The benefits of hiring a workforce with international experience

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While some businesses will look to take on international staff members with the specific aim of filling a particular skill-gap, more and more companies are now taking the transnational route to expand their horizons.

Although hiring a workforce from foreign shores comes with its challenges, there are a number of key benefits that modern-day businesses are looking to yield.

Here are four reasons why.

1. Internal knowledge of target markets

Organisations that are looking to do business overseas will know the ongoing roadblocks that comes with understanding competing cultural business practices.

Whether it’s dealing with local regulators or assessing how domestic firms like to close deals, having an insider that knows the culture well can act as a significant advantage.

Furthermore, by hiring an international employee that is fluent in more than one language, companies can further alleviate the barriers of entering new markets.

2. A more diverse and rich workplace

By hiring staff members of multiple nationalities, ethnicities, and cultures, businesses stand the chance of embracing a more diverse employee pool. This is particularly useful for homegrown talent that has little exposure to business practices differing to their own.

Businesses that already have a reputation for employing a diverse workforce will also benefit from attracting top international talent, insofar that candidates will be far more likely to accept a position in the knowledge that the company possess a highly inclusive workplace culture.

3.  Ability to meet skill shortages

With skill shortages costing UK businesses an estimated £6.3 billion per year, it comes as no surprise that companies are often left with no choice but to consider other options. However, by extending the candidate search on a transnational basis, companies have access to a global talent pool.

This not only extends to those with real-world work experience. On the contrary, businesses are also looking for key academic skills, especially those that have been obtained in culturally diverse student cities outside of the UK.

4. Attract those with a clear career path

There is no getting away from the fact that ever-growing staff turnover rates are a major concern for any business – small or large. While companies will already have certain safeguards in place to ensure that potential candidates are in ‘it for the long-run’, this can never be foreseen with any certainty.

However, some would argue that those prepared to up-sticks and move to a new country for the purpose of employment will be significantly more likely to be doing it for the right reasons. In other words, international candidates will have a clear career path mapped out.

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