Recruiting in China

Attracting staff from overseas remains a challenge for HR (Human Resource) professionals due to a low rate of labour market mobility. That¡¯s according to a new report compiled by the Intelligence Group, in association with StepStone, which reveals that willingness to travel abroad for work varies widely across Europe. While eight out of 10 employees in the UK are willing to work overseas, the Dutch (49%) and Danes (46%) are least likely to consider a job in another nation.

Of over 2,000 companies surveyed, 42% are currently recruiting internationally, primarily to address specific skills deficits. Shortages are worse in the engineering, IT and telecommunications sectors. But despite the opportunities which exist, the annual mobility of nationals in the European Union (EU) is less than 0.4%.

For those willing to work overseas, the primary motivation is to broaden experience (64%), followed by career development (50%) and the opportunity to obtain a more lucrative salary/benefits package (47%). The research revealed that workers are least likely to move abroad to follow a partner or for employer brand reasons alone.

When the decision to work in another country has been taken, a majority of job hunters (66%) start their search by visiting online job boards, whereas less than a quarter (23%) contact recruitment agencies. Only one-fifth of job seekers consult international newspapers.

Deciding how best to publicise a vacancy is just one element of how to devise a successful international recruitment strategy according to Matthew Parker, Group Managing Director of StepStone¡¯s Solutions business.

"It is important to remember that most workers don¡¯t automatically think about looking for a job abroad. It is only when they see an enticing vacancy that they might seriously consider relocating," Parker says.

"It is therefore vital to not just post a job somewhere and wait until candidates reply, but rather to tailor each vacancy according to the factors that motivate the potential applicants that you are targeting. This research reveals that those motivations vary from country to country so any international recruitment strategy must be informed by these cultural differences," he says.

Specialising in monitoring labour market trends, Geert-Jan Waasdorp, Director of Intelligence Group, believes that more companies than ever before will have to develop international recruitment campaigns to ensure competitiveness.

"The transition to a knowledge-driven economy in Europe has increased the demand for highly skilled workers. To remain competitive, recruiting and retaining the right staff is crucial. Companies must be prepared to wage a war for talent on a global battleground," Waasdorp says.

One organisation that has already developed an international recruitment strategy is Marriott International.

¡°We have a wide variety of roles to fill each year, and without an all-encompassing international recruitment strategy, we would not be able to fill all our positions with the mix of skills we require,¡± Chris Dunn, Regional Director of Talent Management at Marriott International, says.

¡°Our international recruitment strategy is underpinned by e-recruitment software and services, which we find invaluable, both for publicising positions and for processing the thousands of applications that we receive on a monthly basis from all over the world. Use of these services and software has also ensured that our recruitment campaigns can be far ranging in terms of geographic scope but yet remain cost-effective," Dunn says.

Other findings from the report include:

¡¤ Cultural and language differences are the biggest barriers for international recruitment strategies (43%), followed by legislative problems (31%) and the difficulty in checking candidate qualifications and references (26%).

¡¤ Companies in mainland Europe prefer to recruit from neighbouring countries, whereas firms in the UK have no particular preference regarding the country of origin of their foreign employees.

¡¤ Almost 40% of Britons would be amenable to working in another country for more than five years. However those from Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden and Denmark) prefer to return home within two years.

This 100-page report, which is entitled ¡®The International Recruitment Manual¡¯ was compiled by the Intelligence Group and features the results of surveys of 2,171 European companies and over 20,900 workers In addition, it provides HR professionals with practical advice on how to recruit staff from overseas.