Global talent acquisition is already a challenging process, but increases in global hiring and salaries have amplified the current challenges of finding and hiring talent from around the globe. During our 2022 Global RPO Expert Panel, talent acquisition leaders discussed these challenges and solutions. Talent acquisition leaders Chip Holmes of AMS, Cherice Schmidt of KellyOCG, Rob Navarrete of Willis, Towers, Watson, and Aniruddha Kulkarni of the Everest Group presented everything you need to know about talent for global hiring.
The webinar was so informative that we wrote a two-part summary of the panel discussion. Part one focuses on the challenges of global talent acquisition. Part two will focus on the solutions to these challenges. To get part two delivered to your inbox, enter your email above to subscribe to the RPOVoice.
In part one of the presentation, our panelists discussed five current challenges of global talent acquisition. If you hire talent globally, this recap will be helpful to you.
Global Talent Acquisition Challenge No. 1: Rising Salaries
A forthcoming report from Deel found that Canada, Mexico, Pakistan, and India had the most significant rise in salaries. And Marketing roles such as Digital Marketing, SEO Specialists, and Growth and Content roles had the most significant increase in salary--a 49 percent increase.
Navarette said that these rising salaries are unsustainable to some extent. The rise in wages is causing organizations to become "a lot more data driven, and trying to recognize where talent exists and identify the higher and lower cost markets," he said.
Global Talent Acquisition Challenge No. 2: Creating a Strong Employee Value Proposition
Schmidt pointed out that organizations need to create a strong employee value proposition. Candidates worldwide are looking to work for organizations that offer more than just a salary. They're looking for flexibility in their work, a good work-life balance, compassion towards their mental well-being, and a car allowance. A strong employee value proposition can increase global candidate engagement.
Most global companies have some kind of car allowance policy. But in 2018, companies started to eliminate them. One of the reasons for removing these policies was the cost of administrating them. And when you add the rising gas prices in Europe today, that seems like a good move. But Schmidt noted that the increasing gas prices would force global companies to figure out how they balance the fact that an employee might pay an eighth of their salary on gas to travel for work.
Global Talent Acquisition Challenge No. 3: Building Talent Pipeline for the Skills of the Future
Schmidt observed that building a talent pipeline for skill sets that account for efficiency and productivity will be important in the near future. She noted that workers who can produce things in less time are becoming vital in the manufacturing sector.
Global Talent Acquisition Challenge No. 4: Candidate Experience
Navarette said that under the current circumstances, the candidate's experience has become more critical than ever. A focus on the candidate experience is vital because he observed that candidates could get as many as 13 offers in one week. So, clear communication is important in ensuring potential employees have a good hiring experience.
Create a candidate experience that gets and keeps the top talent.
And in the global talent market, a solid candidate experience strategy is key because, as Navarette pointed out, the expected notice period of termination of a poor-performing employee can be one to three months. In India, it takes up to three months to terminate a worker. If a candidate accepts the offer for the ended role, it could be months before that new employee starts. And because of the numerous other offers the "new" employee receives, there's no guarantee that the employee won't drop out of the process. So Navarette shared that a strong onboarding program is vital to ensure the candidate starts the planned start date, whether a week, a month, or three months from the date of accepting the offer.
Global Talent Acquisition Challenge No. 5: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Schmidt pointed out that diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential to the global talent market. She said that organizations need to walk the walk of DEI. That means companies will need to show a culture of diversity in their actions and not merely in their employee value proposition statement.
RPO Can Help with Your Global Talent Acquisition Challenges
Because of the ability of an RPO to scale up or down, it can help organizations with their global talent acquisition challenges. Holmes said that TA leaders are dealing with "the great attrition, which is also the great attraction." His point is that employees are leaving, but they're leaving to work somewhere else.
Some organizations might be on the attrition side of the ledger, and others on the attraction side. But regardless of which side you fall on, Holmes pointed out that this situation has created a high demand for recruiters.
The demand for recruiters is still high because companies, especially in the Asia Pacific region, are expected to grow significantly this year. Still, they've lowered their expectations a little because of inflation and what's going on geopolitically. So the companies that are losing employees will need to scale up their hiring, and those that are gaining employees might need to scale down their hiring. As Holmes emphasized, RPOs are good at ramping up the hiring process and ramping it down quickly when needed. So whether the current challenges in your global talent acquisition are causing you to hire more or fewer employees, an RPO is your best solution.
Organizations that want to hire top global talent need to start thinking about how they can create a strong employee value proposition. They also need to build a talent pipeline for skill sets that account for efficiency and productivity. Finally, it’s more important than ever for companies to show a culture of diversity in their actions. RPOs can help organizations with their global talent acquisition challenges.
Our 2022 RPO Global Panel webinar is now available on-demand. If you hire talent globally, you'll want to watch this webinar. It'll give you what you need to know about hiring global talent.
