I just read a great brainstorm-inducing article written by the President of Dice.com on Remote Talent: A Solution for Local Shortage. He talks about bringing in people around the US into your organization to plug talent gaps.
As a response, I'd like to open up the topic a bit more, and pose the question: once someone is remote, why does it matter if they are in the next state or in the next country?
Once you're outside the morning commute, it's all remote.
But why should you go global vs. hire remotely just within your home country?
Here are 3 reasons when bringing on international remote talent can make sense for your business.
#1 - You get more value-for-money when you hire internationally.
Nowadays, saving money through labor arbitrage is almost a given. The cost of living in much of the developing world is significantly lower than in expensive countries like the US, Australia or parts of Europe. You can hire great people who are equal or better than anyone in your home country at a fraction of the cost, simply by breaking down the barriers of geography.
#2 - You can truly find the best person for the job, regardless of location.
It's a big world out there. Countries like the Philippines, India, China, Vietnam, and many others have large, skilled labor pools. Being able to tap into these labor pools significantly increases your chances of finding the best person for the job faster, and, easier.
#3 - You can learn new ways of doing things.
A multi-cultural and cross geographical workforce can be used as an advantage in business. Reaching people with different backgrounds can spur creativity and help you avoid taking a monocultural approach to the issues your business faces.
Surprisingly, many businesses write off hiring internationally due to the cultural differences they encounter. All too often, communication style differences are perceived as performance issues, when really the root issue is that both sides aren’t on the same page yet. Anyone who says something simply didn't work out due to cultural issues between team members has deeper underlying problems in their business.
The cultural differences "issue" should be approached like any other business challenge - with discipline, analysis, and adaptation. Hiring non-locals presents new challenges which you must meet with a rigorous, disciplined focus on over-communication. But with some effort, you can successfully integrate international remote talent into your company's workforce, and reap the benefits.
