Global talent acquisition: Overcoming challenges with GILS recruitment outsourcing

The need to stay relevant and competitive in international markets and benefit from a diversified consumer base is driving businesses to employ a global workforce. However, there are multiple logistical challenges in the global talent acquisition process, ranging from talent sourcing and screening to handle legal compliance.

Partnering with Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) agencies takes the edge off key recruitment functions and optimize hiring outcomes. Below are the major challenges in talent acquisition on a global scale and ways in which RPO solutions can help overcome them:

Attracting the right talent

With hundreds of leads for every available position, attracting candidates with the right skills and competencies is among the top talent acquisition challenges. The challenge grows exponentially when you are recruiting a global workforce.

By outsourcing recruitment, you can gain access to the recruiter’s expansive database of potential candidates.

While in-house HR teams are limited by a lack of time and traditional sourcing methods, recruitment providers can tap into newer and more unconventional hiring channels such as social media, events, trade journals, niche job boards, and email campaigns.

Your recruitment provider can also help you build an employer brand (EB), ensuring that you target candidates aligned with your brand image, strategic goals, and company vision.

With access to a wider global audience, strategic efforts to showcase company culture and systematic talent pipelining, you have better chances of attracting the best international talent for your company.

Pre-hiring background checks

The risk of wrong hires, false credentials, and fraud increases manifold in global settings. It is crucial to establish strict vetting processes to safeguard your organization against these hazards.

Recruitment providers use AI screening tools not only to analyze resumes but also to identify high-attrition-risk candidates. Additionally, they may leverage social listening tools to identify behavioral traits that may hamper team productivity or mar your company’s reputation.

Recruiters often have local entities in various geographical locations, which facilitates referral verification and in-depth background checks for hiring processes.

Ensuring culture fits

The concept of culture fit is gaining unprecedented importance in a global marketplace. To maximise productivity and minimise employee attrition, it is becoming crucial to hire employees who are aligned with your company’s work culture, values, and goals.

Unlike in-house HR teams that rely on resumes and traditional assessment methods, recruitment providers conduct skill-based hiring assessments, including simulation exercises, gamified assessments, and behavioural interviews to gauge workplace skills and culture fit.

With these, you have significantly higher chances of accessing remote candidates who can seamlessly integrate with your work environment.

Bridging linguistic and cultural differences

Linguistic and cultural differences are major challenges in global talent acquisition and retention.

Technology has enabled remote working and collaboration across geographical borders. However, cross-cultural barriers can hinder effective communication, cause misunderstandings, and trigger feelings of disconnection from the team and organisation.

Global recruitment partners are well-versed in cultural nuances and can help HR teams form clear communication guidelines for cross-geographical teams, factoring in cultural, linguistic, and time zone differences.

They can also help you initiate Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) programmes to foster cultural sensitivity, eliminate implicit bias and build a sense of belonging among a scattered workforce.

Payroll and compliance management

Managing cross-border payroll taxes, employee benefits, International labour laws and legal compliance can drain your HR resources. It is best to outsource these functions to a recruitment provider who can act as an Employer of Record (EOR).

A global EOR takes over the hiring-related responsibilities on your company’s behalf, including key processes such as documentation, pre-hiring background checks, onboarding, payroll, benefits, and compliance. This ensures that you have a global presence in the recruitment market without having to set up local entities for hiring.

Use of technology and analytics

Digital technology and analytics are irreplaceable in overcoming talent acquisition challenges in an international market. Global recruiters leverage technology in various ways to streamline the hiring process and reduce time-to-hire. These include:

1. Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) for sourcing talent

2. AI-powered screening, video interviewing, and skill assessments for hiring accuracy

3. Analytics for identifying talent gaps and unintended bias

4. Social media initiatives for talent engagement

5. Chatbots for query management and candidate care

6. RPO analytics to gain insights into recruitment data

7. Predictive hiring models for forecasting an applicant’s chances of success within an organization

These processes are critical in enabling workforce planning. strategic staffing, and aligning a global workforce with the company’s long-term goals.

Conclusion

To conclude, outsourcing HR functions such as talent sourcing, screening, payroll services, and EOR to an RPO partner is an effective way of tackling talent acquisition challenges and reducing the burden on HR departments. RPO solutions can help your organisation attract and retain top talent while ensuring transparency and efficiency in the hiring process.