Developing a Global Recruitment Strategy: Top Tips for Effective International Hiring

Global recruitment connects employers with a larger talent pool, so it can help your company expand into new markets or address local skills gaps. A global recruitment strategy may also help you boost team creativity, lower your talent-acquisition costs and gain a competitive advantage in your industry.

Indeed’s guide to global recruitment covers how to build an international hiring strategy, navigate compliance risks and attract top talent across borders.

Why global recruitment is essential for modern businesses

Hiring workers from other countries might help you better meet the needs of your customer base. For example, global recruitment can help you find team members who speak other languages, enabling your company to offer multilingual support. It can also help you understand how cultural differences affect consumer spending habits, creating an opportunity to create more effective advertising campaigns.

Creating a global recruitment strategy can also make your business more resilient. When you rely on a local pool of talent, you might not have enough applicants for open positions. Expanding your search can give you access to candidates who meet your current hiring criteria. 

Key steps to successful global recruitment

Successful global recruitment involves identifying your talent needs, choosing countries to recruit from and understanding local regulations. Digital recruitment tools, applicant-tracking systems and other forms of technology can help you increase efficiency and improve candidate messaging. 

Before extending an offer to a candidate from another country, consider adjusting your compensation strategy to account for regional differences.

Identifying your talent needs

Identifying your talent needs early on can help you align your global recruitment strategy with your company’s strategic goals. This process allows you to determine which skills you need immediately and which ones you might need in the future, making it easier to set hiring priorities. 

For example, you might need a candidate with AI skills now and a candidate to replace one of your senior leaders in a few years.

Consider working with an in-country hiring specialist to learn more about hiring in your selected countries, as expectations regarding compensation, benefits and perks vary significantly from one region of the world to another.

Choosing the right countries for recruitment

International hiring provides access to specialized talent and new markets, but it’s important to choose the right country for recruitment. Some countries have lower labor costs, so they can help you stay within your annual payroll budget. You can also choose a country based on language or proximity to valuable resources.

For example, if your company manufactures a tangible product, you might want to choose a country with convenient access to a shipping port. You might also want to consider economic stability and workforce skills, as both can affect your ability to achieve business goals.

Understanding local employment regulations

Every country has employment regulations, but these regulations vary from one country to another. Complying with these laws can increase your costs.

Before you choose a country, consider reviewing global employment laws to determine which nation is likely to have the lowest compliance-related costs.

It can also help you develop a transparent salary structure. Transparency can help you build a company culture based on trust, and it may also help you comply with salary laws in your selected country.

Strategies for attracting top international talent

Once you choose a country, you need a way to attract applicants to your company. Writing effective job descriptions can help you make the job and your company’s culture sound appealing to prospective employees. It’s also helpful to use chatbots and other tech tools to screen applications, answer candidates’ questions and improve the candidate experience.

Crafting compelling job descriptions

Detailed job descriptions help clarify the duties, required skills and desired qualifications for international job openings. When you provide as much detail as possible, it’s easier for candidates to determine if their professional backgrounds match your requirements.

Consider using clear, engaging language to reflect your commitment to fairness. It’s also helpful to provide information about your company culture and benefits package.

Leveraging global recruitment channels

Online job boards, industry-specific hiring platforms and professional networking groups can all help you find applicants in your chosen country. For example, job boards like Indeed allow job seekers from all over the world to search for openings, expanding your applicant pool. You might also want to partner with global recruitment agencies.

Offering competitive compensation and benefits

To attract candidates in a new region, consider using local salary and benefits data to create an international compensation strategy. Developing a customized compensation plan is easier for small teams than large ones, but careful research can help you find the right combination of wages and benefits in each country.

Some employers offer the same salaries, adjusted to the local currency, in all countries. This approach can help you save money and promote fairness, but it might also cause quality applicants to overlook your job postings. You might want to consider setting salaries based on job titles and seniority levels instead.

Navigating the legalities of hiring international employees

Depending on which country you choose, you might have to follow employment regulations that are different from US laws. It’s also common for regulations to differ depending on whether you’re hiring temporary workers or full-time employees. You might need to obtain work permits or visas, cover relocation costs or manage other responsibilities.

Consider working with a trusted adviser to identify relevant legal requirements and develop a strategy for meeting them. Topics to discuss might include foreign tax regulations, wage-and-hour rules and other legal considerations.

Visa and work permit requirements

If you recruit internationally and expect workers to relocate instead of remaining in their country, you might need to obtain visas or work permits. The U.S. Customs and Immigration Service issues these documents in the United States. If you’ll need visas or work permits, it’s helpful to start planning well in advance of when you need to fill a position.

Employment contracts and agreements

Consider using employment agreements to clarify your expectations. These agreements outline an individual’s terms of employment, so you might want to include the job title, salary and duties for each person. It’s also helpful to include information about workplace policies, onboarding requirements and other work-related topics.

Managing a global workforce effectively

When you have a global workforce, you can keep your existing management structure or develop a new one to suit your company’s unique needs. 

If managers in your home country will oversee team members abroad, consider investing in software that supports seamless communication. Managers might need to make regular video calls or share their screens with international workers, so reliable communication tools are helpful.

You can also hire managers in these locations to provide on-site supervision. If you pursue this option, consider having a global recruitment agency fill each managerial role. These agencies might have recruiters who speak the local language and understand relevant employment regulations. Another option is to have an in-house recruiter conduct video interviews with the assistance of a translator.

Once you have a global management team in place, regular check-ins can help you keep team members informed about policy changes and updated work expectations. You can also use onboarding tools to help new hires complete required paperwork and begin integrating into your team.

Onboarding international employees

Onboarding helps employees adjust to their new roles and to working for your company. During this process, it’s helpful to provide an employee handbook and other documents outlining your expectations. You might also need to have new hires fill out tax forms and other paperwork as part of the onboarding experience. 

Consider providing cultural training to enhance team cohesion and help employees understand regional differences that could affect communication and work styles. If your new team members are working remotely, it’s helpful to provide equipment early in the onboarding process. This gives employees time to set it up and learn how to use it before they have to start completing work assignments.

Communication across time zones

When you hire globally, it’s important to consider time zone differences. Synchronous communication occurs in real time, while asynchronous communication involves sending and responding to messages at different times. 

Participating in a conference call is an example of synchronous communication because it requires participants to speak to each other in real time. Email is a form of asynchronous communication, as an employee can respond minutes, hours or even days after receiving a message.

If you rely on asynchronous communication, you might have to make occasional schedule adjustments. For example, if team members in two or more countries are involved in a product launch, it can be helpful to ask them to adjust their hours so that everyone can participate in launch activities at the same time.

If your employees work remotely 100% of the time, consider establishing a communication policy to ensure effective collaboration. One example would be a policy requiring employees to respond to all emails within 48 hours on business days. Implementing this type of policy can help prevent delays and improve relationships among team members.

Ensuring compliance and avoiding misclassification

Consider working with a local Legal Advisor to clarify the rules related to worker classification. It can also be helpful to audit your contractor relationships frequently to remain compliant.

Tools and resources for global recruitment

Once you launch a global recruitment strategy, your company might benefit from adopting the following tools:

• Global payroll system: A global payroll system can make it easier to pay employees, manage benefits and comply with tax regulations in multiple countries.
• Employer-of-record service: An employer-of-record service is a third-party company responsible for managing global workers. This type of company takes responsibility for complying with relevant labor laws, so it might help you limit your company’s liability. Remote and GoGlobal are examples of employer-of-record services.
• Recruitment technology: Consider using an applicant-tracking system designed specifically for global recruitment. An ATS can help reduce the amount of time it takes to screen applications, schedule interviews and perform other hiring activities.

Consider using free tools, such as online calculators, to help you reduce the cost of implementing a global recruitment strategy.