Bridging the UK Skills Gap: A Leader's Guide to Global Talent

Businesses in the UK are still struggling to fill vacancies. According to a recent survey, 76% of UK businesses report facing difficulties in recruiting, specifically due to a talent shortage. HR professionals know that talent shortages bring myriad problems, not least a stalling in innovation. For example, a shocking lack of digital skills is seen as one of the difficulties the government will likely face in championing its vision for the UK as an AI leader.

One of the ways employers can widen the pool of candidates is to embrace global hiring. Hiring “without borders” is an effective way to access a more diverse range of skills. But, for HR Leaders in charge of implementing global hiring, it’s important to understand the changes and challenges global hiring imposes on the business.

So, what are the most important things HR teams need to consider when supporting business leaders on their global hiring journeys? How do they overcome those challenges? And how do they ensure that their efforts lead to a scalable global hiring strategy?

1. Get to grips with global labor laws

Global payroll is one of the more complex processes of global expansion. Businesses have to comply with different labor laws in each new country, different taxes and currency rates, as well as different employee expectations regarding health insurance, pension contributions, and holiday and maternity leave. With so much to think about, there's plenty of room for hiccups, which are rarely well received by employees who just expect to be paid for their work, accurately and on time.

Businesses also need to consider the data management and security that come with a global payroll system. Payroll involves processing sensitive employee data, such as social security numbers and bank account information. Remote companies are therefore more at risk of exposing this sensitive data and are more susceptible to phishing scams.

But compliance should not be an access barrier to new talent pools. One way to pay international workers, while remaining compliant, is to hire non-employee workers. Hiring independent contractors or freelancers is a more affordable and less demanding way to hire full-time employees when it comes to payroll. Contractors and freelancers are paid via invoice, one at a time, meaning employers don't have to worry about managing recurring payments, payroll taxes, or local employee benefits.

Alternatively, some companies choose to use an Employer of Record (EOR) when going global. An EOR is a third-party company that takes care of global hiring, payroll management, and compliance all in one. EORs operate by setting up local entities worldwide, and act as the legal employer and global payroll manager of your new hires.

2. Take a digital-first approach to onboarding and training

Employee onboarding has a big influence on employee retention. And as job roles continue to change, the quality of (and access to) training is also a significant factor. However, carrying out onboarding and training via Zoom is complicated and rarely scalable.

An effective onboarding experience will be one that’s both tailored to the new employee's role and aligned to the company’s culture. By using new digital tools for onboarding and training, HR leaders can create processes that can be automated, personalized, and that are designed to scale with the business. This is a worthwhile investment both in terms of empowering your current workforce, and for setting overseas hires up for success from their first day.

As a remote-first company, Deel does a few more things to go the extra mile for our new employees before:

• The direct manager reaches out with a welcome message before Day One
• HR sends a welcome pack with company swag
• The employee is promoted automatically to select and order their equipment through Deel IT, so they’re connected and online well in advance of their start day
• During onboarding, the employee is paired with another newbie so they can learn and grow together
• We run weekly live sessions to welcome new hires and encourage them to get to know each other
• We run surveys after the first week to measure the success of our onboarding process in the early stages

Building strong digital experiences is essential for remote-first companies, but can unify your hybrid teams and help even the playing field between those joining online from overseas and those who come to the office.

3. Increase your brand awareness

Global hiring can be very effective, but attracting employees outside your home market requires more attention to your reputation, and the strength of your employer brand. For HR leaders supporting international hiring strategies, encouraging the business to establish an online presence in local markets will be necessary to support talent attraction advertising and digital marketing components can be integrated into the hiring plan to ensure that the company is showing up where its target recruits are spending time - whether that’s easy-to-use platforms like YouTube, career websites and blogs, or LinkedIn and TikTok. It’s important to meet your candidates where they’re spending their time.

Fundamentally, social media allows prospective employees a window of insight into your company, no matter where they are. Whether it's to show off team bonding, company culture, or work perks, business leaders can encourage top talent by uncovering a company's personality online.

4. Offer more than statutory benefits

As you hire in new markets, your ability to attract top talent will rely on more than a competitive salary and statutory benefits. In order to attract and retain high-quality professionals, you need to offer what people largely expect and not just the minimum. For example, if you’re hiring in Spain, talent generally expects to be offered certain cultural perks, such as meal vouchers, 13th and 14th month pay, transport allowance, and a reduced working day in summer months. These benefits are not legally mandated, but they are so widely offered by Spanish companies that they’ve become an expectation among the workforce.

And don’t forget, you’re not just in competition with local companies. You’re entering a competitive global market where employee expectations are increasingly shaped by broader industry norms, cultural practices, and what leading global companies offer. With research showing that workers prioritize flexibility, time off, and healthcare over salary, your benefits package may be costing you in the long-run if you don’t offer more than the legal minimum. By elevating your benefits package with local best practices in mind, you can reduce your time to hire, win top talent, and retain them in the longterm.

5. Cultivate a truly inclusive global culture

Once you’ve won global talent, you need to retain them. Ensuring overseas hires thrive and stay means fostering a sense of belonging.

If you’re working across timezones, start by embracing asynchronous communication and staying as flexible as possible. It can be as simple as recording meetings for people to catch up when they’re back online, or running more interactive sessions twice to allow people to join without working unsociable hours. Don’t shy away from cultural differences, but embrace them through celebrating multicultural holidays and encouraging open communication.

It’ll be a process of continuous improvement, and feedback surveys will be invaluable for understanding where your culture shines and where it falls short. But the investment will pay off when you see increased employee engagement, stronger collaboration, and higher retention rates. That’s what makes for a successful global hiring strategy.

If you’re looking for solutions to make a global hiring strategy not just manageable, but effective and scalable as you grow, continue the conversation with us by booking your 30-minute Deel demo. We’ll show you the tools you need to seamlessly manage everything from hiring and payroll to onboarding and IT procurement.