Comprehensive Guide on Global Talent Acquisition Strategy

Introduction

Global talent acquisition is a strategic process that companies use to identify and attract the best possible candidates for their open positions — practically anywhere in the world where they can engage talent. The process dramatically expands the potential candidate pool.

Naturally, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for developing a global talent acquisition strategy. Identifying, assessing, and hiring the best possible candidates requires careful planning and consideration of your organization's specific needs.

When it comes to building a global team, there are many factors to consider. You should consider what skills and experiences are essential for success in your industry and market and what regional or cultural nuances might impact how potential employees perceive your company or brand. With this information in hand, you can start developing criteria for screening candidates to identify those who have the potential to be a good fit for your organization.

Once you've determined who should be included in your candidate pool, it's time to assess their qualifications. This includes looking at their hard skills related directly to job performance and soft skills such as communication abilities or cultural awareness. Identifying whether candidates meet minimum requirements and understand how they excel in their essential roles is essential. This allows you to make informed decisions about which individuals have high potential.

Why Do You Need a Global Talent Acquisition Strategy

You may have operations in multiple countries and need to staff up or down as needed quickly. Maybe you're looking to expand into new markets and need to build a local presence quickly. Or, you may want to ensure that you're attracting the best talent worldwide.

Whatever your reasons, a global talent acquisition strategy can help ensure that you're able to identify, attract, and ultimately hire the best international candidates for your open positions. Additionally, such a strategy can also help streamline your hiring process to be more efficient and cost-effective overall.

Here are some of the benefits of a strategic approach to global talent acquisition models:

• Cohesive and consistent branding is key to success in marketing your company globally. A cohesive approach leaves you and your processes recognizable and trusted by customers and potential employees. Your candidate journey and employee experience become consistent when your brand messaging are successful.
• A diverse workforce. Studies have shown that diversity leads to better chances of success. For example, a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) study found that companies with diverse workforces enjoy 19% more revenue. Additionally, a PwC study found that more gender-diverse organizations are nearly one and a half times more likely to enjoy sustained, profitable growth. Global talent acquisition strategies give you worldwide access to diverse candidates and talent.
• Improved retention. After two years or more in a role, research suggests that many employees are ready for a change. Instead of losing your workers and their knowledge, adopting a global talent acquisition strategy that implements internal mobility helps you retain your employees and their expertise. Better yet, it helps open up new development opportunities. Your current workers are encouraged to pursue internal job openings, regardless of location. As an added benefit to your company, onboarding time and expense are reduced.
• It's essential to have inside knowledge of the local culture when doing business in different regions. This includes understanding common business practices, employment and privacy laws, and the current economic and political climate. Tailoring a global talent acquisition strategy for local candidates enables you to secure candidates that can help mold your local policy.

Have Concerns in Planning a Global Acquisition Strategy? You Aren’t Alone.

All the benefits mentioned above sound good, but planning a strategy that spans multiple countries can take time and effort. It mainly concerns that it’s also talent acquisition, a commonly complex endeavor. Worse, a failed talent acquisition effort still leads to many delays and other problems downstream of an organizational pipeline.

Many companies around the world share these hardships. A recent ManpowerGroup survey found that three out of four companies are facing talent shortages and difficulties. This is the highest it's been in 16 years. Companies know that meeting employees' needs is important if they want to be successful.

This is another essential reason for a good global talent acquisition strategy.

Effective Global Talent Acquisition Strategies

So what exactly are you dealing with when it comes to global talent acquisition? Some of the foremost concerns when developing talent acquisition models that span international markets include the following:

• Cross-cultural differences. Differences demand a nuanced balancing act that, if not handled well, can create communication difficulties and lead to misunderstandings in the workplace.
• Political risk. Local leadership dictates policy changes which can result in shifts in government regulations that make it difficult to do business in a particular country.
• Economic uncertainty. The economy is tied to your bottom line. Economic uncertainty can make it difficult to predict demand for products or services and may lead to currency fluctuations that impact the bottom line.

Companies must recognize these staple issues to craft effective global talent acquisition strategies.

Ultimately, what does it take to create a successful global talent acquisition strategy? There is no definitive answer to this question. The answer varies depending on the specific needs and goals of an organization. However, some general strategies that can be beneficial for organizations looking to attract top talent from around the world include:

Developing a Strong Employer Brand That Resonates With Top Talent Globally

A strong employer can be attained through various marketing and communications initiatives to promote your organization as a great workplace. An employer brand is the image of a company as an employer, distinct from its corporate brand. An employer brand can impact many things, among others:

• How likely are employees to consider working for a company
• Whether current employees will refer others
• Employee satisfaction and engagement
• Turnover rates

A strong employer brand can help a company attract top talent globally.

There are many ways to develop and promote an employer brand. Marketing and communications initiatives can include creating content (e.g., blog posts, infographics), conducting social media campaigns (e.g., #LoveWhereYouWork or #MyCompanyValues), participating in webinars or podcasts, speaking at industry events, distributing press releases … really anything that gets the word out there!

The message must be consistent across all channels.  Potential and current employees should hear/see the same thing no matter where they encounter your company name. Finally, once you have built up your employer branding efforts, don’t forget to measure results so you can continue to improve upon them over time.

Creating a Comprehensive Global Recruiting Strategy That Includes Using Multiple Channels

These channels include online job boards, social media, and paid ads. Channel popularity depends on the local market.

For example, while online job boards may be the primary means of reaching candidates in some markets, others may place greater emphasis on personal networking and referrals. Social media can also effectively reach potential candidates in different markets, particularly those that are difficult to access through traditional channels.

Once you have a good understanding of the needs of each market, you can begin to develop a comprehensive global recruiting strategy that includes multiple channels.

Working With Experienced International Recruitment Firms That Have Extensive Networks and Knowledge of Local Markets

Working with international recruitment and outsourcing firms has become more common as the world has become more connected. These companies have extensive networks and knowledge of local markets that can be a valuable resource for companies looking to hire employees in other countries.

There are several benefits to working with international recruitment firms, including:

• They save time and money by identifying qualified candidates quickly and efficiently.
• They provide insight into local markets and trends helpful in making hiring decisions.
• They help facilitate the visa process for foreign nationals hired by companies in other countries.

Find Global Talent with Skuad

According to Deloitte reports, many companies are outsourcing their recruitment post-pandemic. This is likely because they recognize the need for a flexible, quality-driven, and cost-effective approach during these difficult times.

Outsourcing talent acquisition allows you to be agile in a way that would be challenging from an internal perspective. Agility is of the greatest importance in today's climate, where almost everything is virtual. Talent acquisition outsourcing provides organizations with an expert partner to help create the talent strategy, bringing the experience (both global and local) and scaling to operationalize it.

Skuad is a global employment and payroll platform that enables organizations to hire full-time employees and contractors in over 160 countries without setting up subsidiaries. With Skuad, organizations can manage payroll, onboard talent, and ensure compliance with country-specific employment laws and payroll regulations. 

Partnering with Skuad simplifies hiring global talent wherever they are in the world. To know more about Skuad, book a demo today.