisions.

Finally, preserving a strong company culture is one of the biggest challenges of global recruitment strategies. With talent acquisition harder than ever, presenting an attractive offer that supports retention—and leaves the door open to boomerang employees—is a key focus for HR leaders of today.

Global, digital, and agile

In the midst of the rapid onset of what’s being called the Fourth Industrial Revolution, HR leaders are being forced to rethink their approach to hiring, retention, staffing, and building a people-led culture. With the advent of “liquid teams” and the need for more agile talent acquisition strategies, a global and flexible approach is the best way for many teams to adapt, adjust, and prepare for whatever might be around the corner.