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The global economy has been great for businesses who are looking to expand. At the same time, it provides many challenges to companies, forcing them to adjust to new ways of doing business. One of the biggest challenges to a global economy is managing human resources operations. To help you along the way, here are some global human resources best practices you should follow.
SERVIAP can help with your global expansion needs. Contact us today to learn how you can expand your business with PEO in South America and Latin America.
Standardize But Localize
As any HR professional knows, one of the keys to doing their job is to create standard processes which all departments and employees must follow. This makes administration easier across a wide employee base and removes a lot of potential inconsistencies and mistakes.
This is a great place to start for global HR as well. However, there will be some factors that will need to be tweaked for global HR departments compared to standard HR departments. A good rule of thumb is to localize some of the HR practices when necessary. If working hours are different in a particular country, for instance, or if traditional lunch breaks are longer, adjust those policies for the local offices. This will show the local employees you care while being fair to everyone.
Go to the Cloud
Technology makes managing a global workforce much easier today than it was in the past. Taking advantage of all the tools today’s technology provides is essential. One of those tools your company should use is the cloud.
By moving as much of your technology and data to the cloud as possible, you can make it easier for people to work from anywhere. When information and data is available anywhere at any time, doing business becomes that much easier and more efficient.
Be Accessible
A huge challenge to global HR is the simple fact that employees will be disjointed, located all over the world. How do you bring them together without constantly flying everyone all over the place?
Again, investing in technologies such as video conferencing and messaging platforms is essential. As HR professionals, it’s important to ensure that everyone has equal access not just to the work they need to do but to the key people in the organization from whom they may need help or advice.
In addition to providing employees with easy-to-use communication tools, you should also consider creating set times when people can come to you for a meeting or just to talk if they need to.
Hire the Right People
There are many talented individuals all around the world with the knowledge and skills you need. Consider expanding your current workforce through outsourcing—either to a local third-party or internationally. Working with a PEO to outsource roles to a country in South America, for instance, can save you a significant amount of money compared to hiring U.S. talent, while still providing you access to a pool of extremely talented, high-skilled individuals. For example, a software developer in Chile earns an average of $28,480 per year. In the United States, this same worker would earn an average of $74,532 per year.
Provide Constant Training
It can be easy to forget about people who aren’t in front of you at all times. “Out of sight, out of mind,” as the saying goes. In global HR, though, you can’t do that. It’s important to show all pf your employees that you care about them and their development by providing constant training. This will not only benefit your company, but it will help them advance in their careers as well. Studies have shown that the more you educate your workforce, the more they appreciate the fact that you care about their long-term careers. And, as a result, they become more loyal to your company.
Be Flexible
When you’re dealing with a global workforce, you’re going to have to be flexible. You’ll need to adjust to cultural differences in terms of when people work and how they work. You’ll need to adjust to time zone differences and having employees work at potentially different times of day.
As a global HR professional, it’s important to provide a flexible working environment so people feel comfortable working when they’re most used to. When you make your employees feel comfortable, you can help to increase their productivity and output as well. Happy employees produce better work. Following some of these global human resource best practices will help you keep your employees happy, no matter where they are in the world.
Expand Your Business with SERVIAP
SERVIAP is a leading Professional Employer Organization (PEO) ready to help your business expand operations throughout the Western Hemisphere. PEO is a model of co-employment, where we assume total responsibility for your talent, allowing you to focus on the strategic activities of your organization. Contact us today to learn more about how you can expand your business in South America and Latin America.
