Don’t Let Distance Narrow Your Talent Pool

With remote and hybrid work becoming a norm, traditional ideas about proximity to the office need a significant rethink. Expanding one’s approach to hiring and workplace culture is long overdue and can unlock new talent pathways for organizations facing skill gaps.

Plus, this can ease some pressure employees face around office attendance. By decoupling jobs from a particular location, employees don’t feel disadvantaged if they can’t be as physically present, leveling the playing field and letting everyone feel valued for their contributions, not visibility.

Workers want to move, but feel the pressure to stay close to work

A new survey by Deel found employees across Europe increasingly want to move further away from their workplaces to live closer to nature (31%), cut their living costs (28%), and spend more time with family (26%).

In fact, they’re even willing to adjust their working hours if it means moving to a different country from their employer. Nearly two-thirds (61%) would be willing to start 2+ hours earlier, and only slightly fewer (60%) said the same about logging off 2+ hours later.

However, that desire is clashing with what many bosses want (but in many cases don’t really need): control. Nearly two-thirds (60%) of bosses said they would prioritize hires in their own time zone or those who lived a commutable distance from work (58%), despite nearly as many (51%) also admitting this mindset made it harder to find the skills they need.

The result isn’t just a lack of ability but a drop in employee engagement too. This emphasis on proximity has left 36% feeling like being ‘out of sight’ dulls their chances at career progression and meant over half (52%) would feel anxious if they lived even an hour away.

However, thinking internationally about catering to workers’ needs doesn’t need to be intimidating and the benefits outweigh any initial administrative legwork.

Hiring from a global pool

Expanding your hiring strategy internationally involves ensuring compliance with local labor laws, global payroll regulations and varying international benefits standards. It’s not simple, but it's worth it.

Searching for new hires across the globe ensures you find the best, most diverse talent no matter where they are. To get started, it’s essential to understand a few unique challenges:

• Entity formation to hire employees
• Compliance with local labor laws
• Global payroll and taxes
• Global benefits administration

Getting a handle on these factors are a great first step but getting people through the door isn’t enough. Next, leaders need to ensure remote and hybrid teams feel valued, rather than marginalized, to truly unlock their productivity and impact.

Engaging staff from a distance

If workers who live farther away than colleagues feel less likely to progress in their careers, they cannot be expected to give their best. Ensuring international hires feel as much a part of the team as anyone else is crucial to keeping them engaged and satisfied at their organization – here's how:

• Streamline hiring and onboarding
  Global teams often struggle with creating a unified employee onboarding experience that ensures all workers are set up and ready for work. However, factors like offering a self-service HR platform that they can use from day one, or sending them all the tech they need can help them feel more at home with their team. Similarly, HR teams should invest in coworking memberships for international teams to help cater to their productivity needs.

• Tailor employee training and development
  By providing equitable opportunities, you empower employees to achieve their career growth goals, which boosts motivation, productivity, and retention.Training should be customized, considering any unique challenges remote workers face to help them feel considered. Plus, clear, individualized competency-based progression frameworks can instill confidence that their location won’t hinder their careers.

• Guarantee timely and flexible payments
  Timely and reliable salary payments are crucial for employee satisfaction and a seamless global team experience. Employees must be paid on time, regardless of location or preferred currency. Ensuring this is the case by having the proper payment infrastructure is essential, and it’s helpful to offer as much visibility into payments as possible. It’s worth remembering that not everyone will have the same access to support from the finance department, especially fully remote workers. They’ll need as much information as is available to troubleshoot or manage their finances.