Globalization Of the Workforce: Striking the Right Balance 

Steve Smith, President, International 

The world of work has significantly changed over the course of just the last few years. The evolution of digital technology and the rise of remote work has enabled businesses to scale up by tapping a fully-global workforce. Indeed, we have seen a huge growth in the number of internationally viable hiring programs in line with this trend, with businesses adapting to cross-border talent attraction and engagement in the modern world.  

However, given this new capability, it is easy for companies to fall into a false sense of security that their workforce management is truly global and compliant. However, the differing regulatory landscapes across international jurisdictions — and nuances in cultures — present a level of complexity requiring constant management.  

From resolving multiple challenges to meeting global market demands and ensuring inclusivity across different countries, there are ways for employers to strike the right balance when hiring a global workforce to set your organisation up for success.  

Tackling the challenges 

The many variations of regional employment legislation make it impossible to deliver a one-size-fits-all approach to workforce management and compliance processes. What may be deemed acceptable to ask of an applicant in one country, for example, may be uncommon or even illegal in another. Even if a firm has the resources to operate on a global scale, they still need experts with the on-the-ground knowledge needed to adapt to any and all workforce management processes.  

A significant, but often underestimated, challenge is providing a consistent hiring experience for hiring managers and candidates around the world. A consistent hiring experience isn’t easy to achieve given differences across borders. However, getting this experience right will mean faster onboarding, more satisfied candidates, and for employers, it will also allow for more consistent hiring decisions.  

Another challenge is embedding company culture on a global scale. While firms want to ensure that corporate values are shared across international teams, it can’t be ignored that cultural nuances require some adaptations.   

Every company’s approach to this will be unique depending on its workforce and the extent of its global footprint. However, for Sterling, our strategy has largely been focused on strong communication across the business as well as making sure the right tools and processes are in place to optimise effectiveness. Our culture champions have seen great success by creating shared experiences and virtual activities across multiple regions, all highly valued by international team members. We’ve also laid emphasis on having a globally-aware mindset when it comes to virtual meetings and the need to carefully balance respective time zones with a requirement for flexible working hours.  

Planning at global, local, and personal levels 

Global workforce management and planning may need an overarching approach, but it also requires local, personalised variations. At Sterling, our workforce planning and talent acquisition is led by local business leaders and our People & Culture (P&C) teams. However, we also apply global onboarding processes which allow us to provide consistent experiences for candidates around the world.  

From regional data protection legislation concerning candidate information, to rules around working time regulations and more, we utilize local legal counsels and our P&C experts to comply with international compliance laws. As a leading provider of background screening and identity services, global compliance requirements are naturally built into our pre-employment checks.  

It is important to also note, that while Sterling is very much a people business, we do, of course lean on data and key metrics to measure success in certain areas. For instance, our platform allows us to easily assess where applicants are at in their background screening process and identify drop-out rates. When it comes to employee retention, in addition to regular team sessions and 1:1 check-ins with managers, we also run frequent anonymous pulse-check surveys, which help us to assess employee satisfaction across all regions. 

Given the ever-evolving potential of technology in the modern world, we have remained a strong advocate of using the latest technology to enhance the experience of our employees, our clients, and their applicants. Everything from our own workforce management and communication tools through to Sterling’s background screening and identity solutions leverage tech-enhancements for the benefit of all stakeholders. 

Decision-making to meet global market demands  

Being aware of things that people from different cultures value informs the way you can interact with people to inspire and lead high performance. It can be very dangerous for leaders to assume that people on your international teams should assimilate to only one culture’s way of working. To name a couple of global workforce examples, people in different countries will have different expectations around how decisions are made, how performance conversations are held, about how expectations are set and followed up, or how people interact within the corporate hierarchy. It would be impossible to be effective whilst constantly adapting behaviours country by country, but being intentional about learning from people across cultures and countries is essential so that you can create a shared team culture that respects differences and encourages everyone to come together around a set of behaviours and expectations that become the norm – thus surpassing any one country culture. 

At Sterling we’ve worked hard to establish one international team, organised functionally with shared leadership across country-based resources. Doing this effectively has meant that we’ve invested in shared tools, resources, technology, and connections across all our teams. We are intentional about recognising differences in the client, candidate, and employee experience across regions and we work to act locally whilst thinking globally. There has been an abundance of learning and unique development opportunities for people who had previously led in a specific country to now begin leading across borders. There is something very powerful about the value this represents for our clients who can leverage the breadth and depth of Sterling’s deep market expertise in a simple, meaningful way across the countries they operate in. 

Inclusivity and diversity  

We have a multi-year Diversity & Inclusion strategy comprised of three action-oriented pillars: People-first Environment; Inclusive Culture; Marketplace & Engagement. 

Shawn Kahle, Sterling’s SVP of Employee Experience, Learning, and ESG, shares that “With employees in 14 countries around the world, every day we enjoy the opportunity to learn, work, and grow together. We champion and accept individual uniqueness by cultivating a safe culture of belonging so that everyone can perform at their best in support of our clients, candidates, and communities we serve.”  

We activate our strategy in multiple ways including talent planning, intentional D&I training, focused communication, employee engagement programs, and tools and resources, all while we measure our progress and strive to build understanding and allyship throughout our diverse, global workforce. 

It’s impossible for any business or industry to accurately predict how the world of work will evolve in the future. However, for now, the globalization of the workforce has a clear place for businesses across all remits. Those firms able to effectively deliver consistent but tailored management solutions across borders will no doubt be the ones to thrive in the coming years.  

This originally appeared on HR.com: https://www.hr.com/en/magazines/hcm_sales_marketing_alliance_excellence_essentials/august_2024_hcm_sales_marketing_alliance_excellence/globalization-of-the-workforce_lzii9ezu.html

Sterling is not a law firm. This publication is for informational purposes only and nothing contained in it should be construed as legal advice. We expressly disclaim any warranty or responsibility for damages arising out this information. We encourage you to consult with legal counsel regarding your specific needs. We do not undertake any duty to update previously posted materials.