Expanding to international markets is one of the best ways to set up your business for long-term growth. The global market in different countries is ever changing. Having a footing in this market gives you an opportunity to grow your customer base in bounds.
However, your success while doing business in a foreign territory is largely dependent on the people that you bring to your team. You want people who can align with your company’s goals and objectives. Most importantly, you want individuals who can speak the peoples’ language and are conversant with the local culture.
Being a foreign business, it can be challenging for you when carrying out the hiring process. That is why we are here to tell you where to focus when hiring someone in foreign country.
1. The local labor law
When hiring employees in another country, it is very important that you do so compliantly. Otherwise, you risk falling into legal tussles of mishandling employees’ contracts or misclassifying employees among others.
The labor law protects the rights of the employees. It would be in your best interest to understand them before starting headhunting for employees.
Before you start investing in a new country, you need to understand the legal working hours and how long you can extend this, the annual leave, probation period as well as compensation, and social security. In addition, understand the types of contracts including termination of the same.
2. Using a PEO
With the vast war for talents everywhere, it can be difficult to find individuals with the right skills and qualifications that you need. However, you can bypass this hurdle by hiring an international PEO such as Canada PEO that has a well-established network to help you spot these individuals. This is also a plus since you can leave the job of managing the employees to them, eliminating the need to understand the labor laws. If you are looking at hiring in a foreign country without a company, these experts have got you covered. They will do all the HR work for you, allowing you time to perform the core task of growing your business.
3. The local culture and language
Cultural differences and language barriers are some of the challenges you are going to encounter as a foreign business in a new country. The only way you are going to get over this is by being conversant in the same. The people you hire should be able to integrate seamlessly into the culture and speak the language of the people.
When hiring an individual, it is good to focus on his or her abilities in this area. If you are hiring locals, you would probably not have a problem with this. However, it is good to ensure that they are what they say they are in the resume.
If you are hiring foreigners, you need to focus on cultural and language training to ensure they are aware of the best business practices as per the local culture. You might have different habits and also might have various interpretations about different concepts such as personal finances for example. For this reason, you have to be open minded and be ready to learn new things and adapt.
4. Hiring the right people
The labor law favors the employee to a larger extent. In a bid to equalize the rights of employment for the citizens, employment termination is made to be tedious for organizations. Unless you have a mutual understanding with the employee, terminating a contract can see you in a legal battle that can have you paying hefty compensation.
This being the case, it is very important that you ensure that you are hiring the right people for the job. Start by stating clearly what you are looking for in qualifications and skills. Ensure that you are keen in identifying these skills during the recruitment process. In addition, pay close attention to the individuals during the probation period. The law allows an easier way to terminate a worker in the probation period as long as you can prove that he or she isn’t capable in the position.
Conclusion
Hiring employees at home can be a walk in the park. However, it is a completely different story when hiring in other countries. It can be overwhelming doing it without help especially if you are just starting out in the country. It is best that you do so through a PEO or hire a legal expert in the country to guide you through.
Martha Payne is a Personal Growth Coach with 10 years of experience working as a business development professional. She is truly passionate about nurturing talent and ideas that evoke transformative change in individuals, teams, and organizations. Her focus is to help organizations develop leaders for the future – unleashing the full talent, passion, and potential of individuals (in particular Millennials) through tailored leadership development and coaching programs.
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