Why a global talent mobility strategy is your company’s secret weapon

Australian organisations need to get more strategic about how they utilise global talent. Here are three things to keep in mind to ensure your strategy runs smoothly.

By Shannon Karaka, Country Leader, AUNZ, Deel

The other day, I was reading an article in HRM Online which interviewed Michael Bradfield, ?Director of Talent Acquisition – Global Tech, Digital and D&A at adidas. In it, he said he believes Australian and New Zealand organisations aren’t well-equipped to respond to the skills and talent shortages at the moment, in large part because we are losing talent to more compelling global markets.

The reasons for this are varied. Employees are seeking new opportunities, different markets, or they’re simply looking for a new country to explore after years of being landlocked in Australia due to the pandemic. Whatever their reasons for leaving, this ‘brain drain’, as it’s called, is resulting in a less competitive labour market for Australia, which has all kinds of negative ripple effects.

But what if you could offer your employees the opportunity to work overseas without losing them? To gain traction and keep Australia on a competitive pathway, Bradfield said organisations need to equip themselves with global mobility strategies and experts.

He says, “It’s mind-blowing to me that companies aren’t already [embracing global mobility] at a rate of knots… It all depends on how organisations want to win in the market. The safe bet is just to keep doing the same thing, because you get incremental growth. But if organisations out there want to change the game through talent, there’s a significant advantage in global mobility. It’s completely under-leveraged.”

I couldn’t agree more. By facilitating and encouraging global mobility in your teams, not only can you tap into expertise from employees across the globe, which bolsters your company’s strategic capabilities, but you can also give your existing employees the opportunity to expand their horizons and work overseas, while still retaining their wealth of critical institutional knowledge and expertise.

I am always encouraging business leaders to take advantage of these new ways of working – borderless teams and work-from-anywhere cultures aren't just the latest trends, they are huge opportunities for organisations to do things differently and better.

In order for your global mobility strategy to be a success, there are a few things I would suggest you do in order to prepare your organisation for success.

1. Audit your expansion capabilities

Before launching into engaging and managing global talent, consider questions such as:

• Do you know the details of the employee/contractor's local labour laws?
• What processes/information need to be considered in terms of processing visa and immigration materials?
• Have you got the right technology to help your employee/contractor to communicate with their team easily and get access to all the information they'll need upfront?
• Do you have global payroll technologies and expertise? This can be a minefield and requires an expert touch to ensure compliance.

Managing a global mobility strategy is a full-time job in itself, so you may need to have a dedicated mobility lead to execute this plan. However, if you don't have the time/budget to secure a dedicated mobility resource, you can partner with an employer of record like Deel which can look after all the compliance and legal aspects on your behalf.

2. Develop a comprehensive entry plan

An employee has packed up their life, moved overseas and is ready to start their first day on the job only to find that they don’t have any onboarding materials and no one has given them details about how they’ll be paid or any of the benefits available to them.

This is a surefire way to put that employee's engagement and commitment at risk from day one.

Develop an onboarding plan so your new hires can hit the ground running and add value immediately. You might also want to consider tailoring your onboarding approach to the country they are joining –?such as including sections on cultural etiquette, work styles, local lingo and exciting places for them to explore – to help them get a lay of the land quickly.?

If you'd like further information about hiring in specific countries, Deel has over 145 global hiring guides for specific countries that are available for free. Use this information to create a tailored onboarding process for your new hire.

?3. Prepare them for important cultural nuances

Did you know that in Singapore it’s considered rude to disagree with a superior in public, or that in Spain many employees are uncontactable for the month of August, as they are often on holiday?

Consider things such as aligning the new hire with a translator, setting up cultural and inclusion training (for the new hire and their team) and giving the employee a cheat sheet of some of the cultural norms and practices that they might not be familiar with.?

This is an easy way to make them feel welcomed, included and more likely to stay with you in the long-run.?

Short-term effort, long-term gains

It might sound like there's a lot of preparation required when setting up a global hire, but it's relatively comparable with the time it takes to set up a local hire for success. Plus, every minute spent setting up a new hire for success will likely pay you back tenfold in terms of the skills, experience and loyalty your organisation will gain.

If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this article, it’s that you shouldn’t feel limited by the four walls of your office. There’s a world of talent out there waiting for you and now is the time to make the most of it. The world of work is changing at warp speed, so make sure your organisation is part of that change and doesn’t get left behind.

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Shannon Karaka is the Country Leader, AUNZ at Deel. As an employer of record, Deel acts as the middleman and legal entity between you and your overseas hire. You don’t need to worry about the local labour laws, managing global payroll or the compliance side of things. Deel has that covered. Learn more about how Deel can help you to execute your global mobility strategy.