5 Tips To Remote Cross-Border Hiring

If only the Guinness Book of the record gives awards to non-living things, the last three to four years would have been awarded as the years with the most unusual and unexpected events. The European Union saw the exit of the U.K. from its body and then the COVID-19 lockdown, which shook all sectors.

The latest development has a devastating effect on recruitment processes as well. The restrictions on movement due to the Brexit conflict between the United Kingdom and Europe Union and the hybrid work model facilitated by the pandemic have posed a threat to hiring cross-border employees unless you team up with legal personnel that can mitigate the risk of this challenge.

How do businesses continue to hire employees across borders with this challenge?

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Tips For Remote Cross-Border Hiring

Embrace Flexibility

Each country has what they are exceptionally good at even though it is possible to see the same talents in other countries, but a French-speaking Parisian lawyer is synonymous with France, and a tech-savvy employee is synonymous with Asian countries and countries like Russia and Germany.

Due to the restrictions on movement across borders, you can only settle for the scarce talent in your home country or adopt the flexibility that the hybrid work model preaches.

A flexible work model is a new trend, and if you want to get the best out of your employees, then you have to settle for it. Using global PEOs and EORs will go a long way in hiring flexible employees as they have all it takes to take care of all the legal documents, payroll, benefits, and health services on your behalf based on the agreement.

Assign A Buddy

When you hire a foreigner, your company’s culture will be strange to him, so it’s one of the recommendations on how to hire a foreign employee that you should assign such employees a buddy irrespective of if it is a remote role or an in-house role. When you partner your new employee with a buddy, he learns the rope from the work buddy and gets to settle in within a short time frame.

Also, have regular check-ins with your new employee for a couple of months to get feedback on his adaptability. Remain consistent with this process and repeat the process for other remote employees you hire.

Bridge The Time Zone Gap

Upon hiring a foreigner to work remotely, there will be a need to address him and pass vital information to him. Of course, this could be done via the official channels like Slack, Trello, or Skype, but due to differences in the time zone, you can record a video or call and send it so he can listen at his own convenient time rather than send to the official channels which he might not have access to because of the difference in time zones. You can also utilize payroll outsourcing from a PEO and always be on time with the foreign employees’ paychecks.

Utilize Apps Extension

At the physical workplace, there is a break for lunch, and some give water breaks for employees to catch their breath after a tasking job. The same things can be applied to cross-border employees; on your official work applications like Slack, there are extensions like “donut time” and “water cooler.” A remote team can fully utilize these two extensions to get the best out of their members.

Donut time pairs employees to take a coffee together, virtually, of course, and the water cooler pairs employees so they can take five minutes to talk and chat.

Encourage Friendship

Remote doesn’t mean you have to be alone all the time. With the challenges, the whole world has gone through from the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union, which has destabilized hiring processes, and the pandemic, which also affects all businesses, it is safe to say you should encourage friendship amongst your remote employees.

Create all in-house activities online to make everyone comfortable and get along well.