Global HR

When companies are looking to expand into new countries around the world or simply test out a new market, they often partner with global HR services organizations to build and scale up their operations quickly. Today, remote work has made global hiring, especially for top talent and knowledge workers, more popular than ever.

For this reason, many companies choose to partner with a PEO or EOR service provider like Via so that they can expand their business operations more efficiently. This allows companies to focus on the job search, not HR headaches.

Here’s a look at everything you need to know about global HR services.

Why companies partner with global HR hiring services

Companies of all sizes want to expand their business, and many of them believe hiring global talent is one of the best approaches for doing so. The right person for the job might be located in Colombia, Canada, Brazil, or elsewhere across the world.

But hiring, onboarding, managing, and paying employees in foreign countries can quickly lead to HR headaches.

If an employer falls out of compliance, possible consequences include:

• Lengthy lawsuits

• Penalties

• Ban or suspension of business license

• Tarnished reputation at home and abroad

• Repercussions for criminal activity

• Distrust from your global workforce

In many countries, employees are protected by generous labor laws, which means that businesses are almost always on the hook when something goes wrong. It’s the employer of record’s responsibility to ensure that nothing goes wrong.

When companies begin entering into new markets, they often cut corners to save on money and time. In the short term, this approach can succeed, but it’s not sustainable for long-term business growth.

For these reasons, many companies choose to partner with third-party global HR service providers and solutions.

What does global HR do?

Your global HR team is responsible for all human resources processes, including hiring & recruiting, talent acquisition, payroll, employee onboarding, benefits, healthcare, international background checks, and ensuring compliance with labor laws in each country where your team operates.

Most companies that expand globally outsource some or all of their global HR processes to third-party partners. You might partner with a global HR recruiting firm to hire talent in a foreign country, or join forces with an employer-of-record (EOR) service like Via so that you can hire and pay employees without the costly process of opening an entity.

What is a global HR strategy?

Your global HR strategy will ensure that your company or business has an effective plan in place to run payroll, administer benefits, make payments across borders, and maintain compliance in every country where you are hiring employees.

What are the challenges of global HR?

Most companies want to hire the best talent and the right people for their company, which sometimes means hiring people in new countries. But when you start expanding your company, you run into a new series of challenges:

• Communication barriers, especially when employees don’t share the same first language

• Understanding each country’s labor laws and cultural differences

• Establishing effective working hours across different times

• Maintaining compliance when labor laws in new countries change suddenly

• Ensuring that you can make payments across borders promptly

Global HR best practices: Finding the right partner

As you start looking for global HR services providers, you’ll want to find a partner that can handle most or all of your local HR processes, including payroll, benefits, employee contracts, international payments, and legal compliance.

You’ll probably want to choose a provider that is a one-stop-shop with its own entity so that you can avoid taking on unnecessary tech debt and unnecessary overhead. At the same time, you’ll want to make sure that your global HR services provider doesn’t outsource all of their processes to third-party providers.

Why companies partner with Via for global hiring

Many companies want to hire employees in foreign countries and build their own teams with the best talent possible, but are not sure how to manage HR processes across borders.

Opening an entity can cost thousands of dollars and take months, which can be prohibitive for businesses looking to hire talent across borders as soon as possible. While companies looking to undertake a major expansion might consider opening an entity, most businesses–from small and lean startups to major enterprises–want to focus on hiring the best talent possible.

By partnering with an employer-of-record service like Via, you don’t need to worry about opening an entity in a foreign country, establishing a local bank account, and navigating the nuances of local employment laws. We take care of compliance for your global team members so you can focus on managing your talent, building standout products, and offering excellent services to your customers.

Whether you want to hire one engineer in Colombia and a marketer in Brazil, or an entire finance team in the Netherlands, Via can help you scale up your international hubs at your own pace. The world is a large place. Don’t let borders stop you from building the best team possible. The future of work is both global and remote. Get started in just 1-2 days.

Global HR and hiring services is more than just software

When choosing a global HR services provider, you want to make sure that you’re choosing to work with a team of experts, not just paying for a platform.

With Via, you’ll have access to both: an easy-to-use platform that allows you to manage all of your full-time employees and contractors across different countries, as well as a team of local labor and HR experts that can help you navigate payroll processes across borders.

FAQ 

What are the services of HR?

HR services include managing employees from their first point of contact with the company (recruiting), through the employee life cycle (onboarding and training), and finally to termination. Global HR manages global talent acquisition, hiring paperwork, global payroll, benefits, stock options, and other parts of the employee compensation package.

What does a global HR manager do?

A global HR manager is responsible for overseeing an entire organization’s HR strategy, including recruitment/talent acquisition, payroll & benefits, and third-party partners such as EOR and PEO providers.

What is a global HR strategy?

For most companies, a global HR strategy is the process in which management pays employees in different countries, administers localized benefits, and expands operations, all while maintaining compliance with local, federal, and international labor laws.

What are the five main functions of global human resources management?

Global human resources (HR) managers are responsible for 5 main functions, including:

• Recruiting and talent management

• Payroll and benefits administration

• Onboarding, job training, and development

• Building and modifying common HR processes

• Maintaining local, federal, and international compliance