How to harness international growth? A C-level recruitment point of view
We have had the pleasure of having lots of highly interesting discussions with startups as well as scaleup key players. At the same time, we have been collaborating with large corporations and their top decision-makers. Not surprisingly, there is one topic that pops up in all these encounters.
Growth. And more precisely – international growth.
The bottom line is that international growth is made by top-notch professionals. These individuals are hard to find, attract and hire. Based on the knowledge gained by interacting with these business contacts of ours, we have summarized some key takeaways to take into consideration when it comes to international C-level recruitments that make a difference.
Let’s start with defining some common strategies that are used when going international. These main strategies are:
Multidomestic strategy
Global strategy
Transnational strategy
A firm using a multi-domestic strategy sacrifices efficiency in favor of emphasizing responsiveness to local requirements within each of its markets. A firm using a global strategy sacrifices responsiveness to local requirements within each of its markets in favor of emphasizing efficiency. A firm using a transnational strategy seeks a middle ground between a multi-domestic strategy and a global strategy. Such a firm tries to balance the desire for efficiency with the need to adjust to local preferences within various countries.
Let’s move on by digging a bit deeper and proceed with the transnational strategy, the one that many companies rely on. A C-level recruitment point of view is added according to our observations and insights.
There are many benefits for companies that want to use a transnational strategy, although it may take some effort to reach these benefits.
Here are some of the top benefits of a business using a transnational strategy:
Better cultural understanding
Greater business opportunity
Better market penetration
More efficiency
Lower cost
The two major challenges related to using a transnational strategy are:
The potential of alienating local customers
Difficulty in centralizing all locations
Transnational companies that don't have an understanding of the complexities of the markets they are entering or are not willing to listen to their local employees risk alienating their local customers.
To avoid this situation, transnational companies should hire local employees at all levels of the business, ranging from entry-level all the way up to executive.
The other big challenge with transnational operations is that it can be difficult to centralize all these locations spread across the globe. Since transnational strategies are not just about the local offices but also the global integration of those locations, this is an important aspect of the strategy.
To remedy this, transnational companies usually need an experienced, capable management team that can make sure the brand is managed consistently in all locations. These managers might be at headquarters but travel regularly to local offices, or they might work in local offices and report back to the headquarters.
International C-level recruitments do require systematicity and situational sensitivity
According to the decision makers we have talked with, the following toolkit could be used:
Getting into the culture of the country you are going to enter
Building a strong PR brand in advance
Engaging all recruitment channels (Executive Search as a spearhead)
Furthermore, there are four useful approaches to international C-level recruitment that count:
Geocentric (a company adopts the strategy of recruiting the most suitable persons for the positions available in it, irrespective of their nationalities)
Regiocentric (an international recruitment method wherein the managers are selected from different countries lying within the geographic region of business)
Ethnocentric (places natives of the home country of a business in key positions at home and abroad)
Polycentric (a hiring and staffing method in which international subsidiaries of a country find team members from the host country, rather than from the parent company's location)
These tools and approaches are to be used and combined wisely. It is crucial that the go-to-market strategy is clear and recruitment processes have been honed properly before the action. Wrong moves can cost a fortune.
What do you think? What tools and approaches do you use when recruiting C-level talents globally? Please drop us a line or two – we are looking forward to your thoughts on this!
Text: Tomi Arppe
tomi.arppe(a)chief.fi | +358 45 127 4656