Thanks to social media and other digital platforms, it is easy today to connect with other entrepreneurs, businesses, and people in any industry. Of course, attending in-person and virtual events are also options, but one of the ways that have gained popularity lately is international expansion, especially how global hiring helps networking.
Networking refers to exchanging information, views, and ideas among people with common interests, no matter the subject. For professionals, networking is important because it helps them expand their circles of contacts, find job opportunities and increase their knowledge of their sector and others that are of interest to them and are essential to growing professionally.
In the same way, networking assists business owners and entrepreneurs in getting to know their peers and then developing relationships that help them scale their companies, but it is also an opportunity to learn how the market moves, find suppliers, identify competitors, and what distinguishes their products or services.
The COVID-19 pandemic paused in-person networking but also allowed the creation of seminars, workshops, conferences, and virtual spaces to connect with others. This then led to more telecommuting and motivated companies to expand their businesses by acquiring international talent from places they had not previously thought about.
Although it seemed impossible before, global hiring is now easier than ever. It is one of the ways for companies to seek to network beyond their borders. This option includes headhunting, recruitment, management, and administration of human resources overseas. It opens all kinds of benefits, from cultural diversity to the adoption of asynchronous working.
Thus, companies that want to add highly qualified professionals to their teams but who live on the other side of the world can hire them directly through online platforms where they offer their services as international independent contractors or through an employer of record (EOR).
Both options are valid, but an EOR is a third party that has established hiring networks, streamlining the talent acquisition process. An EOR also assumes the legal responsibilities of international recruitment and prevents its clients from setting up branch offices to start operations.
A registered employer may also be known as a professional employer organization (PEO) for its co-employment services. However, by some commonly used definitions, a PEO means the client needs a local entity. That is why some EOR providers call it an international PEO, which does not require a subsidiary.
International recruitment and building distributed workforces provide new networking opportunities, such as connecting with diversely qualified professionals, learning about other markets and cultures, attending top industry events, and even setting the basis for an international presence, benefits that are described below.
1 How global hiring helps networking: the benefits
Access to international contacts
As a business owner, networking in your territory helps you grow locally, be up to date in your field, know your competition, and have suppliers at a regional level. However, global hiring gives you access to international contacts, such as potential partners, better-priced providers, and others who can help you scale your firm. These contacts will have valuable local insight that may differ from the home territory you know so well.
Greater knowledge of the global market
Before expanding your business to new markets, you must know them no matter how close or similar to yours they are. For this reason, networking also benefits from global hiring by giving companies more knowledge about potential markets and helping them be more aware of the characteristics of a country’s population, consumption habits, and needs. The more details you know about a new territory, the less risk there is in a potential expansion.
Services diversification
Sometimes, when companies only have local staff, they focus on a limited number of products or services they promote when networking. However, global hiring can help entrepreneurs broaden their perspectives and diversify or customize their services based on what is currently selling in other markets. This service diversification will undoubtedly add value and make them grow in their industry.
International presence
Global hiring provides companies with an international presence in developing relationships with individuals or companies with whom they may do business in the future. Even if employees work thousands of miles away, often in different time zones and even with a foreign native language, they become company agents in other locations, which facilitates worldwide networking.
Attending events overseas
When you have hired employees in different parts of the world, it is easier to attend major industry events abroad, such as trade shows, supplier presentations, workshops, conferences, and other forums that facilitate networking. Thus, sending one of your international workers close to the event location will be more affordable than paying all the expenses of sending someone from home. Additionally, you will be more able to follow up with new local contacts.
New potential investors
In short, global hiring helps networking beyond a single territory. Additionally, when a company has representatives in other markets and knows people and other firms within its industry, it is easier to introduce its products and services to potential investors who will help grow the business and consolidate its international expansion.
2 Recommendations for successful networking through global hiring
To network successfully, you must have a purpose. When you attend in-person or online events or send any of your global employees, you must know why you want to meet more people or companies in your industry and the purpose of networking with them. This way, it will be easier to establish long-lasting and profitable business relationships for all involved.
Similarly, successful networking is the result of active listening when connecting with someone, as it is not enough to talk about or promote your company’s products or services, you must be clear about what others have to offer, listen carefully to how they participate in the industry and what their interests are.
Nor is it enough to attend every industry event and get as many business cards, email addresses, or phone numbers as possible. To network successfully, you need to follow up with new contacts, whether a phone call, an email, a video call if they are not in the same territory, or even a breakfast or dinner meeting to talk business. And don’t leave it too long – people don’t like to be forgotten.
Global hiring helps networking in many ways, but essentially it can be a way for companies to grow exponentially, mainly when they recruit great talent away from home, as growth is not only local but also international. In the new world of work, those that can adapt best will thrive.
