4 Tips For Recruiting Staff In Other Countries

March 13, 2023

Have you ever wondered what recruiting staff for your company would be like in other countries? No? Never considered it? Well, your competition has. A majority of businesses have staff overseas for a variety of jobs. Simple jobs such as customer service or technical support have been commonplace as Call Centers have popped up all over the globe. More recently, business process outsourcing centers (BPOs) have been popping up and have allowed businesses to fill more specialized positions such as accountants, developers, graphic designers, content writers, and a plethora of other positions that can be done from a computer.

With the increasing globalization, companies are looking for employees from different countries for various reasons such as cost savings, diversity in talent, as well as tapping into different markets to open up more opportunities. However, recruiting staff in other countries also comes with its own set of challenges.

Tip #1: Understand The Local Culture

Before you commit to a country based on the recommendation of your friends, business colleagues, or based on where your competition is hiring their offshore staff, make sure you understand their culture. While company culture is a buzzword in the working space, a country’s culture ties in heavily with how they behave and gives an overview of what to expect from the vast majority of the workforce there. While generalizations are a bad way to judge a workforce, it does give you a starting point.

An example of the importance of learning the culture can be seen in certain countries where it’s rude to ask about age or salary during the interview. While it may be the norm where you’re from, it may be off-putting for candidates, which would be detrimental to your recruitment efforts.

Tip #2: Utilize Local Recruiters

Whether you decide to use a recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) service, a BPO, Call Center (more specific to jobs done over the phone), or any other local resource, asking the people who live and know the environment for help is never the wrong move.

You could also use local recruiting resources such as job boards or networking events. These would also help you get invaluable information on the culture and the types of people that they could potentially be hired. They also serve as a place to learn what things to avoid doing.

Whether you outsource your hiring to a different company or you commit to using local resources, you can’t go wrong. Recruiters from the area you’re recruiting from can easily find the types of professionals you’re looking for and networking events are a great way to learn what’s feasible and what isn’t.

Tip #3: Offer Competitive Compensation And Benefits

Offering competitive compensation and benefits is also crucial when recruiting staff in other countries. Different countries have different costs of living, and what might be competitive in one country might not be in another. While this might seem like a problem, it actually works out in favor of most companies. An example of this can be seen with Philippine BPOs, as you can hire specialized positions for less than half of the salary in the US.

Including benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off also helps attract talent, which might help increase retention. In many cases, as a company with more purchasing power, you can afford to offer better benefits than other companies, which allows you to be the first pick for many candidates.

Tip #4: Learn Legal And Regulatory Compliances

When going at it alone, learning the legal and regulatory compliance is critical, especially when avoiding any type of trouble. Different countries have different laws and regulations regarding the hiring and employment of staff. This may be more important if you’re hiring offshore staff to supplement your onshore staff.

It’s recommended that companies looking to hire abroad work with or consult legal and HR professionals to ensure compliance with local laws and regulations. One way to circumvent this whole process is to hire through a BPO. They’ll take care of all the legal issues and make sure that you’re not liable for any of it as they’ll be the ones taking on the brunt of the administrative work. So if you’re looking for remote staff but don’t want the headache of learning all the rules, partner with a BPO.

The Wrap Up

Recruiting staff in other countries can be quite challenging for companies, especially if it’s their first time. By sticking to these 4 tips, companies can raise their chances of success. It’s important for companies to understand the local culture, utilize the local resources that are available to them, offer competitive comp and ben, and be prepared for legal and regulatory compliances. By keeping these tips in mind, companies can safely and legally hire top talent in any country they want in the world.

Iohan Chan

Iohan loves short walks in his room and the joys of the great indoors. He joined the marketing world in 2021 as a content writer, making the transition from a recruiting position which gives him a unique perspective on topics regarding job positions. As a content writer for a remote staffing company, AKA a full-service BPO, AKA an outsourcing company that does more than just call center work, he's usually hunkered down on his laptop researching new topics or interviewing professionals for their views and opinions. He favors a more archaic and down-to-earth style of writing because he firmly believes that if you have to look up every other word in a piece of writing you're reading, chances are you're going to close out of it and go read something else. When he's not working, he's either skating or doing martial arts, and when he's injured from the previous activities, you can find him in his room playing games.