Why Global Talent Sourcing from Other Countries?
[4-min read]
With the constant and rapidly changing technology around us, there seems to be more and more of a need for specialized, usually technical personnel. The flow or sourcing of global talent (read more here) seems to be geographically from East to West and to a lesser extent from South (Latin America) to North (USA).
The simple reason for this global talent sourcing is that in most Western countries there simply aren’t enough people/talent to fill the demand.
Typical countries where global talent comes from are:
- India
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- Russia
- Mexico
It is mostly IT/Tech companies and Multinationals who have the need and resources to get personnel from other countries. But how do these companies best deal with the newly recruited people in such a way that both the company and the recruited employee assimilate well (and costly failure is avoided)?
Why Is Cultural Onboarding So Important?
Getting people from one country to the other is not so difficult. But when it comes to professional global talent sourcing, cultural onboarding is really important.
What is cultural onboarding? Ideally, it is part of the “induction program” that a newcomer goes through. The usual things are an introduction to new colleagues, a talk with the new boss, and arranging logistics, such as housing, banking, laptop, phone, etc.
What often isn’t part of this induction program is intercultural management. The question then is: What are the overall cultural differences between the country of destination and the country of origin? Many times, these differences are very significant!
Dealing with Culture Shock
A phenomenon that pretty much every individual goes through is culture shock.
The initial “honeymoon period” is over and the newly globally sourced talent is wondering what he or she is doing in their host country.
The emotional challenges that newcomers face (from mild to severe depression!) are often underestimated by the host country. The process of culture shock generally looks like this (see image below).
[source: https://www.internations.org/magazine/the-4-stages-of-culture-shock-40101]Cultural onboarding and making yourself (!) and the newcomer (s) culturally competent can help tremendously in retaining personnel. In addition, if the newcomer comes with a partner/family, it is often the partner who ultimately decides to stay or go back home. And a failed expatriation is very expensive; see the example below.
Example*:
And this is an example pertaining only to one (!) individual…
|
It is NOT about the Legal or Accounting Stuff
There are plenty of companies that will help global companies find globally sourced talent. Often their focus is on the legal side (visa/permits, etc.) and the accounting part (salary, benefits, etc.).
Our statement is that, though this is important, it is not THE most important item to overcome. Legal and accounting issues are easily outsourced to other professionals or could even be handled within the host company/country.
What you cannot outsource is cultural competence. On both sides: You (and your personnel) should be culturally competent and the newcomer should be culturally competent. It is a skill you can learn.
Reading about Swimming versus Actual Swimming
And here is where we come in: We can make you and your globally sourced talent culturally competent.
The analogy is this: How will you learn to swim if you only read about swimming as opposed to getting into the water?
Again, cultural competence is a crucial skill that you must (yes, must) learn in order to stay ahead in the game and of your competition.
If you’re interested in listening to our podcast about this topic, please go here.
An article on employee motivation can be found here.
Get a Taste of How Chris Presents, Watch his TEDx Talk
Call Direct: +32476524957
European Office (Paris) Whatsapp: +32476524957
The Americas (USA; Atlanta, GA; también en Español): +1 678 301 8369
Book Chris Smit as a Speaker
If you're looking for an Engaging, Exciting, and Interactive speaker on the subject of Intercultural Management & Awareness you came to the right place.
Chris has spoken at hundreds of events and to thousands of people on the subject of Cultural Diversity & Cultural Competence.
This is What Others Say About Chris:
- “Very Interactive and Engaging”
- “In little time he knew how to get the audience inspired and connected to his story”
- “His ability to make large groups of participants quickly and adequately aware of the huge impact of cultural differences is excellent”
- “Chris is a dedicated and inspirational professional”
In addition, his presentations can cover specific topics cultural topics, or generally on Cultural differences.
Presentations can vary anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours and are given worldwide.
Book Chris now by simply sending an email. Click here to do so.
Read more about what Chris can do for you.
- Percentage of People Rating a Presentation as Excellent 86%
- Rating the Presentation as Practical 89%
- Applicability of Chris' presentation 90%
About Peter van der Lende
Peter has joined forces with Culture Matters.
Because he has years and years of international business development experience joining forces therefore only seemed logical.
Being born and raised in the Netherlands, he has lived in more than 9 countries of which most were in Latin America.
He currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia (USA) with his family.
You can find out more at https://expand360.com/
Or find out what Peter can do for you here.
- Sport and Culture; Why the Dutch Never Make it to the Finals - 8 October 2024
- 181 Culture and Real Estate with Julie Condliffe - 1 October 2024
- Doing Business in Colombia - 24 September 2024