Is global hiring the right choice for your company?

1. What does global hiring actually mean? 

Put simply, global hiring is simply the practice of hiring employees internationally. Increasingly companies are using this model to navigate new hiring and talent demands in a shifting market. It’s important to understand that global hiring is very different to outsourcing. Global hiring is about connecting with the best talent to help build your business, not about reducing labour costs. 

“New Zealand based candidates are no longer simply choosing between New Zealand-based roles. They are involved in global recruitment processes with companies that have sophisticated candidate experience programmes in place, with remote working at their heart. This presents both a challenge and an enormous opportunity for Kiwi companies that can get their attraction and retention processes right to compete in this global talent market, all with the many lifestyle benefits of working in New Zealand.”

– Toni Truslove, Kea Global CEO

2. How do I know if it’s the right decision for my business?

Bevan Stephenson, from Global HR company Deel, says deciding to hire globally is a unique decision for companies, based on their needs. “Businesses need to consider whether global hires will fit into their company culture, how they’ll manage employee experience across time zones, and how to hire and pay these folks compliantly.” Because global hiring opens your talent pool up so widely, it’s important to determine what things are unique to your company before expanding your team. For example: What type of culture do you want? Will you want to continue meeting in person? Will you want employees to be clustered near one another, even if you’re in a distributed model? Things like this are important to decide before considering different regions to hire from. It’s also important to look at what company stage you are in. Has your product and/or company reached a stage where you can articulate it clearly to international peers?

3. How do I get started? 

Bevan says businesses first need to evaluate their hiring wants and needs and make some important decisions on how to hire and where to hire from, before strategizing and hiring your global team. There are several ways to hire globally

• Setting up an offshore entity – this can be time consuming and costly
• Work with an agency – this can take a lot of your time and money
• Hire contractors on your own – time and compliance risk; one of the biggest risks you take on when hiring globally is ensuring you’re compliant with local labour laws and regulations. 
• Hire with an EOR such as Deel. –  Pay a cost per employee per month and the EOR handles compliance etc. 

4. What are the challenges? 

When searching for global talent it’s important to remember that talent normalisation or mapping global hires to your needs can be confusing. What constitutes a “Senior Engineer” in one country, for example, can be very different in another. Bevan says the first thing companies need to do is to find ways to bring people of varying experiences together under your own company org chart in a way that makes sense. The benefits and pay you offer global employees can be wildly different based on the country you hire from. So, it’s important to understand the standard of the country you are looking to hire from. Businesses will also have to consider whether global hires will fit into their company culture, how they’ll manage employee experience across time zones, and how they will ensure their teams stay connected despite working remotely. An exceptional onboarding experience, setting clear KPIs, and in general, treating remote employees with the same care you treat domestic ones will go a long way to integrating these employees into your team. 

“The pandemic showed everyone how remote working could work, but lockdowns were a particular environment. I think to make remote working work successfully long term requires a really deliberate focus, particularly if you are a company in the growth stage. Our company tackled this by building remote teams around hubs in different markets. These hubs allow people to work in a hybrid way but still allow teams to be connected to the company values. When we hire people they have to be able to travel to their closest hub. We are not going to hire someone that’s not ever going to be able to come in at least once a quarter. So the company is borderless, but it is quite deliberate and focused on making sure that we can still put emphasis on the culture and bringing everyone together.”

– Kirsti Grant , Vice President of People Experience for Auror

5. What are the benefits? 

Bevan says there are a number of benefits for companies looking to hire globally. First and foremost it opens your company up to a much larger talent pool. “Businesses can access growing, quality talent in places worldwide. Removing geographic barriers means they can hire any connection, regardless of location.” Businesses also get access to local talent which can mean more language & cultural specialisations in various markets and the potential for your team to cover multiple time zones. For businesses looking to hire offshore Kiwi this can give you an internationally skilled employee who is already familiar with Kiwi culture and the New Zealand business environment. 

“We’ve seen incredible benefits from hiring Kiwi who have come back to New Zealand. If you’re an international company or you’re exporting then having that returning X Factor is incredible. Hire that person immediately because you’re about to get talent that is familiar with the markets that you’re exporting to but also understands your Kiwi business proposition.”

– Kirsti Grant, Vice President of People Experience for Auror

Kea Connect businesses receive a special 20% discount on all of Deel’s services. If you would like more information on how Deel can help your business, please get in touch with the Kea Connect team today.